Part 4: Hints & Sample Play

Build anything you can, whenever you can. Building often helps immediately, plus the replacement cards you draw next turn will give you added possibilities.

Beware of concentrating your resources too much. Super planets often go Super Nova.

Two Homeworlds of different races are better than two Homeworlds of the same race.

Keeping Mercs on a Colony allows you to build different Aliens on the Colony as long as they are not there at the same time.

Remember to examine the cards stacked with a planet before attacking. Cards associated with the planet may make the planet tougher than you thought.

Sample Play

Turn 1: Draw

Andy does not need to draw so he passes. Tom does not have any planets in his hand, so he puts his entire hand in the discard pile and draws 10 new cards. Ellen passes.

Turn 1: Discover Planets

Andy has one planet in his hand, Freya, so he plays it face up on the table in front of him and declares that he has "Discovered Freya." Tom discovers Ko'ol, a Koolian Homeworld. Ellen has three planets in her hand, Antares, Scorpius, and Altair. Ellen plays Altair, which is not a pre-designated Homeworld. Since she currently has no Homeworlds in play, she can declare Altair to be a Homeworld. Since Antares is a permanent Homeworld of the Antarians, she can play it later and have two Homeworlds. Had she played Antares first, she would not be able to designate Altair as a Homeworld next turn.

Turn 1: Discover Environments on Other Players' Planets

Andy puts Cold Climate on Ko'ol, reducing its Economic strength to zero. The card seems to work, because immediately he gets a cold stare from Tom. Since Andy knows he will go first during the Action phase, he is hoping that Ko'ol will be an easy target later in the turn. Tom and Ellen do not play any cards.

Turn 1: Discover Environments on Your Planets

Andy passes. Tom passes. Ellen plays Abundant Land on Altair, raising its population potential to 4.

Turn 1: Build

Andy builds the Evil Clones and Nora Lucre on Freya. Next he builds the Battleship and the Garbage Scow in orbit around Freya. He places the ship cards just above Freya to indicate they are in orbit there. Tom builds Chort's Marauders and Lord Faslk on Ko'ol. He also builds a High-G ship around Ko'ol. Ellen declares that Altair is a Tlisk Homeworld and builds a Tlisk and General Bellis on it. Next, she plays Monarchy on Altair, which increases its population potential. Finally, she builds a Cruiser and a Cargo Ship in orbit.

Turn 1: Action

Andy gleefully declares that he is attacking Ko'ol and moves his Battleship and Garbage Scow close to Ko'ol. Tom's High-G ship has a Military strength of 2 ("M2" for short) and Andy's Fleet has a combined strength of M3. Rather than fight, Tom orders his ship to hide in Deep Space. To indicate this, he moves the High-G ship off to the side (not near any other planets).

Since Andy's Fleet has defeated the ships in orbit around Ko'ol he can attack Ko'ol itself. Andy declares that he is attacking Ko'ol Economically. Andy's fleet has an E1 (from the Garbage Scow); Ko'ol has an E0 (due to Cold Climate). Andy buys Ko'ol. Andy picks Chort's Marauders as the Asset he wants. Andy moves Ko'ol and Chort's Marauders in front of him; Tom puts Lord Faslk back in his hand.

Now it is Tom's turn. Since his ships veered into Deep Space they cannot attack this turn. Tom decides to trade. Tom offers to trade a Piracy License and mentions that he's "looking for planets." Ellen offers to give him Scorpius, they agree, and they trade cards.

Now it's Ellen's turn. Ellen announces that she is attacking Freya with her Cruiser, leaving her Cargo Ship to guard Altair. This seems strange because Freya is stronger in all 3 categories. Ellen then plays Warp Cannon which increases her Military strength by 6. Boom! Ellen takes Freya and places her Cruiser in orbit around it. Andy takes the Evil Clones and puts them back in his hand (a special ability of that card); Nora Lucre gets sent to the Scrapyard.

Turn 1: Transport

Neither Andy nor Tom can transport, but Ellen decides to move General Bellis onto her Cargo Ship and then move the Cargo Ship to Freya. She moves the Cruiser from Freya to Altair, figuring that next turn she will move the Tlisk onto the Cruiser.

Turn 1: Discard

Andy discards a card. Tom is in more trouble: his High-G ship has no planetary support so he throws the ship in the discard pile along with his one discard card. Ellen discards a card.

Turn 2: Draw

Since Tom is to the left of Andy (the opening player from turn 1), he becomes the opening player for the second turn. Tom draws first....

Questions

Q: Why do you call planet cards "planets," when you named them after stars?
A: When you see "Vega" just assume that we actually mean the most habitable planet around Vega.

Q: What happens if an opponent plays Hot Climate on my new planet and I then play Cold Climate?
A: The cards negate each other and both are removed to the Scrapyard.

Q: Can I play a Build card on another player?
A: Yes, if that card says it may be played on other players. Any card played on another player's empire become the property of the other player.

Q: Can I defend my planet with more than one ship?
A: Yes, you can use as many ships as you have around the planet, combining their strengths.

Optional Rules

Try "Closed" stacks. Place all Civilization and population cards under the planet card. Other players can only look at the contents of a planet after they have decided to attack it.

Change the population potential required to win.

Allow "free trade". That is, allow players to make as many trades as they want during their turn.

Play deck versus deck. First, players should agree on the number of cards in each deck. Each player should then make a list of their cards since the cards will get mixed during play. During play, each player has their own Draw, Discard, and Scrapyard piles. After the game is over, use the list to ensure that each player gets their cards back.