Leader Rules

Every race receives 3 leaders at his or her home planet at the beginning of the game. Leaders must be transported via the normal transport rules, but do not count against unit

capacities. Leaders may only land on a neutral or hostile planet with at least one ground force. Leaders are captured if invasion of a hostile planet (with a force containing a leader) fails. Leaders are killed if invasion of a neutral planet containing a leader fails. Once dead, leaders cannot return in any way, shape, or form. Leaders can never exist on neutral or enemy planets, or in space alone. Captured leaders belong to players, not ships, planets, systems, or anything else. When a leader is freed or escapes, it is placed on any friendly planet that is not under a

blockade

If a ship carrying a Leader is destroyed during a space battle : Roll a die.1-5: Leader dies6-8: Leader escapes9-10: Leader is captured

If a planet containing a Leader is invaded : Roll a die.1-5: Leader is captured6-9: Leader escapes10: Leader dies

Other situationsShip carrying a leader is destroyed not by combat: Leader diesLeader is present on a planet that you do not own for any reason other than invasion:

Leader escapesStatus phase options for the captor of a Leader:

Transfer the leader to any other playerFree the leader (the Leader’s owner immediately chooses a friendly planet not under

blockade and places the Leader there)Execute the leader (this causes the leader to die)

Rescuing a LeaderTo rescue a leader, invade a planet they control successfully. Then, roll a die. On a 9-

10, choose a leader that player is holding captive and free it. If it belongs to another player, you are now that Leader’s captor. If it belongs to you, it is freed.

Leaders only provide effects on the planet/ship/area/fleet that they are in. At no time will leaders affect units in different hexes. The agent, however, can affect any action card.

Leaders

Leader Type Race Indicator

Leader Types

DiplomatDiplomats can postpone a planetary invasion for one round if they are on the planet being

attacked.Diplomats allow you to move through systems with enemy players if they give you permission

(applies to the whole fleet).

GeneralGenerals allow you to re-roll up to 2 dice per round of invasion combat.Generals give -4 to bombardment if they are on the planet being bombarded.Generals give you +1 to combat rolls during invasion combat if you are the defender.

AdmiralAdmirals allow you to roll one additional die for the ship carrying it (so war suns with admirals

would always have 4 dice, for example).Dreadnoughts carrying an admiral get +1 movement.When you attack with an admiral, the defender cannot retreat unless they also have an admiral.

AgentIf an agent is the attacker in an invasion combat, PDS may not fire at the invading ground forces.If an agent is part of a successful invasion attack, you may replace any enemy PDS or Space

Dock on that planet with one from your own reinforcements.Any time an action card is played, you may sacrifice (destroy, kill, etc) your agent to cancel it.

ScientistScientist effects do not stack!When a scientist is on a planet that has a technology specialty, that planet provides a technology

discount of 2.Scientists allow you to build new space docks for 2 resources if they are on the planet at which

you are building the space dock.Scientists give your PDSs on the same planet +1 on all rolls.A planet with both a PDS and a scientist is protected from war sun bombardment.

Leaders

Distant Sun Tokens

These are space domain counters. All others are planet domain counters.

Planet domain counters and space domain counters are mutually exclusive. Space domain counters cannot be found on planets and planet domain counters cannot be found in space.

X2

X1

X1

This border indicates a low-risk domain counter. Low-risk domain counters are, when playing with the low-risk option, placed in the outer ring of the game board and adjacent to home systems. Some low-risk domain counters have a specific quality, which I have marked here.

Note: Fighters can probe domain counters. To do this, you must have at least one fighter in a system. You may then look at all of the domain counters in that system. Place them back face down. You may not look at them again unless you probe again. You may not land ground forces in that system this turn. If you probe a Lazax Survivors domain counter, you immediately discard it, draw 3 action cards, and gain one victory point.

Distant Sun Tokens

Note: In addition to the below tech tree, you also have race-specific technologies in your bag. These have costs that you must pay in addition to the normal cost to purchase a technology. These also have no prerequisite.

Flagship – Cost, movement, battle, capacity, abilities, and everything else are race specific. Refer to your card that

looks like this:

Turn Reference

Hylar V Assault Laser +1 to combat rolls and AFBAutomated Defense Turrets +2 to AFB rolls +1 AFB die

XRD Transporter +1 Movement

Deep Space Cannon Adjacent systems now in rangeMagen Defense Grid +1 to combat rollsGraviton Laser System One re-roll per miss

Hylar V Assault Laser +1to combat rollsAssault Cannon One pre-battle combat dieStasis Capsules Can carry a ground forceType IV Drive +1 Movement

Blue TechnologyRed TechnologyGreen TechnologyYellow Technology (YES I KNOW IT’S ORANGE)

Assault Cannon One pre-battle combat dieStasis Capsules Can carry a ground forceType IV Drive +1 MovementGraviton Negator Bombard planets with PDSX-89 Bacterial Weapon Before bombarding, you can destroy all ground forces on the planet by discarding all of your action cards.Nano Technology May not be targeted by enemy action cards

Pre-battle combat die for Assault Cannon grant a single combat die regardless of your normal # of dice, and casualties are applies immediately as in before battle (with no return fire allowed).

Magen Defense Grid +1 combat when defending with a PDSGen Synthesis +1 combat during invasion When killed, roll a die. 5 or more returns the unit to your home systemDacxive Animators When you win an invasion combat, roll a die for every GF killed. For every roll of 6 or more, place a free GF on the planet.

War Sun War suns can now be builtX-89 Bacterial Weapon Before bombarding, you can destroy all ground forces on the planet by discarding all of your action cards.Nano Technology May not be targeted by enemy action cards

Enviro Compensator +1 productionSarween Tools +1 resource when you build unitsIntegrated Economy New units can go in adjacent empty for friendly systems

Cybernetics +1 to combat rollsGraviton Negator Can participate in invasionsAdvanced Fighters +1 to combat rolls Can move independently

Technologies that apply to all ships

Light Wave Deflector Allows you to move through enemy systemsAntimass Deflectors Allows you to move through asteroid fieldsManeuvering Jets Opponents receive -1 to PDS rolls against your ships (-2 if the PDS is in an adjacent system) -1 to Space Mine rolls Your ships do not have to stop in Ion StormsGravity Drive No roll for ships exiting a Gravity Rift Ships adjacent to a wormhole or Gravity Rift have +1 movement

Anti-fighter Barrage (AFB)

At the beginning of a battle, roll two dice for each destroyer. For each result equal to or higher than that destroyer’s combat value, the opponent must immediately place one fighter unit back into his reinforcements. It gets no return fire and will not participate in the battle.

Bombardment(used after an invasion is declared but before it starts)

Roll one combat die for every dreadnought and three for every war sun. For every result equal to or higher than the unit’s combat value, an enemy ground is removed and placed back into that player’s reinforcements. No return fire is allowed and they will not participate in the battle. You may also raze planets with ships able to bombard. This lets you remove one domain counter per bombarding unit without resolving its effect.

Note: Game setup happens as directed by a knowledgeable player prior to the game beginning.

Note 2: This is simply an elaborated form of what appears on your race sheet.

1. Strategy Phasea. Players choose strategy cards starting with the Speaker and proceeding clockwise.b. For 3-4 players, two rounds of selection will occurr, and each player will get 2

strategy cards. For more players, one round of selection will occurr and each player will get 1 strategy card.

c. Any unused strategy cards receive a bonus counter, which grants a trade good or a command counter when selected (per bonus counter).

2. Action Phasea. Strategic Action

i. Execute the primary ability of one of your strategy cards.ii. Other players may execute the secondary ability of that strategy card

(some cards allow you to execute both or otherwise affect this).iii. Place your strategy card on the “Inactive” side.

b. Tactical Actioni. Activate a system

1. Place a command counter from your command pool onto a system. You may not activate the same system twice in the same game round.

ii. Move ships into the system1. Move as many ships as you like into the system, being careful to

adhere to the following.a. Each ship must be within movement range.b. Each ship must not be in a system previously activated by

you.c. Each ship must not be required to move through an enemy

system to reach its destination.2. Any ship that can carry them may pick up ground forces and PDS

units at any stage during the movement step. These may not be dropped off except in the Planetary Landing step.

3. If you removed the last ground unit on any planet you control, place a control marker (flat flag piece) on that planet to indicate you still control it.

iii. PDS fire1. Any enemy PDS units in range may now fire at your fleet in the

activated system.2. The enemy player rolls the number of dice allowed for his PDS.3. For every hit, you must remove a casualty from your fleet

immediately.4. If any of your PDS units are in range of enemy ships in the

activated system, you may now fire your PDS at the enemy ships in the same fashion.

Turn Reference

iv. Space Battle1. Announce withdrawals/retreats

a. The attacker may choose to withdraw. To do this, there must be a system adjacent to the one in which the space battle is occurring that has been activated by that player (this requirement may be met somehow mid-combat after retreats are announced).

b. If the attackers does not choose to withdraw, the defender may choose to withdraw via the same rules.

If playing with the sabotage run option, a sabotage run now occurrs.Commit fighters: split your fighters into a group for each enemy

war sun.Roll (attacker first, if both players are sabotaging)

Roll a number of dice equal to the number of fighters attacking.

On a natural value of 9-10, the ship makes it through the outer defenses.

On any other value, the fighter is destroyed.Roll (attacker first, if both players are sabotaging)

One fighter at a time, roll a die.On a natural value of 10, the war sun is destroyed and all

fighters in this group who have not yet rolled areplaced back in space and will participate in combat.

On any other value, the fighter is destroyed.2. Roll combat dice

a. For each unit, roll the number of dice allowed (the number after the x; for example, war suns roll dice [3x3] and only needs a 3 to hit [3x3]).

b. Each player keeps track of the number of hits he gets as this stip is supposed to happen simultaneously for both players.

3. Remove casualtiesa. Each player simultaneously removes casualties.b. To do this, choose a number of units (or you may damage a

unit with sustain damage for each casualty; a second casualty to that ship in the same game round will destroy it).

c. These units are all removed, and the selected ships with sustain damage are damaged.

4. Execute withdrawals/retreatsa. If either player no longer has any units in the system, the

retreat is cancelled.b. The retreating player moves his fleet to an adjacent

activated (by that player) system.

Turn Reference

5. Check for battle enda. If either player has no ships remaining, the battle is over.b. If either player has ships remaining after retreats, another

round of space combat occurrs, starting with the announce withdrawals/retreats step.

v. Planetary Landings1. If the attacker was successful, he now chooses which ground

forces will land on the planet and participate in invasion combat.vi. Invasion Combat

1. Bombardment2. PDS Fire (as previously described as step iii of a Tactical Action)3. Invasion combat proceeds as steps 2-3 and 5 of Space combat

(exactly like space combat, only no retreats or withdrawals are allowed and only ground forces will be fighting).

4. Space docks and PDS units do not count as units (they cannot be destroyed as a casualty).

5. If the invasion was successful (all defending ground forces were destroyed), all defending PDS units and space docks are destroyed and the attacker claims the planet card from the defender exhausted. If the planet was neutral, take it from the planet card deck. It starts out exhausted.

vii. Produce Units1. You may now build units in the activated system, with three

exceptions. 1) You may not build a space dock in the system unless you have controlled it the entire round (and it has a planet to put the space dock on), 2) you may not build units at a space dock that was built this round, and 3) you may not build space units when enemy ships are present in the system (your space dock is considered to be blockaded), but you may build ground units. As such, it will take 2 rounds after capturing a planet before it can produce resources.

2. The build limit for a space dock is equal to the number of resources the planet provides plus 2. You may not build more units than this (ground forces and fighters both count as 2 units). As such, a planet with 3 resources can produce 5 fighters, but may not produce 6.

3. To build units, pay the cost by exhausting unexhausted planets for their resources, or you may pay trade goods (1 trade good = 1 resource).

4. Place the new units in their appropriate places (ground forces and PDS units on the planet, ships in space).

Turn Reference

c. Transfer Actioni. Activate two adjacent systems with no enemy pieces whatsoever, one

from your command pool and one from your reinforcements.ii. Move ships between the two systems freely, adhering to fleet supply.

iii. PDS Fire (if enemy PDS units are in range)iv. Planetary Landings

1. You may only land on friendly planets, not enemy or neutral planets.

v. Production1. You may now produce units in one system of your choice (out of

the two just activated). This proceeds as per step vii of a Tactical Action.

d. Action Card Actioni. Certain action cards say “Play as an action.” These use one action phase

turn.e. Pass

i. Once you pass, you may not choose to use actions later this game round.3. Status Phase

a. Qualify for objectivesi. In play order (starting with the speaker and proceeding clockwise), each

player may qualify for one public objective and/or his secret objective. To do this, he proves his claim is valid and places a control marker on that objective, then moves his victory point marker up the appropriate amount. You may not qualify for objectives if you do not control all the planets in your home system.

ii. Repair Damaged ships1. Any ships that sustained a damage are repaired

iii. Remove command counters1. All command counters are removed from the board, but not from

your race sheet. Place them in your reinforcements.iv. Refresh planet cards

1. Place all your planet cards on the planet side (the side with the planet’s name and resource/influence values).

v. Receive 1 action card and 2 command counters1. You may place the command counters in any of the 3 areas on

your race sheet.vi. Redistribute command areas

1. You may redistribute command counters in your 3 command areas as you like only during this step.

vii. Return strategy cards1. All strategy cards are returned to the public supply, and the next

game round begins with choosing strategy cards.

Turn Reference

Special Systems

Asteroid field – Ships may not move through asteroid fields unless they possess the Antimass Deflectors technology. Even with the technology, you can never end your movement in an asteroid field.

Nebula – Nebulas give +1 to combat rolls for fleets defending it. Ships can never move through a nebula, but may move into and out of a nebula (but not during the same tactical action). A ship leaving a nebula always has a movement of 1.

Supernova – You may not move into, out of, or through a supernova. Any ships somehow evading this rule are immediately destroyed upon touching the supernova, unless they are the Embers of Muuat race.

Ion Storm - Ships can never move through an ion storm, but may move into and out of an ion storm (but not during the same tactical action). PDS units can never fire at units inside an Ion Storm. Fighters may not roll combat dice inside an Ion Storm, but they may be taken as casualties. Unlike nebulas, ships leaving an Ion Storm do not inherently have a movement of 1.

Gravity Rift – Ships may move into, out of, or through gravity rifts. When leaving a gravity rift, roll a die for each ship. For each 1-5 rolled, that ship is destroyed. Ground forces or fighters are destroyed when the carrier carrying them is destroyed.

Special Systems

Note on setup: during setup, and possibly other times, special systems may not be placed adjacent to one another unless you have no other option. If you placed a system that did not contain a planet during your last placement, you must, if able, place a system that does contain a planet during your next placement. If you are unable to do so, you must reveal your remaining systems to the other players to prove this. Then place one of your available systems.

Strategy Cards

1 – InitiativeSpecial – Immediately take the speaker token when you choose this strategy card.

You do not have to pay command counters from your strategy allocation area to execute the secondary abilities of action cards this game round. You may not select this action card two game rounds in a row.

2 – DiplomacyPrimary Ability

Choose an opponent. You may not attack him and he may not attack you.Secondary Ability

Refresh up to two of your exhausted (non-home system) planets

3 – PoliticalPrimary Ability

Draw 3 action cards and receive one command counter. Draw the top card of the political deck and resolve its agenda (the galactic council). After that, look at the top 3 cards of the political deck. Place one on top (face down) and the other two on the bottom.

Secondary AbilityDraw one action card

4 – LogisticsPrimary Ability

Receive 4 command counters.Secondary Ability

This ability does not require you to spend a command counter from your strategy allocation area. Receive 1 command counter for every 3 influence you spend.

5 – TradePrimary Ability

Either a) Receive 3 trade goods, then receive trade goods from your trade agreements, then open trade negotiations, or b) Cancel all trade agreements.

Secondary AbilityReceive trade goods for your trade agreements.

Strategy Cards

Note: Primary abilities are executed by the person who chose the card and secondary abilities are executed by everyone else. All secondary abilities except #4 (Logistics) require you to spend a command counter from your strategy allocation area to execute it.

6 – WarfarePrimary Ability

Move 1 command counter from an activated system to your command pool.

Secondary AbilityMove 1-2 of your Destroyers and/or Cruisers to an adjacent non-home

system. Then activate each system from your reinforcements.

7 – TechnologyPrimary Ability

Receive one free technology for which you meet the prerequisites.Secondary Ability

Spend 8 resources (+/- any effects) to receive one technology for which you meet the prerequisites.

8 – ImperialPrimary Ability

Draw the top card of the objective deck and place it face-up in the public objective area. Then receive 2 victory points.

Secondary AbilityYou may build units in one of your systems, at one or more space docks in

that system. Building units in this way does not activate the system, and you may build units this way in an already-activated system.

8 – Imperial IIPrimary Ability

Either a) You may qualify for any number of public objectives during the next status phase. You gain 1 victory point if you control Mecatol Rex.

Secondary AbilityYou may build units in one of your systems, at one or more space docks in

that system. Building units in this way does not activate the system, and you may build units this way in an already-activated system.

Strategy Cards

Note: Only Imperial or Imperial II will be used in a single game, never both. You may need to ask which one we are using for this specific game. The secondary abilities of the two are identical.

Note: The expansions provide several different options for strategy cards. I have included the ones here that we are most likely to use, which are the originals along with Imperial II. Certain cards may be replaced, or they may all be replaced. Check with who you’re playing with to determine what exact cards you’re using and only use this strategy card reference guide if it applies to the cards you’re using in this game.

Miscellaneous Rules

You may never have more than 7 action cards at a time. If at any point you do, discard the extras (you should draw action cards one at a time for this reason).

No 2 identical action cards can be used per situation per round. Dreadnoughts may not bombard planets with a PDS, but war suns can. Fighters and ground forces do not count against fleet supply. ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR RACIAL

ABILITIES!!!

Galactic CouncilEach player receives one vote for each influence on each unexhausted planet he currently has. From there, votes are cast starting with the speaker and proceeding clockwise, votes are cast (bribes are applicable but not binding unless a promisory note is used). Depending on the agenda, you may be voting for or against, or you may be voting for a player or system. The option receiving the most votes wins (the speaker breaks ties) and the agenda is resolved as such.

Technology SpecialtiesEach planet may have 1 or more technology specialties. When purchasing technologies of that color, the cost is reduced by 1 for each technology specialty on each unexhausted planet you control. For example, if 1 planet has 2 red technology specialties and 1 other planet has a red technology specialty, I can purchase a red technology for 8-3=5, providing neither planet is exhausted.

Green Red Blue YellowFor the purposes of objective cards that say “each technology speciality” or “all 3 technology specialties”, yellow does not count because it is an expansion specialty. As such, yellow specialties are also very rare.

ExpansionsThe following logos are included on expansions cards (some, but very few, expansion cards replace base cards, so that does not mean that the card inherently did not exist in the base game). The logo is usually located in a corner and is very tiny. I have listed the expansions here in order (Shattered Empire came first, then Shards of the Throne).

Shattered Empire Shards of the Throne

What goes in what bag?Color bag: plastic ships, technology deck (except racial technologies), promissory notes, unit reference card

Race bag: trade agreements, leaders, racial technologies, control markers, command counters, your home planet(s) card(s), flagship card, representative cards

Miscellaneous Rules

Promisory Notes

SE – Shattered Empire

ST – Shards of the Throne

GF – Ground Forces

ST – Shock Trooper

PDS – Planetary Defense System

GC – Galactic Council

PC – Political Card

AC – Action Card

OC – Objective Card

SOC – Secret OC

POC – Preliminary OC

Representative cards

PN – Promissory NoteTG – Trade GoodVP – Victory Point

Expansion Options

The two expansions provide a lot of different options for expanding/extending play. I have not listed all of them here. I have listed the ones that we are most likely to play with and the most popular.

Artifacts and Special Objective Cards With this option, the 4 special objective cards related to artifacts are used. During setup, each player chooses a planet. That planet receives a face-down artifact. When you first control a planet containing an artifact, flip the artifact over (do not flip the artifact over if it has already been flipped this game). If it is a dummy artifact, discard it. If it is a colored artifact, immediately take the special objective card of that artifact and gain 1 victory point. If you ever lose control of this planet, you also lose the artifact, victory point, and special objective card. Once revealed, artifacts remain face-up for the rest of the game.

Preliminary ObjectivesInstead of receiving a secret objective during setup, you will receive a preliminary objective. These function the same as secret objectives with 2 exceptions: 1) They are easier to complete. 2) Once completed, you draw a secret objective and may complete it via the normal rules.

Space Mines During the production step of a system containing friendly cruiser, you may produce a space mine for 2 resources. If no tokens are available, you may not produce space mines. When you produce a space mine, place a space mine token on the system. You may never produce more than 1 space mine during a single activation. If a player ends their movement in a system containing space mines (you may move through systems with space mines with no effect), he must roll 1 die individually (after the Fire PDS step) for each non-fighter ship entering the system (you must announce which ship you are rolling for each time). On a 9-10, the ship is hit (it is destroyed if it does not have sustain damage). You only roll for space mines once, even if there are multiple space mines in the system. After you roll for space mines, choose and discard one space mine in the system. You can be hit by your own space mines. They are not owned.

Shock Troopers If a ground force rolls a 10 in battle, it becomes a shock trooper at the end of the combat round. If no shock trooper tokens are left, you may not upgrade GFs to STs. Shock troopers have a battle value of 5. If shock troopers successfully invade a system, you may capture enemy Space Docks and PDSs for no cost. Replace any space dock or PDS units with the same units from your reinforcements. Shock troopers must always be taken as casualties first during Invasion Combat only. Shock troopers must always be present with a friendly plastic ground force. It becomes a regular plastic GF if this is violated. STs are GFs for all other reasons. There are also other ways to acquire shock troops (action cards, etc).

Expansion Options

Left to right: back of artifact token, green artifact, dummy artifact

Tactical RetreatYou may activate a system with a command counter from your strategy allocation area to retreat your forces instead of having to retreat to a previously-activated system.

Facilities Facilities may be built on any non-home planet for a cost of 1 following the same building rules. Building a facility on a planet exhausts that planet if it was not already exhausted. Facilities cannot be built on Trade Stations. Colony facilities increase the influence value of a planet by 1, while Refinery facilities increase the resource value of a planet by 1. If a player successfully invades a planet with a facility, the facility is destroyed unless an Agent or Shock Trooper was part of the invasion, in which case it can be captured as if it were a space dock. Each planet can only have 1 facility at a time. If there are no more facility cards left of a particular type, you may not build one. 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.” This is verbatim from the rulebook.

Refresh Abilities (not optional)During the status phase, you may exhaust a planet that has a refresh ability. You do not gain resources or influence for doing so. When you do this, the refresh ability is activated.

Trade Stations (not optional)No distant sun tokens are placed on trade stations. Trade Stations have refresh abilites. When you move into a system containing a trade station, place a control marker in the indicated space. Trade Stations are space objects and, as such, you may not have ground forces of any kind, PDS units, or space docks located on them. Trade Stations may not be invaded, either. To capture a Trade Station, you need only be the only player in the system containing the trade station. You then replace that player’s control marker with your own and take the card from him. Capturing Trade Stations does not break trade agreements. For all other purposes, Trade Stations are considered planets. Note, though, that using cards like Peaceful Annexation (which gives you control of a planet) has no effect on a Trade Station in a system which contains only enemy units, though you may use it on a trade station.

MercenariesMercenaries require that the Trade III strategy card be used.

To hire mercenaries, you must execute the primary ability of the Trade III strategy card. When you do, two things happen. First, anybody who has mercenaries must pay 1 trade good for each mercenary he controls or discard that mercenary. Second, you draw two mercenary cards. Choose one to keep and place the other one on the bottom of the deck. Take the corresponding mercenary token and place it ground side up on any planet you control. Mercenaries may not claim planets because they are not considered GFs. If mercenaries are alone on a planet, that planet is considered neutral.

Expansion Options

Mercenaries may move from ground to space during a tacitcal or transfer action. When a mercenary is in space, it counts against your fleet supply and may not be carried by other ships. Mercenary abilities that apply during battle may only be used if the mercenary is participating in battle. Mercenaries may never transport or carry leaders.

Mercenaries have Evasion. When a mercenary is assigned a hit, roll a die. On a roll of X or higher (as indicated on the mercenary card), the mercenary is not destroyed by the hit. Otherwise, it is destroyed.

You may only assign one hit to a mercenary per combat round. Any excess hits in a combat round are applied to your mercenary (every ship in your fleet has taken 1 hit for normal ships or two hits for ships with sustain damage). If you have multiple mercenaries, the excess hits must be split between them evenly. You may roll Evasion checks for every hit on a mercenary.

EXAMPLE: During one round of combat, your opponent scores 7 hits. You have 2 cruisers and 2 mercenaries. The first two hits you assign to your mercenaries. 2 more are assigned to your cruisers (1 per cruiser). 3 hits remain. Your mercenaries MUST take all 3 hits evenly. As such, you must assign 2 more hits to 1 mercenary and 1 more hit to the other mercenary. Your cruisers die and, pending evasion rolls, your mercenaries take 3 hits and 2 hits, respectively, killing them both.

EXAMPLE 2: During one round of combat, your opponent scores 3 hits. You have 1 war sun, 6 fighters, and 2 mercenaries. You assign one hit to your war sun, tipping it. You assign 1 hit to a fighter, which kills it. Last, you assign one hit to your mercenary, which may die pending an evasion roll. This is perfectly legal. You do not have to, but you may, assign hits to mercenaries unless you have no other option. In either case, you cannot assign more than one hit to a mercenary until all other ships have taken 1 hit for normal ships or 2 hits for ships with sustain damage.

Political IntrigueTo play with this option, you must use the Political II or Assembly II strategy card. In addition, the game starts with 2 faceup political cards (not per person). This option adds your 3 representative cards and your five promissory note cards. Pictures of these are located in the Miscellaneous Rules section. Representatives represent your race in the Galactic Council, while promissory notes create binding contracts (previously, agreements were non-binding in all cases).

When a player executes the primary ability of Political II, he must choose a political card and then follow the steps below:

1) Choose Representatives – Each player secretly chooses a representative to send to the GC and places that card facedown in front of him.

2) Resolve Spies – Starting with the speaker and going clockwise, each player who chose a spy representative reveals it and resolves its ability. After spies are all resolved, all other representatives are revealed.

Expansion Options

3) Resolve Bargaining and Promissory Notes – Players try to convince and bribe each other using trade goods and/or promissory notes. Only promissory notes are binding.

4) Resolve Voting and Outcome – Players now vote on the agenda. Voting in the GC is resolved as normal from here with two exceptions: players add their representative’s bonus votes (or votes granted by representative abilities) to their votes and players who did not send a representative to the GC (or whose Representative was killed) do not vote.

5) Draw New Political Card – The player who played the primary ability of Political II draws a new PC to replace the one chosen during the council.

When a player executes the primary ability of Assembly II, he draws 2 PCs and follows these steps:

1) Choose a player. That player must resolve a PC from his hand in the GC.2) Give the Speaker Token to another player – You choose who gets the token.

The remaining steps work the same way as the Political II steps indicated on the previous page.

3) Choose Representatives4) Resolve Spies5) Resolve Bargaining6) Resolve Voting and Outcome

Types of RepresentativesSpies: Spies can assassinate other representatives.Bodyguards: Bodyguards cannot be assassinated and some have special effects that

resolve when targeted by a spy.Councilors: These have more bonus votes, but are more susceptible to certain cards and

abilities.

All representatives have unique abilities, some of which can affect other representatives. One such ability is assassinate, which is described under the Political II section above. When representatives are killed, they are permanently removed from the game.

Promissory NotesEach player may only offer one PN per PC. If a player accepts a PN, he is bound to vote

as was agreed upon. A player may not reveal his PN to players not involved in the agreement. Each PN has a binding favor that the player who offered the PN must fulfill. The PN does not have to be fulfilled until the receiving player plays it. As such, players may have more than 1 PN and collect on them when he wants.

To offer a PN, the player offers the PN facedown to another player and asks him to vote a specific way for this PC. The player receiving the PN looks at it and either agrees to the agreement or refuses and returns the PN. You may make additional agreements (including giving TGs) along with PNs, but only PNs are binding.

Mechanized Units Units Available: 4Cost: 2Battle: 6(x2)

Expansion Options

The rules for mechanized units are the same as for GFs. Mechanized units count as GFs in regards to controlling planets. Mechanized units may not make use of technology cards or ACs that specifically refer to GFs.

Capacity Used: 1Sustain Damage

Expansion Options