Ascending Empires
Ascending Empires Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Contents
- 24 Planet discs
- 10 Asteroid discs
- 4 Homeworld discs
- 1 Game Board
- 4 Range Rulers
- 32 Starships
- 4 Battleships
- 56 Troop Figures
- 16 Colonies (Circles)
- 16 Cities (Towers)
- 32 Research Facilities (Cubes)
- 4 Player Placard
- 1 Rule book
- 50 Victory Tokens
Important Terminology
All words found in these rules that are capitalized and bold will have an entry in the glossary of terms found in the back of these rules.
Summary of Game Play
Players will Navigate their Starships through the galaxy and Land their Troops on Planets in order to build Research Facilities, Colonies, and Cities. As long as a player has at least one Item of their color placed on a Planet, that Planet is considered to be Occupied by that player. If during the game all Items are removed from a Planet, then that Planet is no longer Occupied and is then available for any player to Land on. Players may only have up to 3 Items of any type on a Planet at one time. The different Items that may be placed on Planets are: Troops, Research Facilities, Colonies, and Cities. The players' Troops are used to build Structures, and each Structure provides an advantage.
Colonies are important because they add 1 to the Defense of a Planet. A Planet must also have a Colony before a City may be built. Cities are important because they add 2 to the Defense of a Planet. Also, building a City will increase a players Supply of either Troops or Starships. Research Facilities are important because they are used to Develop new Technology that will grant players special rule breaking abilities.
Players are striving to gain Victory Points (VP). When a player takes the last VP token, each other player will get one last turn, after which the game will end. Final scores will be calculated, and the player with the highest score is the winner. Players will score VP during the game for successfully attacking enemy Planets and enemy Starships, Mining, and for being the first player to Develop new Technology.
Setting Up the Game
Step One
Assemble the 9 different parts of the game board puzzle pieces as shown below and place it in the center of the table.
Place the central puzzle piece on the table. Next place the 4 Quadrant puzzle pieces as shown in the graphic. Then place the 4 corner pieces. Now the board is ready to play.
Step Two
Each player should take a Homeworld in the color of their choice. Players should then place their Homeworlds and any Asteroids face up in the holes in the game board according to the illustrations below. These discs will remain this way and are never flipped over during game play.
2 Player Homeworld setup: 1 Asteroid and 1 Homeworld in opposite corners, mirrored diagonally (Asteroid / Homeworld / Homeworld / Asteroid across the four corners).
3 Player Homeworld setup: 3 Homeworlds placed near three of the corners, with 1 Asteroid near the fourth corner.
4 Player Homeworld setup: 4 Homeworlds, one near each of the four corners.
Step Three
Create one group of Planets for each Quadrant of the game board. Each group should consist of the following Planets based on the number of players:
| Number of Players | Group 1 | Group 2 | Group 3 | Group 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 Players | 1 of each color Planet, 2 Asteroids | 1 of each color Planet, 2 Asteroids | 1 of each color Planet, 2 Asteroids | 1 of each color Planet, 2 Asteroids |
| 3 Players | 2 Orange, 1 Grey, 1 Purple, 1 Brown, 1 Asteroid | 1 Orange, 2 Grey, 1 Purple, 1 Brown, 1 Asteroid | 1 Orange, 1 Grey, 2 Purple, 1 Brown, 1 Asteroid | 1 Orange, 1 Grey, 1 Purple, 2 Brown, 1 Asteroid |
| 4 Players | 2 Orange, 2 Grey, 1 Purple, 1 Brown | 1 Orange, 2 Grey, 2 Purple, 1 Brown | 1 Orange, 1 Grey, 2 Purple, 2 Brown | 2 Orange, 1 Grey, 1 Purple, 2 Brown |
Turn all discs in each group face down so only the blank sides are showing, and then shuffle them without mixing the groups. Now place each group of discs in the open holes of each Quadrant making sure that they remain face down.
Step Four
Each player takes a player placard of his chosen color and places it in front of them. Then each player places 6 Troops of his color on the Supply area of his placard, and places two Starships of his color in Orbit (touching the shaded area around a Planet) of his Homeworld. The rest of the Troops and Starships are kept in the box until later. Place a marker on level 0 of each color Technology track on the placard.
Also, each player should take their 4 Cities, 4 Colonies, and 8 Research Facilities in their chosen color and place them next to their placard.
Step Five
Put a number of VP tokens to the side of the game board so players have access to them. The number of VP tokens needed is determined by the number of players shown below.
- 2 players: 32 VP
- 3 players: 36 VP
- 4 players: 40 VP
The length of the game can be adjusted by adding or subtracting VP tokens. Longer games (42 or 46 VP) will have much more conflict at the end of the game because the main way to achieve VP after all of the Planets are Occupied is by attacking other players Starships and Planets.
Starting Player
The player that gives the most convincing reason as to why he should go first will get to be the starting player, or just choose a starting player randomly.
Players will now start taking turns going clockwise around the table.
Game Turn
The active player may perform ONE of the following actions:
- Recruit Troops
- Move
- Mine
- Build Structure
- Develop Technology
Recruit Troops
The active player may distribute up to 2 Troops amongst any Planets he Occupies and his Homeworld as long as the limit of 3 Items per Planet is not exceeded. Troops are taken from the player Supply; if there are no Troops left in his Supply then he may not Recruit.
Instead of performing a normal Recruit action, the active player may remove any number of Troops from his Occupied Planets (even Blockaded Planets) and place them into his Supply. This ends his turn.
Move
Players have 2 movement points that they may spend when moving. Each option below costs 1 movement point. After the active player has finished spending all his movement points, or declares that he is done, he must check for attacks against enemy Starships and Planets.
Launch
The active player returns 1 Troop to his Supply from one of his Occupied Planets, and then places a Starship from his Supply in Orbit of that Planet.
Navigate
The active player uses his finger to flick or strike (not push) one of his Starships (currently in play), propelling it across the playing surface. It is okay to ricochet off of Planets. However, flicking a Starship into an enemy Starship is called a Ram and destroys both Starships. Only the first two Starships that collide are destroyed and returned to each owner's Supply.
Land
The active player returns 1 Starship that is in Orbit of a Planet to his Supply, and then places one Troop from his Supply on that Planet.
A player may not Land on a Planet that is Occupied by another player.
If the Planet is face down then the player must flip the disc over so the Planet side is face up and then place a Troop on it.
Each Troop adds 1 to the Defense value of the Planet it is on.
Resolve Attacks!
This is performed once all movement points have been spent, or the active player declares that he is done. All of the active player's Starships will attack. Starships may only participate in one attack each and all possible attacks are mandatory.
Attacks on Starships
If the active player has two Starships within short Range of an enemy Starship, then the enemy Starship is destroyed and returned to its owner's Supply.
Destroying an enemy Starship earns the active player 1 VP.
Example: Jonathan has his two red Starships within short Range of a blue Starship. The blue Starship is destroyed and returned to the blue player's Supply. Jonathan wins 1 VP.
Example: Kendrick has 2nd level orange Technology, which gives his Starships the ability to attack multiple targets. His two green Starships are within short Range of the two yellow Starships. Both yellow Starships are destroyed and returned to its owner's Supply. Kendrick wins 2 VP.
Battleships
A player that has Developed 3rd level orange Technology (see 3rd level orange Technology track on the player placard) gets to add a Battleship to his supply. A Battleship counts as 2 Starships when attacking Starships and Planets. It will take 3 Starships within short range to destroy the Battleship.
Successfully attacking and destroying a Battleship will earn the attacking player 2 VP.
Example: During the game Kendrick has gained a Battleship (3rd level orange Technology). He also gets the benefits of 1st and 2nd level orange Technology. This means that his Battleship can attack multiple targets at long Range. Because his Battleship counts at two Starships, each of the red Starships are destroyed and returned to its owner's Supply. Kendrick wins 1 VP for each of the red Starships destroyed.
Example: Melissa has her three yellow Starships within short Range of a blue Battleship. The blue Battleship is destroyed and returned to its owner's Supply. Melissa wins 2 VP.
Attacks on Planets
If the active player has a number of Starships in Orbit of a Planet greater than the current Defense of the Planet, then all Items on that Planet are destroyed.
Destroyed Items are returned to the owner's Supply, and the active player gains 1 VP per Item destroyed.
Note: The active player may not attack a Planet if there are any other players' Starships in Orbit of the Planet (See Defended).
Mine
Remove 2 Troops from a single Planet and gain 1 VP, or remove 3 Troops from a single Planet and gain 2 VP.
Build Structure
The active player may build ONE of the following:
- Research Facility
- Colony
- City
Multiple Structures of the same type may be built on the same Planet as long as the limit of 3 Items per Planet is never exceeded. Structures may not be built on a player's Homeworld.
Research Facility
The active player returns 2 Troops from a Planet to his Supply, and then places a Research Facility on that Planet.
A Research Facility has a Defense value of 0. Double Research Facilities: A player may only have ONE Occupied Planet with 2 Research Facilities built on it.
Example: Dan builds a Research Facility on a grey Planet in which he already has a Research Facility. Because Dan now has a Planet with 2 Research Facilities, he cannot build a Research Facility on any of his other Planets that already have a Research Facility built on them. He may only build Research Facilities on Planets that do not already have Research Facilities. If this Planet is later attacked and his 2 Research Facilities are destroyed, then he could again build 2 Research Facilities on a single Planet.
Asteroids: These are only used in a 2 or 3 player game. Asteroids follow all of the same rules as per Planets, except Research Facilities may not be built on them.
Colony
The active player returns 1 Troop from a Planet to his Supply, and then places a Colony on that Planet.
A Colony has a Defense value of 1.
City
The active player returns 1 Colony and 1 Troop from a Planet to his Supply, and then places a City on that Planet.
A City has a Defense value of 2. Once a City is built, the active player may add either 1 Troop or 1 Starship from the box to his Supply.
Develop Technology
The active player may increase a Technology by 1 level. However, he must meet the following conditions first.
- Technologies must be Developed one at a time from lowest to highest.
- The active player must have a number of Research Facilities equal to the Technology level being Developed. These Research Facilities must be on Planets of the same color as the Technology being Developed.
Example: Melissa has already Developed 1st and 2nd level grey Technologies, and now wants to Develop 3rd level grey Technology. She has 1 Research Facility on one of her grey Planets, and 2 Research Facilities on another grey Planet. Having 3 Research Facilities on grey Planets allows her to Develop 3rd level grey Technology.
Technology Bonuses
First Player to Develop Technology: If no other players have Developed the Technology, then the active player gains VP equal to the level of Technology that he has just Developed.
Example: Because Melissa is the first player to Develop 3rd level grey Technology, she takes 3 VP tokens.
Diversify Technology: Once a player has Developed an entire row of Technology, he will gain the bonus shown on the right side of the Technology track.
Example: Dan has Developed all of his 1st level Technologies so he gains the bonus shown and takes 1 Starship and 1 Troop from the box and adds them to his Supply.
Scan Planets
After the active player has performed one of the actions above, he may scan nearby face down Planets. He may pick up and secretly look at any face down Planet in which he has a Starship in Orbit. After looking, he must place the Planet(s) face down in the same holes.
End of Turn
The active player's turn ends once he has completed taking his actions. Now, the player to the left becomes the active player and will take his turn. This will continue until one player has taken the last VP token. At that point the other players will have one last turn before the game ends.
See End of Game.
Special Rules
Blockaded Planets
An Occupied Planet is Blockaded if at least one enemy Starship is in Orbit of the Planet.
The active player may NOT perform any of the following actions at any of his Planets that are being Blockaded by other players' Starships.
- Building a Colony, City or Research Facility
- Landing or Launching Starships
- Recruiting
- Developing Technology
- Mining
Example: The blue player has a Starship in Orbit of the grey Planet in which the red player currently Occupies with a Colony. Because the blue player is Blockading the Planet the red player cannot take any actions at this Planet until the blue player's Starship is either moved or destroyed.
Defended Planets
A player cannot attack a Planet if there are any opponents' Starships in Orbit of the Planet. A Planet can be both Defended, and Blockaded at the same time.
Example: The red player has a Colony on the grey Planet, and the blue player has 2 Starships in Orbit. However, the blue player may not attack the Planet because it is currently being Defended by the green player who has 1 Starship in Orbit. This Planet is also being Blockaded by both blue and green players.
Off the Game Board
Any Starship that leaves the playing surface for any reason is considered to be lost in space and is immediately returned to its owner's Supply.
End of Game
Once a player has taken the last VP token, all of the other players will get one last turn before the game ends. The VP tokens that were left in the box during the game setup should be used for any player scoring VP once the VP pool has been exhausted.
Scoring Planets
Each player will calculate points for all of the Planets that they Occupy and for the Colonies and Cities they have built on them.
- Each Occupied Planet or Asteroid scores 1 VP.
- Each Colony scores +1 VP.
- Each City scores +2 VP.
Quadrant Bonuses
Players will receive bonus VP for having built Cities in different Quadrants.
- Cities in 3 different Quadrants scores +3 VP.
- Cities in 4 different Quadrants scores +6 VP.
These points are added to the Victory Points earned during the game. The player with the highest total wins. In the case of a tie, the player who took the most VP tokens during the game will win. If a tie still occurs then the player who Developed the most levels of Technology will win.
Glossary of Terms
Asteroid
Asteroids are treated just like other Planets except that Research Facilities may NOT be built on them. At the end of the game, players will score 1 VP for each Asteroid that they occupy. Asteroids are only used in games with 2 or 3 players.
Battleship
When a player develops 3rd level orange Technology, he immediately takes the Battleship of his color out of the box and places it into his Supply, and then places two of his Starships into the box. The Battleship follows the normal rules for Starships but counts as two Starships when attacking or defending. Destroying a Battleship will earn the attacking player 2 VP. A single Starship can still destroy a Battleship by Ramming, but gains no VP tokens for doing so.
Only one Troop is removed when launching a Battleship, and only one Troop is placed on a Planet when Landing a Battleship.
City
When a player builds a City he will take either 1 Starship or 1 Troop out of the box and place it into his Supply. This is a permanent increase to his Supply. A City adds 2 to the Defense value of the Planet.
Colony
You must have a Colony already built on a Planet before you can build a City. A Colony adds 1 to the Defense value of the Planet.
Defended
The active player cannot attack a Planet if there are any opponents' Starships in Orbit of the Planet. A Planet can be both Defended and Blockaded at the same time.
Defense
The Defense value of a Planet is based on the Items that are currently on the Planet.
- Research Facilities = 0
- Troop = +1
- Colony = +1
- City = +2
Develop
This is one of the actions that a player may take on his turn. The active player may increase a Technology by 1 level if he meets all of the conditions for Developing Technology.
Homeworld
Each player has one Homeworld. Homeworlds may NEVER be attacked or Blockaded, and Troops are the only Items that may be placed on a Homeworld.
Item
This refers to any game piece that can be placed on a Planet. Troops, Research Facilities, Cities, and Colonies are all Items.
Land
This is one of the movement options that a player may perform when taking a Move action on his turn. He returns 1 Starship that is in Orbit of a Planet to his Supply, and then places one Troop from his Supply on that Planet.
Launch
This is one of the movement options that a player may perform when taking a Move action on his turn. The player returns 1 Troop to his Supply from one of his Occupied Planets, and then places a Starship from his Supply in Orbit of that Planet.
Mining
Removing 2 Troops from a Planet will earn the player 1 VP, and removing 3 Troops will earn him 2 VP.
Move
This is one of the actions that a player may take on his turn. The active player has 2 movement points that he may spend on Launching, Landing, and Navigating his Starships.
Navigate
This is one of the movement options that a player may perform when taking a Move action on his turn. The active player uses his finger to flick or strike (not push) one of his Starships (currently in play), propelling it across the playing surface. It is okay to ricochet off of Planets.
Occupied
A Planet is Occupied by a player if he has any Items of his color placed on the Planet.
Orbit
A Starship is in Orbit when any part of the Starship is touching the shaded area around a Planet.
Planet
There are four colors of Planets corresponding to each of the four Technology tracks on the player placards. Each Planet may have up to 3 Items on it at one time.
Quadrant
The game board is divided into 4 Quadrants. Each Quadrant has 7 holes for Planet and Asteroid discs to be placed in.
Ramming
Ramming occurs when a player's Starship strikes an opponent's Starship while moving. The first two Starships that collide are destroyed and returned to each owner's Supply.
Range
The Range ruler is used to determine the success of attacks against other Starships only. The short side of the Range ruler is used by all players. The long side of the Range ruler is only used by a player who has developed 2nd level orange Technology.
Recruit
This is one of the actions that a player may take on his turn. The active player may distribute up to 2 Troops amongst any Planets he Occupies and his Homeworld as long as the limit of 3 Items per Planet is not exceeded.
Research Facility
Building Research Facilities on Planets is necessary for Developing Technology.
Starship
Each player starts the game with 2 Starships.
Supply
These are the areas on a player's placard where available Troops and Starships that are not currently in play are kept. When the rules call for the player to add Troops or Starships, they come from the box and are then added to the player's Supply.
Structure
There are 3 types of Structures that can be built; Research Facilities, Colonies, and Cities. More than one of the same Structure may be built on the same Planet as long as the limit of 3 Items per Planet is not exceeded.
Technology
There are 4 different Technology tracks (found on the player's placard) that correspond to each of the 4 different colors of Planets found in the galaxy (not including Homeworlds). The different Technologies grant the players new powers or let them break the normal rules of the game.
Troops
Each player starts the game with 6 Troops in their Supply. Troops increase a Planets Defense value by 1. Troops are also used to build Structures, and to Launch Starships.
Victory Points (VP)
The player with the most VP at the end of the game is the winner.
Credits
Game Design: Ian Cooper
Graphic Design, Artwork, Rules Layout: Chechu Nieto
Publisher: Z-Man Games, Inc, 64 Prince Road, Mahopac NY, 10541, http://www.zmangames.com. For any inquiries please email to: [email protected]
Special Thanks to Jillian Cooper for giving me the inspiration for the game, and to Dan Manfredini for letting me bounce countless ideas off of him.
Playtesters: Dan Manfredini, Cory Williamson, Melissa Kellogg, Marc Majcher, Jonathan A Leistiko, Andre Monserrat, Christopher Fritel and Jonathan Grabert.