I picked up Shattered Empires recently and have played a few games already of all sizes. Thankfully, most of my complaints from the base game are fixed by this expansion.


First, there are 8 new strategy cards, designed for more even gameplay.
Initiative has been removed; the speaker token is gained through the new Assembly (3) strategy card, which replaces the Political Strategy Card.

Leadership (1) is the new method of getting command counters; the cost of CC's is decreased to 2 influence but only 3 may be bought.

Warfare, which could be used to move a fleet twice, or produce at a Space Dock twice, has been split into two cards; Production (4) allows production in one system without activating it, and Warfare II (6) gives ships in one system +1 movement and +1 to all combat rolls in Space Battles.

Bureaucracy (8) replaces Imperial, allowing the active player to select the next objective, receive a command counter, and qualify for 1 objective immediately, instead of Imperial's 2 VP. It's a much better system but often goes unselected for a few turns.

Diplomacy, Trade, and Technology have replacement "II" cards as well; Diplomacy II (2) allows a peaceful annexation of a empty planet adjacent to a system you control, or a global "signal jam" of one system you control. Trade II (2) changes how trade is canceled, and Trade Goods no longer cost 1 CC, instead costing a tax of 1 TG. Technology II allows the active player to purchase a second tech for 8 resources, and nonactive players must only spend 6 for technology now.
Overall the cards work very well together, but any of the "II" cards may be swapped for their old versions is desired.


There are replacement objective cards as well; many focus more on battles, such as "I won a space battle against 3 or more enemy ships this round."


Four new races appear in the expansion; A war-sun focused race, a race with mobile Space Docks, a race with a Yellow Tech Specialty, and a race that can convert enemy Ground Forces. None of them are too ridiculous, though the Winnu's race-specific technology (each race has one now) delays the game much like the Yssaril can.


There are also two new colors, for a total of eight players. The galaxy receives a fourth ring for a 7 or 8 player game, though the increase in players also adds significantly to game time, and reaching Mecatol Rex becomes a 3-turn affair.


Along with the two new colors come new systems. The new Ion Storm disables Fighters and shields your fleet from enemy Deep Space Cannons, but stops movement if you do not have the Maneuvering Jets tech. A few planets have Refresh Abilities, allowing the planet to remain exhausted at the end of a game round in exchange for Trade Goods, Fighters, Ground Forces, or Shock Troops (upgraded Ground Forces).


One of the best additions is the preset maps, available at Fantasy Flight's website. We all like these very much, and there is even a 5-player fair map.


There are other game options too -- nobody will be disappointed with the selection of variants, totaling 15 in this set.


Overall I am very happy with this expansion, and I would say it gets most of the kinks out of the game. Expect more space battles and new, interesting strategies. I rate TI3:SE a 9.