by CyberGarp
First of the base game doesn't have 2-player rules.I've played this with my wife: http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/119002/another-2-player-vari...
The feel of it becomes more like space-chess, than space-opera. I like it, but it's a different game. Most of it comes down to timing the final push, knowing the clock is going to run out. Carefully planning, and executing one move before your opponent. So there's an element of chicken involved in the 2-player variant.
The 2-player variant, I feel (but haven't tried this), is probably the best way to teach and learn the game. If you could get in 2-player games with all the players before hand, then an epic 6-player game would go much faster. Otherwise, introducing several players in a huge epic game, makes it drag on for 10+ hours.