Space Base: Command Station Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• 6 & 7 Player Games
  • The Optimal 6 & 7 Player Scenario
  • Light-Speed Variant
  • Starting Resources
• Extra Dice Sets
• Shy Plutonium Cubes
  • Setup
  • Icon
  • Buying Shy Plutonium Cubes
  • Using Shy Plutonium Cubes
• How to Play
  • On a Turn
  • End of Turn!
• Special Deployment Rules
  • Pre-Deployed Cards
  • Variable Sectors
  • "Rewards" and "Abilities" Are Different Things
• Ability Clarifications
  • Bonus Roll
  • Peek and Buy
  • Buy a Card / Claim a Card
  • Swap Sectors
  • Dice+Arrow(s)
  • Reroll Dice
  • Place a Card on Any 7-12 Sector
  • Place One Charge Anywhere
  • All Players Lose 4 VP
  • Set Dice
  • 2X – Station (Active)
  • 2X – Deploy (Passive)
• Reward Clarifications
  • Rewards and Charges!
  • Charge and Ability Timing
  • The "Hard Way" Rewards
  • Gain Rewards for Any Sector 1-6
  • Arrow Rewards

Components

• 2 Command Consoles (player boards)
• Command Station User Manual (rulesheet)
• 24 Starting Ship cards, divided into 2 identical sets (Player 6's Starting Ships and Player 7's Starting Ships)
• 14 Pre-Deployed Cards
• 2 Credit Counters
• 2 Income Counters
• 2 VP (Victory Points) Counters
• 7 pairs of six-sided dice, in 7 different colors
• 30 Charge Tokens

6 & 7 Player Games

The Optimal 6 & 7 Player Scenario

When playing with six or more players, U.E.S. Command suggests you use the Light-Speed Variant along with the Miners of Shy Pluto Game Play Module (found in Saga Expansion 1).

Light-Speed Variant

When playing with six or seven players, U.E.S. Command suggests you use the Light-Speed starting method.

This is an optional variant for those who want to skip through the first few turns of the game and get into the middle of the game and reduce the average length of the game.

This is not recommended for your first play through.

Before the game, instead of using the usual starting method where each player gets a random level 1 ship, use the following starting method:

• Each player begins the game with 15 credits and 1 income.
• Each player draws four level 1 cards and two level 2 cards.
• Players may spend their 15 credits to buy as many of these cards as they wish and can afford. These ships are placed on their command console and the starting ships in those sectors are deployed behind the board.
• Any unspent credits are kept to start the game. Any unbought cards are placed at the bottom of their respective decks.
• The player who kept the most credits goes first. In the case of a tie, the player with the highest sector card goes first, and if still tied, roll to see who goes first. Starting bonuses follow.

Starting Resources

If you are using the Light Speed variant, the standard starting method, or cards 1-7 from the Emergence of Shy Pluto, the starting bonus resources should be used when playing with 6 or 7 players.

• The starting player does not gain any resources.
• The 2nd player gains 1 credit.
• The 3rd player (if any) gains 2 credits.
• The 4th player (if any) gains 1 income.
• The 5th player (if any) gains 1 income.
• The 6th player (if any) gains 1 income.
• The 7th player (if any) gains 1 income.

Extra Dice Sets

U.E.S. Command has your back, Commodore! You'll notice you have seven pairs of Space Base dice. Each player should use their own set of dice and, after making their roll, leave the dice as they were rolled next to their board. This way if a Commodore has to leave their command console, they can quickly catch up on what happened while they were away by reviewing the dice rolls that they missed.

The dice from the base set as well as the white dice from the Shy Pluto expansion should be used for any bonus rolls or additional rolls that need to be made. Place those dice in the center where any player can grab them if they're needed.

Shy Plutonium Cubes

(Saga Expansion 1 Spoiler Warning)

For those of you who own Saga Expansion 1: The Emergence of Shy Pluto, U.E.S. Command strongly recommends you play with the Miners of Shy Pluto variant that comes at the end of the story when playing with 6 or 7 players. Those added cubes (a.k.a. dice) help keep players engaged in the game during opponents' turns. You can use these cubes when playing with up to seven players. Set-up rules for The Miners of Shy Pluto is reprinted below to incorporate rules for 6 and 7 players.

Setup

1. Place the Shy Pluto card on the table face up (story card 11). Randomly place 1 of the 6 small pink cubes onto each of the spaces on the card with the face of the die faceup.

2. Put all the small red cubes into the bag (this includes all the red dice from Mystery Boxes 1 and 2).

3. Give each player one patrol ship token and place the rest in a pile somewhere convenient for players to reach.

4. Make sure all the ship cards (21-56) are shuffled into the appropriate decks (level 1, 2, and 3).

Icon

There are effects that show the patrol ship icon. When you gain this as a reward or from an ability, take 1 patrol ship token.

Buying Shy Plutonium Cubes

On your turn, after rolling the dice and claiming rewards, you may purchase one or more Shy Plutonium cubes (one of the six pink or red cubes on the Shy Pluto card). You must spend a number of patrol ship tokens equal to the cost shown above the cube (2, 3, or 4). At the end of the turn, after you buy one or more cubes, any cubes to the right of the purchased cube slide left to fill in the empty spaces, then random cubes are pulled from the bag one at a time and placed on any empty spaces.

Using Shy Plutonium Cubes

2-3 Players: Every turn during the roll phase (on both your turn and opponents' turns) roll all the Shy Plutonium cubes that you have bought and gain as rewards anything they show.

4-7 Players: Every turn during the roll phase, on your opponents' turns, roll all the Shy Plutonium cubes that you have bought and gain as rewards anything they show.

How to Play

The starting player takes the first turn of the game.

When a player finishes their turn, the next player clockwise around the table takes a turn. Players continue taking turns until the end of the game.

On a Turn

When a player is taking a turn, they are considered the active player; everyone else is considered a passive player on that turn. Turns are fairly simple in Space Base. Generally...

• The active player rolls the dice and the appropriate players roll their Shy Plutonium cubes.
• Based on the roll, the cards on players' boards, and the rolls of the Shy Plutonium dice, ALL players will gain zero or more various rewards.
• The active player buys a card (or chooses not to).
• If the active player bought a card, they reset their credits to their income.
• The active player's turn ends, and play passes clockwise.

What follows are more detailed and formal phases of a turn to help clarify when abilities can be used.

1. ABILITIES MAY BE TRIGGERED: (Remember "rewards" and "abilities" are different things). All players may optionally trigger abilities as desired. The active player may trigger abilities with blue or green ability boxes. The passive players may only trigger abilities with red or green ability boxes. You may NOT trigger certain abilities, like those with the 2 dice icon.

2. ROLL: The active player rolls both dice and appropriate players (based on number of players) roll their Shy Plutonium cubes and collect the rewards from those cubes. Some abilities like "re-roll" or "set dice" may be used now and only now.

3. ALLOCATE DICE: See examples on following pages. Each player chooses to claim the dice separately or as a sum. Each player's choice is independent. For example, if the active player chooses to take the sum of the dice, it has no impact on the other players' ability to choose the individual dice or the sum of both. Any player that chooses the sum may now trigger abilities that show the green 2 dice and arrow icon. (see page 8)

4. GAIN REWARDS: Each player now gets the rewards on their cards for the sector(s) the dice match. Each sector that you allocate dice to allows you to gain rewards from cards in that sector. The active player gains the blue rewards for cards on their board. The passive player(s) gain the red rewards for deployed cards. Passive players with multiple deployed cards in one sector gain all the rewards in that sector when allocating dice there.

See the following examples for further clarity on this.

Note: If doubles are rolled and you take the dice separately, you gain the rewards for that sector twice.

5. ABILITIES MAY BE TRIGGERED: Same as before (phase 1), players may now trigger abilities if possible and desired.

6. BUY A CARD AND/OR CUBES: The active player may buy any one card they can afford from the 18 available ship cards in the Shipyard, or buy a Colony card. The active player may choose to buy no cards if they want to save their credits.

You may not buy a card that costs more than the number of credits you have. If you buy a card you must spend all of your credits (set your yellow cube to 0) even if that means you spend more than the price of the card.

When you buy a card, place it in the appropriate sector on your board as indicated on the card (the top-right grey number). The card that was in that sector on your board becomes deployed in that same sector above your board. See example on page 15.

Additionally, the active player may purchase one or more Shy Plutonium cubes from the market. They must spend a number of patrol ship tokens equal to the cost shown above the cube.

7. CHARGE ABILITIES MAY BE TRIGGERED: Same as before, players may now trigger charge abilities if possible and desired.

8. REFILL SHIPYARD AND/OR MARKET: If any cards were taken from the shipyard, replace them with the top card of their respective deck. Each level should have a selection of six cards at the end of your turn. If any Shy Plutonium cubes were taken, slide any cubes to the left to fill empty spaces. Random cubes are then pulled from the bag, one at a time, and placed on any empty spaces.

9. INCOME: If the active player's credit cube is lower than their income cube, they move their credit cube up to be equal with their income cube. This is all income does, but it can be quite handy. Passive players do nothing in this step.

End of Turn!

The next player in clockwise order begins their turn.

Special Deployment Rules

Pre-Deployed Cards

When playing with six or seven players, use the included McCaffery Class Monitor-Relay Crafts. These ships, with their own unique card back, are pre-deployed in their listed sectors before the game. Each player should get one pair (one for the 7 and one for the 8 sectors). These cards gain charges during the opponents' turns. When charged with 3 Charge tokens, they may be used during an opponent's turn to either perform a bonus roll or look at the top two cards of any ship deck and buy one of those two cards. The exact text for these abilities is below.

This ability on the Monitor-Relay Crafts may only be used on opponents' turns. If there is a timing issue about which player gets to act first using these abilities, start with the active player and go clockwise. When you use a charged Monitor-Relay Craft ability, you may take a peek and buy action or a bonus roll action.

Variable Sectors

When you see a ship's sector listed with a "+" after it, that means when the ship is first acquired it may be placed in any sector equal to or greater than the sector shown. Thus a ship with a "1+" could be placed in any sector, whereas a ship with a 8+ could be assigned to sectors 8, 9, 10, 11, or 12.

"Rewards" and "Abilities" Are Different Things

ALL ship cards give you rewards. Rewards are gained based on the dice roll. The result of each die roll will tell you which cards you can gain rewards from. Cards that give the reward of a charge will show one or more blue charge squares if the card is "stationed" on your board or red charge squares if the card is "deployed" above your board. When you gain the reward for one of these cards, all you do is place 1 charge on one of these empty squares, if there are any.

Abilities are linked to one or more blue or red charge squares and the presence of the ability icon on the ability box. Using an ability requires you to remove a specific number of charges from that card to use the ability.

IMPORTANT: To use an ability you do NOT need to roll any specific die result. The timing of when you can use an ability is specific to that ability and has nothing to do with what the roll was.

Ability Clarifications

Bonus Roll

These abilities can be used only during phase 1, 5, or 7 of the turn (see page 5).

When you gain a bonus roll, roll two dice. You may allocate the dice and gain rewards for this roll like you would as the active player. However, ignore any effect that would cause you to affect other players, the shipyard, or the unbought colony cards. You may use re-roll abilities and modify your sector rewards with arrow effects as normal. Other players ignore your bonus roll—it does not affect them.

Tip: Try using different dice than the dice you normally roll on your turn; this way other players are less likely to confuse your bonus roll with a regular roll and mistakenly gain rewards for it.

Peek and Buy

These abilities can be used only during phase 1, 5, or 7 of the turn (see page 5).

When you gain a peek-and-buy reward, look at the top two cards of any ship deck, buy up to one of those cards, and then put the rest on the bottom of the deck. Using an ability that allows you to "Buy a Card" is similar to a normal buy except that you only spend the exact cost of the card you buy instead of all your credits.

Buy a Card / Claim a Card

These abilities can be used only during phase 1, 5, or 7 of your own turn (see page 5).

Buy a Card

When you use the "Buy a Card" ability, it acts similar to a normal buy except you only spend the exact cost of the card you buy instead of all your credits. Moreover, you may still make your normal buy on your turn.

If the buy ability also gives you money, you gain the money before you buy the card. You are not required to buy a card when using this ability.

Claim a Card

When you claim a card, simply choose a ship card of the appropriate level from the shipyard and add it to your console without paying for it. This is not a "buy" and you may still make your normal buy. You are not required to claim all the cards indicated.

Swap Sectors

These abilities can be used only during phase 1, 5, or 7 of your own turn (see page 5).

An ability that says you may swap cards in sectors means you take ALL the cards in those two sectors and swap them. This includes the station card and all the deployed cards in each of those sectors.

In the example below you would move all of your cards from your 5 sector into your 8 sector, and all of your cards from your 8 sector into your 5 sector.

A couple of notes: 1: Any cards you buy during future turns are still placed according to their sector number as normal. 2: Many of these abilities have a credit reward listed above their charge squares. These credits are rewards and are earned when you gain rewards for that card in addition to placing a charge on the card.

Before: The swap action moves all cards in sector 5 into sector 8 and vice versa.

After: The sector 5 cards now sit in sector 8, and the sector 8 cards now sit in sector 5.

Dice+Arrow(s)

This ability shows 2 dice to remind you it can only be used if you allocated the roll to the sum, and a right pointing arrow to tell you that you will be changing which sector you get rewards for.

These abilities can only be used during phase 3 ("allocate dice") of the turn and only if you chose to allocate the sum of the dice. It may be used on either your turn or your opponent's turn because it is a green ability.

To use this ability, you must use the sum of the dice.

If this ability shows only 1 arrow then using this ability means the sector you gain rewards from this turn is shifted one sector to the right. For example, if a 9 is rolled and you use this ability, you would gain rewards for your 10 sector instead of your 9 sector.

If the ability shows both a single arrow and a double arrow then using this ability means the sector you gain rewards from this turn is shifted 1 or 2 sectors to the right (your choice).

You may combine these types of effects on a single roll to shift your reward sector many spaces along your board.

Like all other abilities, this ability may be used regardless of what sector it is placed in, regardless of what sector(s) are rolled on the dice, and regardless of it being deployed or not deployed. Moreover, the ability is green, so it can be used on any player's turn.

Example of Using Green-Dice-Arrow Effects

Your opponent rolled double 4. You have 2 single arrow effects charged and 1 double arrow effect charged. You could take the dice individually, but you have nothing in sector 4. However, a better option would be to combine the dice and activate 2 charged effects. Use a charge from sector 1 or sector 2 and then use a charge from sector 5 which allows you to shift 3 spaces to the right. This will give you 4 credits from sector 11. Combining the dice would give you a value of 8, but you also have nothing in this sector.

Reroll Dice

These abilities can be used only during phase 2 ("roll") of your own turn (see page 5). Rerolling one or both dice affects all players. When a player is considering using this ability, they should warn the other players, so they do not gain rewards using the wrong dice results.

Place a Card on Any 7-12 Sector

These abilities can be used only during phase 1, 5, or 7 of your own turn (see page 5). This allows you to put cards on sectors they may not normally be placed on, such as putting a card for sector 12 on sector 7.

Place One Charge Anywhere

These abilities can be used during phase 1, 5, or 7 of any player's turn (see page 5). For the Shy Pluto expansion, we have made it a lightning-bolt icon. When you use an ability with a lightning-bolt icon, you may place one charge on an empty charge square on any of your other cards.

All Players Lose 4 VP

These abilities can be used only during phase 1, 5, or 7 of your own turn (see page 5). Other players lose 4 VP. A player can never drop below 0 VP.

Set Dice

These abilities can be used only during phase 2 ("roll") of your own turn (see page 5). This must be used before you roll the dice. Instead of rolling a die, you choose which result to place it on.

For example, instead of rolling a die you may place it so the '6' result is used. Further, if you had a charge on both of the blue charge squares, you would be able to spend 1 charge to set 1 die and roll the other, or spend both charges to set both dice to any numbers you want.

2X – Station (Active)

This ability can be used only during phase 4 ("gain rewards") of your own turn before gaining the rewards for the roll (see page 5). When you activate this ability and resolve its effect, gain whatever blue rewards you get this turn for one sector two times. Note, this ability cannot be used to charge itself.

Example to the right: If a 2 and 3 were rolled on your turn and you activated this ability, after claiming your credits from your 2 and 3 sectors you could choose to take the reward from either your 2 or 3 sector a second time. If you took the sum for a 5, this ability would let you gain your 5 sector reward twice.

2X – Deploy (Passive)

This ability can be used only during phase 4 ("gain rewards") of an opponent's turn before gaining rewards from the roll (see page 5). When you activate this ability and resolve its effect, gain whatever red rewards you get this turn for one sector two times. Note, this ability cannot be used to charge itself.

Example to the right: If a 5 and 6 were rolled on your opponent's turn and you allocated the dice individually, you could use this ability to gain the rewards for sector 5 twice, thus placing a charge and gaining the 3 credits from sector 5 twice (for a total of 6 credits and 2 charges being placed), but you would not gain the 2 credits from the 6 sector a second time.

Credit (or Income or VP) Generating Abilities

This ability can be used only during phases 1, 5, and 7 (see page 5). When you activate this ability and resolve its effect, gain the credits (or income, or VP) listed in the ability box.

Exchange This Card with Any Other Card on Your Board

This ability can be used during phase 1, 5, or 7 of any player's turn (see page 5). When you use this ability, exchange this card's position with any station card on your board.

For example, if this card was on your board in sector 9, you could swap it with your 7 sector card on your board, in which case that card would now be in your 9 sector and this card would be in your 7 sector.

As another example, if this card were deployed in your 9 sector, and you used the ability, you could swap it with your 4 sector station card on your board. In this case that card would now be deployed in your 9 sector and this card would be on your board in your 4 sector.

You Win!

This ability can be used during phase 1, 5, or 7 of any player's turn (see page 5). Yup, you read that correctly. When you use this ability, points are irrelevant; the game ends immediately and you win! Do not finish the round. If another player has more than 40 VP you win anyway.

Reward Clarifications

Rewards and Charges!

Some cards (examples to the right) give you both a regular reward and a charge. When gaining rewards for these cards you gain both the credits (or other rewards) indicated under the name of the card, and you get to place a charge as normal.

Charge and Ability Timing

As long as an ability can be used after gaining rewards for the dice roll, you may use that ability the same turn it becomes fully charged.

Also note, almost always players can simply allocate dice, gain rewards, and execute abilities simultaneously in order to minimize downtime. If it becomes important to resolve things in order, the active player should allocate dice and resolve all rewards and activations first, followed by the next player(s) in clockwise order.

The "Hard Way" Rewards

When doubles are rolled, you either gain a reward in place of the standard reward on the card or you gain a reward conditionally based on rolling doubles.

Example: Normally this reward provides 2 credits, but when you roll a double 4, you gain 8 credits instead.

Example: When an opponent rolls a double 4, you gain 7 credits. Otherwise, this card provides no reward.

Gain Rewards for Any Sector 1-6

This reward means you gain the blue rewards for a number of unique cards on your board in sectors 1-6. You may not gain the same blue reward more than once.

Gain the Blue rewards for any three of your sectors 1-6.

Gain the Blue rewards for any two of your sectors 1-6.

Arrow Rewards

Both Directions

If there is an arrow pointing to the right and one to the left, then you choose whether to gain the rewards one sector to the left or one sector to the right.

For example, if the card shown here was on your board in sector 10, and you rolled a 10, you could gain the rewards for your sector 9 or sector 11 card.

In the example below, if this same card was deployed in your sector 10, and another player rolled a 10, you would gain the rewards for ALL cards deployed in your 10 sector as usual (2 income plus 3 credits) and the reward for this card would mean you would also gain ALL the rewards for cards deployed in your 9 sector or in your 11 sector (so 4 more credits and 3 VP from your 11 sector).

Arrow and Another Reward

If there is an arrow and another reward, the arrow works the same in this case, but you only can get the rewards for the sector in the direction of arrow. However, you also get the reward shown in addition to the arrow. For example, if the card below was on your board in your 12 sector and you rolled a 12, you would gain 3 VP and whatever reward you get for your 11 sector. If the card was deployed on your 12 sector, you would get all of your other red rewards in that sector, 1 VP and the arrow would give you all of the red rewards in the 11 sector as well.

Arrow + Arrows

When you gain the rewards for this card, you then also gain the rewards for both the sector one space to the left and 2 spaces to the left. For example, if this effect is in your 7 sector, gaining this reward would also give you the rewards for your 5 and 6 sectors.

Diagonal Arrows

These arrows point diagonally to the top left and the top right. When this card is deployed, they can trigger station rewards, and while in station they can trigger deployed rewards.

When you gain this reward you gain the blue station rewards of the card one sector to the right or left.

When you gain this blue version of this reward, you may gain all the red rewards on your deployed cards that are in the sector one space to the right or left. When you gain the red version of this reward you gain the blue station rewards of the card one sector to the right or left.

A Note on Infinite Loops — You Can't!

Multiple arrows next to each other can chain together. However, you can't create infinite loops. If you use the sum of the dice, each reward may only be claimed once. If you use the individual dice, each reward may be claimed no more than twice; once for one die, and once for the other die. For example, in the case below, if you rolled a 7 you would gain 1 credit and then also gain your 8 sector rewards. Your 8 sector reward lets you gain your 7 or 9 sector reward, however, since you've already gained your 7 sector reward for this roll you can't gain it again, so you would want to gain your 9 sector rewards.