Twilight Imperium: Borderlands Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Introduction
  • Extra Counters
  • New Action & Political Cards
  • Optional Rules
• Advanced Construction
• Assassins
  • Shortage of Assassins
  • Using Assassins
  • Bodyguards
• Capital Ships
  • Use of Damage Markers
• Capital Planets
• Mines
  • Placement of Mine Fields
  • Effect of Mines
• Declarations of War and Peace
  • Declaration of War
  • Declaration of Peace
  • Surprise Attacks
  • Keeping track of relations
• The Mentak Coalition
• The Yssaril Tribes

Introduction

You hold in your hands the first expansion for TWILIGHT IMPERIUM. BORDERLANDS includes the counters and player charts for two races: The Mentak Coalition and The Yssaril Tribes, whose homesystems were included in the TWILIGHT IMPERIUM basic game. This booklet also includes several advanced rules options that will enhance the richness of gameplay. You will find the counters needed for certain advanced rules on the enclosed sheet of game counters. Furthermore, this expansion includes two additional sheets of political and action cards that you can use with the TWILIGHT IMPERIUM basic game.

Extra Counters

On the sheet of counters included in this set you will find several new counters for use with the optional rules included in this booklet. You will also find two sets of counters to assist you in playing the TWILIGHT IMPERIUM basic game.

Number Counters: You will find six counters numbered from 1-6. Use these counters to elect random players when needed. They are especially useful in the beginning of a game to determine the beginning order of play.

Elite Fighter Counters: In the TWILIGHT IMPERIUM basic game, some action cards allow players to construct Elite units. Players can use the Elite Counters to indicate which units are 'Elite'.

New Action & Political Cards

Included in BORDERLANDS are 32 additional cards. Some of these cards are only useful if used with this expansion. These cards should be removed from the game before play if the BORDERLANDS races and optional rules are not being used.

Optional Rules

• Advanced Construction
• Assassins
• Capital Ships
• Capitol Planets
• Mines
• Declarations of War and Peace

Advanced Construction

In the TWILIGHT IMPERIUM basic game, players buy new units in the 'Purchase Units' phase, and place these units in 'Place New Units' phase. The units are stacked in front of the player and allocated to whichever Spacedock the player wants in the 'Place New Units' phase. If a Spacedock has been destroyed or blockaded during the 'Individual Turns' phase, there wold be no effect on placing new units if that player has another Spacedock with the capacity to build the units. If a Spacedock has been blockaded or destroyed, and that player had purchased more units than he/she is able to place, the player could choose which units to place and which to destroy.

This rule will be changed with the 'Advanced Construction' option. Using this option, players must draw a box on a sheet of paper for each Spacedock the player has in play. For identification, label the box with the name of the planet on which the Spacedock presides.

Example: The Jol-Nar player has three Spacedocks in play. One on Jol, one on Lazar II, and one on Lort IX. During the 'Purchase Units' phase, the Jol-Nar player has a sheet of paper with three boxes; one labeled Jol, another Lazar II, and the last Lort IX. These boxes represent each of these Spacedocks.

After purchasing new units, the player must secretly allocate her/his new production to the individual Spacedocks. Place the new units in the boxes representing the Spacedocks where the player wishes the units to be built. Use another piece of paper to cover the allocation so that the other players can not view it.

Immediately before the 'Place New Units' phase, players lift the top piece of paper and must now place their units at the Spacedock to which the unit was allocated. If a particular Spacedock has been destroyed, all units allocated to that Spacedock are destroyed and will not be placed on the board. If a Spacedock has been blockaded, all space units built on that Spacedock are destroyed. Ground Forces and P.D.S. can safely be placed on the planet, however.

Example #1: During his turn, the N'orr player invades and captures Lazar II from the Jol-Nar player. The Jol-Nar player had allocated 2 Ground Forces and one Cruiser to his Spacedock on Lazar II. During the 'Place New Units' phase the Jol-Nar player reveals his unit allocation and must destroy all the units allocated to Lazar II because that Spacedock has been destroyed.

Example #2: During his 'Individual Turn', the N'orr player moves into the Lazar II system and tries to invade Lazar II, but the invasion fails. The Jol-Nar player's Spacedock is not destroyed, but the system is now blockaded by the N'orr fleet. During the 'Place New Units' phase the Jol-Nar player reveals that he had allocated two Ground Forces and one Cruiser to the Lazar II Spacedock. Due to the blockade, the Cruiser is destroyed, but the Ground Forces are placed on Lazar II.

Assassins

During the later part of the Age of Dusk, it became increasingly common to solve problems with a simple solution: 'The Way of The Knife' was accepted conversation during the dinner parties of prominent politicians. Though a well timed liquidation can stall an opponent, assassinations are tricky, expensive, and politically damaging.

Assassin units are bought during 'Purchase Units' phase, but are not placed at a Spacedock. They are simply placed next to the player chart, indicating that this race employs a deadly retainer. It costs 20 credits to purchase one Assassin unit.

Shortage of Assassins

If more players wish to purchase Assassins than are available, the player with the highest number of influence can buy one unit, followed by the player with the next highest amount of influence, etc. If there are still Assassins available, players may purchase additional Assassins in a similar fashion.

Using Assassins

The Assassin unit is used to liquidate an extremely important official from another race. Assassin attacks are performed immediately before the 'Political Phase'. Announce which Assassins will attempt to assassinate which players. Multiple Assassins can be allocated against one target, but all assassination attempts must be declared before any attempts are resolved.

An assassination attempt has two ramifications for the player making the attempt. 1) The attempting player looses ten influence (to a minimum of zero) for two turns. 2) He/she is also unable to purchase an Assassin the following turn.

After all players have had a chance to allocate their Assassins, the effect of each assassination attempt must be determined by rolling on the following table. Note that even if a race has already been successfully assassinated this turn, a roll must still be made. In this case, a result of 'Assassination Successful' should be treated as 'Assassination Unsuccessful'.

• 1-4: Assassination Successful.
• 5-9: Assassination Unsuccessful.
• 0: Assassin Betrays Master.

Assassination Successful: The assassinated race looses all its action cards, may not vote in the council this turn, and receives a -2 to all offensive attacks during its next 'Individual Turn'. The Assassin is discarded, and may be purchased again by any player during the 'Purchase Units' phase.

Assassination Unsuccessful: The Assassin did not eliminate the target. The Assassin is now discarded, and may be be purchased again by any player during the 'Purchase Units' phase.

Assassin betrays Master: The Assassin is a double agent and kills its master. The race that played the Assassin loses all its action cards, may not vote in the council this turn, and receives a -2 to all offensive attacks during its next 'Individual Turn'. The Assassin is discarded, and may be purchased again by any player during the 'Purchase Units' phase. That player still suffers the effects of attempting an assassination.

Example: During the 'Assassin Phase' the XXcha player tries to assassinate the Letnev player with two Assassins. The XXcha player rolls for the first Assassin and rolls a 7, a miss. Nothing happens and the Assassin is returned to the pile of available Assassins. With the second Assassin, the XXcha player rolls a 4, success! The Letnev player grumbles, as he discards all his action cards. The Letnev player now can not vote during the following political phase, and any attack the Letnev make during their next 'Individual Turn' will have a -2 modifier. The second XXcha Assassin is also returned to the stack of available Assassins.

Bodyguards

It is possible to fend of Assassins with your own Assassins. During the 'Assassin Phase', before another player rolls the die for an attempted assassination against you, you may play one of your own Assassins as a bodyguard. This adds one to the die roll.

Example: During the 'Assassin Phase' the XXcha player tries to assassinate the Letnev player with two Assassins. The XXcha player rolls for the first Assassin and rolls a 7, a miss. Nothing happens and the Assassin is returned to the pile of available Assassins. Before the XXcha player can roll for his next Assassin, the Letnev player decides to use his Assassin as a bodyguard. The XXcha rolls the die for his second Assassin, a 4. This would have been a hit, but the bodyguard modifies the die roll to a 5, another miss. The XXcha Assassin and the Letnev's bodyguard are both returned to the pile of available Assassins.

There can only be 6 Assassins in play. No one player may hold more than 3 Assassins at any one time.

Capital Ships

This option makes for a more realistic treatment of Dreadnought and Carriers. These massive spaceships are now considered 'Capital Ships' and are able to sustain more damage.

In the TWILIGHT IMPERIUM basic game, one hit could completely destroy a Dreadnought or Carrier. Now, a 'Capital Ship' can sustain 2 'hits'. Included in this expansion are 18 Damage Counters. These markers are used to to indicate Carriers and Dreadnoughts that have sustained one hit -- the next hit will destroy the ship.

Use of Damage Markers

A ship that has sustained a hit is reduced to a movement of 1 and has a -1 to all combat rolls for as long as the Damage Counter remains. Players can remove Damage Counters during the 'Purchase Units' phase if the ship is in the same system as a friendly Spacedock. It costs 3 credits to remove each Damage Counter.

Example: In a space battle between the Letnev and the Mentak, the Mentak player takes four 'hits'. He must apply these four hits to his fleet of one Dreadnought, one Carrier, and four Fighters. He chooses to eliminate two fighters and place a damage counter on both his Dreadnought and his Carrier. The Mentak player could have chosen to destroy his Carrier or Dreadnought, by assigning two hits to either ship. Instead, the Mentak player allows both his capital ships to be wounded in order to participate in the next combat round.

Capital Planets

Immediately before the 'Political Phase' of the third turn, every player must select a planet they control as their 'Capital Planet'. Included in this expansion are six 'Capital Planet' counters. After electing a 'Capital Planet', players place a counter on the selected planet.

Capital Planets have the following effect: That planet's resource value increases by three. As long as a player has a Capital Planet, he/she receives 1 extra credit for each Trade Agreement he/she has in play.

Conquering a Capital Planet: Upon conquering a Capital Planet from an opponent, the invader immediately receives 15 credits and may add 3 permanent influence to her/his influence total. (Indicate this permanent addition by placing the conquered Capital Planet counter next to your individual player chart.)

Losing Your Capitol Planet: If a player looses her/his Capital Planet, he/she immediately must discard all action cards, and half of her/his credits. (Round up.) A player that has lost her/his Capital Planet permanently looses 3 influence points.

Once a player has lost her/his Capital Planet, he/she has lost it for the remainder of the game.

Mines

Included in this expansion are 20 Mine Fields. These represent vast mine deployments that randomly float through space. Mine Fields are purchased during the 'Purchase Units' phase and must be allocated the turn purchased, or be returned to the stack of available Mine Fields. No more than 20 Mine Fields may be in play at any one time. One system can never contain more than 3 Mine Fields at any one time.

Placement of Mine Fields

A Dreadnought can place one Mine Field per turn instead of moving. Mine Fields cost 5 credits/counter and are purchased during the 'Purchase Units' phase.

Mine Fields can never be moved and always remain in the system in which they were deployed until detonated. When a Mine Field is detonated, it is returned to the stack of available Mine Fields.

Example: During his 'Movement Segment', the XXcha player deploys two Mine Fields from his Dreadnoughts in a system that contains two Dreadnoughts and two Cruisers. One of the Dreadnoughts must remain since it produced Mine Fields; the other three ships also choose to remain within the mined starsystem. During his turn, the N'orr player wishes to annihilate the XXcha fleet and enters the system with a fleet of one Dreadnought, two Carriers, and 6 Fighters. Immediately after the N'orr 'Movement Segment', the N'orr player rolls for the first Mine Field in the system. N'orr rolls a 5 and a 6 (for a total of 11). The first Mine Field does no damage and is removed from the board. Then the N'orr rolls for the second Mine Field: a 9 and an 8 (for a total of 17), 2 hits! The N'orr player removes two Fighters. All the Mine Fields are now gone, and the N'orr player may now initiate his 'Space Battle Segment' against the XXcha fleet.

Effect of Mines

Mine Fields affect the next fleet to enter the system even if these ships are of the same race that placed the mines. The effect of mines is determined immediately after the 'Movement Segment', and before the 'Space Battle Segment'.

If a ship, or a group of ships, moves into a system containing one or more Mine Fields, they may suffer damage from the Mine Fields. Roll two dice for each Mine Field, one at a time:

• 2 - 13: No effect
• 14 - 17: 1 Hit
• 18 - 19: 2 Hits
• 20: 3 Hits

If the first Mine Field destroys all incoming ships, any Mine Fields remaining the starsystem are unaffected. If one or more ships survive and there are more Mine Fields in the system, the next Mine Field detonates. This continues to the third (and final) Mine Field, if applicable. A Mine Field is destroyed after it has rolled on the above table.

After resolving all Mine Field effects, the individual player may progress to the 'Space Battle Segment'.

Note that Mine Fields only affect ships entering the system, not those leaving a starsystem, nor those remaining in the system. Thus, one possible strategy for mines is for a fleet containing Dreadnoughts to 'fortify' their position with up to three Mine Fields. (As an attacking fleet enters the system, it must deal with the Mine Fields before it can engage the space fleet.)

Declarations of War and Peace

This option limits the players' abilities to 'betray' one another. At the beginning of the game all races are considered to be 'at war' with each other.

• At Peace: Players who are 'at peace' may trade with each other. They are not allowed to attack or invade each other.
• At War: Players who are 'at war' may not initiate Trade Agreements with each other. They are allowed to attack and invade each other as they see fit.

Declaration of War

During the 'Political Phase' any player may declare war against a player with whom he/she is currently 'at peace'. Immediately after a declaration of war, any Trade Agreement between these players is discarded. (The Hacan may choose to discard a Trade Agreement or not. However, once 'at war', the Hacan, like all other players, are unable to initiate a Trade Agreement.) The players are now allowed to attack and invade each other during their 'Individual Turns'.

Declaration of Peace

Likewise, during the 'Political Phase', players who are 'at war' with each other, can declare peace. This allows for Trade Agreements to be established between them, and prohibits any attack against each other during the 'Individual Turns' phase. Players 'at peace' are not allowed to assassinate each other. (Both players must agree to declare peace, whereas only one player is necessary to declare war.)

Surprise Attacks

A player who is at peace with another player is allowed to declare and initiate an immediate attack an any time. The player who breaks the peace in such a way must immediately pay 30 credits to the bank, and loses 5 permanent influence.

Keeping track of relations

It can be difficult to remember who is 'at war' and 'at peace' with whom. As a result it is recommended that each player maintain a chart that indicates the relationship between herself/himself and each of the other races. This chart should remain visible since this information cannot be kept secret.

The Mentak Coalition

Moll Primus, a lonely mountainous planet on the very outskirts of known space. Used by the ancient empire as a penal colony once claiming the most impressive punitive institutions for criminals in the galaxy. Early during the Age Twilight, Moll Primus was abandoned by its Lazax wardens, leaving its starving inmate population to centuries of chaos and anarchy. Then, led by Ervan Mentak, the scarce and mixed population united and formed a coalition of rouges. The central administration on Moll Primus is called the Table of Captains which is elected by popular vote. Ervans Hand, is the single most influential title in the Table of Regents and on Moll Primus. The Mentak platform of politics is efficient and desimple: Revenge. Publicly denied by the Table of Captains, yet known to all, the Mentak employ a vast pirating fleet, wrecking systematic and efficient havoc among shipping lanes and unprotected military convoys. Pirating and deep core mining are the two main economic drivers for the Mentaks growing military and political power.

For countless centuries, the mixed races of the Mentak have looked towards the skies, a fierce hatred embedded in their genes. Hatred towards the Great Races who abandoned them so long ago!

The Yssaril Tribes

Before the first Empire, the unpleasant planet of Retillion was a prime source of the Menn-Root a delicacy among the Lazax. Small Lazax farm colonies on Retillion encountered a significant problem as a strange race of nearly undetectable, chameleon-like creatures began destroying valuable harvesting equipment and killing farmers. Intelligent, yet without technology the creatures were extremely fierce. The Lazax simply deployed armored troops on Retillion, and exported many of the creatures, who called themselves Yssaril, off-planet for hunting leisure and occasional zoological study. During the Age of Dusk The Great Races saw the potential of the near invisible Yssaril as deadly assassin retainers and spies. Over a period of 3000 years, Yssaril were hired and trained by the great races to construe their darker, hidden, schemes.

Realizing their demand, the intelligent Yssaril formed the feared Guild of Spies, and channeled their formidable income into the development of Retillion. The united Yssaril tribes, led by the Cgaark (the official name for the Guild of Spies) have grown immensely powerful. Tired of working for others, the Yssaril are making their own bid for power. Knowing the forbidden skills of the Yssaril, the great races shudder at the thought of their hidden eyes and ears.