Twilight Imperium: Third Edition – Shattered Empire Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
  • Replacement Cards
• Expansion Overview
• Component Descriptions
  • New Systems
  • New Strategy Cards and the Variant Imperial Strategy Card
  • New Objective Cards
  • New Technology Cards
  • New Race Sheets
  • New Plastic Game Units
  • New Planet Cards
  • Facility Cards
  • Race-Specific Technologies
  • Unit Reference Cards
  • New Action & Political Cards
  • Shock Troop Tokens
• New Additions
  • New Races
  • The Winnaran Yellow Technology Specialty
  • Saar Space Docks
  • New System Tiles
  • Ion Storms
  • Refresh Abilities
  • Trade Stations
  • Larger-Galaxy Games
  • Other New Systems
  • Game Setup with the New Systems
  • New Action, Political, and Secret Objective Cards
• New Technology Cards
• The 7- and 8-Player Games
  • Strategy Cards in the 7- and 8-Player Games
• New Optional Rules and Variants
  • Option 1: The Variant Imperial Strategy Card
  • Option 2: The Variant Strategy Cards
    • Optional Strategy Card Replacement
  • Option 3: Variant Objectives
  • Option 4: Race-Specific Technologies
  • Option 5: Artifacts
    • Setting up Artifacts
    • Playing with Artifacts
  • Option 6: Shock Troops
    • Acquiring Shock Troops
    • Using Shock Troops
• Errata
  • Cards
  • Race Sheets
  • Rulebook
• Variant Strategy Card Summary
  • 1. The Leadership Strategy
  • 2. The Diplomacy II Strategy
  • 3. The Assembly Strategy
• Political Cards and the Assembly Strategy Card
  • Playing Political Cards
  • Spending Political Cards as Trade Goods
• Variant Strategy Card Summary (continued)
  • 4. The Production Strategy
  • 5. The Trade II Strategy
  • 6. The Warfare II Strategy
  • 7. The Technology II Strategy
  • 8. The Bureaucracy Strategy
• The Optional Imperial II Strategy Card
  • 8. The Imperial II Strategy
• Technology Advancement Tree
  • Red Technologies
  • Blue Technologies
  • Yellow Technologies
  • Green Technologies
• Domain Effects (Distant Suns Option)
  • Biohazard
  • Technological Society
  • Native Intelligence
  • Radiation
  • Natural Wealth
  • Hidden Factory
  • Hostile Locals
  • Industrial Society
  • Hostage Situation
  • Lazax Survivors
  • Peaceful Annexation
  • Automated Defense System
• Optional Rule: Preset Maps
  • Set Up the Map
  • Special 5-Player Map
  • Wormholes on Preset Maps
  • Assign Races and Starting Areas
  • Preset Artifacts
  • Multi-Galaxy Maps

Components

Your copy of SHATTERED EMPIRE should contain the following components:

• 28 New System Tiles
• 2 New Sets of Plastic Units (2 sets of 5 Dreadnoughts, 4 Carriers, 8 Cruisers, 8 Destroyers, 2 War Suns, 12 Ground Forces, 10 Fighters, 6 Planetary Defense Systems, and 3 Space Docks each)
• 4 New Race Sheets
• 64 Command Counters (16 for each of the four new races)
• 88 Control Markers (14 for each of the four new races, plus 2 additional markers for each of the 10 original races)
• 12 Leader Counters (3 for each of the four new races)
• 8 New Variant Strategy Cards
• 1 Variant Imperial Strategy Card
• 8 New Trade Contracts Cards
• 28 New Objective Cards
• 40 New Action Cards
• 32 New Political Cards
• 98 Technology Cards (including 2 new Technology decks in grey and orange)
• 14 Race-Specific Technologies Cards
• 28 New Planet Cards
• 16 Facility Cards (8 Colonies and 8 Refineries)
• 8 Unit Reference Cards
• 12 Shock Troop Tokens
• 12 Space Mine Tokens
• 2 Mecatol Custodian Tokens
• 8 Artifact Tokens
• 1 High Alert token
• 22 Domain Counters
• 12 Fighter Supplement Tokens (in 3s)
• 12 Ground Force Tokens (in 3s)

Replacement Cards

Several replacement cards for the Twilight Imperium 3rd Edition base game are included in this expansion. Some of these cards have been revised to correct errata, while others have been revised to work better with this expansion. To use the replacement cards, simply remove the original cards from their appropriate decks and replace them with the new versions. The replacement cards are:

• Technology Cards: 6 Advanced Fighters (1 in each color), 6 Micro Technology (1 in each color), 6 Assault Cannon (1 in each color)
• Action Cards: 4 Direct Hit Cards, 1 Ruinous Tariff Card
• Political Cards: 1 Open the Trade Routes Card

Expansion Overview

In this expansion you will find a number of additions to the Twilight Imperium Universe as well as a number of new optional rules and variants. The first section of the rulebook details the new additions (which include new races, more systems, and many new cards and counters) while the second section details many new optional rules that may be added as players see fit.

Component Descriptions

Below are brief descriptions of each component.

New Systems

There are 28 new system tiles in SHATTERED EMPIRE, including Ion Storms (a new type of Special System). Hope's End, the imperial training ground, is also among the new systems.

One of the new systems is the Wormhole Nexus, which is easily distinguished by its non-hexagonal shape. Use of this system is optional, and when this rulebook refer to "systems," the Wormhole Nexus should be excluded unless stated otherwise.

New Strategy Cards and the Variant Imperial Strategy Card

SHATTERED EMPIRE features a new set of eight variant Strategy Cards, with a white background, that favor different strategies than the original set. In addition, there is a High Alert token for use with the new Warfare II Strategy Card. For full details on the new Strategy Cards, see pages 14-17.

The variant Imperial Strategy Card, with a black background, may optionally be used with the original set of Strategy Cards. Details on this card can be found on page 18.

(Editor's note: the printed cross-reference reads "page 18"; the Imperial II card itself is printed on page 17.)

New Objective Cards

The new sets of Stage I and Stage II Public Objectives can optionally be used instead of the original Objective deck. These cards tend to focus more on military conflict than the original set. See page 7 for details.

Also provided are 3 new Secret Objectives, to be mixed in with the original set.

Finally, Special Objectives have been included for use with two new optional rules: Artifacts (detailed on pages 9-10) and the Voice of the Council option (detailed on page 11).

New Technology Cards

Four brand-new technologies are included for each player, as well, as well as two complete decks of Technology cards in grey and orange.

New Race Sheets

Four never-before-seen races join the struggle to control the galaxy. Additional Control Markers, Command Counters, Leaders, and Trade Contracts have been provided for each of four new races. These function exactly the same as in the base game.

New Plastic Game Units

Two new colors of plastic pieces representing military personnel, defense systems, and spaceships have been provided. These pieces allow players to play Twilight Imperium with up to eight players.

New Planet Cards

These cards correspond to the planets in the new systems.

Facility Cards

These cards represent refineries and colonies that players may build on a planet to increase the planet's resources or influence value. See page 11 for details.

Race-Specific Technologies

Each of the 14 races now has one Race-Specific Technology. These optional Technology cards may only be acquired by the appropriate race (see page 9).

Unit Reference Cards

The unit reference cards provide players with an image of each unit type and its game stats.

New Action & Political Cards

Additional Political and Action cards provide players with a wider variety of Galactic Council Agendas and game events. To use these cards, shuffle them into their appropriate decks.

Shock Troop Tokens

Shock Troops represent battle-hardened, veteran Ground Forces. These special Ground Forces are much more powerful and have special rules governing them (found on page 10).

Space Mine Tokens

With the new Space Mines option, Cruisers have the ability to deploy space mines. Ships moving into a system that contains space mines could be destroyed before combat. Space mines are described in detail on page 10.

Domain Counters

The new Domain Counters are used with the Distant Suns option to accommodate the larger galaxy and provide a wider variety of affects. See pages 11 and 20 for more information on the new Domain tokens.

Trade Goods

These additional Trade Goods expand the limited Trade Goods pool, allowing players to accumulate more of them.

Mecatol Rex Custodian Tokens

These tokens represent guardians of Mecatol Rex. Their optional use is described on page 11.

Artifact Tokens and Objective Cards

These tokens represent four ancient relics of power that are hidden somewhere through out the galaxy. Each artifact also has a corresponding Special Objective card worth 1 Victory Point to its controller. For more information on Artifacts, see page 9.

Wormhole Tokens

Special Wormhole tokens have been included for use in optional map setups that are available at Fantasy Flight's website, www.fantasyflightgames.com. (The optional preset maps are reproduced at the end of this rulebook.)

Ground Force and Fighter Unit Supplement Tokens

These tokens function the same as in the base game except that each token counts as three of the corresponding unit. Players may need to make change when using these new tokens.

New Additions

SHATTERED EMPIRE includes five major additions designed to enrich your Twilight Imperium gaming experience. The following pages detail these additions, which include new races, new tiles, and a wide range of new cards.

New Races

This expansion includes four races that are new to the Twilight Imperium universe: the Brotherhood of Yin, the Clan of Saar, the Embers of Muaat, and the Winnu. When playing this expansion, these races' Home Systems should be included in the random draw to determine which race each player will control throughout the game.

The following core components are provided for each new race:

• 1 Race Reference Sheet
• 1 Home System Tile
• 16 Command Counters
• 15 Control Markers
• 2 Trade Contracts
• 3 Leaders

The Winnaran Yellow Technology Specialty

The Winnaran home world is unique in that it is the only planet with a yellow (general) technology specialty. This yellow technology specialty works exactly like the red, green, and blue technology specialties except that the yellow technology specialty does not count for the purpose of fulfilling objectives.

Saar Space Docks

As described on their race sheet, the Clan of Saar's Space Docks have a base movement of 1. The following rules also pertain to Saar Space Docks:

• Saar Space Docks may only be built in a system containing a planet that you have controlled for the entire game round.
• Saar Space Docks do not count as ships and therefore do not count towards Fleet Supply and do not participate in Space Battles.
• Saar Space Docks are never blockaded; they are simply destroyed if present with enemy ships.
• Ground Forces and PDS units built in systems containing Saar Space Docks may be placed on any planet you control in the system, or they may go on a Carrier. If you do not have a planet or Carrier in the system to place Ground Force or PDS units on, you may not build them.

New System Tiles

This expansion includes 28 new system tiles. In this mix there are 2 Ion Storm tiles, a new type of Special System. In addition, many of the new Regular Systems feature a Refresh ability and/or Trade Stations. These new elements are detailed below.

Ion Storms

The Ion Storm is a new type of Special System (with a red border) governed by the following rules:

• Ships may never move through an Ion Storm (however, ships can move into an Ion Storm via normal activation).
• PDS Cannons may never be fired at ships inside an Ion Storm.
• Fighters do not roll any dice during combat inside an Ion Storm. However, Fighters may still be taken as casualties.

Refresh Abilities

Some regular systems have Refresh abilities that may be used during the Status Phase. A Refresh ability is indicated on the hex by an icon to the right of the planet name and is detailed in the text of the corresponding planet card.

During the Status Phase, immediately after refreshing planet cards, you may exhaust one or more planets with the Refresh ability to gain the special abilities listed on their planet cards. When you exhaust a planet to gain its ability, you do not gain its resources. Refresh abilities may provide 2 Trade Goods, 2 Shock Troops, 2 Ground Forces, or 2 Fighters. If the Refresh ability provides units, the units must be placed on the planet that was exhausted to produce them. If you are not playing with the Shock Troops option (see page 10), then Refresh abilities that provide Shock Troops provide Ground Forces instead.

Hope's End's Refresh ability allows its controller to gain 2 Shock Troops.

Example: The Muaat player controls Hope's End. After refreshing it during the Status Phase, he decides to immediately exhaust it to gain 2 Shock Troops. He must immediately place them on Hope's End.

Trade Stations

Two regular systems contain Trade Stations (Tsion and Sumerian). Trade Stations have a white name box and a space for a Control Marker. Trade stations follow the rules below:

• No Distant Suns Domain tokens are placed on Trade Stations.
• Trade Stations have a special Refresh ability that gives the controller 2 Trade Goods if exhausted during the Status Phase. See Refresh abilities (above).
• Trade Stations may never be invaded. Instead, whenever a player has ships in a system in which no other player's ships are present, he immediately places his Control Marker on the station (and gains the corresponding planet card in its exhausted state). The Control Marker stays on the station until another player becomes the only player with ships in the system (at which point the other player places his Control Marker on the system and gains the corresponding planet card in its exhausted state). Control Markers may also be removed from Trade Stations by certain abilities and cards.
• Capturing a Trade Station from an opponent does not break a trade agreement with that opponent.
• Ground Forces, Space Docks, and PDSs may not be placed on Trade Stations.
• Aside from the above exceptions, Trade Stations are still considered planets (with planet cards) for the sake of abilities and other cards that target planets. For example, a player can target a Trade Station with Peaceful Annexation (a power on the new Diplomacy Strategy Card in this expansion) or the Local Unrest Action Card. (Note, however, that using an ability such as Peaceful Annexation – which gives you control of a planet – on a Trade Station in which another player is the only player with ships in the system is pointless, since that player will immediately regain control of the station.)

Example: The Sol player activates a system containing a Trade Station. He moves a Destroyer into the system. Since he is now the only player with a ship in the system, he places his Control Marker on the Trade Station and gains the corresponding planet card. Later that turn, the Muaat player activates the system and moves in with a War Sun. After a crushing victory, he is now the sole occupant of the system, so he immediately gains control of the Trade Station. He removes the Sol flag, places his own Control Marker, and then gains the corresponding planet card.

Larger-Galaxy Games

With five or six players, players may wish to set up an additional outer ring. To do this, fewer tiles are removed during setup.

• 5 Players: Deal out every tile, so that each player has 11 tiles. Then create the galaxy as normal. (Unlike the standard 5-player setup described on page 32 of the original rules, no random system is placed adjacent to Mecatol Rex.)
• 6 Players: Remove 1 random hex and then deal out the rest, so that each player will have 9 tiles. Then create the galaxy as described on page 8 of the original rulebook. However, in step 3 of "Creating the Galaxy," continue placing systems until there are 4, rather than just 3, rings around Mecatol Rex.

Other New Systems

Among the new tiles there are also many regular tiles, 4 new Home Systems for the new races, and 1 Wormhole Nexus tile, a new, unique system that is only used when playing with the Wormhole Nexus option detailed on page 10.

Game Setup with the New Systems

Due to the addition of many new systems, players will need to remove more random systems before setting up the galaxy than specified in the original rulebook. The first player should place these systems back in the box during setup without looking at them.

Remove the following systems instead of the systems specified on page 31 of the original rulebook:

• 3 Players: Remove 7 empty systems, 6 Special Systems, and 18 Regular Systems (with planets).
• 4 Players: Remove 4 empty systems, 5 Special Systems, and 14 Regular Systems (with planets).
• 5 Players: Remove 4 empty systems, 5 Special Systems, 14 Regular Systems (with planets), and 1 random system.
• 6 Players: Remove 4 empty systems, 5 Special Systems, 14 Regular Systems (with planets), and 2 random systems.

New Action, Political, and Secret Objective Cards

This expansion includes 40 new Action Cards, 32 new Political Cards, and 3 new Secret Objective Cards. These cards are intended to give players more variety and choices while playing Twilight Imperium. To use them, simply mix the new cards into the appropriate decks and shuffle well.

New Technology Cards

SHATTERED EMPIRE includes 7 new Technology Cards per color. After mixing these new cards in with the appropriately colored decks, and removing the old versions of replacement cards as described on page 4, each deck should have 1 copy of each technology. A technology tree that includes the 4 new technologies can be found on pages 18-19.

This expansion also includes two full sets of Technology Cards, with grey and orange backs, for the 7- and 8-player game. These decks do not require any modifications.

The 7- and 8-Player Games

Included in this expansion, you will find 2 new colors of plastic, matching Technology decks, Control Markers, and Command Counters, and enough systems to play a 7- or 8-player game. When playing the 7- or 8-player game, make the following rules changes to setup.

First, remove 2 random systems. Then, the first player shuffles the remaining 55 systems. He removes 2 (for a 7-player game) or 3 more random systems (for an 8-player game), placing them back in the box without looking at them. The first player then places 4 random hexes in a position of his choice facedown adjacent to Mecatol Rex. He deals the remaining tiles to the players. Each player will then have 7 systems if playing with 7 players, or 6 systems if playing with 8.

Players now create the galaxy as normal, with the final board constellation and Home System placement matching the illustration found on the "Galaxy Setup for 7 and 8 Players" diagram. Once setup is complete, turn the 4 facedown tiles around Mecatol Rex faceup. Due to the nature of the 7-player board, the players in positions 1 and 2 receive 4 Trade Goods and the player in position 3 receives 6 Trade Goods before the game begins.

Strategy Cards in the 7- and 8-Player Games

The 7- and 8-player games use the same rules for choosing Strategy Cards as the standard 6-player game.

However, all Strategy Cards will be selected in the 8-player game. The 8-player game is therefore somewhat similar to the 4-player game, and the Action Cards "Strategic Flexibility" and "Strategic Shift" should be removed before starting an 8-player game (as per the rulebook errata for 4-player games on page 13).

New Optional Rules and Variants

Just like the base TWILIGHT IMPERIUM 3rd EDITION game, SHATTERED EMPIRE includes a multitude of optional rules. From variant Strategy Cards to space mines and Shock Troops, there is something for every TI fan. Players should agree upon beforehand which of these options they wish to use.

(Editor's note: the options are listed here in numerical order. In the printed rulebook, Options 9, 13, 11, 10, 12, and 14 appear in a different order on page 11; the content of each option is unchanged.)

Option 1: The Variant Imperial Strategy Card

Shattered Empire includes a variant Imperial Strategy Card for use with the base game, titled "Imperial II." To play with the variant ISC, simply use the new Imperial II Strategy Card in place of the original Imperial Strategy Card. In addition, to play with the Imperial II card you must also use the "Age of Empire" variant described on page 33 of the original rulebook.

Note that this variant Imperial Strategy Card is only intended as an optional replacement for the original Imperial Strategy Card. It is not part of the new set of 8 Strategy Cards discussed in Option 2, below.

Option 2: The Variant Strategy Cards

This expansion includes 8 new Strategy Cards, distinguished by a white background (whereas the original Strategy Cards and the variant Imperial II Strategy Card have a black background). Players may decide to play with these 8 Strategy Cards instead of the original 8. While most of these cards serve the same purpose as the originals, many function quite differently and favor slightly different play styles. When playing with the variant Strategy Cards, make the following changes during setup:

• Each player receives 2 Political Cards at the start of the game. Players will have a hand of Political Cards in addition to their hand of Action Cards throughout the game. These cards will be played when using the new Assembly Strategy Card, as explained on page 15.
• When building the Objective deck (step 7 of setup), add one extra Stage II Objective to the Stage II deck.
• After building the Objective deck, reveal the top card and place it faceup in the common play area.

Certain Strategy Cards in this expansion have the same name as previous Strategy Cards but are followed by the Roman numeral II. These cards are affected by all abilities and cards that would affect their counterpart with the same name.

Finally, as explained on page 16, we recommend that players play to 1 fewer Victory Point when playing with the new Bureaucracy Strategy Card.

See pages 14-17 for full details on the new Strategy Cards.

Note: If at any time any player draws an Action Card or a Political Card that refers to a Strategy Card not being used in the current game, discard it and draw a new card.

Optional Strategy Card Replacement

Players using the original set of Strategy Cards may wish to optionally replace any of the original cards with its new counterpart of the same name. For example, a player may wish to play with the original set of Strategy Cards but choose to replace Technology with the new Technology II Card and Imperial with the new Imperial II card.

Players may also wish to try playing with the new cards, and replacing some of the new cards with their original counterparts. In either case, if you wish to mix Strategy Cards, you should only swap out cards of the same name.

Option 3: Variant Objectives

This expansion includes two new variant Objective decks. These new Objective decks focus more on warfare and encourage more conflict than the original Objective decks. Players who wish to use these objectives should use both new decks instead of the Stage I and Stage II cards provided with the original game.

The Special Objective Cards included with this expansion are separate from the new Public Objective decks. The Special Objective Cards are used only when playing with the Artifacts (see page 9) or Voice of the Council (see page 11) options.

Option 4: Race-Specific Technologies

Players who want more diverse abilities for the races may enjoy this option. Each race has one Race-Specific Technology Card that may be purchased instead of a regular Technology Card. Whenever you are entitled to purchase a Technology, you may purchase your race-specific Technology instead. The cost of a Race-Specific Technology is whatever you would pay for a regular Technology at the time plus the cost on the race-specific Technology card.

Example: The Sardakk N'orr player is executing the primary ability of the Technology Strategy Card. He chooses his Race-Specific Technology, "Berserker Genome," which has a cost of 5. He must spend 5 resources to acquire "Berserker Genome." If the Sardakk N'orr player were executing the secondary ability of the Technology Strategy Card, he would have to pay 13 resources for "Berserker Genome."

The Race-Specific Technology Cards have no prerequisites. Race-Specific Technologies do not have a technology color and therefore their costs may not be reduced using technology specialties or the "Research Grant" Political Card. These cards are treated as normal technologies in all other respects.

Option 5: Artifacts

This expansion includes 8 Artifact tokens, with 4 corresponding Special Objective Cards. When playing with the Artifacts option, include the 4 Special Objective cards that have pictures of artifacts on their fronts.

As described on the 4 "artifact" Special Objective cards, artifacts are worth 1 Victory Point to the player that controls the planet that the artifact is on. Artifacts may never be moved or destroyed.

Four of the Artifact tokens represent actual artifacts, while the other 4 are "dummy" tokens. If there is no colored symbol on the front side of an artifact token, it is a "dummy" token, meaning there is no artifact present on the planet.

Setting up Artifacts

At the start of the game, immediately after setting up the map (step 9 of setup), each player (starting with the Speaker) chooses one planet. Players may not choose Mecatol Rex, any system that is adjacent to a Home System, or a planet in a system that contains a planet that's already been chosen. Then, place one random Artifact token facedown on each planet chosen.

Playing with Artifacts

When a player gains control of a planet that contains a facedown Artifact token, the Artifact is immediately turned faceup. If the token is indeed an Artifact (the token is colored) then the player immediately claims the corresponding Special Objective Card (placing it in front of him) and gains 1 Victory Point. If the player loses control of the planet with the Artifact (and therefore no longer meets the condition on the Special Objective), then he immediately loses the Objective Card and 1 Victory Point.

Once an artifact is revealed, it will remain faceup for the rest of the game. Revealed "dummy" tokens may be discarded when revealed.

If a player takes control of a planet that has a faceup artifact on it, he immediately claims the corresponding Special Objective Card (taking it from another player if necessary) and gains 1 Victory Point.

Example: The Sol player gains control of Hope's End. He flips over the Artifact token there, and it shows the red artifact (Lazax Armory). He immediately claims the matching Special Objective and places it in front of him. He then scores 1 Victory Point on the Victory Point Track. Later that turn, the Muaat player gains control of the planet containing the artifact. He takes the Special Objective away from the Sol player. The Sol player then loses 1 Victory Point and the Muaat player gains 1 Victory Point.

Option 6: Shock Troops

As the Twilight Wars progressed and warriors proved themselves in battle, a new classification of Ground Forces known as Shock Troops arose. Shock Troops are elite, experienced troopers that make very formidable opponents. The rules for Shock Troops are as follows:

Acquiring Shock Troops

• If a Ground Force rolls a 10 in battle, it becomes a Shock Troop at the end of the combat round, after casualties are removed. Replace the Ground Force with a Shock Troop token. If no Shock Troop tokens are available, the Ground Force remains a Ground Force.

Using Shock Troops

• Shock Troops have a Battle value of 5 (a significant increase over the 8 of standard Ground Forces).
• After a successful invasion, if at least one Shock Troop unit has survived the battle (along with at least one Ground Force unit, see below), the invading player may capture enemy Space Dock and PDS units on the planet. (Normally such units would be destroyed after a successful invasion.) Immediately, at no cost, replace the enemy units with the same units of the invading player.

Shock Troop Restrictions

• Shock Troops must always be taken as casualties before any other Ground Forces during Invasion Combat. This excludes any other time that a Ground Force would be taken as casualty (bombardment and PDS Fire, for example).
• Shock Troops must always be present with at least one friendly, plastic Ground Force. If a Shock Trooper is ever left alone, it becomes a regular Ground Force and the Shock Troop token is replaced by a plastic Ground Force unit of the owner's color.

Example: Player 1 has 2 Ground Forces in battle. He rolls a 9 and a 10. He therefore deals 2 casualties and one of his Ground Forces becomes a Shock Troop. His opponent deals him 1 casualty. After casualties are removed, Player 1's remaining Ground Force would have become a Shock Troop, but now it is no longer present with a plastic Ground Force unit, so it remains a normal Ground Force.

Shock Troops are treated as Ground Forces for all cards and abilities. Note that there are other ways to acquire Shock Troops (such as from Hope's End or certain Action Cards).

Option 7: Space Mines

Deploying Space Mines

Later in the war, it became clear that PDS cannons were not enough to defend the core systems. Space mines – homing explosives that lock on to capital ships' registration signals and attempt to detonate enemy targets – were developed to supplement other defenses.

During the Production step of an activation in a system containing a friendly Cruiser, the active player may spend 2 resources in order to produce 1 space mine in the system. No player may produce space mines if no tokens are available. He places a space mine token in the system with his Control Marker on it. Players may never produce more than one space mine during a single activation.

Example: The Muaat player activates his Home System and moves an adjacent Cruiser into it. During the Production Step of the activation, he produces a space mine from his Cruiser and places his Control Marker on it.

Triggering Space Mines

After the PDS Fire step of an activation in which a player moves ships into a system containing an opponent's space mines, he must roll 1 die individually for each non-Fighter ship entering the system (the active player must announce before each roll which ship he is rolling for). For each roll of 9 or 10, the ship is immediately hit. After all ships have been rolled for, remove one space mine token from the system and resume the action.

A player only rolls for space mines once, even if there is more than one space mine present. If there are multiple space mines, the active player may decide which space mine to remove after rolling.

Important: Players only have to roll for space mines if they end their movement in a system containing them. Players may move through a system containing space mines without any effect.

Example: The Saar player decides to move 1 Dreadnought, 1 Carrier, and 2 Fighters into a system containing an opponent's space mines. He rolls 1 die for the Dreadnought (the result is a 10) and 1 die for the Carrier (the result is a 9). The Carrier is then destroyed and the Dreadnought is damaged. Although he did not have to roll for the Fighters, they are now destroyed because they are not supported (by a Carrier, a Space Dock, or the Advanced Fighters technology).

Option 8: The Wormhole Nexus

The Wormhole Nexus tile represents a unique system outside the known galaxy. This tile is placed off the board, and a player may travel to it by using either an Alpha or a Beta Wormhole. Players always have a choice as to whether they want to travel to the Wormhole Nexus or another end of a matching Wormhole whenever they use a Wormhole.

The Wormhole Nexus is treated like any other system, but is considered adjacent to every system that contains an Alpha or Beta Wormhole.

Note: The Wormhole Nexus need not be controlled to fulfill the "Keeper of Gates" Special Objective (but it can be easier to fulfill this objective if playing with the Wormhole Nexus).

Option 9: Facilities

Players who prefer games with more abundant resources may wish to use this option. This expansion includes 16 Facility Cards: 8 colonies and 8 refineries. These facilities may be built on any planet outside of a player's Home System at the cost of 1 resource.

Facilities add 1 additional resource or influence to the planet they are built on. Colonies increase the influence value of a planet by 1, while refineries increase the resource value of a planet by 1.

Building Facilities

A player may build facilities during the Produce Units step of a Tactical Action. Facilities are built following the same rules as Space Docks, and may only be built on a planet that you have controlled for the entire game round. A player may not build a facility if an opponent has ships in the system or if there are no more Facility Cards of the chosen type remaining. Facilities may not be built on Trade Stations.

Important: Building a facility on a planet exhausts that planet, if it is not exhausted already. You may exhaust a planet to build a facility on that planet, but you do not receive the extra influence or resource that game round.

Once built, place the Facility Card under the planet card, with the bottom edge sticking out to indicate that it will provide an additional influence (colony) or resource (refinery) in future game rounds.

You never exhaust Facility Cards. Instead, when you exhaust a planet with a facility, the planet is treated as if the relevant number on the planet card (influence for colonies or resources for refineries) were one higher.

Each planet may have no more than one facility on it at a given time. If a player successfully invades a planet that contains an opponent's facility, the facility is immediately destroyed.

Exception: A facility may be captured by agents or Shock Troops as if it were a Space Dock.

Option 10: Tactical Retreats

With this option, add the following rule regarding retreats:

"When announcing a retreat, the defender may use a Command Counter from his Strategy Allocation area to activate an adjacent, unactivated system that he controls (or that is empty). At the end of the combat round, he must retreat to this system. Players may also still attempt normal retreats."

Option 11: New Distant Suns

Domain Counters

This expansion includes more Domain counters that you can use when playing with larger galaxies or to add spice to the universe. The new counters are detailed on the back of this rulebook.

Option 12: Territorial Distant Suns

This option keeps all the excitement of Distant Suns while reducing the risk of early expansion. Follow these instructions instead of setting up the Domain counters as normal:

1. Make a pile that includes all of the following Domain counters. This is known as the "low-risk" pile:
   • Peaceful Annexation
   • (2-Quality) Natural Wealth
   • Native Intelligence
   • (1-Strength) Hostile Locals
   • Biohazard
   • Hostage Situation
   • (1-Strength) Fighter Ambush
   • Settlers
2. Place all the other Domain counters in a separate pile.
3. Randomly place counters from the "low-risk" pile onto all planets in the outer ring as well as any planets adjacent to Home World systems.
4. Mix all of the remaining Domain counters together and randomly distribute them among the remaining planets.

Option 13: Custodians of Mecatol Rex

Using this option, a single Ground Force can no longer invade Mecatol Rex on a whim. Now the Winnaran custodians will protect the capital with strength and fortitude.

When using this variant, place both of the Mecatol Rex Custodian tokens on Mecatol Rex during setup. The Mecatol Rex Custodians have 2 Ground Forces and 3 Fighters that will protect the planet from invading players.

A player attempting to invade Mecatol Rex must first fight the Fighter Ambush token present and then defeat the Hostile Locals with his Ground Forces. The specific rules for encountering these tokens are the same as their Domain token counterparts and can be found on the back of this rulebook.

Once these tokens are defeated, they are removed from the game. If playing Distant Suns with this option, do not place a Domain token on Mecatol Rex.

Option 14: Voice of the Council

Players who wish to add to the usefulness of influence and Political Cards may wish to use the included Voice of the Council Special Objective Card. This Special Objective works as follows.

Before activating the primary ability of the Political Strategy Card or the Assembly Strategy Card, the active player may call for a vote to determine who becomes Voice of the Council. All players then vote for any player (as if they were voting on an agenda). The player that receives the most votes (ties being broken by the Speaker) gains control of the Voice of the Council Objective (placing it in front of him). He immediately gains 1 Victory Point, and the previous owner of the Objective loses 1 Victory Point.

Example: The Sol player uses the Assembly Strategy Card and decides to call a vote for Voice of the Council. The Sol player wins the vote and gains the card (immediately gaining 1 Victory Point). On the following turn, the Muaat player wins a vote for Voice of the Council. The Sol player loses 1 Victory Point and the Muaat player gains 1 Victory Point.

Option 15: Simulated Early Turns

Example of Simulating Early Turns

1. The Embers of Muaat player is currently the Speaker. After setting up the map, the Muaat player claims a system that is adjacent to his Home System, placing one of his Command Counters on it.
2. After the other players each claim a system adjacent to their Home System, the Muaat player claims a second system. This time he chooses a system adjacent to the system he claimed in step 1.
3. During regular setup, the Muaat player received his normal starting units, pictured here.
4. After all players have claimed 2 systems, the Muaat player receives 7 resources (4 from his Home System plus 3) with which to build additional units. He builds 2 Fighters, 1 Cruiser, 1 Carrier, and 2 Ground Forces.
5. After everyone has built units, the Muaat player places his units (his normal starting units as well as the additional units he just built). He may place them in his Home System and/or the 2 systems he's claimed. He chooses to spread his units among all 3 systems. Note that he must place a Space Dock in his Home System, and keep his Ground Forces, Fighters, and PDSs (that are outside his Home System) with ships that can transport them. Note also that in this particular example, the Muaat player also places a Control Marker on the Tsion Trade Station, because he is the only one with ships in the system.
6. Finally, the Muaat player receives the planet cards for the planets he controls and removes his 2 Command Counters from the map.

Procedure

This option is for players who wish to speed up the early game. Using this option, players can quickly decide where they wish to expand early in the game.

To use this option, perform the following procedure immediately after regular setup:

1. CLAIM TERRITORY After setup, starting with the Speaker and proceeding clockwise, each player places a Command Counter from his reinforcements onto a system adjacent to his Home System. After each player has placed a Command Counter, each player, in the same order, may place a second Command Counter. Players may place the second Command Counter adjacent to their Home System or adjacent to the system in which the placed their first Command Counter.

2. BUILD UNITS AND BUY TECHNOLOGY Starting with the Speaker and proceeding clockwise, each player receives resources equal to the total resources of his Home System plus 3. These may be used to purchase additional starting units and/or 1 Technology advance. Each player may purchase one Technology advance for 4 resources. This cost may not be reduced, the player must have the necessary pre-requisites, and players may not purchase Race-Specific Technologies. All unused resources are lost.

3. PLACE UNITS Starting with the Speaker and proceeding clockwise, each player places his starting units in his Home System and/or any systems in which he has placed a Command Counter. Two important restrictions are that:

   1. A player must place a Space Dock on one of his Home System planets, and
   2. A player is free to place Ground Forces and PDSs on planets in his Home System. However, all Fighters, Ground Forces, and PDSs that are placed outside a player's Home System must be placed with ships that are capable of carrying all the Fighters, Ground Forces, and PDSs in the system. Ships capable of carrying these systems include Carriers, War Suns, and ships with Stasis Capsules.

   Example: During the simulated early turns, a player wants to place 1 Carrier with 3 Fighters in a non-Home System, along with 4 Ground Forces on a planet in the same system. This not legal because the Carrier would not be capable of carrying all the Fighters and all the Ground Forces in the system.

4. RECEIVE PLANETS Each player claims the planet cards for each planet with one of his Ground Forces on it. Each player then removes his Command Counters from the board and places them back in his reinforcements.

Notes: Players may not use any special abilities during this procedure (treat the "Special Abilities" area of the race sheets as if they were blank). Players that start with Trade Goods may use them when purchasing additional starting units.

Errata

Below are the errata for the base TWILIGHT IMPERIUM 3rd EDITION board game.

Cards

Political Card: Ancient Artifact

The use of planetary unit should be replaced with the words planetary force. A planetary force is defined as the combined number of Ground Force and Shock Troop units on the planet in question. In this way, the Ground Forces on an affected planet receive a combined roll of three dice, whereas the old wording would indicate that every Ground Force unit would receive three rolls against it. PDS and Space Docks are not affected by these rolls.

Also, on this card, when players roll a result of 6-10, the two Tech cards that are awarded to each player are taken one after the other, so that the first tech may be a prerequisite for the second.

If playing with the "Leaders" option, Leaders are destroyed on a result of 1-5 and are included in the definition of planetary force.

Race Sheets

PDS Cost

The accurate cost of acquiring a PDS unit is 2 (as written in the rules, but incorrectly stated on the original player sheets).

The Xxcha Ability

The correct wording of the first Xxcha Kingdom special ability is: "When executing the Secondary Ability of the Diplomacy Strategy, you may execute the Primary Ability instead."

Rulebook

The 4-Player Game

The Action Cards Strategic Flexibility and Strategic Shift should be removed before starting a 4-player game.

The Age of Empire Option

When playing with the "Age of Empire" game option, players may not qualify for Stage II objectives during the first three rounds of play.

Combat Rolls

The term "combat roll" is inclusive. It covers any instance in which you roll a die and compare the result to a unit's combat value to determine whether or not an enemy casualty has been inflicted. Note that this specifically excludes other dice rolls, such as those for sabotage runs against War Suns.

• The Sardakk N'Orr special ability text should read: "You receive +1 on your combat rolls."
• The Jol-Nar special ability text should read: "You receive -1 on your combat rolls.…"

Effects that add to or modify results during "Space Combat" should be interpreted as during "Space Battles." Effects that take place during "Space Battles" or "Invasion Combat" specifically make reference only to variables within the Space Battle Sequence and the Invasion Combat Sequence. Thus, if an ability grants you +1 to your dice during Space battles, this bonus is only applied during step 2 of the Space Battles Sequence ("roll combat dice"), and does not affect any other rolls, including pre-combat effects, PDS, bombardment, etc.

The Distant Suns Option

Razing should occur at the start of the Planetary Landing segment, not during the Invasion Combat segment.

Elimination

A player who controls no planets and has no units on the board is eliminated from the game. He cannot play Action Cards or choose Strategy Cards. After a player has been eliminated, the other players continue the game normally, with no changes to the number of Strategy Cards taken, etc.

Retreats

When retreating, the retreating player must retreat into a previously activated system that contains no enemy ships (but it can contain enemy planets with Ground Forces, PDS, and Space Docks).

Turn Order in 3- and 4-Player Games

To determine order of play in a 3- or 4-player game (in which players have 2 Strategy Cards) use only the best (lowest) initiative value of the two cards to determine order of play.

Variant Strategy Card Summary

1. The Leadership Strategy

Primary Ability – Take Charge: Receive 3 Command Counters from your reinforcements. You may then immediately use this card's secondary ability.

Secondary Ability – Masterful Tactician: You may spend influence to purchase up to 3 Command Counters from your reinforcements. You receive 1 Command Counter for every 2 influence you spend.

The Leadership Strategy provides two important strategic advantages. First, it allows the player to go first during the round, which can be crucial.

Second, the Leadership Strategy Card provides the active player with 3 Command Counters, which are always vitally important. This Strategy Card also allows the active player to use the card's secondary ability (which is normally prohibited). This can potentially allow a player to receive 6 Command Counters (3 for free and he may purchase up to 3 more).

The secondary ability of the Leadership Strategy is the most common way for other players to accumulate more Command Counters. It is cheaper than the Logistics Strategy, but players are limited in how many counters they can purchase.

IMPORTANT SPECIAL RULE FOR LEADERSHIP STRATEGY: Unlike most other Strategy Cards, players do not need to spend a Command Counter from their Strategy Allocation pool in order to execute this secondary Ability.

2. The Diplomacy II Strategy

Primary Ability – Demilitarized Zone: Choose either a) or b). a) Choose one system containing a planet you control. Each opponent must place one of his Command Counters into the system from his reinforcements. b) Execute the secondary ability of this card without paying a Command Counter or any influence.

Secondary Ability – Peaceful Annexation: Spend 1 Command Counter from your Strategy Allocation area and 3 influence to claim an empty planet adjacent to a system you control. Place your Control Marker on the planet.

Option "a" of the primary ability allows the active player to choose one system and place one Command Counter from each other player's reinforcements in the system. This will make it impossible for players to activate the system during their turns. If any player does not have any Command Counters left in his reinforcements, that player must choose a Command Counter from any area of his race card and place it in the system.

Option "b" allows the active player to immediately use the secondary ability without paying any influence or Command Counters.

Regardless of which option the active player chooses, the other players may then use the secondary ability of this card. This ability allows players to spend a Command Counter and 3 influence in order to claim one empty planet (one without any Ground Forces, Leaders, PDSs, or Space Docks on it) adjacent to a system they control, even if another player controls the target planet. Once a player executes this ability, he or she immediately places a Control Marker on the planet and claims the corresponding planet card (which the player receives in its exhausted state).

Important: A player may not annex a planet that another player annexed this turn, and no player may annex Mecatol Rex.

The Xxcha and Diplomacy II: When the Xxcha player uses his special ability to execute the primary ability of the Diplomacy II card, he must spend a Command Counter from his Strategy Allocation area. (If he chooses option "b" of the primary ability, the only net benefit is that he does not need to pay influence.)

3. The Assembly Strategy

Primary Ability – Senate: Draw 1 Political Card and 2 Action Cards. Then choose either a) or b). You may not choose option a if you are the Speaker. a) Claim the Speaker token and choose one other player to play a Political Card and resolve its agenda. b) Choose one other player to claim the Speaker token. Play a Political Card from your hand and resolve its agenda.

Secondary Ability – Morale Boost: Spend 1 Command Counter from your Strategy Allocation area to refresh any number of your Planet Cards with total combined resource and influence of 6 or less.

The primary ability of this card provides 1 Political Card and 2 Action Cards. More importantly, it allows a player to either control what agendas will be voted on or gain the valuable Speaker token. The active player must decide either to a) immediately become Speaker, then choose another player to play a Political Card from his or her hand or b) choose any player besides himself to become Speaker, then the active player plays a Political Card from his own hand. See the sidebar for more information.

Important: When a player uses option "b," he may not choose himself or the current Speaker to gain the Speaker token. Option "a" may not be chosen if the player is already the Speaker.

The secondary ability of the Assembly Strategy Card allows each other player to spend a Command Counter in order to refresh any number of planet cards (even including a Home System), so long as the combined total of all these planets' influence and resource values is 6 or less.

Example: The Yssaril player is executing the Assembly Strategy secondary ability. He decides to refresh the planet cards for Arretze (2 resources, 0 influence), Dal Bootha (0 resources, 2 influence, and Gral (1 resource, 1 influence).

The Xxcha and the Assembly: The Xxcha player can use his special ability (spending a Command Counter from his Strategy Allocation area) to cancel a Political Card after it is read aloud by the chosen player. The chosen player then draws the top card of the Political Deck, reads it aloud, and resolves it.

Political Cards and the Assembly Strategy Card

When using the new Assembly Strategy Card, Political Cards function in a slightly different manner than in the original game.

Playing Political Cards

Each player starts the game with a hand of 2 Political Cards. These are only played when the Assembly Strategy Card specifies they be played. The Political Cards work in the following manner.

1. Depending upon which option of the Assembly card is chosen, one player will have to play the Political Card of his choice from his hand. If the player does not have any Political Cards in his hand, he draws a the top card of the Political Deck and plays it.

2. The player that has played the Political Card reads it out loud and the agenda is resolved as normal (page 23 in the original rules).

Each player's hand of Political Cards is limited to 5. If a player ever has more than 5 Political Cards in his hand, he must immediately discard down to 5.

Spending Political Cards as Trade Goods

A player may, at any time, discard a Political Card from his or her hand instead of spending a Trade Good.

Variant Strategy Card Summary (continued)

4. The Production Strategy

Primary Ability – Tight Deadlines: Immediately build units in one of your systems containing one or more friendly Space Docks, receiving 2 additional resources with which to build, even if you have activated this system already. Building units here does not activate the system.

Secondary Ability – Double Efforts: Spend 1 Command Counter from your Strategy Allocation area to immediately build up to 3 units in one of your systems containing one or more friendly Space Docks, even if you have activated this system already. Building units here does not activate the system.

The Production Strategy Card allows the active player to produce units at one or more of his or her Space Docks without activating the system. In addition, the player receives two additional resources with which to build. The active player may even produce units at a Space Dock in an activated system.

This is extremely useful in both offensive and defensive situations. A player could, for example, build ships and move with them in the same round.

The secondary ability allows the other players to build units at one of their (activated or unactivated) Space Docks, but with a limited production capacity of 3 units.

Important: Whether executing the primary or secondary ability of the Production Strategy, a player may not exceed the production capacity of the planet where he produces units.

5. The Trade II Strategy

Primary Ability – Free Trade: Receive 3 Trade Goods or cancel up to 2 trade agreements (you may not cancel Hacan trade agreements). Then all players receive Trade Goods from their active trade agreements. Players who are not the active player receive 1 fewer total Trade Goods. Finally, open trade negotiations among all players. You must approve all new trade agreements.

The new Trade Strategy Card differs from the original in a number of ways. First, the active player has the choice of either immediately gaining 3 Trade Goods or canceling up to two trade agreements. If he decides to cancel trade agreements, each contract that is chosen is returned to its owner in exchange for the other player's trade contract. Note that Hacan trade agreements may not be broken using this ability.

Example: The active player decides to break two trade agreements and chooses both of the L1Z1X's trade agreements. The L1Z1X player returns both trade contracts he has to their original owners, and receives his trade contracts back. If one of the L1Z1X player's trade agreements had been with the Hacan, it could not have been broken.

Second, every player gains Trade Goods from his active trade agreements, without spending a Command Counter. However, while the active player receives all the Trade Goods from his trade agreements, the other players must subtract 1 from the total number of Trade Goods indicated on both their trade agreements.

Example: A player has trade agreements worth 3 Trade Goods and 2 Trade Goods. When using Trade II and not the active player, the player would receive only 4 Trade Goods.

Finally, new trade agreements may be opened. This functions in exactly the same fashion as the original Trade Strategy Card; the active player must approve each new trade agreement, or it cannot be made.

The Trade II Strategy Card has no secondary ability.

6. The Warfare II Strategy

Primary Ability – High Alert: Place the High Alert token in a system. Your ships in the system with the token gain +1 movement and +1 on all combat rolls. If you move any ships from this system, you may move the token with them. Remove the token from the board at the start of the next Status Phase.

Secondary Ability – Reinforce: Spend 1 Command Counter from your Strategy Allocation area to move up to two of your ships from unactivated systems into any adjacent systems you control. This does not activate the destination system(s).

The new Warfare Strategy Card allows the active player to place one of his or her systems on "High Alert," which is indicated with the High Alert token. All the players ships that are in the system on High Alert receive +1 movement and +1 to rolls during Space Combat. This bonus does not apply to pre-combat abilities and does not affect Ground Forces during Invasion Combat. The active player may optionally move the "High Alert" token with any ships that move out of the system, or he may leave the token where it is. The token is removed at the start of the Status Phase.

The Warfare II secondary ability allows the other players to move any two of their ships in unactivated systems into an adjacent system or systems that they control. This does not activate the destination system(s), meaning that as long as the destination system(s) were not already activated, the moved ships will be able to move later on that round. (Also, because the destination system is not activated, this movement does not trigger PDS Cannon fire.)

Important: Ground Forces may only be picked up or landed during a Tactical or Transfer Action. When using the secondary ability, players may not pick up or land Ground Forces.

7. The Technology II Strategy

Primary Ability – Technological Focus: Receive one Technology advance. You may then buy a second Technology advance at the cost of 8 resources. You must have the necessary prerequisites for each Technology.

Secondary Ability – Advanced Development: Spend 1 Command Counter from your Strategy Allocation area and 6 resources to receive one Technology advance (for which you have the necessary prerequisites).

The Technology II Strategy allows players to receive technology more quickly and inexpensively than the original Technology Strategy. The primary ability not only provides a free technology but also gives the active player the option of purchasing a second technology at the cost of 8 resources.

Important: Remember that a player may only acquire a Technology Card if he has the necessary prerequisite technologies. If a player uses the primary ability to purchase two technologies, the first one may be a used as a prerequisite for the second one.

The secondary ability of the Technology II Strategy allows the other players to purchase a Technology advance at the cost of 6 resources (as opposed to the 8-resource cost of the original Technology Card).

The Jol-Nar and the Technology II Strategy Card: The Jol-Nar player may use his special ability when executing the secondary Technology II ability in order to receive one free technology. He may then purchase a second technology at the cost of 6 resources, and a third technology at the cost of 8 resources.

8. The Bureaucracy Strategy

Special: After selecting this Strategy Card, reveal cards from the Objective deck equal to the number of Bonus Counters on this card.

Primary Ability – Senatorial Control: Receive 1 Command Counter from your reinforcements. Then draw the top two cards from the Objective deck. Place one faceup in the common play area and the other on the top of the deck. You may then immediately claim one public objective that you qualify for.

Secondary Ability – New Agendas: Spend 1 Command Counter from your Strategy Allocation area to draw one Political Card and one Action Card.

Important: If the Bureaucracy Strategy has any Bonus Counters on it when it is chosen, a number of Objective Cards are immediately revealed equal to the number of counters on the Bureaucracy Strategy Card.

The primary ability of the Bureaucracy Strategy gives the active player a Command Counter, some control over which Objective will be revealed, and then the ability to fulfill one Public Objective outside of the Status Phase. In order to fulfill an Objective, the active player must meet the Objective's requirements. He then places his Control Marker on the Objective and gains the Victory Point. If this gives the active player enough Victory Points to win the game, the game ends immediately. (He may fulfill any faceup objective and is not restricted to the newly revealed objective.)

A player who uses the Bureaucracy Strategy to fulfill a Public Objective may still fulfill another Public Objective in the Status Phase. A player may not use the Bureaucracy Strategy to fulfill a Secret Objective.

While this Strategy Card does not provide "free" Victory Points, it does give the active player a chance at qualifying for an extra Objective. Because the additional VPs from the Imperial Strategy Card are not being awarded, it is recommended that players play to 1 fewer Victory Point when using the Bureaucracy Strategy Card.

Note: If the "Imperium Rex" Public Objective card is revealed, the game ends immediately after the Imperium Rex card is drawn, before the active player fulfills an Objective.

The secondary ability allows other players to spend a Command Counter to draw 1 Action card and 1 Political Card.

The Optional Imperial II Strategy Card

Note: As discussed on page 9, to play with the Imperial II Strategy Card you must also use the "Age of Empire" variant described on page 33 of the original rulebook. This card is an optional replacement for the original Imperial Strategy card, and cannot be swapped out with the Bureaucracy Strategy Card.

Primary Ability – The Ancient Throne: Choose either a) or b). a) During the upcoming Status Phase, you may qualify for any number of Public Objective Cards. Also, if you control Mecatol Rex, immediately gain 1 Victory Point. b) You may execute the secondary ability of this Strategy Card for free. No other player may execute this secondary ability.

Secondary Ability – Rapid Mobilization: Spend 1 Command Counter from your Strategy Allocation area to build at one of your Space Docks (even if the system is already activated). This does not activate the system.

8. The Imperial II Strategy

(Editor's note: the printed body heading for this card is numbered "8", the same number as the Bureaucracy Strategy Card; it is reproduced as printed.)

The primary ability of the Imperial II Strategy Card offers the active player a choice. Option "a" gives the active player the ability to fulfill multiple objectives during the next Status Phase and provides 1 Victory Point if the active player controls Mecatol Rex. Both of these abilities allow a skilled player to gain crucial extra points.

The primary ability's option "b" allows the active player to immediately execute the secondary ability without having to pay any Command Counters. If this option is chosen, no other players may execute the secondary ability this round.

The secondary ability of the Imperial II Strategy Card is the same as the original Imperial Strategy card's secondary ability: Each players may spend 1 Command Counter to produce units in a system he has already activated, or produce units in an unactivated system without activating it.

Technology Advancement Tree

The printed tree (pages 18-19) links these technologies with prerequisite arrows. The arrows are diagram lines and are not reproduced here; the printed tree governs prerequisites. Each technology's printed text is listed below, grouped by the colour of its tile.

Red Technologies

• Hylar V Assault Laser: All of your Cruisers and Destroyers now receive +1 on all combat rolls.
• Deep Space Cannon: Enemy fleets in adjacent systems are now in range of your PDS units.
• Magen Defense Grid: All of your PDS units now receive +1 on all combat rolls. In addition, all of your defending Ground Forces on a planet with a PDS receive +1 on all combat rolls during Invasion Combat.
• Automated Defense Turrets: All of your Destroyers receive +2 and roll 1 additional die on all Anti-Fighter Barrage rolls.
• Assault Cannon: Before any Space Battle begins, your participating Dreadnoughts may each fire one shot. Any hits are applied immediately, and casualties do not receive return fire.
• Graviton Negator: Your Dreadnoughts may now bombard planets that contain PDS units. Your Fighters may participate in Invasion Combat. Surviving Fighters are returned to space after the combat and can never establish control of a planet.
• War Sun: You are now allowed to produce War Sun units.

Blue Technologies

• XRD Transporters: All of your Carriers now receive +1 movement.
• Maneuvering Jets: Your opponents receive -1 to all PDS rolls targeting your ships (or -2 if the PDS is firing from an adjacent system). In addition, you receive -1 to all your Space Mine rolls, and your ships do not have to stop when entering an Ion Storm.
• Light/Wave Deflector: Your ships may now move through systems containing enemy ships and continue their movement to the activated system.
• Fleet Logistics: When taking a Tactical Action, you may now take two Tactical Actions, one after the other, before your turn ends.
• Antimass Deflectors: All of your ships may now move through Asteroid Fields but may never end their movement in an Asteroid Field.
• Advanced Fighters: Your Fighters do not require the support of Carriers or Space Docks, may move independently with a movement rate of 2, and receive +1 on combat rolls. Enemy ships may not move through a system your Fighters occupy. Fighters in excess of a system's Fighter capacity count towards your Fleet Supply limit.
• Type IV Drive: All of your Cruisers and Dreadnoughts now receive +1 movement.

Yellow Technologies

• Graviton Laser System: When you make a combat roll with a PDS unit and miss, you may now make a single re-roll for each roll that missed.
• Transit Diodes: As an action, you may spend one Command Counter from your Strategic Allocation to immediately move up to four of your Ground Forces from any one of your planets to any other planet you control.
• Enviro Compensator: The production capacity of your Space Docks is now increased by 1.
• Sarween Tools: Whenever you produce units at any Space Dock, you now receive one additional resource with which to build units.
• Micro Technology: When you receive Trade Goods from your trade agreements, you now receive one additional Trade Good for each of your active trade agreements.
• Nano Technology: Your Dreadnoughts and War Suns may not be targeted by your opponents' Action Cards. In addition, when you claim a planet, you gain its planet card refreshed.
• Integrated Economy: When producing units at your Space Docks, you may now place the new units in any activated, adjacent system that is empty or friendly. You may place PDS and Ground Force units on any friendly planet within this range.

Green Technologies

• Hyper Metabolism: During each Status Phase, you gain 1 additional Command Counter. In addition, before drawing Action Cards, you may discard 1 Action Card from your hand to draw 1 additional card.
• X-89 Bacterial Weapon: Your Dreadnought or War Sun units may now use this option before bombarding. Immediately destroy all enemy Ground Forces on the planet. Then discard all of your Action Cards.
• Stasis Capsules: Your Cruisers and Dreadnoughts may now carry one Ground Force unit.
• Cybernetics: All of your Fighters now receive +1 on all combat rolls.
• Gen Synthesis: All of your Ground Forces now receive +1 on all combat rolls during Invasion Combat. When one of your Ground Force units is destroyed, roll a die: On a result of 5+, the unit is instead returned to a planet in your Home System.
• Neural Motivator: You now draw one extra Action Card during each Status Phase.
• Dacxive Animators: If you win an Invasion Combat, roll once for every Ground Force unit killed (yours and your opponent's). For every roll of 6+, place one Ground Force unit on the planet from your reinforcements.

Domain Effects (Distant Suns Option)

The new Domain counters are printed on the back of the rulebook (page 20). Each counter's printed effect follows.

Biohazard

The hostile environment of this planet requires terraforming. The first Ground Force unit to land here is always eliminated while this token remains. Discard this counter after a player successfully invades this planet.

Technological Society

The player to your left must search through your Technology deck and give you a free technology advance for which you have the necessary prerequisites. Then discard this counter.

Native Intelligence

The native race here offers their espionage services. Secretly look at any one facedown Domain Counter on any planet of your choice. Then discard this counter.

Radiation

The planet contains unexpected high levels of radiation. Kill all the Ground Forces of the initial landing (the planet remains uncontrolled), then remove this counter.

Natural Wealth

This planet has resources available for immediate exploitation. Receive the number of Trade Goods indicated, if able. Then discard this counter.

Hidden Factory

You unearth an ancient, abandoned starship factory. Immediately receive any number of ships (for free) worth up to 2 resources. Place them in this system, then discard this counter.

Hostile Locals

The local population will not be subdued. The indicated number of local Ground Forces will fight any invader (allow another player to roll their combat dice). If an invasion attempt fails, the locals return to their full indicated strength. May not be bombarded. Discard after a successful invasion.

Industrial Society

An industrious and friendly populace welcomes you. You may immediately place a free Space Dock here. The Planet card for this planet is not exhausted when you receive it. Discard this counter.

Hostage Situation

Your landing party is taken hostage by the local inhabitants. Pay Trade Goods equal to the number of Ground Forces landing or lose all Ground Forces in the initial landing (the planet remains uncontrolled). Then discard this counter.

Lazax Survivors

A discovery of ancient prophecy. You may take this counter to receive 3 additional votes towards all future political agendas. (See additional functions for the Lazax survivors on page 42-43 of the original rulebook.)

Peaceful Annexation

The landing proceeds without incident. Discard this counter.

Automated Defense System

Roll 2 dice. For each 6+ lose 1 ship in this system and one landing Ground Force. If no Ground Forces remain on this planet, it remains uncontrolled. The first player to successfully invade this planet removes this counter and may place one free PDS unit on the planet.

Settlers

Return all of your Ground Forces to their Carrier/War Sun. Roll a die. On a result of 6+, place two free Ground Forces on the planet from your reinforcements. On a roll of 1-5, determine a random opponent. That opponent places two free Ground Forces from his reinforcements on the planet. Then discard this counter.

Wormhole Discovery

A new wormhole has been discovered in the system near this planet. Place this counter in the middle of the system to indicate the presence of the wormhole. This wormhole will connect to other wormholes of the same letter (Alpha or Beta) following the normal rules for wormholes.

Fighter Ambush

After landing, a Space Battle immediately starts in the system against the indicated number of local Fighters (allow another player to roll their combat dice). Players may not use Anti-Fighter Barrage in this Space Battle. If the Space Battle fails, then the planet remains uncontrolled, all landing Ground Forces are discarded, and the fighters return to full indicated strength. Discard this counter after a successful Space Battle.

Optional Rule: Preset Maps

This section is the expansion's separate "Optional Rule: Preset Maps" sheet (5 pages), reproduced after the main rulebook because the rulebook's Wormhole Tokens note refers to optional map setups. The map diagrams on pages 1-5 of that sheet are images and are not reproduced; the text is.

While the standard setup rules for TI3 include strategic decision-making, many players have requested maps that can be setup ahead of time. While it is impossible to create entirely balanced maps, here we offer setups that put the players on fairly even footing at the start of the game. The preset maps included here use components included in the SHATTERED EMPIRE expansion.

Set Up the Map

Start by making 6 piles of tiles as follows:

1. Select Systems: Mecatol Rex, all Wormhole systems, Hope's End, all Trade Stations (white title box), and any specified systems for the setup (numbered on the map)
2. Special Systems (red-bordered)
3. Empty Space tiles
4. Home Systems
5. Single-planet systems (excluding Wormhole systems)
6. Multi-planet systems

Note: Some maps will instruct you to remove the resource-heavy, double-planet systems of Abyz/Fria, Bereg/Lirta IV, Lisis/Elnor, and New Albion/Starpoint into a separate pile. If so, you will have 7 rather than 6 piles of tiles.

Then select one of the preset map diagrams and use the following procedure to create the game board:

1. Place Mecatol Rex at the center of the table. Shuffle each pile and then place it faceup on the table.
2. Starting with the hex area directly above Mecatol Rex, draw the top system from the pile indicated by the map diagram and place it directly above Mecatol Rex.
3. Proceed clockwise around Mecatol Rex, placing systems of the type indicated by the preset map diagram. If the diagram indicates that a Home System should be placed, leave the hex area blank for now. Continue this procedure until all systems indicated by the map diagram except Home Systems have been placed.

If a particular system (e.g., Hope's End) is specified by the map diagram, simply pull it out of the "Select Systems" pile and place it appropriately.

If you are not playing with the Artifacts option included in the SHATTERED EMPIRE expansion, ignore the artifact symbols on the maps.

(Printed on page 2 of the sheet: "If you are not playing with the Artifacts option included in the SHATTERED EMPIRE expansion, ignore the artifact symbols on the maps.")

(Printed on page 3 of the sheet, for the 7- and 8-player maps:) In the 7-player map, place the Supernova, Quann, and Lodor into the "Select Systems" pile. In the 8-player map, place Dal Bootha/Xxhehan and Arinam/Meer into the "Select Systems" pile. For both maps, remove the resource-heavy, double-planet systems of Abyz/Fria, Bereg/Lirta IV, Lisis/Elnor, and New Albion/Starpoint into a separate pile, so that you have 7 piles of tiles rather than 6 when setting up the map.

Special 5-Player Map

Due to the nature of the hexagonal board, it is difficult to make all positions equal in a 5-player game. This map makes use of several wormholes to give 5 players fairly equal starting positions.

As with the 7- and 8-player maps, remove the resource-heavy, double-planet systems of Abyz/Fria, Bereg/Lirta IV, Lisis/Elnor, and New Albion/Starpoint into a separate pile, so that you have 7 piles of tiles rather than 6 when setting up the map. Also, place the 6 systems listed below the map into the "Select Systems" pile.

For the impassable spaces, either leave the spaces empty or use the back side of tiles. The yellow arrows in the diagram indicate adjacency-by-wormhole.

Special Rules (for this setup):

• Wormholes may not be closed or made unusable. If any card referring to wormholes is drawn, it is immediately discarded and a new card is drawn in its place.
• The Wormhole Nexus is not compatible with this setup.
• For this preset map only, PDSs may fire through wormholes.
• Any wormhole Distant Suns tokens that are not used when setting up the galaxy should be discarded from play and not used if playing with the Distant Suns option.

Wormholes on Preset Maps

Many of the preset maps require wormholes in specific systems. If the specified wormhole tile does not exist, place a wormhole token in the appropriate system. If you run out of additional wormhole tokens, use faceup Distant Suns tokens as replacements.

Assign Races and Starting Areas

Once all players have arrived, assign races as instructed in step 1 of the normal game setup. Then randomly assign each player's starting position as follows:

Place one Control Marker from each player in a bag or bowl. Starting with the top, rightmost Home System area indicated by the map diagram and proceeding clockwise, randomly draw a Control Marker and place it in the empty area. Once all players have been assigned a starting position, they place their Home System in the appropriate spot and proceed with game setup normally (obviously skipping step 9 of setup, in which players create the game board).

Preset Artifacts

If you are using the Artifacts option included with the SHATTERED EMPIRE expansion, you may wish the location of the artifacts to be known at the start of the game to ensure fairly even placement. If you decide to do this, you should first remove the four "dummy" artifact tokens and return them to the box. After setting the galaxy up, place one artifact marker faceup in each of the systems specified by the diagrams.

Note that artifacts are always placed on a planet in the specified system. If the system contains two planets, the artifact is placed on the planet with the fewest resources (if the resource value is tied, place the artifact token on the planet with the lower influence value. If this is also a tie, break the tie randomly).

Multi-Galaxy Maps

These two special preset maps can be used with the 6- or 8-player games. These maps are broken into two large, identical galaxies, with a smaller galaxy containing Mecatol Rex in between them. These maps may be set up on multiple tables if so desired. For both these maps, place Lodor, Quann, and two Asteroid Fields into the "Select Systems" pile.

The multi-galaxy game functions exactly the same as a standard 6- or 8-player game and, although the galaxies are separate, it is played as one large game. We recommended that players use the Wormhole Nexus option when playing with these maps, since it will provide an additional bridge between galaxies.