Twilight Imperium (4th Edition), by Fantasy Flight Games, ships with a lot of small cardboard tokens — command tokens, trade goods, commodities, frontier tokens — plus ships that crowd the galaxy map across a six-hour game. The bits get fiddly to grab, flip and stack. This guide walks through each component the game asks you to track, which ones are worth upgrading to solid acrylic, and the fleet movement stands that let you slide a whole fleet at once.
(LITKO upgrades are unofficial accessories compatible with Twilight Imperium 4th Edition and its expansions.)
What Twilight Imperium Asks You to Track
Most of what slows a Twilight Imperium table isn’t the strategy — it’s the handling. You’re constantly moving command tokens between pools, paying trade goods, exchanging commodities, and nudging stacks of ships. Solid acrylic tokens are easier to grab, sit flat, and read across the table, and a fleet stand turns “slide a fleet one ship at a time” into a single motion. None of it changes the rules — it just makes a long game flow. (LITKO upgrades replace the cardboard tokens and add fleet stands — not the plastic ship miniatures or their in-game unit upgrades.)
Component-by-Component Upgrade Guide
Here’s what each component does in Twilight Imperium and the LITKO upgrade that replaces it:
| Component | What it tracks in TI | LITKO upgrade |
|---|---|---|
| Command tokens | Your tactic, fleet and strategy pools — spend tactic and strategy tokens for actions and strategy cards; the fleet pool caps how many ships (not counting fighters) you can keep in each system | Command & control token set |
| Control tokens | Which planets and systems you control | Included in the command & control set |
| Trade goods | Spendable currency for the economy | Trade goods tokens |
| Commodities | A faction’s pre-trade resource (becomes trade goods when given to another player — normally a neighbor) | Commodity tokens |
| Frontier tokens | Explorable systems (Prophecy of Kings) | Frontier tokens |
| Infantry | Ground-force counts on planets (reinforcements, losses, garrisons) | Infantry tokens |
| Wormholes | Alpha, beta, gamma and delta wormhole links (Thunder’s Edge adds epsilon) | Wormhole marker set |
Fleet Movement Stands — the LITKO Original
The single biggest table-flow upgrade — and a LITKO original. We designed the first fleet movement stands (you’ll also see them called fleet platforms), and we still laser-cut them in Valparaiso, Indiana. A fleet movement stand holds several ships on one clear hex platform, so you slide an entire fleet across the galaxy in one motion instead of walking ships one at a time — and you stop knocking over the system you’re moving through. There’s a standard set on low pegs and a deluxe set raised on aluminum posts; both also fit Eclipse.
Frontier Tokens & the Expansions
The Prophecy of Kings (2020) expansion added exploration: frontier tokens mark planetless systems you can explore by drawing from the frontier deck, and LITKO’s frontier token set is made for that mechanic. A second expansion, Thunder’s Edge (2025), has since followed, adding the Epsilon wormhole to the galaxy — covered by the 13-piece Thunder’s Edge wormhole set, or the 2-piece Epsilon add-on if you already own the classic set. The token and stand upgrades on this page fit the base game and both expansions, so a galaxy that’s grown over time stays consistent on the table.
Where to Shop & Go Custom
Browse the full Twilight Imperium upgrades collection to outfit a whole table, or start with the command & control set and add from there. Want a token to your own faction colors or a marker for a house rule? See our custom token options.
Frequently Asked Questions
What accessories do you need for Twilight Imperium?
Most Twilight Imperium upgrades replace the game’s cardboard tokens — command tokens, trade goods, commodities and frontier tokens — with solid acrylic, and add fleet movement stands to move ships in groups. None are required to play, but they make a long game faster and easier to read.
What are command tokens in Twilight Imperium?
Command tokens fill your tactic, fleet and strategy pools. You spend tactic tokens to take actions and strategy tokens to resolve strategy cards, while your fleet pool caps how many ships — not counting fighters — you can keep in each system. LITKO makes an acrylic command and control token set to replace the cardboard versions.
What’s the difference between trade goods and commodities?
Commodities are a faction’s pre-trade resource that do nothing on their own; they only become spendable trade goods when you give them to another player — trades normally happen between neighbors, with the agenda phase as the exception. LITKO makes separate acrylic tokens for each so they’re easy to tell apart.
What are frontier tokens?
Frontier tokens mark systems that can be explored and were introduced in the Prophecy of Kings expansion. LITKO’s frontier token set is designed for Prophecy of Kings exploration.
What are fleet movement stands?
Fleet movement stands — also called fleet platforms — let you place several ships on one clear stand and move an entire fleet across the galaxy map in a single motion instead of sliding ships one at a time. LITKO designed the original fleet movement stand and still laser-cuts them in the USA.
Are LITKO upgrades for Twilight Imperium official?
No. They are unofficial accessories designed to be compatible with Twilight Imperium 4th Edition and its expansions. Twilight Imperium is published by Fantasy Flight Games.
Will these work with Prophecy of Kings?
Yes. The upgrades are compatible with the base game and the Prophecy of Kings expansion, including the frontier tokens introduced in that expansion.
Where to Go Next
- Twilight Imperium Upgrades — the full acrylic upgrade line
- Command & Control Token Set — the first upgrade most tables make
- Custom Tokens — your own design, made to spec
Solid, easy-to-read acrylic tokens and the original fleet stands — upgrades that make a six-hour game flow. Laser-cut in Valparaiso, Indiana.
Shop TI Upgrades → Command & Control SetThis product is unofficial and is in no way endorsed by, affiliated with, or sponsored by Fantasy Flight Games. Twilight Imperium is a trademark of Fantasy Flight Games, used here for compatibility identification only. No challenge to its status is intended.