Cosmic Empires Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Object of the Game
• Components
• Preparations
• Game Overview
  • The Playing Field Cards
  • The Capacity
  • The Faction Overviews
  • The Secret Missions
  • The Public Missions
  • The Event Cards
  • The Ship Upgrades
  • The Exploration Marker
  • The Combat Dice
  • The Ships
• Game Play
  • The Player's Turn
    • Fleet Movement
    • Diplomacy
    • Shipconstruction
  • The Common Turn
    • Exploration
  • The Combat
  • Winning the Game
• 2-, 3- and 5-Player Versions
• Field Description
  • The Factions
  • Planets (10x)
  • Stations (11x)
  • Fields Without Presence (27x)
• The Event Cards (66x)
  • Standard Event Cards
  • Combat Event Cards
• The Symbols

Object of the Game

Far beyond the centers of the galaxy 5 factions collide in a contested solar system. Whether as scientist, native, pirate, corporation or imperialist you are trying to accomplish your secret mission before your opponents do. You are discovering planets, conquering stations and fighting other players for territory. Mighty fleets will help you suppressing the opponent or diplomacy paves the way for a flourishing nation. Rapid competition is guaranteed, that forces you to prove bravery and smart decision making. At the same time you have to make sure to track the progress of your opponents and be aware of the power alliances can provide.

The player who fulfils his Secret Mission first is the winner and the game ends. This can happen in an arbitrary round. Should several players fulfil their missions in the same round, they will share the victory.

Components

• 48 Playing Field cards
• 36 Shields
• 36 Weapon Systems
• 36 Frigates
• 18 Cruisers
• 70 Capacity Markers
• 15 Secret Mission cards
• 16 Public Mission cards
• 66 Event cards
• 5 Combat Dice (3 white and 2 yellow)
• 3 Wormhole Passage Markers
• 1 Exploration Marker
• 5 Faction Overviews
• 1 Rope Bag
• For each of the 5 game colours: 9 Pedestals and 30 Population Stones

Preparations

1. Playing Field. The playing field is determined by laying out the individual playing field cards. The size of the playing field is depending on the number of players. The graphic on the left shows the field for 4 players (5 x 5). For 2, 3 and 5 players, the description can be found on page 8 in this rulebook.

   The 5 starting fields are put aside, all other game cards are shuffled and placed face down, building a playing field for the chosen number of players. The remaining cards are placed in a deck, again face down next to the playing field and will be used for re-draws. After that, the starting fields are placed at their designated positions. Every player chooses a starting field, representing the point of entry into the system.

2. Population Stones, Ships and Capacity Markers. Every player receives the 30 population stones and the 9 pedestals in one colour. 6 frigates and 3 cruisers are put in the pedestals. 10 population stones of each player are put into the bag.

   Each player starts the game with one frigate and one capacity marker, which are placed on their starting fields. The remaining 8 ships and 20 population stones are used as the player's reserve.

   The Empire player starts the game with 2 capacity markers and 2 frigates. His special ability works as if he got 2 capacities from his starting field.

3. Factions and Secret Missions. The factions are randomly assigned or chosen by the players. Each player receives the faction overview and their corresponding three secret mission cards. They choose ONE of the three missions and put the other two back into the box without revealing them.

4. Public Missions. The starting public mission, marked with a star, is put next to the playing field face up. The other public missions are shuffled and put face down next to the first mission card.

   The starting public mission is marked with a star in the title and is the only card with 6 requirements.

Game Overview

The Playing Field Cards

They form the playing field and have the following characteristics:

1. Name of field or planet.
2. Category of field. Three kinds of fields are differentiated:
   • Planet
   • Station
   • Fields without presence
3. Special ability of the field.

Planet

• Each planet hosts a total of 6 populations.
• When a planet is turned up, one of its populations is always the colour of its planetary symbol.
• The player with the most populations of his colour controls the planet and is the only one who can use his special ability.
• Players get control of planets only through the diplomacy action.

Station

• Stations, asteroid fields and free spaces can only get under control through the action fleet movement.
• The controlling player places ONE population stone onto the field to mark it as his own field.

Field without presence

• All fields which are not planets or stations belong to the category "fields without presence", such as free space.
• Other fields without presence, such as wormholes or fogs, cannot be taken over by players. They stay neutral.

Example: Planet. The field shown is a planet with the name "Cassiopeia". Its special skill enables one player to draw 1 additional event card during his activation phase. The planet receives 6 populations, thereof ONE blue, since the planet icon is blue. The player with the most populations of his colour controls the planet and is the only one who can use his special ability.

Fields are turned up through the action fleet movement (see Fleet Movement). From this moment on they are in play. Planets in play can only be conquered through the action diplomacy (see Diplomacy).

The Capacity

Capacities serve to build ships and are symbolized by capacity markers. A player can have as many ships as many capacity markers he has.

Capacity markers are obtained by:

• the own starting field (includes the symbol of capacity),
• conquering planets and shipyards (include the symbol of capacity), or
• public missions.

If, for example, a player achieves new capacity by conquering a planet, he also gets a further capacity marker. The markers are collected on the starting field. The number of capacity markers now corresponds with the amount of symbols on the fields controlled by that player.

The capacity's special feature is that it is to be collected and that the highest achieved capacity is preserved until the end of the game. Capacity markers remain unaffected even if a player loses all his planets.

Example: Capacity symbols and capacity markers. A player begins the game with one capacity. Therefore his ship maximum is limited to one ship. He will take 2 planets and 1 shipyard in the next moves and increase his capacity to 4. Therefore, he owns 4 capacity markers and can own up to 4 ships. Unfortunately, during the next move he loses one planet and, hence, one capacity. Nevertheless, he preserves the 4 markers of capacity. If the player still wants to increase his capacities, he needs 5 fields with symbols of capacity to obtain one more marker.

The Faction Overviews

They serve as a general overview of all pictograms and each sheet individually defines one of the factions. Each player disposes of an own faction's overview containing:

1. A faction and his special ability. Detailed information on page 9.
2. Overview of the round: Player's turn and Common turn at pages 6-7.
3. Overview of the game's symbols. Look at page 12.

The Secret Missions

They present the player's personal goal. As soon as a player meets all the requirements, at any time, he immediately turns over the assignment, thus ending and winning the game.

Secret missions are secret and should not be displayed to the other players.

1. Assign factions. Each faction has 3 secret missions. At the beginning of the game, every player chooses ONE, which they would like to achieve.
2. Description of the challenge in German and English.

The number 4 is not to be confused with the number 9. The number 9 is not used on any cards in this game; it is always the number 4.

The Public Missions

Public missions offer good chances to enhance the player's action field and thereby accomplish the secret mission more rapidly. To do so, the individual requirements have to be met. All the players take part in the public missions simultaneously, but also voluntarily.

The public mission cards setup:

1. Mission category. A distinction is made between conquest ("Eroberung") and assaults ("Überfälle").
2. Rewards for accomplishment.
3. Claim of the mission.
4. Stones positioning to mark.

There is always ONE mission visible and valid for all players at any time. A distinction is made between two kinds of public missions:

• Conquest. As soon as one player has one of the fields (3) under control, he is allowed to place one of his population stones on the respective position of the mission card (4).
• Assaults. For this achievement, the players have to attack rival fleets or neutral pirates and win the combat (3). The stone positioning follows the sequence (4). After a mission is fulfilled, the award is also given following the sequence. Each stone corresponds to one frigate. In addition a player can achieve immediately one capacity marker, if he attacks and defeats neutral pirates.

A mission is accomplished as soon as all spots on the card are occupied by stones. At this moment, and only at this moment, each player receives the selected awards for his stones. If a public mission is accomplished, it is put away and a new one is turned up. Also, the Exploration Marker is rotated counterclockwise.

The awards for public missions:

1. Population. The card is turned and remains in play. The population stones rest on the card. From one up to all population stones can be applied during a player's move on ONE planet, at any time in the player's turn. Therefore NO diplomatic action is necessary, this does not affect the Player Turn.
2. Event cards. All players draw two event cards for each stone of their colour.
3. Capacity marker. All players receive an additional capacity marker for each stone of their colour.
4. Frigate. The players receive one additional frigate for their stones. Beginning by the position 1 the players place their frigates referring to the display rules on the game board. The capacity rule does not count here, the number of ships can exceed the number of capacity markers.
5. Pirates: 1 immediate capacity marker. In case of the victory over neutral pirates, the player will immediately receive 1 additional capacity marker.

The Event Cards

Event cards allow diverse tactics and have endless surprises for the players. They are kept in the hand and can be played once.

The event card's structure is as follows:

1. Name of the card.
2. Category: Combat ("Gefecht") or standard event card.
3. Description of the abilities (German and English on the card).

You can obtain event cards by:

• activating event planets or research centres,
• public missions,
• winning combats. The winner draws an event card after each combat,
• defeating neutral pirates.

Standard event cards are only played in the own player's turn. Thereby, it is only allowed to play ONE card per move, which can be played at every moment of the move but the combat.

Combat event cards are only allowed to be played during a combat or after the announcement of a combat. However, there is no limit on the quantity of cards played.

The maximum number of hand cards is 5 event cards. If a player has more than that at the end of his move, he is to give the surplus away.

Example: Use of standard event cards. Standard event cards can be played at every moment during the own turn.

The Ship Upgrades

Upgrades support the ships during combat. The upgrade markers are placed underneath the ships and moved together with the ship. There are 2 kinds of upgrades: one that reinforces the attack (weapon system) and another to upgrade the defence (energy shield). Each upgrade counts for ONE ship only. Both the cruiser and the frigate can only be equipped with ONE upgrade of EACH kind. A ship is fully upgraded if it has one weapon and one shield upgrade.

• Weapon system. The ship is now upgraded with additional weapons and can put the targeted ships out of action. The green sides of the combat dice also count as strike.
• Shields. The ship owns an energy shield, which holds counter fire. It grants the ship 1 extra resistance against strikes.

The Exploration Marker

The exploration marker initiates the common turn. The marker is always placed between two players. If the marker is passed due to change of Players' Turns, a common turn is initiated immediately. In the course of the play, the exploration marker circles counter-clockwise among the players. Whenever a public mission is completed, the exploration marker moves one player to the right.

At the beginning of the game the exploration marker is located to the right of the starting player and the game begins by a Common Turn before the starting player makes his first turn.

The Combat Dice

The combat dice serve to determine the number of strikes which the ships score in a combat. The players obtain one die for each attack power of their ships they hold in this combat. They have the following faces:

• 2x red: always strike.
• 2x green: only strike if the ship is upgraded with weapons.
• 1x blue: counts as strike if the event card "Maximale Feuerkraft" was played.
• 1x white: never strike.

There are 5 identical dice in two colours, 3x white and 2x yellow. They serve to differentiate between upgraded and not upgraded ships.

Example: Yellow and white dice. A player has 3 fleets in combat. One of them is upgraded with weapons and hits therefore the red and green faces. The player rolls with the yellow dice to differentiate the upgraded ship from the other two, for which he rolls with the white one.

The Ships

Ships are used to turn over new fields, to gain control of stations and fields without presence, to attack other players and to defend your own fields. There are two kinds of ships: frigates and cruisers. Both require one capacity each. Both have a movement range of 2 fields.

The frigate is an autonomously acting ship with enough space for some fight squadrons. This class of ship established itself through its high flexibility and fast operational capabilities. It has an attack power of 1 combat die and a resistance of 2 against strikes. So, the ship is destroyed as soon as it gets 2 hits.

The cruiser is the dominant ship among the ships. Where it is present, enemies tremble. The immense staff and fight squadrons transported in its cargo, as well as its abundant arms transform this ship into one of the mightiest presences in space. It has an attack power of 2 combat dice and a resistance of 3 against strikes: 3 hits are necessary to destroy this ship.

Game Play

The players take their turns clockwise. The turn of a player is called Player's Turn. After a complete round, every player made his Player's Turn, a Common Turn takes place. This Common Turn is done collectively by all players. When the Common Turn finishes, the starting player continues with his next Player's Turn. The game starts with the Common Turn.

The Player's Turn

It represents the turn of each player. The Player's Turn consists of two phases.

1. Phase: Activation. The player can activate ALL of the abilities of his own fields that show the Activation symbol ONCE. It serves to empower the player and extend his possibilities. Examples of the activation are in the chapter Field Description on pages 9-10.

2. Phase: Main Move. The Main Move is the central part of the turn. This is when the players take influence on the board and on other players. The player can choose from three different moves, but he can perform only ONE in this turn:

• Fleet Movement
• Diplomacy
• Shipconstruction

Fleet Movement

The fleet movement serves the purpose of moving ships. During this action only ONE field can be approached, but with ALL ships that are located within the movement range of the target field.

The player chooses a particular field as a target field. Then he chooses from all the ships that are in range of this field the ones that should fly onto that field. Depending on the target field, one of the following situations is occurring. The target field is a:

a) concealed field b) field in possession of the player already c) field controlled by an opponent (planet, station or field without presence, with/without enemy ships) d) field with Neutral Pirate ships e) wormhole

Each ship has a movement range of 2 fields. If a ship moves two fields, it jumps over the first field. The movement takes place across the sides of the fields. Diagonal moves are not allowed.

Example: Fleet Movement. The yellow player can move his ships from the fields A, B and C onto the target enemy field. The ship on the field D is out of range, so it cannot be moved onto the target field. It has to stay where it is.

Ships cannot be moved in the turn they come into play. An exception applies to the players who begin their player's turn without any ship. They are allowed to move their new frigate immediately.

a) Concealed field. If a concealed field is approached, it is turned over. From now on, it is a permanent playing field and cannot be exchanged during the Common Turn.

• A planet comes into play. At first the population distribution is determined. Every planet has a population of 6, which is distributed as follows:

  1. 1 population of the colour of the planet.
  2. 1 population of the Natives (if they are one of the factions during the game).
  3. x population equal to the number of individual ships x that approached the field.
  4. The missing population is drawn from the bag.

  All population markers are placed onto the planet field. The player that has the most population stones controls the planet. This player is the only one who can make use of the planet's capacity and its ability. If the amount of capacities given by his starting field, controlled planets and controlled shipyards is above the number of his capacity markers, he receives the appropriate capacity markers. If there is more than one player with the most and equal amount of population, nobody is in control of the planet and nobody can use its ability or its capacity.

  Ships influence the population on a planet only when it comes into play. During a later fleet movement to an already turned up planet, the ships have no more influence. If any other than the active player takes control over the new planet, the other player gets the planet's capacity and is able to use its ability during his own player's turn. Only active players can fulfil public missions.

• A station or a field without presence comes into play. The player explores and controls the field by putting a population stone onto this field.

• Neutral Pirates come into play. The player approached a pirates' hiding place. Immediately a combat is initiated. At least ONE combat round has to be made before the player may retreat. Take also a look at "d) Neutral Pirates" below.

  Example: Prize. The field has the prize. The player chooses between 2 event cards or 2 upgrades or 1 event card and 1 upgrade. Any upgrade can be chosen.

b) Field in possession of the player already. Nothing happens, the ships remain on this target field.

c) Field controlled by an opponent. A distinction is made between fields WITH and WITHOUT enemy ships. If there are any enemy ships present on the target field, combat is initiated. If the combat is won by the approaching player (the enemy ships are destroyed or displaced), all remaining ships of the approaching player now stay on the field and the field is treated as a target field WITHOUT enemy ships.

When a target field WITHOUT enemy ships present is approached, the ships of the approaching player remain on this field. If the target field is a planet, nothing else happens. If the target field is a station, an asteroid field or a free space, the field is immediately controlled by the approaching player. The approaching player exchanges the population stone for one of his own population stones. The exchanged population stone is put in the player's reserve.

d) Neutral Pirates. The player approached a pirates' hiding place. Immediately a combat is initiated. The illustrated ship symbols represent the power of the pirates. Pirates never flee. In case of defeating them, which means the ships are destroyed, the player receives as many prizes (event cards or upgrades) as the number shown in the circle on the field. Afterwards the pirate field is discarded and a new one is drawn. Not defeated pirates are complete again in the next combat.

e) Wormhole. Either the wormhole is approached and all the ships stay on the wormhole field, or the wormhole is used for a passageway to another target field. The movement through the wormhole needs ONE ship movement. The target field receives the second passage marker that symbolizes the wormhole exit. Wormholes work in both ways. A movement through the mobile passage marker always leads to the wormhole field. If both wormhole fields are in play, all 3 passage markers are connected with each other.

Diplomacy

The purpose of diplomacy is to get control of planets. The player with the most population of his colour controls the planet. For using diplomacy, the active player chooses the target planet where he wants to develop further presence. Then ONE population stone from the player is placed on the planet in exchange for any other population stone. The exchanged population stone is returned to the reserve of the respective player.

Only planets can be controlled through diplomacy. Generally every planet can be chosen for diplomacy, even planets that have no own ships on them. But planets can also be secured from diplomacy of other players: if there is at least one enemy ship on a planet, no other player can do diplomacy on this planet.

On the other hand, if a player does diplomacy on a planet where at least one own ship is present, he can exchange TWO instead of ONE population stone, but never more than two.

Example: Diplomacy. A: In example A the yellow player places one of his stones and removes a stone of his choice, in this case a red one. Thus the yellow player gets the control over the planet. B: In case B 2 yellow ships are located on the planet. Now the yellow player can place 2 stones and remove 2 others by performing the diplomacy action. No other player can make a diplomacy action on this field, because the planet is blocked through the ship presence.

Shipconstruction

This move enables the player to build cruisers. This is only possible on fields that show the appropriate shipconstruction symbol. The action shipconstruction consumes a whole Main Move. The cruiser comes into play on the field where it was built. Both a frigate and a cruiser consume ONE free capacity. Instead of a cruiser, a frigate can also be built.

After completing the Main Move, the player can check if he met one or more requirements of a public mission. If that is the case, he marks one of the appropriate spots on the public mission card with one population stone from his reserve. If the last free spot on a public mission card is taken, the mission is completed and every player that has taken part in the mission gets the reward that is shown on the public mission card for each of his population stones on the card. Additionally, the Exploration Marker is rotated one step counter-clockwise. The completed mission card is discarded and the population stones are returned into the player's reserves. A new public mission card is laid out.

The Player's Turn ends and the next player begins his Player's Turn.

The Common Turn

Exploration

The players collect information on the layout of the playing field or impact its development. The exploration is done simultaneously by all players. Clockwise, starting with the player to the left of the Exploration Marker, every player chooses ONE of the following:

• examining a concealed field,
• replacing a concealed field.

Examining: the player can look at the face of any ONE concealed field. Subsequently he returns the concealed field to its original place (still face down).

Replacing: the player announces his action and chooses ONE concealed field (that has not yet been examined during this Common Turn) and discards it onto the discard pile. Subsequently a new game field from the pile is placed face down on the original spot of the replaced card without looking at it.

When the last player finished his exploration, their Common Turn is over and the player to the left of the Exploration Marker continues with his Player's Turn.

The first turn! The game starts with a Common Turn. Once the first Common Turn is finished, every player does one Player's Turn consecutively, beginning with the starting player. When the player to the right of the Exploration Marker finished his Player's Turn, another Common Turn is initiated.

The Combat

A combat occurs if ships of different players meet during a fleet movement on one field. All ships on the field join the combat. The combat can consist of repeating rounds which always have the same course:

1. Rolling the dice to set strikes.
2. Damage distribution.

1. Rolling the dice to set strikes. Both players fire their arms simultaneously. The sum of the ship's attack power of one player corresponds to the number of his combat dice. The combat dice's roll determines one strike or failure. Beginning with the attacker, both players roll their dice. The rolled strikes are then distributed on the counter ships.

Any number of combat event cards can be played during a combat.

2. Damage distribution. The defending player starts distributing the counter strikes on his ships. He chooses ONE ship, which receives the strikes first until it is destroyed. Afterwards he chooses the next ship and so on until all strikes are distributed. He is not allowed to distribute the strikes on several ships at the same time. The destroyed ships return to the owner's reserve. The attacking player can distribute the defenders' strikes likewise now.

The damaged ship can be placed on its side to indicate its damaged status.

After the first combat round, the players can decide whether they want to retire (first the defender, then the attacker). Those who do so, perform a free fleet movement on an own field in range of their ships. If the player has no such field, he cannot retire. If no one retires, the combat continues. Distributing the strikes of the new round, the players begin with the already damaged ships.

The combat ends either with a player's retirement or with a destroyed fleet. The combat's winner is the one remaining on the field and his award is an event card. Damaged ships are totally restored in the next round.

Example: Combat. The blue player (attacker) flies with 1 cruiser and 1 frigate on a red player's field (defender) occupied with 2 frigates. A combat takes place. The first combat round begins.

1. Rolling the dice to set strikes: The attacker has a total of 3 dice: 2 of the cruiser and 1 of the frigate. He rolls 2x red and 1x blue. Therewith he has 2 strikes. The defender has 2 dice of the 2 frigates. He rolls 1x red and 1x white, which means he has one strike.
2. Damage distribution: The defender has to distribute 2 strikes. For the first strike he chooses a frigate of his choice. It is damaged now. He has to distribute the second strike on the same ship as well, which destroys it. The attacker decides to distribute the strike on the cruiser, which still needs 2 strikes to be destroyed. After the first combat round, the defender still has one frigate. Should he continue fighting, he is only allowed to use one die.

Winning the Game

The player who fulfils his Secret Mission first is the winner and the game ends. This can happen in an arbitrary round. Should several players fulfil their missions in the same round, they will share the victory.

2-, 3- and 5-Player Versions

2-Player-Version. The setting is as described for 4 players (page 3), with the following exceptions:

1. The system consists of a 4x4 playing field.
2. The two wormhole fields are not in play and have to be sorted out before shuffling the playing fields.
3. After the faction overviews are distributed, both players choose, out of the other players' 3 secret missions, one that is taken out of the game. These missions are not to be chosen. Now the players have to choose out of the two remaining ones.
4. All cards with 5 or 6 requirements are sorted out of the public missions. The pile is mixed and a card is chosen randomly as starting mission.

During the game, the exploration marker is not displaced.

3-Player-Version. The setting for 3 players is as described for 4 players on page 3. Only at two edges, 2 game fields are removed. The playing field consists of 23 fields.

5-Player-Version - Experienced Version. The 5 player version is specially suited to experienced players. It offers a wide variety of interactions and has increased complexity. The setting follows the description on page 3. The 4 player system, 5 x 5 fields, is extended at one edge by 7 more fields.

Field Description

The Factions

The game has 5 factions. Each player represents one of them. All of them have different special skills, whereby, each player disposes of unique options for action.

The Scientists. They know how to work efficiently and precisely. Thereby, they achieve highest productivity.

• Special ability: The scientists have the ability to use ONE field twice during the activation phase.
• Secret missions:
  • Control 3 asteroid fields and 2 stations. Each of these fields must be guarded by a ship.
  • Control 3 fields with shipyards, 1 research centre and 5 fully upgraded ships.
  • Control 1 research centre, 1 upgrade planet, 1 event planet, 1 shipyard planet and 2 asteroid fields.

The Empire. The empire is widespread in the universe and disposes of major fleets.

• Special ability: The empire player always has an additional capacity marker. Thus he starts the game with TWO capacity markers and TWO frigates instead of one.
• Secret missions:
  • Collect 8 capacity markers on your starting field.
  • Control 3 planets, 3 stations and 3 more arbitrary fields.
  • Control 5 capacities due to planets and shipyards. Command a fleet of 5 ships.

The Corporations. Focused on trade and resource depletion, valuable freight is always situated in the cargo compartments of their ships. These have to be protected. Therefore, the corporations' ships are continuously under the protection of escorts.

• Special ability: The corporation player gets ONE battle dice more in every battle.
• Secret missions:
  • Control 3 asteroid fields and 2 stations. Each of these fields must be guarded by a ship.
  • Command 3 more ships than any other player, but at least 4 ships.
  • Control 3 planets, 3 stations and 3 more arbitrary fields.

The Natives. They are native in this system. They are more numerous and also have great influence.

• Special ability: When turned up, each planet obtains ONE population from the native player automatically.
• Secret missions:
  • Collect 7 capacity markers on your starting field.
  • Control two planets more than any other player, but at least 4 planets.
  • Control 4 planets with at least a population of 4 in your colour and 3 stations.

The Pirates. They not only dispose of special ship modifications, they are also very skilled on moving undetected through the system. They are always good for a surprise.

• Special ability: Previous to every battle (after advertising the battle), the pirate player draws ONE additional event card, he can play TWO standard event cards per round and he disposes of unlimited hand cards.
• Secret missions:
  • Control 5 capacities due to planets and shipyards. Command a fleet of 5 ships.
  • Command 3 more ships than any other player, but at least 4 ships.
  • Control 2 planets, 5 stations and 2 more arbitrary fields.

Planets (10x)

• Each planet hosts a total of 6 populations.

• When a planet is turned up, one of its populations is always the colour of its planetary symbol.

• Planets give +1 capacity.

• Players get control of planets only through the action diplomacy.

• Equipment Planet (3x). When activated, the player receives a ship upgrade of his choice.

• Event Planet (3x). When activated, the player receives an event card.

• Shipyard Planet (2x). Cruisers and frigates can be built here. Has to be used in the Main Move. Must have free capacity to use.

• Population Planet (1x). This planet holds 8 populations instead of 6. It has no other ability.

• Diplomacy Planet (1x). When activated, the player gets an additional diplomacy action. This action exchanges only 1 population stone.

Stations (11x)

• Stations can only get under control through a fleet movement.

• The controlling player places a population stone onto the field to mark it as his owned field.

• Shipyard (3x). Only station with +1 capacity. Cruisers and frigates can be built here. Has to be used in the Main Move.

• Research Centre (2x). When activated, the player receives either an event card or a ship upgrade of his choice.

• Outpost (2x). When activated, the player gets an additional fleet movement with 1 ship of his choice. The ship is not allowed to start a combat or to move to concealed fields. It has the normal movement range.

• Smugglers' Hiding Place (2x). Passive ability. Planets that are protected by enemy ships can also be targeted by diplomacy.

• Colony Station (2x). This station is under construction. The player who reveals it decides which station it will be. The player chooses a station (shipyard, research centre, outpost or smugglers' hiding place) of his choice from the pile and replaces it. The pile has to be mixed and the colony station is discarded.

Fields Without Presence (27x)

• Starting Field (5x). Each player owns a starting field. It represents the entrance into the system at the beginning of the game. Can be activated to call a frigate from home. This frigate can be placed on each own field in the system, also on the starting field. But the ship cannot be moved the turn it comes into play. No ship is allowed to move back on starting fields. Capacity markers are placed for all players visible on the starting fields.
• Asteroid Field (6x). Rich in minerals and in great demand. They are quite frequent in public missions. Is taken over like a station. It has no ability.
• Free Space (9x). Is taken over like a station. It has no ability.
• Neutral Pirates (5x). If approached, a combat is immediately initiated. The ship symbols show the pirates' strength. When pirates are defeated, the player gets a prize equal to the number on the field. 1 prize is one event card or one ship upgrade. Defeated pirates are exchanged by a new field. This new field is treated as if the player just moved on it. In the case it is also a neutral pirate field, the player can decide to stay and fight or to leave the field. Combats against neutral pirates are treated like normal combats (damage distribution and so on).
• Wormhole (2x). From here, each field can be approached. If a wormhole is revealed, it receives 1 passage marker. When a player moves through the wormhole, a second passage marker is placed on the target field. All players can travel between the passage markers for 1 movement range in both directions. If a player moves again from a wormhole to another field of his choice, he replaces the second passage marker onto the targeted field. The replacement does not cost any movement. The wormhole is the only field that can be used in the turn it comes into play, as long as each ship of the fleet on it has 1 movement left. Also a combination of movement through wormhole and normal ship movement is possible with different ships.

The Event Cards (66x)

Standard Event Cards

• Playing event cards is limited to ONE card during the own Player's Turn.
• It can be played at any moment of the turn but the combat.

Enhanced Movement (5x). "The movement range of your ships is increased by ONE (+1) until the end of your turn."

The movement range of all your ships is increased by +1. Thus the range amounts 3 (2+1) fields. This can still be raised further.

Upgrades (5x). "Upgrade ONE of your ships."

One of the player's ships receives ONE ship upgrade (shields or weapon systems) immediately.

Patrol (5x). "One of your ships can make an additional movement. Only unconcealed squares with no opponent ships present can be approached."

One ship receives an additional movement with the range of 2. It can only move to already discovered fields without enemy ships on it.

The patrol is especially useful to manage long distances, to conquer undefended stations or to get presence on planets to be able to do the diplomacy action more efficiently.

Spy (5x). "Steal ONE random event card from an opponent's hand. You may play an additional card this turn."

ONE event card is drawn randomly off a target opponent's hand. It can be kept in order to play it at a later moment. In addition, a further event card may be played.

Scouts (5x). "Look at TWO concealed squares OR exchange this card for another event card. You may play an additional card this turn."

The player can choose between two options: either he looks at two hidden fields or he discards this card to draw a new one from the stack. If he exchanges this card with a new one, he may play a further event card.

Combat Event Cards

• Are only allowed to be played during a combat or after the announcement of a combat.
• However, there is no limit on the quantity of cards played.

Sabotage (5x). "Your opponent cannot retreat from this combat."

The target player cannot retreat any ship from this combat. The combat ends as soon as all ships of one player are destroyed or the player who played "Sabotage" decides to retreat himself. (The explanatory line of this card is printed only in German; it is translated here.)

Peace Treaties (5x). "Play this card immediately after an opponent attacks you to prevent any attacks to your ships this turn."

This event card is to be played as soon as another player announces an attack at at least one of the own ships, but before the combat starts and before other event cards. The combat is prevented and the attacker has to take his ships back to their original position. He does not lose his turn and he has to make another action. In doing so, he is not allowed to make further attacks against ships of the player with the card "Peace Treaties" for the remainder of the turn.

The "Peace Treaties" are only valid between these two players.

Direct Hit (7x). "Deal ONE damage to an opponent ship."

The "Direct Hit" causes an immediate hit. The defender chooses the ship to be hit. When a ship is already damaged, the hit goes automatically on this one.

Bomber Squadron (7x). "Bomber squadron support: +1 Attack die during the current combat."

The "Bomber Squadron" gives an extra die for the duration of the combat. This card does not retroactively count for already diced rounds of the combat; it applies from the moment of playing it.

Maximum Fire Power (7x). "The blue sides of your attack dice count as hits during the current combat."

The "Maximum Fire Power" defines the blue side of all own combat dice as hit for the duration of this combat. This card does not retroactively count for already diced rounds of the combat; it applies from the moment of playing it.

Tactical Assault (5x). "You may attack any sector this turn. Ships range is of no importance for this combat."

To perform the tactical assault the player also has to choose the fleet movement action. For this movement his ships have no range limitation and they can reach each desired field.

Revolts (5x). "Reduce the population of one planet by ONE (-1)."

The target planet loses permanently ONE population by the choice of the active player. Every planet, also blocked planets, can be targeted.

The Symbols

• Event card (symbol).
• Capacity (symbol).
• Upgrade (symbol).
• Frigate (symbol).
• Cruiser (symbol).
• "or" symbol (no description printed).
• Prize (symbol).
• Crossed-out field symbol. This field cannot be under player control.
• Red symbol. No function, only for expansion.

Population Stone

• Represents population on planets.
• Is used to mark own stations, asteroid fields and free spaces.
• Is used as indicator on public missions.