Helios Expanse Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup
• Object of the Game
• Sequence of Play
  • Phase 1 – Mission Planning
  • Phase 2 – Mission Operations
  • Phase 3 – Status Report
• Action Cards Explained
  • Aggression (1 Per Action Deck)
  • Blast (1 Per Action Deck)
  • Deploy (1 Per Action Deck)
  • Invasion (2 Per Action Deck)
  • Maneuver (2 Per Action Deck)
  • Terraform (2 Per Action Deck)
  • Training (1 Per Action Deck)
  • Research (1 Per Action Deck)
• Subterfuge Cards Explained
  • Ruse
  • Recon
• Damage Cards Explained
• Trackers Explained
  • Military Strength
  • Technology Advancement
  • Initiative Track
• Game Board
• Faction Cards Explained
  • Almericians
  • Asia Pacifica
  • Ceres
  • Equatorial Emirates
  • Europe Nations
  • Ganymede
  • Luna
  • Mars
  • The Sorority
  • Titans
• Example of Mission Operations
• End of the Game
• Glossary

Components

• Board (Double Sided) (1)
• Cards (105)
  • Blue Actions (11)
  • Green Actions (11)
  • Orange Actions (11)
  • Purple Actions (11)
  • Red Actions (11)
  • Factions (10)
  • Player Aid Cards (5)
  • Subterfuge Cards (10)
  • Damage (25)
• Cubes (50)
  • 10x Blue, 10x Green, 10x Orange, 10x Purple, 10x Red
• Rulebook (1)
• Tokens
  • Asteroid Hexes (8)
  • Spaceship Standees (5)
• Tracker discs (17)
  • 2x White, 3x Blue, 3x Green, 3x Orange, 3x Purple, 3x Red

Setup

See Figure 01.

A. Place the Game Board in the center of the table, configuring it based on the number of players (reference "Game Board" on page 10 for details).

B. Place a white tracker disc on the level 1 Round hex.

C. Place a white tracker disc on the level 1 Turn hex.

D. Place the 25 Damage Cards in a pile in a central location.

E. Each player sets up their Mission Control Space:

1. Players randomly choose a Faction, placing the Faction Card in front of them. If this is a player's first play through, it is recommended that they do not play the Faction. Ignore the abilities on the Faction Card this first time playing.
2. Players place 10 Colony Cubes of their color to the left of their Faction Card.
3. Players shuffle the 11 Action Cards of their color and place them face down to the right of their Faction Card. These cards are their Action deck.
4. Players place their Ruse Card and Recon Card face up above their Faction Card.
5. Players take the 3 small wooden discs of their color, and place one on the level 1 Technology Advancement Track hex, one on the level 1 Military Strength Track hex, and set one aside for use on the Initiative Track.
6. Players place their spaceship standee on the wormhole hex located at the center of the Game Board.

F. One player takes a disc of each player's color, shuffles them, and places them randomly on the Initiative Track. For this first round only, the player whose disc is placed first on the Initiative Track is the First Player.

G. Leave a space next to this central location to add the Compiler Stack, which players will create during the Mission Operations Phase.

Object of the Game

No one on any ship remembers a person alive, who could tell of someone who came from the SOL system. The past is dead and bio-fueled. All anyone thinks about is the burning need to move forward and conquer the system of Helios Six's planets. To win, you must gain supremacy in the new galaxy. To attain this goal, you will race to colonize more planets than your opponents...without having your colonies and spaceships destroyed.

Sequence of Play

There are five Rounds in a game. Each Round has three phases:

• PHASE 1 – MISSION PLANNING: The players play their Action Cards into a common Compiler Stack in the center of the table.
• PHASE 2 – MISSION OPERATIONS: The Action Cards played in the Compiler Stack are performed.
• PHASE 3 – STATUS REPORT: Each player shuffles their Action Deck and places it to the right of their Faction Card. Ruse and Recon Cards are refreshed, and the new player turn order (Initiative) is determined.

Phase 1 – Mission Planning

At the beginning of a Round, each player draws up to their Hand size. The starting Hand size is seven cards. Beginning with the First Player, each player takes their Turn, followed by the next player on the Initiative Track. When everyone has taken their Turn, move the white tracker disc to the next level. Each player will take five Turns per Round.

On their Turn, a player chooses to do ONE of the following (Figure 03):

1. Place one Action Card face up on the Compiler Stack. See "Action Cards Explained" on page 6 for more information.
2. Exhaust their Ruse Card to place one Action Card face down on the Compiler Stack. Ruse is a once per Round ability. See "Ruse" on page 9 for more information.
3. Exhaust their Recon Card to draw three additional cards from their Action Deck, and add them to their Hand. Recon also allows a player to increase their Technology Advancement or Military Strength, if certain conditions are met. If a player is using the Recon Card this Turn, they may not place an Action Card on the Compiler Stack. Recon is a once per Round ability. See "Recon" on page 9 for more information.

MISSION PLANNING EXAMPLE:

• Red player's Hand is Aggression, Blast, Terraform, Maneuver, Training, Invasion, Invasion
• Green player's Hand is Blast, Terraform, Terraform, Research, Training, Invasion, Invasion
• Blue player's Hand is Blast, Terraform, Deploy, Maneuver, Maneuver, Training, Invasion

EXAMPLE 01 (TURN 1): In the great cosmic lottery of space, Red has been chosen, so in Initiative order, Red goes first and places Maneuver face up on the Compiler Stack. Green plays Training face up. Blue also chooses to play Training face up, and the white tracker disc is moved.

EXAMPLE 02 (TURN 2): Red next places Terraform face up. Green places Research face up. Blue picks Maneuver, playing it face up.

EXAMPLE 03 (TURN 3): Red chooses Training next to play face up. Green, with some tough luck, doesn't have any movement cards, so they choose to exhaust their Recon Card to draw three (picking up Aggression, Deploy, and Maneuver). Since Green is the same level on the Military Strength Track and Technology Advancement as Blue and Red, they do not go up a level. Blue places Terraform face up on the Compiler Stack.

EXAMPLE 04 (TURN 4): Now Red chooses to place Aggression face up first. Green chooses Maneuver to place face up on the Compiler Stack. Blue exhausts Ruse, and plays Blast face down.

EXAMPLE 05 (TURN 5): Red exhausts Ruse for their final turn, and places Blast face down; they have not used either of their Invasion Cards this phase. Green selects Terraform to play face up and has Aggression, Blast, Deploy, Terraform, and both Invasion Cards remaining in their Hand. In terms of strategy, both Red and Green are in good positions to Retreat, using their Invasion cards, if needed during the Mission Operations Phase, and Green can jettison up to three cards for additional movement points. Blue's final choice is Deploy played face up on the Compiler Stack; they have Invasion and Maneuver left in their Hand.

NOTE: To read more about the abilities on each card, see "Action Cards Explained" on page 6.

Phase 2 – Mission Operations

The First Player takes the Compiler Stack created during the Mission Planning Phase, and turns the deck over, without changing the order of the cards. Each programmed action is performed one-by-one, starting with the top card. All Action Cards will be performed in the order they were played. After all of the Action Cards have been performed, the cards are given back to the players to whom they belong.

STARTING THE GAME: During their first move, players will move out from the wormhole hex for their first movement point.

NOTE: All hexes with asteroids (see "Figure 11" on page 11) take +1 point of movement to move out of. For more information, see "Game Board" on page 10.

Phase 3 – Status Report

Each player shuffles all their Action Cards, and any Damage Cards they sustained in previous Rounds, back into their Action Deck. Ruse and Recon Cards are refreshed, and the new player Initiative order is determined.

The players' Initiative order is determined using the Initiative Track. At the end of Phase 3, the starting positions are rearranged. The Initiative order is always set to be the opposite of the players' Military Strength (the player with the lowest Military Strength will play first). Player order is determined by moving from left to right on the Military Strength Track, and then from top to bottom if there is a stack of player discs. See "Initiative Track" on page 10 for more information.

FIGURE 04: Once the Status Report Phase is finished, move the white tracker disc to the next level. At the end of Round 5, the game ends, and players add up their Victory Points to determine the winner. See "End Of The Game" on page 15 for more information.

Action Cards Explained

Your Action Cards are your primary tools for dominating Helios Six's planets over the other Factions. While you do have a few other options, these cards are the foundation of your abilities learned from generations of training and preparation. As you level up in Technology Advancement and Military Strength, some cards will gain Advanced abilities.

SYMBOL GLOSSARY:

• Colony
• Military Strength Track
• Technology Advancement Track
• Greater than (>)
• Less than (<)
• Greater than or equal to (≥)

The card examples in this section are the Blue deck (card codes BA01 to BA11). Each card's printed text is given after its rules text, with icons written as words.

Aggression (1 Per Action Deck)

• A player may move their spaceship; a player's movement value is reflected on the Technology Advancement Track. Players may not move their spaceship through a hex with another player's spaceship.
• ADVANCED AGGRESSION: During movement, if the active player's Military Strength is greater than or equal to 2, they may enter the hex (territory) of an enemy spaceship. The active player will broadside the spaceship, and move the enemy's spaceship to an adjacent hex.

FAQ – MUST THE ACTIVE PLAYER END THEIR MOVEMENT IN THE HEX OF AN ENEMY SPACESHIP IN ORDER TO BROADSIDE IT? No, the active player's strategic movement was planned, and therefore may strike to broadside an enemy spaceship at anytime during movement.

Printed card text (BA01):

• AGGRESSION: Your spaceship may move up to your Technology Advancement movement value.
• ADVANCED AGGRESSION: During movement, if Military Strength ≥ 2, then your spaceship can broadside an enemy spaceship. Push 1 opponent's spaceship up to 1 adjacent hex.

Blast (1 Per Action Deck)

• A player's Blast range from their spaceship to a targeted spaceship is up to 2 hexes. Push the targeted spaceship up to 2 additional hexes. This does not count towards their movement. Ignore the +1 movement to asteroids.
• Players hit by Blast must also draw one Damage Card and add it to their Action Deck. This Damage Card will be shuffled with their Action Cards (along with any Damage Cards they have sustained in previous Rounds) during the Status Report Phase.
• ADVANCED BLAST: If the active player's Technology Advancement is greater than or equal to 6, they may instead choose any planet with their Colony Cube to perform Blast. A player's colony has a Blast Range of 1, and the targeted spaceship may still be moved up to 2 hexes.
• ADVANCED SHIELDS: Players with Technology Advancement greater than or equal to 9 have developed Shields in protection against Blast. Players with protection against Blast cannot be moved and do not take Damage Cards.

FAQ – CAN I USE THE MANEUVER CARD ACTION TO JETTISON A DAMAGE CARD I RECEIVED THE SAME ROUND? No, only cards in your hand may be jettisoned from play as part of the Maneuver Card action.

Printed card text (BA02):

• BLAST: Push target's spaceship up to 2 adjacent hexes. Range 2. Assign 1 Damage Card.
• ADVANCED BLAST: If your Technology Advancement is ≥ 6, you may activate Blast from one Colony, range 1.

Deploy (1 Per Action Deck)

• A player may move their spaceship; a player's movement value is reflected on the Technology Advancement Track. Players may not move their spaceship through a hex with another player's spaceship.
• ADVANCED DEPLOY: Military occupation is still a planet occupied— much like the mythical Jamestown. After movement, if the active player's Military Strength is greater than or equal to 5, they may place a Colony Cube at their spaceship's location, if the planet is unoccupied.

Printed card text (BA03):

• DEPLOY: Your spaceship may move up to your Technology Advancement movement value.
• ADVANCED DEPLOY: After movement, if Military Strength ≥ 5, then your spaceship can place a Colony at your spaceship's location if planet is unoccupied.

Invasion (2 Per Action Deck)

• If the Military Strength of an adjacent planet's colony is less than the Military Strength of the active player's colony, then they remove the adjacent planet's Colony Cube and replace it with one from their supply. The active player must play their Invasion Card from an adjacent planet occupied by one of their Colony Cubes. Colony Cubes removed via Invasion are returned to the owner's supply.
• Factions with a spaceship at the battleground planet (the planet with a Colony Cube that is being attacked) receive a +1 Military Strength bonus.
• During Invasion, the targeted player may play an Invasion Card from their Hand to retreat to an adjacent planet that is not colonized. This planet may have the retreating player's spaceship located there (friendly territory) or be completely empty (unoccupied). The retreating Colony Cube is placed on the adjacent planet rather than returned to the owner's supply.
• ADVANCED INVASION: If the active player's Military Strength is greater than or equal to 6, they may attack from their spaceship. The spaceship may be on, or adjacent to the targeted enemy planet for an Invasion.

FIGURE 05 (EXAMPLE OF AN INVASION): In this example it is Blue's turn. One of Blue's Invasion Cards is up, and they have a Blue Colony Cube next to the Red Colony Cube. Looking at the Military Strength Track, we see Red is on level 5, and with their spaceship on the hex under attack, they have a +1 bonus bringing their Military Strength up to 6. Unfortunately, it is not enough to beat Blue's 7 on the Military Strength Track. Red does have their own Invasion Card in their Hand though, so they play it to Retreat, and move their Colony Cube to the adjacent unoccupied planet, rather than losing it from the board altogether.

Printed card text (BA04):

• INVASION: If a Colony adjacent to your Colony has Military Strength < your Military Strength, remove that Colony and replace it with one from your supply.
• ADVANCED INVASION: If Technology Advancement ≥ 6, then you may activate Invasion from your spaceship.
• RETREAT (label printed on the card)

Icon check: the printed card shows the Technology Advancement icon (not the Military Strength icon) in the Advanced Invasion condition. The rules text above, the Advanced Invasion bullet, and the Military Strength Track glossary entry all say Military Strength greater than or equal to 6. The card is transcribed as printed; the Military Strength reading is the rules text's.

Maneuver (2 Per Action Deck)

• A player may propel their spaceship across space... and hexes. A player's movement value increases with Technology Advancement. For example, a player at level 5 on the Technology Advancement Track has up to 4 total movement points. For more information see "Technology Advancement" on page 10. There are also hexes that have restricted movement. See "Game Board" on page 10 for examples of these dangers, in the expanse of Helios Six. Players may not move their spaceship through a hex with another player's spaceship.
• As part of the Maneuver action, a player may jettison up to 3 cards from their hand. These cards are removed from the game. A player may gain 1 advanced movement point for each card jettisoned this way.
• Players may not enter a hex containing a spaceship using this card.

FAQ – DO I HAVE TO MOVE IF I PLAY A MANEUVER CARD? No, you can choose to use 0 movement points.

FAQ – ARE CARDS JETTISONED FROM PLAY EVER RETURNED TO MY ACTION DECK? No, just like spacing someone out the airlock, cards jettisoned from play via the Maneuver Card are completely removed from the game, and do not count towards end game scoring. This can sometimes work to your benefit. For example, you can jettison Damage Cards from your hand, so not to negatively impact your score.

FAQ – DO I HAVE TO SHOW MY JETTISONED CARDS? You do not need to reveal what card types were jettisoned. This is hidden information.

FIGURE 06 (EXAMPLE OF MANEUVER): Green is at Technology Advancement level 7. To get where they want to go in one turn, they jettison 3 cards from their hand, and now have up to 8 movement points (5 basic movement points + 3 advanced movement points).

Printed card text (BA06):

• MANEUVER: Jettison up to 3 cards from your hand. Gain 1 advanced movement point for each card jettisoned.

Terraform (2 Per Action Deck)

• To begin your glorious domination across the systems in Helios Six, place a Colony Cube at your spaceship's location, as long as the planet is unoccupied.
• ADVANCED TERRAFORM: If your Technology Advancement is greater than or equal to 5, you may place an additional Colony Cube on an adjacent unoccupied planet.

FAQ – ARE COLONY CUBES LIMITED? Space may be infinite, but your empire is not. No player may have more than 10 Colony Cubes on the Game Board.

FAQ – IF MY TECHNOLOGY ADVANCEMENT IS GREATER THAN OR EQUAL TO 5, MAY I PLACE A COLONY CUBE ONLY ON THE ADJACENT UNOCCUPIED PLANET AND NOT ON MY OWN HEX? Heads of terraforming and biomes have given an affirmative on this venture. Yes, you do not have to satisfy the condition of placing a Colony Cube at your spaceship's location to place a Colony Cube on an adjacent unoccupied planet (so long as you satisfy the Advanced Terraform requirements).

Printed card text (BA09):

• TERRAFORM: Place [Colony] a at your spaceship's location if the planet is unoccupied. ([Colony] is the Colony icon; the card prints the icon and then the word "a" in this position, as shown. The rules text reads "place a Colony Cube".)
• ADVANCED TERRAFORM: If Technology Advancement ≥ 5 then your spaceship can place an additional [Colony] on an unoccupied planet adjacent to your spaceship.

Training (1 Per Action Deck)

• Increase Military Strength level by 1. For more information see "Military Strength" on page 9.
• ADVANCED TRAINING: Building better weapons for tomorrow, today! If your Technology Advancement is greater than or equal to 3, then you level up the Military Strength level by 2 when using the Training Card.

Printed card text (BA11):

• TRAINING: If Technology Advancement < 3, then increase Military Strength by 1.
• ADVANCED TRAINING: If Technology Advancement ≥ 3 then increase Military Strength by 2.

Discrepancy: the printed base TRAINING card carries a condition ("If Technology Advancement < 3"), but the base rules text above, the Military Strength section, and the glossary describe Training as an unconditional Military Strength increase by 1. The card text is transcribed as printed; the rules text is also kept as printed. The WIP copy does not resolve this.

Research (1 Per Action Deck)

• Increase Technology Advancement level by 1. For more information see "Technology Advancement" on page 10.
• ADVANCED RESEARCH: Explore, expand, and exploit other colonies for their tech! If your Military Strength is greater than or equal to 3, then increase your Technology Advancement level by 2.

Printed card text (BA08):

• RESEARCH: Increase Technology Advancement by 1.
• ADVANCED RESEARCH: If Military Strength ≥ 3 then increase Technology Advancement by 2.

Subterfuge Cards Explained

Sometimes a Faction needs to use more political methods to gain advantage in their struggle to flourish. Not all talents need to be straightforward, which is why each Faction also has two Subterfuge Cards. Subterfuge Cards remain face up by the player's Faction Card.

Ruse

The Ruse Card conceals the type of Action Card played by the active player. During the Mission Planning Phase, the active player may exhaust their Ruse Card to place one Action Card face down on the pile. Ruse is a once per round ability.

Printed card text (BS01): RUSE: Exhaust this card to play an Action Card face down.

Recon

During the Mission Planning Phase, the active player may exhaust their Recon Card to draw three additional cards from their deck, and add them to their Hand.

In some cases, Recon allows a player to increase their Technology Advancement or Military Strength if certain conditions are met. If an adjacent Colony or Spaceship's Military Strength or Technology Advancement is greater than the active player's Military Strength or Technology Advancement, the active player may immediately increase the corresponding track by one. If there are multiple options (two adjacent players of higher Military Strength and Technology Advancement) the active player may choose only one track to advance once.

If a player is using the Recon Card this Turn, they may not place an Action Card on the Compiler Stack. Recon is a once per round ability.

NOTE: Subterfuge Cards are refreshed (rotated upright) during the Status Report Phase.

Printed card text (BS02): RECON: Exhaust to draw 3 cards. If adjacent Colony or Spaceship's Military Strength or Technology Advancement is greater than your Military Strength or Technology Advancement, increase corresponding track by 1.

Damage Cards Explained

A player may receive one of these cards as a result of being on the business end of a Blast Card. Collecting these cards will give a player less options on their draw, but may be discarded for extra movement points using the Maneuver Card.

Damage Cards sustained during a Mission Operations Phase are shuffled into the Action Deck during the Status Report Phase and are not immediately part of the player's Hand.

Printed card text (DM01): DAMAGE: Each Damage Card in your deck is -1 VP.

Trackers Explained

Tracks players Advancement in Technology, Military Strength, and Initiative.

Military Strength

If a player uses their Training Card, they will move up the Military Strength Track. During setup, players place the second of their three color discs on the Level 1 hex of the Military Strength Track. This track adds bonuses to other Action Cards and increases Hand size. It also gives bonuses to the Technology Advancement Track. If a player's ship is on a planet while an attack is happening, they receive a +1 bonus to their Military Strength, whether on the attacking or defending side. Finally, the Military Strength Track determines Initiative for the next round at the end of the Status Report Phase.

FIGURE 07 (EXAMPLE OF A 4-PLAYER SETUP): A. All players start the game at level 1 on the Military Strength Track. B. Players must be level 8 on the Technology Advancement Track before achieving levels 8-10 on the Military Strength Track.

As you Level up on the Military Strength Track, here are the abilities you can acquire:

1. N/A
2. ADVANCED AGGRESSION: Play an Aggression Card to move to the hex of an enemy spaceship. Broadside the targeted spaceship, and move it to an adjacent hex.
3. ADVANCED RESEARCH: Increase your Technology Advancement by 2 when using the Research Card.
4. INCREASE YOUR HAND SIZE BY 1 (YOUR STARTING HAND SIZE IS 7).
5. ADVANCED DEPLOY: Play a Deploy Card and after movement, place a Colony Cube at your spaceship's location, if the planet is unoccupied.
6. ADVANCED INVASION: Play an Invasion Card to attack from your spaceship. The spaceship may be on, or adjacent to the targeted enemy planet.
7. Must have Technology Advancement Track at level 8 to go any higher on this Track.
8. Unlocks when Technology Advancement Track is at level 8.
9. Unlocks when Technology Advancement Track is at level 8.
10. Unlocks when Technology Advancement Track is at level 8.

Technology Advancement

During the game, when a player uses their Research Card, they will move up the Technology Advancement Track. During setup, players place one of their three color discs on the Level 1 hex of the Technology Advancement Track. This allows a player 2 points of movement until they level up. As they increase in levels, they will also gain more movement points. The only other way to gain movement points is discarding up to 3 cards as part of the Maneuver action. See "Maneuver (2 Per Action Deck)" on page 7 for more information. At the end of the game, the Faction with the highest Technology Advancement Track receives 1 Victory Point. In the case of a tie, both (or all) receive 1 Victory Point each.

FIGURE 08 (EXAMPLE OF A 4-PLAYER SETUP): A. All players start the game at level 1 on the Technology Advancement Track with 2 points of movement. B. Movement points increase by level on the Technology Advancement Track. For example, levels 4–6 allow 4 movement points.

As you Level up on the Technology Advancement Track, here are the abilities you can acquire:

1. MOVE 2
2. MOVE 3
3. ADVANCED TRAINING: Level up the Military Strength Track by 2 when using the Training Card.
4. MOVE 4: Increase your Hand size by 1 (your starting Hand size is 7).
5. ADVANCED TERRAFORM: Play a Terraform Card and you may place an additional Colony Cube on an adjacent unoccupied planet.
6. ADVANCED BLAST: Play a Blast Card and you may choose any planet with your Colony Cube, instead of your spaceship, to perform Blast. A player's colony has a Blast Range of 1.
7. MOVE 5
8. WEAPONS ENGINEERING: Unlock levels 8 and higher on the Military Strength Track.
9. ADVANCED SHIELDS: You are now protected against Blast. You cannot be moved and do not take Damage Cards.
10. N/A

Initiative Track

During setup, one player takes the third color disc from each player, shuffles them, and places them randomly on the Initiative Track. The player who is placed first on the Initiative Track is the First Player. For all other rounds, player order is determined during the Status Report Phase, by moving from left to right on the Military Strength Track and from top to bottom in a given stack of player markers.

FIGURE 09 (EXAMPLE OF A 4-PLAYER STARTING SETUP): Initiative order, based on the Military Strength Track is Blue, Red, Green, Purple. Except for the start of the game, player order is determined during the Status Report Phase, by moving from left to right on the Military Strength Track and from top to bottom in a given stack of player markers.

Game Board

The Game Board represents the solar systems found in Helios Six. Players start the game with their spaceship standee placed on the wormhole hex. Note that the planet positions are mirror flipped between the Alpha and Beta sides of the Game Board.

FIGURE 10 (WORMHOLE): During set up, players place their spaceship standee on the wormhole hex located at the center of the Game Board, before moving. The first hex away from the wormhole is the first movement point.

FIGURE 11 (3-5 PLAYER GAME BOARD SETUP): The Game Board adjusts to 3, 4, or 5 players.

• A. 3 PLAYERS: Use the Alpha side if 3 players are participating.
• B. 4 PLAYERS: Use the Beta side, and cover the hexes labeled 5 with the double asteroid tokens, if 4 players are participating.
• C. 5 PLAYERS: Use the Beta side with all the planets, and without additional asteroid tokens, if 5 players are participating in the game.

FIGURE 12 (HEXES WITH ASTEROIDS): A spaceship must take +1 move to move out of a hex with asteroids (for a total of 2 movement), also known as restricted movement. If the player has only 1 movement, they may move into a hex with asteroids, but cannot move out until they use another movement point.

FIGURE 13 (PLANET SECTORS): On the Game Board, planets are grouped into sectors. Sectors are separated by white lines. Certain rules, such as the Asia Pacific Faction's Ability, and Victory Points awarded, are based on sectors, so be mindful of them during your game.

• D. Sectors for 3 player game using Alpha side.
• E. Sectors for 4 player game using Beta side. (Note: asteroid tokens cover the 5th player planets).
• F. Sectors for 5 player game using Beta side.

Faction Cards Explained

Faction Cards provide a player's Faction with asymmetrical abilities. For your first game, it is recommended that players do not use the Faction Card abilities.

The Faction flavour text in the rulebook (the background paragraph for each Faction) is not transcribed; the ability text is transcribed in full, as printed.

Almericians

COLLATERAL DAMAGE: While the active player, your spaceship adds +1 to all adjacent battleground planets.

Asia Pacifica

GENERATION: If your Technology Advancement is ≥ 5, you may place a second Colony on a planet when using TERRAFORM or ADVANCED DEPLOY. Does not affect ADVANCED TERRAFORM. Max one planet per sector with two cubes.

FAQ – CAN I PLACE A COLONY CUBE ON A PLANET WITH ANOTHER PLAYER'S COLONY CUBE? No, you may only place cubes on unoccupied or friendly planets (one with your own cube already placed). (The printed answer reads "cuble"; corrected to "cube".)

FAQ – IF ANOTHER PLAYER USES AN INVASION CARD, DOES IT REMOVE BOTH OF MY COLONY CUBES? No, they may remove one cube at a time, and therefore it takes 2 successful Invasions for another Faction to place a cube on a planet where Asia Pacifica has 2 cubes.

Ceres

SCANNERS: During the Mission Planning Phase, anytime a player exhausts their RUSE Card to play an Action Card face down, you may look at that card.

Equatorial Emirates

ASSET FUSION: If either RESEARCH or TRAINING is in your Action Deck at the end of the Mission Operations Phase, you may play either as a 6th action.

Europe Nations

TACTICAL PROWESS: You are immune to being broadsided.

Ganymede

SECRET OPS: Add your RUSE Card to the Compiler Stack, when revealed during Mission Operations replace it with any card in your Hand.

Luna

COLONIZATION CHESS: If you exhaust RECON during the Mission Planning Phase, you may also move your spaceship. This movement must end on or adjacent to another player's Colony or spaceship.

Mars

BATTLESTATIONS: After any movement, if your Military Strength is ≥ 5, place a colony cube at this faction's spaceship's location if the planet is unoccupied, or you may perform Invasion if occupied.

The Sorority

BULL AND BEAR: Discard your INVASION Card to add +2 to your Military Strength when defending..

Titans

SUPERCHARGED BALLISTICS: Use the BLAST Card to deal damage to all other ships in range OR one ship in double your range.

Example of Mission Operations

EXAMPLE 06: If you'll remember our example during the Mission Planning Phase, see "Phase 1 – Mission Planning" on page 4, the players built their Compiler Stack. In this example, Red is playing the Sorority Faction, Green is playing the Ceres Faction, and Blue is playing the Mars Faction. During the Mission Operations Phase, Action Cards are turned over and resolved one at a time in the order they were placed during the Mission Planning Phase.

EXAMPLE 07: Red's Maneuver Card comes up first. Since they are only level one on the Technology Advancement Track so far, they have 2 movement points. That is enough to reach a planet, and they head there. Green's Training Card comes up, and they advance a level on the Military Strength Track, as does Blue, who chose the same card this round.

EXAMPLE 08: Red is up again, and the Terraform Card means they can place a Colony Cube at their planet! Woo! Green moves up on the Technology Advancement Track, thanks to their Research Card, and Blue is now able to travel thanks to their Maneuver Card. They are not yet level 5 on the Military Strength Track, so they have not unlocked their Faction abilities, which would allow them to move and place a cube on the same turn (like with Deploy) or move to Red's location and replace Red's Colony Cube with one of their own (like with Invasion). Either is a possibility later in the game.

EXAMPLE 09: This time, it is Red that levels up on the Military Strength Track, with their Training Card. Once all three players level up here once more, they will be able to level up 2 hexes at a time on the Technology Advancement Track. Green exhausted Recon to gain 3 cards, and therefore does not have a card to play this round. Blue has Terraform, and places their Colony Cube.

EXAMPLE 10: Well it looks like Red suspected that Blue's Faction, Mars, may be up to no good. Although their Faction's (The Sorority) Strength is in defense, Red chooses to go on the offense this time. With the Aggression Card, Red uses their 2 movement points to reach Blue's spaceship and broadside it, sending it 1 hex away. Red chooses to move Blue to a spot without another planet, and out of range of Red's Colony Cube; that's not gonna end well. Green is finally on the move with a Maneuver Card! In addition, Green is playing the Ceres Faction, which means they have the Scanner ability. When Blue put the next card face down during the Mission Planning Phase, Green exhausted their Faction Card and had a peek...they know what's coming next. They have 3 movement points, thanks to that Technology Advancement Level 3, and get as far from the other two as possible. Blue's turn has arrived, and it's Blast. They are adjacent to Red, and spoiling for a fight. Red's spaceship is in an adjacent hex, and Blast allows Blue to move the Red spaceship up to 2 hexes away, and give Red a Damage Card.

EXAMPLE 11: Red has the Blast Card next. Remember that they did not see what card Blue played during the Mission Planning Phase, since they had used the Ruse card to play it face down. Red also had used the Ruse card to play Blast face down, but now they are out of range of both Green and Blue, and are unable to do anything this round. Green has the Terraform Card and places a Colony Cube on their empty planet. Blue's final card is Deploy. They are not yet at level 5 on the Military Strength Track, so they cannot move and place a Colony Cube at the same time, but they can move to a hex with a planet to be ready for the next round.

End of the Game

The game ends after five Rounds. Each player then adds up their number of Colonies, and subtracts the number of Damage Cards in their deck.

• Technological Supremacy is awarded to the player(s) with the greatest Technology Advancement Track value. Technological Supremacy is worth 1 Victory Point. Ties will be broken by the Faction with the highest Military Strength Track value.
• Each Colony is worth 1 Victory Point.
• Each Damage Card is worth -1 Victory Point.
• Players are also awarded 1 Victory Point for each sector of planets containing at least one of their Colony Cubes.
• WINNER!: The player with the most Victory Points wins the game. In case of a tie, the winner is the player with the greatest Military Strength.

EXAMPLE 12 (REMEMBER): Based on the Military Strength Track, next Round Initiative will be Red, then Blue, and then Green.

Glossary

• ACTION CARDS: The 11 cards every player has as their primary tools for dominating Helios Six's planets over the other Factions. As they level up in Technology Advancement and Military Strength, some cards will gain Advanced abilities.
• ACTION DECK: The stack of Action Cards in your Mission Control Space, which are not in your Hand or the Compiler Stack.
• ADVANCED AGGRESSION: On Military Strength Track level 2, play an Aggression Card to move to the hex of an enemy spaceship. Broadside the targeted spaceship, and move it to an adjacent hex.
• ADVANCED BLAST: At Technology Advancement Track level 6, play a Blast Card and you may choose any planet with your Colony Cube, instead of your spaceship, to perform Blast. A player's colony has a Blast Range of 1.
• ADVANCED DEPLOY: At Military Strength Track level 5, play a Deploy Card and, after movement, place a Colony Cube at your spaceship's location, if the planet is unoccupied.
• ADVANCED INVASION: At Military Strength Track level 6, play an Invasion Card to attack from your spaceship. The spaceship may be on, or adjacent to the targeted enemy planet.
• ADVANCED RESEARCH: At Military Strength Track level 3, increase your Technology Advancement by 2 when using the Research Card.
• ADVANCED SHIELDS: At Technology Advancement Track level 9 or higher, players will not suffer any effects when attacked by a Blast Card.
• ADVANCED TERRAFORM: At Technology Advancement Track level 5, play a Terraform Card and you may place an additional Colony Cube on an adjacent unoccupied planet.