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• MrBlarney Registered User regular

  March 2014 edited March 2014

  Strategic Action and Strategy Cards

  With a Strategic Action, players activate the ability specified on their chosen Strategy Card. After executing the primary ability, all other players, including players who have already passed their turn, will have a chance to make use of the secondary ability listed on the card by spending a Command Counter from their Strategy Allocation. Normally, players make their choices clockwise from the primary player, but for the purposes of the forum game environment, players may choose to pass or play on a secondary ability out of order if they wish. Text of each card and a short explanation and example for each follow below. Generally, use of a Strategy Card ability is noted in bold dodgerblue. Usage example:
  
  I activate the primary ability...
  I PLAY the secondary ability...
  I PASS on the secondary ability.

  (1) Leadership

  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.
  
  Notes: Unlike other Strategy Cards, there is no need to spend a Strategy Allocation counter to use this card’s secondary ability. Usage examples:
  
  I activate the primary ability of the (1) Leadership Strategy Card and exhaust Mellon (2I), placing 1 counter into Strategy Allocation, 1 into Fleet Supply, and 2 into Command Pool.
  
  I PLAY the secondary ability, exhausting Dal Bootha (2I) to place 1 Command Counter into my Command Pool.

  (2) Diplomacy II

  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 Command Marker on the planet.
  
  Notes: The a) side of the primary ability protects a system from interference by other players; if they have no counters in their reserves they must take one from their race sheet if possible. Players may not use the secondary ability to take control of Mecatol Rex or a planet that was just annexed by another player using this ability during the same activation. Players may annex planets under the control of other players if the opponent has no ground units based at that planet. Usage examples:
  
  I activate the primary ability of the (2) Diplomacy II Strategy Card, choosing option a) and targeting the Abyz-Fria system.
  
  I PLAY the secondary ability, spending a Strategy Allocation Counter and exhausting Torkan (3I) to annex Vefut II.

  (3) Assembly

  Primary Ability: Senate Draw 1 Political Card and 2 Action Cards. Then choose either a) or b):
  a) Claim the Speaker token and choose one other player to play a Political Card and resolve its agenda. You may not choose this option if you are already the Speaker.
  b) Choose one other player to claim the Speaker token. Play a Political Card from your hand and resolve its agenda. You must select a player that is not currently Speaker.
  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.
  
  Notes: If a player selected to play a Political Card has none to play, the top card of the Political Card deck is drawn and resolved instead. After negotiation, players vote on the agenda, starting to the left of the Speaker, with the option to also abstain from a vote. Each player's vote is worth the amount of influence on their unexhausted planets (minimum 1); Trade Goods may not be spent here to increase the power of the vote. The option with the most votes wins, with the Speaker breaking any ties. Usage examples:
  
  I activate the primary ability of the (3) Assembly Strategy Card, choosing option a) to claim the Speaker token and choosing The Universities of Jol-Nar to play a card. (The activating player may wait to receive cards before making a choice)
  Selected player under option a): I choose to bring "Ancient Artifact" to a vote., and posting the Political Card text.
  Voting: I vote FOR the agenda, I vote AGAINST the agenda., I ELECT <item> for the agenda., I ABSTAIN from the agenda.
  
  I PLAY the secondary ability, spending a Strategy Allocation Counter to refresh Lodor and Xxehan.

  (4) Production

  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.
  
  Notes: Players are still limited by the normal production capacity of Space Docks during activation of this card. Usage examples:
  
  I activate the primary ability of the (4) Production Strategy Card, exhausting Fria (2R) to build a Cruiser (2R) and 2 Destroyers (2R) at the Space Dock on Abyz.
  
  I PLAY the secondary ability, spending a Strategy Allocation Counter and exhausting Lodor (3R) to build a Cruiser (2R) and 2 Fighters (1R) at the Space Dock on Lodor.

  (5) Trade II

  Primary Ability: Free Trade Receive 3 Trade Goods or cancel up to 2 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.
  
  Notes: Each race has two Trade Contracts that they may exchange with others to earn Trade Goods in the Trade Strategy Card, and trade agreements must be made between different races (i.e. you can’t exchange both Contracts with the same race). Negotiation is encouraged when making and approving agreements. There is no secondary ability associated with this Strategy card. Players do not need to declare the Trade Goods they gain, but may do so optionally. Usage examples:
  
  I activate the primary ability of the (5) Trade II Strategy Card, receiving 6 Trade Goods (3 free + 3 from agreements). or
  I activate the primary ability of the (5) Trade II Strategy Card, breaking the Trade agreement between The Universities of Jol-Nar and The Barony of Letnev. I collect 3 Trade Goods (all from agreements).
  
  When trying to create an agreement: I request the creation of a Trade Agreement between myself [2] and The Xxcha Kingdom [2].
  When approving a trade: I approve of the creation of a Trade Agreement between The Xxcha Kingdom [2] and The Federation of Sol [2].

  (6) Warfare II

  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 rolls during Space Combat. 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 systems.
  
  Notes: The High Alert token does not affect the performance of ground units, nor does it affect pre-combat abilities. Moving ships using the secondary ability does not trigger PDS Fire. Control of a system is defined by control of all planets in the system (if any) and the presence of at least one non-Fighter friendly ship. Usage examples:
  
  I activate the primary ability of the (6) Warfare II Strategy Card, placing the High Alert token in the Abyz-Fria system.
  
  I PLAY the secondary ability, spending a Strategy Allocation Counter to move a Destroyer from Quann to Qucen'n-Rarron and a Cruiser from Dal Bootha-Xxehan to Qucen'n-Rarron.

  (7) Technology II

  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.
  
  Notes: Common technologies are divided into four categories and organized into a tech tree. (Tech Tree) If purchasing technology, the cost may be reduced by one for each technology specialty icon matching the type of technology you wish to buy on your unexhausted planets. You do not have to exhaust such planets during technology purchasing to gain their bonus. Each race also has two Race-Specific Technologies only they may purchase. These technologies have no prerequisites, are colorless, and incur an additional resource cost to purchase; this includes if the technology is selected for the 'free' technology in the primary ability. Usage examples:
  
  I activate the primary ability of the (7) Technology II Strategy Card and exhaust Abyz (3R) to gain racial technology "Production Centers". (Hacan racial technology costing +3 resources)
  
  I PLAY the secondary ability, spending a Strategy Allocation Counter, exhausting Abyz (3R), Fria (2R), and using the Fria Technology specialty to gain "XRD Transporters".

  (8) Bureaucracy

  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.
  
  Notes: If "Imperium Rex" is revealed, whether by the special action or primary ability, the game ends immediately without any further player actions (including qualification for further objectives). A player must control all planets in their home system in order to claim an objective. Usage examples:
  
  I activate the primary ability of the (8) Bureaucracy Strategy Card, placing a Command Counter into Command Pool.
  After receiving Objective Cards: I reveal the following Objective Card:, and posting the Objective Card text.[/color][/b]
  
  I PLAY the secondary ability, spending a Strategy Allocation Counter to draw one Political Card and one Action Card.

  
  Tactical Action

  With a Tactical Action, players may activate a system for movement, invasion, or production. The following steps are taken in a Tactical Action:

  1. Activate a System One counter will be spent from the Command Pool to activate the chosen system.
  2. Movement into the System Ships cannot be moved out of activated systems and cannot pass through systems with non-Fighter enemy ships. Units with carry ability can pick up units at any time during their movement as long as the systems do not contain enemy ships and are not previously activated.
  3. PDS Fire If there are any enemy PDS units in range, play will be paused to allow their owning players the opportunity to decide whether or not to react. The active player may then choose to activate their own PDS units, if any. Hits are scored as in Space Battles (see below) by each player.
  4. Space Battles A Space Battle occurs when ships of different players are in the same system. See section below.
  5. Planetary Landings Units being carried may be landed at this time; they may be split between multiple planets.
  6. Invasion Combat Invasion Combat occurs when units of different players are in the same planet. See section below.
  7. Produce Units Players may exhaust planets and spend trade goods to build units at a previously established Space Dock, or to build a Space Dock if the planet it is being built on has been controlled the entire round. The maximum number of units that may be produced is equal to 2 plus the resource value of the planet housing the Space Dock.

  If a planet is taken, either by landing a Ground Force or Mechanized Unit on an empty planet or winning Invasion Combat, the planet card is received in exhausted state. Example:
  
  I spend a Command Pool Counter to activate the Tar'mann system and perform a Tactical Action.
  A Carrier with two Fighters and two Ground Forces from Tequ'ran-Torkan and a Cruiser from the Xxcha Home System will be moved in. (If there were PDS in the area, the action would pause for PDS fire. Assuming the system is empty,)
  I land two Ground Forces onto Tar'mann, taking control of the planet.
  
  Building units: I exhaust Bereg (3R) to build a Cruiser (2R) and two Fighters (1R).

  
  Space Battles and Invasion Combat

  Before a Space Battle, pre-combat Actions and anti-Fighter barrage occur. In Anti-Fighter Barrage, each player rolls two dice for each Destroyer they have in the system. Each hit (roll on d10+modifiers at or above the ship’s combat value) destroys a Fighter in the opponent’s fleet. Once complete, Space Battles are resolved in rounds:

  1. Announce Withdrawals/Retreats Attacker has first option to declare a retreat, followed by the Defender. Players may retreat into an adjacent activated system without enemy ships. Alternatively, the defender may spend a counter from Strategy Allocation to activate an adjacent empty or friendly system for the purposes of retreat.
  2. Roll Combat Dice Both players simultaneously roll outcomes for all their ships.
  3. Remove Casualties Both players decide what ships to remove from their own fleets; attacker removes first.
  4. Execute Withdrawals/Retreats If there are still ships of both players in the system and a retreat was declared, it is executed now.

  Battle rounds continue until a player retreats or only ships of one kind (or fewer) remain in the system. Generally, battles will be conducted via private message, and it is encouraged to have conditional orders in place with me in order to expedite the process. Results will be announced in thread at battle’s completion.
  
  Invasion Combat flows similarly to Space Battles, but without a retreat option. Pre-combat, the attacker has the option of using Planetary Bombardment with his Dreadnoughts and War Suns and the defender may use PDS fire. For Bombardment, ships must be split between planets if there are multiple invasions, and Dreadnoughts may not bombard planets that contain enemy PDS units. PDS units must be on the planet being invaded to be used in PDS fire. For each hit by each player, one Ground Force or Shock Troop is removed. Remaining Ground Forces, Shock Troops, and Mechanized Units fight it out in rounds of rolling combat dice, then removing casualties. If the attacker wins with at least one Ground Force, Shock Troop, or Mechanized Unit remaining, then he gains control of the planet. All enemy Space Dock and PDS units are destroyed, unless the attacker has at least one Shock Troop; in that case, the invader may choose to capture the facilities instead, replacing them with units of his own.

  
  Units

  The number of each type of unit a player may have on the board is limited, with the exception of Ground Forces and Fighters. Even then, there is a maximum number of 'divisions' of each type. Certain units have a Sustain Damage ability that allows them to take one hit without being destroyed. Damaged units are not hampered combat-wise, though a second hit will destroy them. Damaged ships are repaired in the Status Phase.

  • Space Dock Cost: 4, Max Available: 3. Ground unit, cannot be carried. No combat capabilities, but can support three Fighter units. Builds units; cannot produce units the same turn it is built. If blockaded (in a system with enemy ships), only ground units can be built. Maximum of one can be present on each planet.
  • Ground Force Cost: 1 (for 2), Max Available: unlimited in 12 divisions, Combat Value: 8. Ground unit. Can establish control of planets.
  • Shock Troops Cost: Special, Max Available: 12 across all players, Combat Value: 5. Ground unit. Can establish control of planets, may take over PDS and Space Dock units after battle. Upgrades from Ground Force when Ground Force rolls a natural 10 in Invasion Combat. Must be present with at least one Ground Force; taken as casualties before Ground Forces.
  • Mechanized Unit Cost: 2, Max Available: 4, Combat Value: 6 (x2). Ground unit, can sustain damage. Can establish control of planets.
  • PDS (Planetary Defense System) Cost: 2, Max Available: 6, Combat Value: 6. Ground unit, Planetary Shield (defend against bombardment), PDS Fire abilities. Maximum of two can be present on each planet.
  • Fighter Cost: 1 (for 2), Max Available: unlimited in 10 divisions, Combat Value: 9. Space unit, must be supported by a Space Dock or unit with carry capacity.
  • Carrier Cost: 3, Max Available: 4, Combat Value: 9, Movement: 1. Space unit. Carry capacity of 6 units. If destroyed, any carried Ground units are immediately lost.
  • Destroyer Cost: 1, Max Available: 8, Combat Value: 9, Movement: 2. Space unit, can use Anti-fighter barrage.
  • Cruiser Cost: 2, Max Available: 8, Combat Value: 7, Movement: 2. Space unit.
  • Dreadnought Cost: 5, Max Available: 5, Combat Value: 5, Movement: 1. Space unit, can bombard, can sustain damage.
  • War Sun Cost: 12, Max Available: 2, Combat Value: 3 (x3), Movement: 2. Space unit, can bombard through Planetary Shield, can sustain damage. Carry capacity of 6 units. If destroyed, any carried Ground units are immediately lost. Requires tech advance to build.

  
  Transfer Action

  The Transfer Action bears similarities to the Tactical Action, but can only be used in friendly systems and used only for reorganization of units and production. The following steps are taken in a Transfer Action, with exceptions listed where they differ from the Tactical Action:

  1. Activate Two Systems One counter will come from the Command Pool like in a Tactical Action, the other will come from the reserve tokens. Both systems must be “friendly”, containing at least one friendly unit and no enemy units, and must be adjacent to each other.
  2. Movement Between Systems
  3. PDS Fire
  4. Planetary Landings Units may not be landed on neutral or enemy-controlled planets in the Transfer Action.
  5. Produce Units Units may be produced or a Space Dock may be built at only one of the activated systems.

  Example:
  
  I spend a Command Pool Counter to activate the Saudor and Arinam-Meer systems and perform a Transfer Action.
  A Carrier with two Fighters and two Ground Forces will move from Saudor to Arinam-Meer; a Cruiser will move from Arinam-Meer to Saudor.
  I will land one Ground Force from the Carrier to each of Arinam and Meer.
  I will exhaust Saudor (2R) and spend 2 Trade Goods to build a Space Dock on Arinam.

  MrBlarney on March 2014

  
  

  0
• MrBlarney Registered User regular

  March 2014 edited March 2015

  Status Phase

  Once all players have passed their turns, the Action Phase ends and the Status Phase begins. In the Status Phase, the following steps are taken in order:

  1. Qualify for Public/Secret Objective Cards Players may qualify for at most one Public Objective Card and one Secret Objective Card per round. A player must control all planets in their home system in order to claim an objective. All players may claim each Public Objective once; players may not claim other players' Secret Objectives.
  2. Repair Damaged Ships
  3. Remove Command Counters Counters are removed from the board and returned to players' reserves.
  4. Refresh Planet Cards Trade stations and certain worlds have Refresh abilities that can be used immediately after refreshing, causing them to become exhausted.
  5. Receive 1 Action Card and 2 Command Counters
  6. Redistribute Command Areas If a player reduces their Fleet Supply, they must make sure their fleet numbers are in compliance with the new number.
  7. Return Strategy Cards Strategy Cards return to the common area for selection in the next Strategy Phase.

  Players may also scuttle units during the Status Phase, returning the unit to the reserves. Most steps are automatic; outside of potential Action Card plays and scuttling units, players need only declare how they are redistributing their Command Counters in the Status Phase. Example:
  
  I gain 2 Command Counters, placing one in Strategy Allocation and one in Command Pool., or I gain 2 Command Counters, rearranging my Command Areas to include 2 in Strategy Allocation, 4 in Fleet Supply, and 2 in Command Pool.

  
  Odds and Ends

  • At the start of the game, Mecatol Rex is assigned two Custodians of Mecatol Rex tokens. Before any player may establish control over the planet, they must defeat a standing force of 3 Fighters and 2 Ground Forces. The Fighters are immune to Anti-Fighter Barrage, the Ground Forces immune to Bombardment. Each token returns to full strength if not defeated, but when beaten they are permanently removed from the game, even if control over Mecatol Rex is later lost.
  • As described above, Command Counters in the Strategy Allocation area are (generally) used to play the secondary abilities of Strategy Cards, and counters in the Command Pool area are used to activate systems in Tactical and Transfer actions. Command Counters in the Fleet Supply area are not spent, but instead indicate the maximum number of friendly non-Fighter ships that can be supported in a single system at any time. Each player has a maximum of 16 Command Counters available in the game. If a game effect requires the placement of a Counter from the reserves and none is available, the counter must be taken from one of the allocated areas.
  • Keep in mind that removing all Ground units from a world after establishing control does not relinquish it. Only when an enemy takes over control does ownership transfer.
  • Certain map hexes have special features. Hexes with matching-lettered wormholes are considered adjacent by movement. Asteroid Field systems are impassable unless a player has the Antimass Deflectors technology; even then, movement may not end in this system. Supernova systems are completely impassable to movement. Nebula systems can be activated, but units may not move through them in a single activation. Ships defend with a +1 bonus to combat rolls while inside a Nebula, but their movement is reduced to 1 when moving out of a Nebula system. Ion Storms, much like Nebulas, can be activated, but cannot be passed through without stopping. While inside an Ion Storm, ships may not be fired upon by PDS Units, and Fighters do not fire in combat (though they still may be taken as casualties). Gravity Rifts have a chance of destroying any ship that leaves or moves through the system: for each ship a die is rolled and on a 1-5, the ship and any carried units are destroyed.
  • Certain systems include trade stations as part of their features. Trade stations are similar to regular planets, but no units may be placed on them. Instead, control is established when a player has space units in the system (and no other player has space units in the system). Unlike planets, transfer of control of a trade station does not break Trade Contracts.
  • With the additional components from the expansions, the Trade Good pool is effectively unlimited (88 in total). Trade Goods may be spent at any time as 1 resource or 1 influence, except in voting. Trade Goods are also notable for normally being the only component that may be freely traded between players. Transfers may be performed at any time by noting the action in bold dodgerblue; these are good bargaining chips when making negotiations.
  • Trade Contracts may be broken unilaterally by a player in the Status Phase if they desire. Contracts are also automatically broken if trade partners engage in a Space Battle or Invasion Combat.
  • When playing an Action Card outside of simply as an action, a player must first declare that they are making an Action Card play, after which all other players may also declare a play, or pass. If multiple players wish to play cards at the same time, resolution is in play order (which differs in the Strategy Phase, Action Phase, and Status Phase). The exception to Action Card declaration is the play of "Sabotage" cards: these do not need to be declared until they are played reactively to another Action Card being played. To declare the play of a card, note it in bold dodgerblue at the appropriate period in which it will be played.
  • The maximum hand size for Action Cards is seven. If a player exceeds this number at any time, they must immediately discard down to seven, even if they have more Action Cards to draw. In the latter case, the player may continue drawing cards after discarding down to seven.
  • A similar maximum hand size also exists for Political Cards at five. Unlike Action Cards, Political Cards may be spent as though they were a Trade Good at any time a Trade Good would normally be spent.
  • To aid in recordkeeping, and as a common courtesy, it is recommended that you list the number of Trade Goods, Action Cards, Political Cards, and Command Counter Allocation in bold limegreen after each of your actions. For example, at the start of the game, your status might look like this:
    
    TG/AC/PC: 0/0/2
    SA/FS/CC: 2/3/3

  
  

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  Game State Links
  
  Player and Race Draw
  Galaxy Creation, Update 1, Update 2, Update 3, Update 4
  Round 1, Start of Strategy Phase, Start of Action Phase, Update 1, Update 2, Update 3, Update 4, Update 5, Start of Status Phase
  Round 2, Start of Strategy Phase, Start of Action Phase, Update 1, Update 2, Update 3, Update 4, Start of Status Phase
  Round 3, Start of Strategy Phase, Start of Action Phase, Update 1, Update 2, Update 3, Start of Status Phase
  Round 4, Start of Strategy Phase, Start of Action Phase, Update 1, Update 2, Update 3, Update 4, Start of Status Phase
  Round 5, Start of Strategy Phase, Start of Action Phase, Update 1, Update 2, Update 3, Update 4, Start of Status Phase
  Round 6, Start of Strategy Phase, Start of Action Phase, Update 1, Update 2, Update 3, Update 4, Start of Status Phase
  Round 7, Start of Strategy Phase, Start of Action Phase, Update 1, Update 2, Update 3, Update 4, Update 5, Start of Status Phase
  Round 8, Start of Strategy Phase, Start of Action Phase, Update 1
  
  With 7 Victory Points, Yssaril claims victory in Round 8!

  MrBlarney on March 2015

  
  

  +1
• MrBlarney Registered User regular

  March 2014

  Player and Race Draw
  
  The following people will be playing in this game:

  1. discrider
  2. El Skid
  3. faintpremonition
  4. GrimmyTOA
  5. jakobagger
  6. Kirindal

  A permutation will be taken to determine player order. A permutation will also be used to select player races, from the following list:

  1. The Emirates of Hacan
  2. Universities of Jol-Nar
  3. The L1z1x Mindnet
  4. The Barony of Letnev
  5. The Mentak Coalition
  6. The Naalu Collective
  7. Sardakk N'orr
  8. Federation of Sol
  9. The Xxcha Kingdom
  10. The Yssaril Tribes
  11. The Embers of Muaat
  12. The Clan of Saar
  13. The Winnu
  14. The Yin Brotherhood
  15. The Arborec
  16. The Ghosts of Creuss
  17. The Nekro Virus

  
  Geth roll 6p6 for Player Order
  Geth roll 17p6 for Races

  Player Order:

  6p6 720 [6p6=3, 6, 1, 2, 5, 4]

  Races:

  17p6 8910720 [17p6=6, 17, 11, 10, 5, 9]

  
  

  0
• MrBlarney Registered User regular

  March 2014

  Player order and races are as follows:
  
  The Naalu Collective: faintpremonition

  • Starting Units: 1 Space Dock, 4 Ground Forces, 1 PDS, 1 Carrier, 1 Cruiser, 1 Destroyer, 4 Fighters
  • Starting Technologies: Antimass Deflectors, Enviro Compensator
  • Trade Contracts: 1, 2
  • The initiative number on your chosen Strategy Card is always “0” (replacing the normal initiative number of the Strategy Card). This means that you are always first in the order of play.
  • If attacked, a Naalu fleet may retreat before the beginning of the Space Battle step of the Tactical Action sequence (following the normal retreat rules and restrictions).
  • All Naalu Fighters receive +1 on Combat Rolls during Space Battles.
  • Racial Technology: Telepathic Mind Weapon (Cost: +5) - When your opponent activates a system that you control, he immediately loses 1 Command Counter from the Fleet Supply area of his race sheet.
  • Racial Technology: Hybrid Crystal Drives (Cost: +3) - Your Carriers and unsupported Advanced Fighters each only count as 1/2 a ship (rounded up) towards the Fleet Supply.

  
  The Nekro Virus: Kirindal

  • Starting Units: 2 Ground Forces, 1 Mechanized Unit, 1 Carrier, 2 Cruisers, 1 Space Dock
  • Starting Technologies: Gen Synthesis, Hylar V Assault Laser, Dacxive Animators
  • Trade Contracts: 1, 2
  • You may not vote on Political or Agenda cards.
  • When you destroy at least 1 enemy unit in a Space Battle or Invasion Combat (excluding PDS fire), you may copy (receive) 1 free Technology Card (ignoring all prerequisites) that the enemy player has already researched. Limit once per battle.
  • You may not receive Technology Cards from Political, Assembly, Action, or Strategy Cards. Any time you would receive a Technology Card in this way, instead gain 3 Command Counters.
  • Racial Technology: Valefar Assimilator - Cost: Gain this Technology by using your racial ability to copy a racial Technology an opponent has researched. You cannot copy a Technology that modifies his racial ability. Place the race’s Control Marker on this card to remember which ability you have copied.
  • Racial Technology: Valefar Assimilator - Cost: Gain this Technology by using your racial ability to copy a racial Technology an opponent has researched. You cannot copy a Technology that modifies his racial ability. Place the race’s Control Marker on this card to remember which ability you have copied.

  
  The Embers of Muaat: discrider

  • Starting Units: 4 Ground Forces, 2 Fighters, 1 War Sun, 1 Space Dock
  • Starting Technologies: Enviro Compensator, Sarween Tools, War Sun
  • Trade Contracts: 2, 2
  • Your War Suns have a base movement of 1; this improves to 2 when you acquire the Deep Space Cannon technology.
  • As an Action, you may spend one Command Counter from your Strategy Allocation Area to place 2 free Fighters or 1 free Destroyer in any one System containing one of your War Suns or Space Docks.
  • Your ships may move through, but may not end their movement in, Supernova systems.
  • Racial Technology: Magmus Reactor (Cost: +5) - Your War Suns now have +1 movement and a base cost of 10 resources.
  • Racial Technology: Nova Seed (Cost: +3) - As an action, you may remove this card from the game to replace a system you control with a Supernova system tile. This may not be used on Mecatol Rex, a Home System, or adjacent to a red-bordered system.

  
  The Yssaril Tribes: El Skid

  • Starting Units: 1 Space Dock, 5 Ground Forces, 1 PDS, 2 Carriers, 1 Cruiser, 2 Fighters
  • Starting Technologies: Antimass Deflectors, XRD Transporter
  • Trade Contracts: 1, 2
  • You are allowed to skip your action turn during the Action Phase. You may not skip two such action turns in a row.
  • You draw one additional Action Card during every Status Phase. You are never limited to a hand size of Action Cards, regardless of the game rules and any active Political Cards.
  • Once during every Strategy Phase, you may look at one other player’s hand of Action Cards.
  • Racial Technology: Shuttle Logistics (Cost: +3) - At the start of the Status Phase, you may choose a system that does not contain any enemy ships. Your Ground Forces in the chosen system may move to any friendly planet in the same or an adjacent system (that does not contain any enemy ships).
  • Racial Technology: Mageon Implants (Cost: +4) - When looking at your opponent’s hand of Action Cards using your racial ability, you may steal 1 card of your choice and add it to your hand.

  
  The Mentak Coalition: jakobagger

  • Starting Units: 1 Carrier, 3 Cruisers, 1 Space Dock, 1 PDS, 4 Ground Forces
  • Starting Technologies: Hylar V Assault Laser, Enviro Compensator
  • Trade Contracts: 1, 1
  • You start the game with one additional Command Counter in your Fleet Supply area.
  • Before a Space Battle begins (in which you are participating), you may fire with up to two Cruisers or Destroyers (or a mix thereof). Enemy casualties are taken immediately, with no return fire allowed.
  • During the Strategy Phase, you may take one Trade Good token from up to two different players. Each such target player must have at least 3 Trade Goods on his Race Sheet.
  • Racial Technology: Salvage Operations (Cost: +4) - Gain 2 Trade Goods at the end of each Space Battle in which you participate. If you won the battle, you may build one ship in the system of a unit type that you destroyed during combat. You must pay the ship’s resource cost.
  • Racial Technology: Mirror Computing (Cost: +4) - When you spend Trade Goods, each Trade Good counts as 2 resources or 2 influence (instead of 1).

  
  The Xxcha Kingdom: GrimmyTOA

  • Starting Units: 1 Space Dock, 3 Fighters, 1 PDS, 1 Carrier, 2 Ground Forces, 2 Cruisers
  • Starting Technologies: Antimass Deflectors, Enviro Compensator
  • Trade Contracts: 2, 2
  • When executing the Secondary Ability of the Diplomacy Strategy, you may execute the Primary Ability instead.
  • Immediately after a Political Card has been drawn or played and read aloud, you may spend one Command Counter from your Strategy Allocation to cancel the card and force another Political Card to be drawn.
  • Your opponents receive -1 on all combat rolls against you during the first combat round of all Space Battles and Invasion Combat.
  • Racial Technology: Diplomats (Cost: +5) - Once per turn, when an opponent activates a system you control, you may spend a command Counter from your Strategy Allocation area to force him to instead place the Command Counter into his reinforcements and immediately end his action.
  • Racial Technology: Instinct Training (Cost: +4) - Once per game round, you may spend 1 Command Counter from your Strategy Allocation area to cancel an Action Card just played by an opponent.

  
  

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• robinlambert Registered User regular

  March 2014

  Jealous.
  

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• MrBlarney Registered User regular

  March 2014 edited March 2014

  Galaxy Creation
  
  All players draw two Political Cards and a Secret Objective before galaxy creation, which will be sent out shortly.
  
  Starting Map
  
  For galaxy creation, 32 system tiles have been shuffled together, comprising 4 red-bordered systems, 8 empty systems (including both wormhole systems), and 20 regular systems (including both wormhole-containing systems). Two systems have been randomly taken out of the stack and each player has received 5 tiles.
  
  Map building starts with the Naalu, who will place a system from their hand into the inner ring (1-x hexes). Placement proceeds clockwise until the first ring is filled. Then, the second ring (2-x hexes) is filled through two rounds of placement, starting with the Xxcha and moving counter-clockwise to the Naalu who will place two systems, then snaking back to the Xxcha. The outermost ring (3-x hexes) is filled in the same way. The following restrictions must be observed in map creation:

  • Each ring must be filled completely before moving on to the next, starting from the center and moving outwards.
  • Special systems with red borders may not be placed adjacent to one another.
  • If a player has placed a system containing no planets, then a system containing at least one planet must be placed on their next turn.

  Should a player be unable to place a system according to these rules, their hand of systems is revealed so that they may place a system while breaking the normal rules. When a system with no planets is placed, its placer my give it a name for unique identification.
  
  faintpremonition to place a system when he is ready.
  
  EDIT: All initial PMs are out - let me know if I missed anything.

  MrBlarney on March 2014

  
  

  +1
• discrider Registered User regular

  March 2014 edited March 2014

  Can I Supernova the wormhole nexus?
  Also, does "control a system" just mean "have ships in" or must the planets be mine?

  discrider on March 2014

  Steam Community page: http://steamcommunity.com/id/discrider/
  

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• MrBlarney Registered User regular

  March 2014

  discrider wrote: »

  Can I Supernova the wormhole nexus?

  Nova Seed may be used on the Wormhole Nexus system.
  

  discrider wrote: »

  Also, does "control a system" just mean "have ships in" or must the planets be mine?

  To control a system, you must have at least one (non-Fighter) ship there and have ownership of all planets in the system.
  
  

  
  

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• El Skid The frozen white northRegistered User regular

  March 2014 edited March 2014

  Making sure everyone gets this thread:
  @faintpremonition
  @GrimmyTOA
  @jakobagger
  @Kirindal
  
  Fun fact: My last (also first) game of TI I made the mistake of spending too much time getting neat action cards and not enough time getting VPs. And so I had made a promise to myself to not hoard them this game.
  
  ...and then Geth gave me the Yssaril for a race. Geth is truly a cruel mistress!

  El Skid on March 2014

  +1
• GrimmyTOA Registered User regular

  March 2014

  Aw man, that's terrible.
  
  ...
  
  I'll trade you.

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• El Skid The frozen white northRegistered User regular

  March 2014

  GrimmyTOA wrote: »

  Aw man, that's terrible.
  
  ...
  
  I'll trade you.

  
  I've only ever played as Xxcha, actually... so that wouldn't really be good. The virus on the other hand seems...strong.

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• jakobagger LO THY DREAD EMPIRE CHAOS IS RESTORED Registered User regular

  March 2014

  I'm here!
  
  ...oh god, so much text. It's like school, although admittedly if I was majoring in something as cool as Space Piracy I probably wouldn't mind a lot of reading on the subject.
  
  Woo, space piracy!

  steam

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• Kirindal Registered User regular

  March 2014

  Yep, Nekro is very strong. I won't get screwed over if any of you choose not to research any tech. Please don't research any tech.

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• faintpremonition Registered User regular

  March 2014 edited March 2014

  Naalu place an empty system at 1-3

  faintpremonition on March 2014

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• GrimmyTOA Registered User regular

  March 2014

  Don't forget to @Kirindal to place a system.

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• Kirindal Registered User regular

  March 2014

  The Nekro surveys notes that there's an empty system in 1-5.
  
  @discrider‌

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• El Skid The frozen white northRegistered User regular

  March 2014

  Note: You guys can both name the empty system for posterity if you'd like. Blarney tends to denote them as such on his maps.

  +1
• Kirindal Registered User regular

  March 2014

  The Nekro also would like to note that 1-5 is also known as the Jidvel Expanse according to astrometric data taken from an derelict scout vessel. More proof of fleshly bankruptcy.

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• discrider Registered User regular

  March 2014

  There is an empty system at 1-3.
  We deign to call it the Vast Unlit.

  Steam Community page: http://steamcommunity.com/id/discrider/
  

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• discrider Registered User regular

  March 2014

  @El Skid to place more glorious light into the universe.

  Steam Community page: http://steamcommunity.com/id/discrider/
  

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• MrBlarney Registered User regular

  March 2014

  @discrider, there certainly is an empty system at 1-3... that was placed by faintpremonition.
  
  Try again, perhaps?

  
  

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• discrider Registered User regular

  March 2014 edited March 2014

  WELL I TAKE HIS SYSTEM AND PUT IT IN 1-1 WHERE IT BELONGS

  discrider on March 2014

  Steam Community page: http://steamcommunity.com/id/discrider/
  

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• discrider Registered User regular

  March 2014

  The Muaat are appalled by this grotesque usurping of their time honoured cosmology, and are deeply offended.

  Steam Community page: http://steamcommunity.com/id/discrider/
  

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• El Skid The frozen white northRegistered User regular

  March 2014

  The tribes have long known about the following system at 1-4:
  
  Lazar (1R, 0I) - Sakulag (2R, 1I)

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• El Skid The frozen white northRegistered User regular

  March 2014

  @jakobagger‌

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• jakobagger LO THY DREAD EMPIRE CHAOS IS RESTORED Registered User regular

  March 2014

  I will name the empty system in 1-2: "Ginnungagap, the Yawning Void".

  steam

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• jakobagger LO THY DREAD EMPIRE CHAOS IS RESTORED Registered User regular

  March 2014

  @GrimmyTOA‌

  steam

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• El Skid The frozen white northRegistered User regular

  March 2014

  Look at all of you with your empty systems!

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• jakobagger LO THY DREAD EMPIRE CHAOS IS RESTORED Registered User regular

  March 2014

  Look at you getting to place some actual planets on the hex near you instead of being blocked by some asshole on the other side of Mecatol Rex! : P

  steam

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• GrimmyTOA Registered User regular

  March 2014

  Well, I guess that leaves me with:
  
  Empty System in 1-6: Mare Tranquillitatus
  
  And to start off the second ring:
  
  Vega Minor (1R, 2I, B ) - Vega Major (2R, 1I) in space 2-11
  
  @jakobagger

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• jakobagger LO THY DREAD EMPIRE CHAOS IS RESTORED Registered User regular

  March 2014

  Perimiter (2R, 2I) in 2-9

  steam

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• jakobagger LO THY DREAD EMPIRE CHAOS IS RESTORED Registered User regular

  March 2014

  @El Skid‌

  steam

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• El Skid The frozen white northRegistered User regular

  March 2014 edited March 2014

  Arinam (1R, 2I, B ) - Meer (0R, 4I) to 2-7
  
  @discrider

  El Skid on March 2014

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• discrider Registered User regular

  March 2014 edited March 2014

  Lisis (2R, 2I) - Velnor (2R, 0I, R) to 2-5.
  Harmony in the heavens. Praise Vegnash.

  discrider on March 2014

  Steam Community page: http://steamcommunity.com/id/discrider/
  

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• discrider Registered User regular

  March 2014

  @Kirindal

  Steam Community page: http://steamcommunity.com/id/discrider/
  

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• jakobagger LO THY DREAD EMPIRE CHAOS IS RESTORED Registered User regular

  March 2014

  @Kirindal‌

  steam

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• discrider Registered User regular

  March 2014

  @Kirindal

  Steam Community page: http://steamcommunity.com/id/discrider/
  

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• El Skid The frozen white northRegistered User regular

  March 2014 edited March 2014

  @MrBlarney‌ My poor brain is starting to have trouble seeing what's going on- I'd like to request an updated map sometime before my next play, please and thank you

  El Skid on March 2014

  +1
• discrider Registered User regular

  March 2014

  El Skid wrote: »

  @MrBlarney‌ My poor brain is starting to have trouble seeing what's going on- I'd like to request an updated map sometime before my next play, please and thank you

  
  Is pretty easy at the moment. Everyone bar you placed empty systems around Rex. And then everyone played planets in front of their home system so far.

  Steam Community page: http://steamcommunity.com/id/discrider/
  

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• El Skid The frozen white northRegistered User regular

  March 2014 edited March 2014

  Yeah, I can just tell by my next turn though that I'm not going to be able to visualize all the moves up till then at once properly... it's not going to come back to me with just planets adjacent to people's starting location.
  
  e- this is also learning from experience, as I have done this before and messed up, thinking something had happened when it hadn't

  El Skid on March 2014

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