Star Trek: Ascendancy

Base Game Components

• System Discs: The game map is made up of round System Discs connected to other Systems via Space Lanes of different lengths. Each Planetary System has a different capacity to hold Resource Nodes, shown as colored tabs next to the planet.
• Space Lanes & Space Lane Die: The Space Lane Die is used to determine a Lane’s length.
• Warp Tokens: Warp Tokens indicate how far your Starship can travel at Warp and indicate where your Starships entered Warp.
• Ascendancy Tokens: Ascendancy Tokens track how dominant each Civilization is. The first player to achieve 5 Ascendancy wins the game.
• Turn Order Cards: Each Game Round, players compete for the Initiative. Turn Order Cards indicate sequence of play.
• Command Consoles & Plastic Sliders: Command Console Cards include each Civilization’s Rules, track Weapon and Shield levels, and have a place to put each player’s supply of tokens.
• Advancement Cards: Advancement Cards detail a variety of cultural and technological achievements which can be completed. Each Civilization has a unique Advancement deck.
• Fleet Cards & Markers: Fleet Cards hold groups of three or more Ships. Ships are placed on a Fleet card and then the Fleet Markers show the Fleet’s position on the board.

• Starships & Control Nodes: Each Civilization has their own Starships which explore the Galaxy, attack rivals and defend their Systems. Control Nodes are placed on a System’s planet to mark which Civilization Controls the System.
• Starbase Tokens: Starbases allow you to build Ships and Commission Fleets. Starbases also fight in Space Battles and make it more difficult for a rival to attempt Hegemony. Each Starbase you control also increases your Commands by 1.
• Resource Nodes & Resource Tokens: Culture, Production, and Research.
• Command Tokens: Command Tokens indicate how many orders you may issue on your turn.
• Trade Agreement Cards: Each Civilization has three Trade Agreements they may give to the other players to represent peaceful commerce between their Civilizations. Each Trade Agreement you receive from another player increases your Production each turn.
• Player Turn Cards: Player Turns are divided into Building and Command Phases. The two-sided Player Turn Cards list all the Building Costs on one side and all the Command Options on the other.
• Exploration Cards: As you explore the Galaxy, you’ll encounter a wide variety of discoveries, crises and strange new civilizations. When you discover a new Planetary System, draw an Exploration Card to see what you’ve found.

Expansion Contents

Starbase Models

You can replace the Starbase tokens with models from Gale Force Nine. The Starbases for the three Civilizations from the basic game are shown here. Those for the expansions are shown below.
Note: instead of Starbases, the Vulcans have Ambassadors.

Andorian Expansion

This set includes everything you need to add the Andorians to your games of Star Trek: Ascendancy. The set includes:

• 10 New Exploration Cards
• 10 New Systems Discs, including Andor
• 30 Andorian Ships with 3 Fleet Markers & Cards
• 10 Andorian Control Nodes
• 15 Andorian Advancements
• 3 Andorian Trade Agreements
• Andorian Turn Summary Card
• Andorian Command Console with 2 Sliders

Adding Andorians to Your Game

To integrate the Andorians into your games of Star Trek: Ascendancy, shuffle the 10 new Exploration Cards into the Exploration Cards from the core set and add the 9 System Discs (other than Andor) into the mix of System Discs.

Adding the Andorians to your game increases the number of possible players by one. Each additional player adds about an hour to the game’s duration. The Andorian player begins with a fully-developed Home System with 3 Ships on it as normal.

Borg Expansion

This set includes everything you need to add the Borg to your games of Star Trek: Ascendancy. The set includes:

• Borg Command Console Card & Cube Card
• 5 Borg Cubes & 5 Borg Spires
• 15 Borg Assimilation Nodes
• 6 Resource Nodes
• 20 Borg Exploration Cards
• 7 Borg System Discs, including the Transwarp Hub
• 20 Borg Tech Cards
• 30 Borg Command Cards
• 9 Borg Dice

Adding Borg to Your Game

The Borg are not controlled by a player, but are a threat to all the forces in the Galaxy. Their actions are controlled by the game until they assimilate a player.

To integrate the Borg into your games of Star Trek: Ascendancy, use the Borg rules at the end of this document.

Adding the Borg also allows you to play games with one or two players using the rules in the Borg Assimilation rulebook.

Borg Components

• Borg Cubes are their equivalent of Starships. Monolithic, geometric monstrosities capable of defeating fleets of starships, they are a force to be feared.
• Borg Spires mark Systems under Borg control. Over the course of the game, Borg Spires will build new Borg Cubes.
• Borg Assimilation Nodes are built around Spires. Built Nodes indicate how close the Spire is to completing a new Borg Cube and track that Borg World’s current Shield Modifier.
• Borg Tech Cards: Players claim Borg Tech Cards when they defeat the Borg in combat. The more Borg technology you acquire, the better you will fare against the Borg.
• Borg Command Cards direct the Cubes’ movement during the Borg’s turn and designate the type of System each Cube targets.

Cardassian Expansion

This set includes everything you need to add the Cardassians to your games of Star Trek: Ascendancy. The set includes:

• 10 New Exploration Cards
• 10 New Systems Discs, including Cardassia Prime
• 30 Cardassian Ships with 3 Fleet Markers & Cards
• 10 Cardassian Control Nodes
• 15 Cardassian Advancements
• 3 Cardassian Trade Agreements
• Cardassian Turn Summary Card
• Cardassian Command Console with 2 Sliders

Adding Cardassians to Your Game

To integrate the Cardassians into your games of Star Trek: Ascendancy, shuffle the 10 new Exploration Cards into the Exploration Cards from the core set and add the 9 System Discs (other than Cardassia Prime) into the mix of System Discs.

Adding the Cardassians to your game increases the number of possible players by one. Each additional player adds about an hour to the game’s duration. The Cardassian player begins with a fully-developed Home System with 3 Ships on it as normal.

Ferengi Expansion

This set includes everything you need to add the Ferengi to your games of Star Trek: Ascendancy. The set includes:

• 10 New Exploration Cards
• 10 New Systems Discs, including Ferenginar
• 30 Ferengi Ships with 3 Fleet Markers & Cards
• 10 Ferengi Control Nodes
• 15 Ferengi Advancements
• 3 Ferengi Trade Agreements
• Ferengi Turn Summary Card
• Ferengi Command Console with 2 Sliders

Adding Ferengi to Your Game

To integrate the Ferengi into your games of Star Trek: Ascendancy, shuffle the 10 new Exploration Cards into your Exploration Deck and add the 9 System Discs (other than Ferenginar) into the mix of System Discs.

Adding the Ferengi to your game increases the number of possible players by one. Each additional player adds about an hour to the game’s duration. The Ferengi player begins with a fully-developed Home System with 3 Ships on it as normal.

Vulcan Expansion

This set includes everything you need to add the Vulcans to your games of Star Trek: Ascendancy. The set includes:

• 10 New Exploration Cards
• 10 New Systems Discs, including Vulcan
• 30 Vulcan Ships with 3 Fleet Markers & Cards
• 5 Vulcan Ambassador Figures
• 10 Vulcan Control Nodes
• 15 Vulcan Advancements
• 10 Vulcan Agendas
• 3 Vulcan Trade Agreements
• Vulcan Turn Summary Card
• Vulcan Command Console with 2 Sliders

Adding Vulcans to Your Game

To integrate the Vulcans into your games of Star Trek: Ascendancy, shuffle the 10 new Exploration Cards into the Exploration Cards from the core set and add the 9 System Discs (other than Vulcan) into the mix of System Discs.

Adding the Vulcans to your game increases the number of possible players by one. Each additional player adds about an hour to the game’s duration.

The Vulcan player begins with a fully-developed Home System with 3 Ships on it as normal. In addition, the Vulcans start with 3 Ascendancy.

Game Overview

Star Trek: Ascendancy uses an organic, growing map that can be played on any shape of table. Before the game begins, agree on what part of your game table is usable – can you build right out to the edge? Up to a certain distance from the edge?

Each player starts with their Home System, separate from the other Civilizations. As you play, you’ll discover strange new worlds, explore interstellar phenomena and uncover unknown civilizations. The game board is made up of round System Discs connected to other Systems via Space Lanes of different lengths. When moving through the map, each System Disc counts as one Sector; Space Lanes contain between two and four Sectors.

A 3’ x 3’ area works well, with Home Systems placed such that each Home System is an equal distance from two other players and about 5 inches from the edge of the play area.

If you place your Home Systems closer together, you’ll come into contact much faster, allowing earlier trading but creating more competition for new Systems. Placed farther apart, players will have more time to discover new worlds and develop their Civilizations before connecting with the other players’ Systems.

Starfleet Ethics

Star Trek: Ascendancy is a competitive game, with every player trying to dominate, destroy and absorb their rivals. Don’t pull out your bat’leth when someone invades your home world – it is all in the spirit of the game.

Similarly, if your Civilization is running roughshod over the Galaxy, try to maintain Picard-level aplomb as you become the Ascendant power in the Galaxy.

A Note on Game Length

Star Trek: Ascendancy is a big, Galaxy-spanning game that follows the arc of Civilizations. Be prepared: this is a long game. With experienced players, a game will take about an hour per player. Your first few games will be longer.

Game Set Up

Setting up a game of Star Trek: Ascendancy is straightforward. Each player starts with their Home System, a few Starships and some Resources. At the beginning of the game, no Civilization has made First Contact and the whole of the Galaxy is yet to be discovered.

1. Command Console & Components

Each player takes a Command Console for the Civilization they’re playing. Command Consoles track Weapon and Shield Levels. Your Weapons start at a Hit Roll of 5+, your Shield Modifier starts at 0. The bottom of the Command Console has spaces for your Resource Token Reserves. Each Command Console also contains any Special Rules that apply to that Civilization.

Give each player all the components associated with their Civilization. Each player should have 30 Ships, 3 Fleet Markers, 3 Fleet Cards, 3 Starbase Tokens, 15 Advancement Cards, 10 Command Nodes and their Player Turn Card.

2. Starting Resources

Each player starts with 3 Production, 3 Research and 3 Culture Tokens.

3. Starting Ascendancy

Each player starts with one Ascendancy Token, apart from a Vulcan player who starts with three Ascendancy Tokens. Ascendancy Tokens should be placed so that all players can see how many each player currently has.

4. Command Tokens

Each player starts with 5 Command Tokens. Command Tokens should be placed face up where all the players can see them. Command Tokens are double sided. The “Exhausted” side indicates that the Command has been used this turn.

• Starbases you Control increase your Commands by 1.
• Completing an Advancement which pictures a Command Token also increases your Commands by 1.
• Any time you gain a Command, it starts play Exhausted and will be Refreshed at the end of the Game Round.

5. Advancement Decks

Each Civilization begins with one completed Advancement, marked “Starting Advancement” on the card. Place this Starting Advancement apart from your Advancement Deck then shuffle your Advancement Deck.

Over the course of the game, players will complete additional Advancements. Before an Advancement is complete, it is considered a Project. You may have a number of ongoing Projects equal to the number of Research Nodes you Control.

Each completed Advancement adds Special Rules to your Civilization and may increase the speed of your Ships.

6. Home System & Starting Ships

Each Player’s Home System starts fully Developed with one of each Resource Node and one of their Control Nodes.

Each player starts with 3 Ships on their Home System.

7. Vulcan Agendas

If there is a Vulcan player, shuffle the Vulcan Agenda cards. The Vulcan player draws two Agenda cards, then picks one to place face up on the table for all players to see. The other Agenda remains hidden. The Vulcan player wins if they achieve either Agenda. They do not need to achieve both Agendas to win.

8. System Discs Setup

1. Separate the Interstellar Phenomenon System Discs from the Planetary System Discs.
2. Set aside a stack of random Planetary System Discs equal to twice the number of players, i.e. 6 Planetary Systems for a three-player game. These are your starting Planetary Systems.
3. Shuffle the remaining Planetary Systems with all the Phenomena.
4. Place the starting Planetary Systems on top, creating a stack of all the System Discs with the starting Planetary Systems on top.

Suggested Player Layout

Depending on the size and shape of your game table, you may need to lay out your player area differently. Make sure your Advancement Area and Project Area are distinct from each other.

• Project Area: Projects are placed next to your Deck.
• Fleet Area: Displays which Fleets are Commissioned and how many Ships are in each Fleet.
• Advancement Area: When you complete Projects, move them into your Advancement Area, with your Starting Advancement.
• Command Console: Resource Tokens are placed on the Command Console, Command Tokens above.
• Civilization Supply: Each player has their own supply of 30 Ships, 10 Control Nodes and 3 Starbase Tokens.

Depending on what type of table you’re playing on, distances between the Home Systems and table edges will vary. The important thing is for Home Systems to be about the same distance from each other and the table edge.

General Rule: Rerolling Dice

Some Special Rules will allow you to reroll dice. You may only reroll any given die once per Special Rule. If you have different abilities which allow you to reroll dice, they could be combined to allow you to reroll a die more than once, but each rule can only be used once.

Example: A Romulan Battle Fleet of five Ships (which allows re-rolls of 1s in Space Battles) is in Combat with a rival. The Romulans have also completed their “Superior Targeting Array”, which allows them to reroll a die in Combat. In the Romulan’s Attack, they roll 1,1,4,5,6. Using the Battle Fleet’s special rule, they reroll both 1s and get a 1 and a 6. Even though they rolled another 1, they can’t use the Battle Fleet’s rule again to reroll the same die. The Romulans could use their Superior Targeting Array to reroll that die a second time.

Key Game Terms

Adjacent Sectors:

Sectors right next to each other are Adjacent. A Sector is also Adjacent to itself.

Adjacent Systems:

Two Systems are Adjacent if they are connected by a single Space Lane.

Capacity:

The potential of a System to hold Resource Nodes. Systems can hold between one and three Nodes.

Connected Space Lanes:

A System is Connected to a Space Lane if the Space Lane enters or exits the System.

Connected Systems:

A System is Connected to another System if there is a chain of Systems and their Connected Space Lanes linking one to the other.

Contest:

You Contest a Sector when you and another player(s) have Ships in the Sector. A Sector containing more than two players’ Ships is Contested.

Control:

Control Nodes mark which player Controls a System. You may gain Control of a System through Colonization, Invasion or Hegemony. You Control a Starbase when you Control the System the Starbase is in.

Developed System:

A Planetary System is Developed when it contains one or more Nodes.

Exhausted:

Cards or Tokens that are face-down. Exhausted cards and tokens can not be used until they are Refreshed (flipped face-up).

First Contact:

A Civilization is considered to have made First Contact once their Home System is Connected to another player’s Home System via Space Lanes and Systems.

Fleet:

A group of Ships that moves and fights together. Any rules that apply to Ships also apply to Fleets.

Game Round:

Star Trek: Ascendancy is played in a series of Game Rounds. Each Game Round consists of three Stages: Initiative, Execution and Recharge.

Home System or Homeworld:

The System with which a player begins the game. You may build Ships and Commission Fleets in your own Home System, whether or not there is a Starbase there. This is not true of a rival’s Home System, if you take Control of it.

Hostile:

Rivals and their Ships are considered Hostile when you don’t hold one of their Trade Agreements.

Node:

A Structure built on a Planet’s surface. This includes Resource Nodes and Control Nodes. Starbases are not Nodes.

Occupy:

You Occupy a Sector when you are the only player with Ships in that Sector.

Orbit:

Any Ship present in a Planetary System is in Orbit, whether or not the System contains other players’ Ships.

Peace:

You are at Peace with any rival whose Trade Agreement you hold and their Ships are considered Peaceful.

Project:

An Advancement Card that is not yet completed. During each Player’s Building Phase, they may add a Research Token to each of their Projects. Each Civilization has a unique deck of Advancement Cards containing a variety of technological and civil achievements.

Refresh:

Flip an Exhausted (face-down) game piece face up.

Reroll:

Some rules allow you to roll a die again. You may not use a rule to Reroll the same die multiple times. If you have multiple rules that allow you to Reroll dice, you may use different rules to reroll the same die multiple times, but only once per rule.

Reserves:

The Resources you hold on your Command Console but have not yet spent.

Resources:

Production, Research and Culture are Resources. Ships, Nodes, and Ascendancy Tokens are not Resources.

Sector:

Any spot on the board in which a Ship can be placed. A System Disc counts as a single Sector, Space Lanes are divided into 2, 3, or 4 separate Sectors.

Structure:

Each physical item built in a System is considered a Structure. Resource Nodes, Control Nodes and Starbases are all Structures.

Supply:

The shared Resource Nodes and Tokens in the box that have not been built or earned by the players. The Supply is considered to be unlimited.

Undeveloped System:

A System with no Nodes is considered Undeveloped.

Trade Agreements

In Star Trek: Ascendancy, you can’t directly give Resources to other players. What you can do is establish Trade Agreements between your Civilizations, allowing peaceful commerce between otherwise hostile factions.

Each player starts with three of their own Trade Agreements. Trade Agreements only produce Resources when they’re given to another player.

Establishing Trade Agreements

To give or receive a Trade Agreement with a rival, you must have made First Contact and have a Ship, Ambassador or Control Node Adjacent to one of that rival’s Ships, Ambassadors or Control Nodes. You may do this at any time. Once you have given a rival a Trade Agreement, you may exchange it for one of your other Trade Agreements that you still hold regardless of where your Ships are positioned.

You may only hold one Trade Agreement at a time from each rival. You are considered to be at Peace with any player whose Trade Agreement you currently hold. This allows you to ask permission to move through and into Sectors containing their Ships. Any rivals whose Trade Agreements you do not hold are considered Hostile.

Trade Profits

During the Recharge Stage, players take the Resources pictured on the Trade Agreements they have received.

Tip: Trade Agreements are a powerful source of Resources. The first players to make contact and begin trading will find themselves in an advantageous position.

Withdrawing Trade Agreements

Easily made, easily broken: you can revoke any of your Trade Agreements at any time, for any reason. However, to give back a rival’s Trade Agreement you hold, you’ll have to betray them.

Betrayal

If you Attack or attempt Cultural Hegemony against a player whose Trade Agreement you hold, you have broken the peace and must return their Trade Agreement. Once an Attack or Hegemony attempt has begun, participants can’t exchange Trade Agreements until the conflict is over.

A Game Round

Each Game Round consists of three Stages:

1. Initiative Stage: Players spend Resources to influence galactic politics and seize the Initiative this Game Round. The Player who spends the most Resources gets their pick of the Turn Order Cards for the upcoming Round. Players may only spend Resources if they have made First Contact.
2. Execution Stage: Players take their turns in the order decided by the Initiative Stage: building up their Civilization; Researching new Projects; Upgrading their Weapons and Shields and issuing Commands to their Ships. On their turn, Players may also spend 5 Culture to Ascend.
3. Recharge Stage: At the end of each Game Round there is a Recharge Stage. Each Recharge Stage consists of:
   • Victory Check
   • Generate Resources
   • Refresh Cards & Tokens
   • Add Warp Tokens to Ships at Warp
   • Resupply Phenomenon with Research Tokens

After the Recharge Stage, another Game Round begins.

Initiative Stage

At the beginning of each Game Round, every player who has made First Contact has to decide how many Resources they are going to commit to seizing the Initiative in galactic politics. Players will then choose their Turn Order Cards in the order of how many Resources they’ve devoted.

Players who have not made First Contact with another Civilization have no ability to influence other Civilizations and do not participate.

Note: For the first turn or two, when no one has made First Contact, no one is eligible to influence galactic politics so all Turn Order Cards will be passed out randomly.

Starting with the player who went first the previous Game Round, players who have made Contact may place a number of Resources on the Turn Order Card they used the previous turn. You may use any Resource: Production, Research or Culture. Players commit Resources in the Order of the Turn Order Cards they hold from the Previous turn.

When it is your turn, you may always choose to commit nothing. If you decide to commit Resources, you may not spend the same total number of Resources as any other player who has already gone.

Note: Star Trek: Ascendancy comes with Turn Order Cards marked 1 through 10. When playing a three player game, use cards 1, 2 and 3. The additional Turn Order Cards can be used with optional rules or in games with more than three players.

Choosing Turn Order Cards

The player who spent the most gets to choose their Turn Order Card first. Players may choose whichever card they’d like, i.e. the player who chooses first doesn’t have to choose the Turn Order 1 card. The remaining players who spent Resources choose their Turn Order Cards in descending order of how many Resources they Spent. All Resources committed are discarded and returned to the Supply.

Players who haven’t made First Contact or who spent nothing choose their Turn Order Card randomly from the remaining cards. The Turn Order cards remains face-up throughout the Initiative Stage.

Example: John, Pete and Sally are all connected and eligible to participate. Pete went first the previous turn so he decides first and commits 2 Production Tokens. John went second the previous Round, so he goes second and commits 1 Research Token. Sally went third the previous Round so she decides last and commits 3 Resource Tokens in total (2 Production and 1 Research). Since Sally spent the most, she gets first pick of the Turn Order Cards, Pete chooses second and John gets the Turn Order Card that’s left over.

Execution Stage Overview

Starting with the player holding the “Turn Order 1” card, players take their Turns. Each Player’s Turn consists of a Building Phase followed by a Command Phase.

Building Phase

At the start of each player’s Turn is a Building Phase in which they spend Resources to develop their Civilization, Research Advancements and upgrade their Weapons and Shields. These may be done in any order.

Build Starships

Ships cost 1 Production each. You may Build Ships at any Starbase you Control and your Home System (assuming you still Control your homeworld) or in a System allowed by one of your Advancements. If you’re Building 3 or more Ships in a System, you may immediately group them into a Fleet, without spending a Command.

Colonize a System

You may Colonize an Undeveloped Planetary System you Occupy by building a Control Node. A System is Undeveloped when it doesn’t contain any Nodes.

Establishing a new Colony is a Resource intensive process; Ships are often used as the functional core of a new Colony. Colonizing a new Sector costs 1 Culture, plus 1 Ship in Orbit of the System being Colonized. Place one of your Control Nodes on the System to show that you’ve colonized the entire system.

Federation: Colonization Fleet

When a Federation Colonization Fleet Colonizes a System, it removes the need to discard 1 Culture, replacing it with the requirement to Disband the Fleet as part of the Colonization process. If an Exploration Card or other card changes the way that a System is Colonized, that card takes effect as normal.

Vulcan Colonization

The Vulcans’ past explorations seeded the galaxy with Vulcan colonies and Systems. Some of these have since lost contact with Vulcan and are waiting to be discovered by other civilizations.

To represent this, Vulcans do not Colonize Systems in the usual way. Instead, Vulcans spend an Ascendancy to colonize any Explored Uncontrolled Undeveloped System (typically an empty or Virgin world or Pre-Warp Civilization) — even systems they are not Connected to. This is the only way the Vulcan player may Colonize new Systems in the Building Phase.

If the Vulcans’ Ascendancy drops below the number of Fleets they have in play, they must immediately Disband Fleets until that’s no longer the case.

Vulcan: Ancient Vulcan Reliquary

The Ancient Vulcan Reliquary Advancement allows the Vulcans to immediately Colonize a System. The Vulcan player does not have to pay the usual cost of one Ascendancy to do this.

Vulcan: Communication Network

The Communication Network Advancement allows the Vulcans to immediately build a Resource Node at no cost when they Colonize a System.

Build a Resource Node

Some planets are rich in natural resources, others contain sites rich in scientific research potential while others have the potential to support great cities and cultural touchstones. Each System has a Capacity marked with colored tabs around the edge of the planet that shows how many of each type of Node may be built.

You may only Build Nodes in Systems you Control. To Build a Resource Node, spend the cost listed for that type of Node:

• Production Node: 2 Production
• Research Node: 2 Research + 1 Production
• Culture Node: 2 Culture + 1 Production

Sometimes a System will have “Open” Capacity, which means that it is a versatile enough System that you can choose what type of Node to build there. Later, Resource Nodes built on Open Sites can be replaced by paying the full cost of the new Node. Once built, you may not simply Destroy your Nodes.

Ferengi: Profit Over Profundity

The Ferengi penchant for profit means they don’t spend a lot of time building up great cultural institutions — Ferengi can never build Culture Nodes. Their starting Culture Node on Ferenginar may be their only one, unless they take Control of more via Invasion or Hegemony.

Ferengi: Only Latinum Lasts

In their single minded pursuit of profit, Ferengi are happy to demolish native paradises and despoil ancient ruins: Ferengi may always build Production Nodes on a System, regardless of the System’s normal Resource Node Capacity. They can’t exceed the normal number of nodes.

For example, if a System could normally hold 2 Research and 1 Culture Node, the Ferengi could fill the System with up to 3 Production Nodes.

Running Out of Components

Each player has a limited number of Ships and Control Nodes they can have on the table at a time. It is possible to run out of components if you are playing on a particularly large gaming area or with lots of players. You can avoid this by purchasing an Expansion Pack that adds more components. Meanwhile, if you run out of components, you may Disband a Ship or Control Node in play to free them up for use elsewhere. If you Disband a Control Node, return all Resource Nodes on it to your pool.

Note: When you add Ships and Control Nodes with Expansion Packs, make sure all players have the same amount of each.

Commit Research

In your Building Phase, you may also Commit Research by placing Research Resource Tokens on your Advancement Projects. You may add one Research Token to each Advancement Project per turn. The amount of Research required to finish the Project is listed in the upper left of each card.

Claiming Research from Phenomena can speed a Project’s completion.

Once you commit Research Tokens to a project, you can’t move them around or take them back.

In the first Game Round, players won’t have any Projects yet. In your Command Phase, you may use Commands to Launch New Projects.

Discarding Projects

Whenever a Project is Discarded, it goes to the bottom of its Advancement Deck and any Research Tokens on the Project are returned to the Supply.

Finishing Projects

When you Commit enough Research Tokens to finish a Project, it becomes a usable Advancement. Move it to your Advancement Area. If applicable, you may use the completed Advancement’s Special Rules immediately. Unless they say otherwise, Special Rules may be used during any player’s turn.

Each Advancement has a Type listed on the right hand edge of the card. Some Advancements rules only affect certain types of Advancement. For example, the Romulans have an Advancement that allows them to Exhaust an “Espionage” card.

When you finish a Project, it is a good idea to let your rivals know what your new Advancement does. Advancements may sometimes be Exhausted. Exhausted Advancements may not be used in any way and will be Refreshed during the Recharge Stage at the end of the Game Round.

Warp Token Advancements

Some Advancements picture Warp Tokens in the lower right hand corner of the card. When completed, these Advancements increase the Warp Speed of your Ships, in addition to their Special Rules.

Command Advancements

Some Advancements picture a Command Token. When you complete an Advancement which pictures a Command, the number of Commands you have immediately increases by one. This new Command starts Exhausted and will be refreshed in the following Recharge Stage.

Romulan: Cultural Superiority

There are some Romulan Advancements which picture a Culture Token. When a Romulan player completes an Advancement showing a Culture Token, the Romulans take a Culture Token. This is a Romulan special rule and does not apply to other Civilizations completing Romulan Advancements.

Upgrading Weapons & Shields

In addition to committing Research Tokens to Projects, you may also spend Research to improve your Weapons and Shields. The cost to upgrade your Weapons and Shields is listed on your Command Console, directly across from your current Weapons and Shield Levels. Unlike Advancement Projects, upgrading your Weapons and Shields is a single, one-time cost, not something you commit Research to over time.

Andorian: Pride

Andorians take great satisfaction in proving their technological superiority. At the start of their turn, the Andorians take a Culture if their Shields or Weapons are the best in the Galaxy. If they’re both better, they take 2 Culture.

Building Special Rules

Some Advancements’ Special Rules will allow you to do something extra during your Building Phase. These may be used at any time while you’re building.

End of Building

After you complete your Building Phase, your Command Phase begins. Once you start your Command Phase, you may not spend Resources to Build unless a specific Special Rule allows you to do so.

Gaining Ascendancy

You may spend five Culture Tokens to take an Ascendancy Token at any time during your turn.

Command Phase Overview

On your turn, after your Build Phase, there are a number of things you can issue a Command to do:

• Move Starships and Fleets
• Initiate Space Battle
• Invade a Planet
• Attempt Cultural Hegemony
• Commission a Fleet or Starbase
• Launch New Advancement Projects
• Activate Special Rules

When you issue a Command, Exhaust a Command Token to show it has been used. When you’re done issuing Commands, your turn is over and the player with the next Turn Order Card takes their turn. All Commands may be issued multiple times per turn, as long as you have Commands remaining.

Movement

Ships can Move at Impulse or Warp Speed. Each Movement Command moves 1 Ship or Fleet. You may issue more than one Movement Command to the same Ship in a single turn.

For example, you could use one Command to have a Ship Exit Warp, and then use a second Command to have that Ship move at Impulse Speed.

As you move your Ships into unexplored Space, you’ll place new Space Lanes and Systems Discs on the board, building the galactic map as you play. Discovering and placing a new System always ends your Movement.

Impulse Movement

All Ships have a base Impulse Speed of 2. To move a Ship at Impulse, Exhaust a Command and move a Ship up to 2 Sectors. You may place new Space Lanes and Systems at Impulse. Discovering a new System always ends your move.

Entering Warp

To Enter Warp, Exhaust a Command and move a Ship or Fleet just off the System or Space Lane they are in and place a Warp Token next to the Ship, pointing to the Sector from which they Entered Warp.

Ships will accumulate additional Warp Tokens at the end of each Game Round or by spending additional Commands.

Ships at Warp don’t count as being in the Sector from which they left. For all intents and purposes, Ships at Warp are not on the board until they Exit Warp.

Ferengi: Commerce Enforcement Squadron

The Ferengi Commerce Enforcement Squadron can Enter Warp in the Ferengi turn without Exhausting a Command. It can only do this if it has not Exited Warp in the same turn.

Traveling at Warp

You may also use a Command to give another Warp Token to a Ship or Fleet that has already Entered Warp. Ships at Warp also receive additional Warp Tokens during the Recharge Stage.

Exiting Warp

Exhaust a Command to Exit Warp with a Ship that is at Warp. When a Ship Exits Warp, it may move through a number of Systems equal to the Warp Tokens they’ve accumulated, plus the number of Warp Tokens pictured on your completed Advancements. If the Ship Entered Warp from a System, don’t count the System in which it started.

You may choose to move through fewer Systems or Exit Warp early in a Space Lane. When you come out of Warp in a Space Lane, you may stop in any Sector of the Space Lane. After Exiting Warp, discard the Ship’s Warp Tokens.

You may choose to enter a New System as part of your Warp Movement. Entering a New System always ends your Movement, even if you have Movement remaining.

Entering Rival Territory

You may always move through Systems you Control, regardless of the presence of rival Ships. You may not enter or pass through a Sector that you don’t Control if it contains Hostile Ships. You must ask for permission to enter or move through a Sector which contains Peaceful Ships. They may agree or not, as they wish. If they don’t agree, you must end your Movement.

Note: If a rival denies you access to a System, you can’t reverse your course and take back the Movement used to get there. If you were traveling at Warp Speed, you must end your Movement in the Sector previous to theirs.

Andorian: Reconnaissance Fleet

Andorian Fleets focus on reconnaissance and subterfuge. Their Reconnaissance Fleet can seed a System with an Andorian deep space surveillance device.

The Reconnaissance Fleet may place one Andorian Token on any rival-controlled System where it is in Orbit, or that is Connected to the Space Lane that the Reconnaissance Fleet occupies. They may not place Andorian Tokens on Phenomena.

The Andorian player may remove Andorian Tokens from the board at any time, even if they do not currently have a Reconnaissance Fleet.

Ferengi: Commerce Enforcement Squadron

The Ferengi Commerce Enforcement Squadron can enter a System containing rival Ships, regardless of their Trade status, but must end its move there. You can then Exhaust additional Commands to move it beyond that System at Impulse or Warp speed.

Romulan: Cloaked Orbital Mines

The Romulan Cloaked Orbital Mines Advancement destroys Hostile rival Ships that enter a Romulan-Controlled System (as opposed to simply passing through the System without becoming In Orbit of it).

Andorian: Command Fleet

The Andorian player can Exhaust a Command during their own Command Phase to switch the position of the Command Fleet with any other Andorian Fleet.

Vulcan: Honest Meddling

Vulcans may use their commands to move other players’ ships, if they have a Trade Agreement with that player and that player’s permission to do so. When moving another player’s ships, all results (hazards, rewards, etc.) of that movement still apply to the player whose ships are being moved.

In addition, the Vulcan player may not lie to other players. The Vulcan player should be as honest as possible given the information that they have at the time. They are not bound by earlier statements that no longer apply to changed circumstances.

Hazardous Systems

Some Systems are marked as Hazardous Systems with a Red Alert Warning. When your Ships end their Movement in a Hazardous System, they must Brave the Hazard and see if they survive.

Shields protect against Hazards. To Brave a Hazard, add the Ships’ Shield Modifier to the System’s Hazard Level. The player to your right then rolls a die for each Ship that ended their Movement in the Hazardous Sector. For each die roll that is equal to or higher than the Shield Modified Hazard Level, one Ship is destroyed.

For example, a Federation Ship ends its Movement in the Stellar Nursery, which is a Level 4 Hazard. The Federation has upgraded their Shields once, so has a Shield Modifier of 1. The Klingon Player to their right rolls a die. A roll of a 5 or a 6 will destroy the Federation Ship.

Space is big. If you don’t stop in a Hazardous Sector, you don’t have to make a Hazard roll; you were able to navigate around the dangerous System. If you Build Ships in a Hazardous Sector, you don’t need to make a Hazard roll when you deploy them or when they leave. Ships only have to Brave a Hazard when they end a Movement there.

Vulcan Ambassadors

The Vulcans are experts at diplomacy.

• Placing Vulcan Ambassadors: The Vulcan player may place Ambassadors on an Independent or Peaceful System that their Consul Fleet is In Orbit of while the Consul Fleet is moving at Impulse Speed. They may have up to 5 Ambassadors in play at any one time.
• Removing Vulcan Ambassadors: Rival players may remove a Vulcan Ambassador from their Systems on their turn, returning it to the Vulcan player’s pool.
• Moving Vulcan Ambassadors: The Vulcan player may Exhaust a Command to move an Ambassador to any System Adjacent to their current System. In addition, the Vulcan High Council starting Advancement allows the Vulcan player to Exhaust a Command to move an Ambassador to any System that they Control that is Connected to their current System.

Building the Galaxy

As you Move through the Galaxy, you’ll chart new Space Lanes and Systems and build a galactic map unique to your game. Every new map presents new challenges and opportunities.

Placing New Space Lanes

Each System Disc has a maximum number of Space Lanes that can Connect to it listed on the bottom of the System Disc. When this many Space Lanes are Connected (whether or not they are Connected to another System), you may not make any new Connections to that System.

If the System you’re leaving has unused Space Lane Connections, you may choose to place and then travel in new Space Lanes as you’re moving. Roll the Space Lane Die to determine the length of the new Space Lane. You may place a new Space Lane on the map when moving at Impulse Speed or Exiting Warp.

Place the new Space Lane Connected to the System you’re leaving and move the Ship into the new Space Lane. The new Space Lane may be placed anywhere on the outside edge of the System, as long as there is room for it.

If the new Space Lane won’t fit within the playing area or because there is no room between other Systems and Space Lanes, it cannot be placed and must be abandoned and your move ends.

Abandoned Space Lanes

If a Space Lane contains no Ships and is only Connected to one System (rather than Connecting two Systems as normal), remove the Space Lane. For example, this can happen when a Ship enters a Space Lane but leaves before a System is placed at the other end or if a Ship in a disconnected Space Lane is destroyed. Ships at Warp do not count as being on the board: if all the Ships in an open-ended Space Lane are at Warp, remove the Space Lane and point the Ships’ Warp Token at the Connected System.

Placing New System Discs

When moving at Impulse or Exiting Warp, you may move beyond the unconnected end of a Space Lane and place a new System Disc.

To place a new System on the table, draw a new System Disc and place it face up on the table, Connected to the Space Lane that contains your Ship. Move your Ship into the new System. Moving into a newly-placed System always ends your Movement. Newly placed Systems may not touch or overlap existing Space Lanes or System Discs.

If the new System is Hazardous, you’ll now have to Brave the Hazard.

If the new System at the end of a Space Lane won’t fit within the playing area or because there is no room between other Systems and Space Lanes, it cannot be placed. The System does not exist and your Ship must leave the Space Lane which will then be abandoned.

Fixed vs. Floating Systems

As you head into unexplored space, uncertainty abounds. The best course to reach one Star System isn’t determined immediately upon discovering it. In Star Trek: Ascendancy, System Discs are usually not fixed in place on the board when they are first placed.

• A System Disc is Fixed when it is Connected to two or more other Systems. Fixed System Discs cannot be moved.
• When a System Disc is only Connected to one other System, it is Floating. On your turn, you may swing any Floating System as long as it remains Connected to the System to which it is Connected. You may want to swing a Floating System to make room for a new System or to make a Connection between Systems.

When swinging a Floating System, you may not pick it up off the board, it can only swing around the single System to which it is Connected. As soon as a System is Connected to two other Systems, it is Fixed in place and can no longer be moved.

Placing New System Discs at Warp

When a Ship Exits Warp, it can travel through a number of Systems. As part of this Movement, the Ship can place new Space Lanes and Systems. Moving into a newly placed System always ends a Ship’s Movement.

Making Connections

When you’re leaving a Floating System, you try to make a Connection to another System (either Fixed or Floating) with a new Space Lane.

When you leave the Floating System, roll the Space Lane dice to see what length Space Lane you’re placing. If that Space Lane is long enough to bridge the gap between the two Systems, you can Connect the two Systems with the new Space Lane and continue your Movement.

If the new Space Lane isn’t long enough to make the Connection you want and the Ship is moving at Warp, you can either stop in the new Space Lane or continue on to discover a new System at the end of the new Space Lane. If the Ship is attempting to make a Connection at Impulse and isn’t able to, it can reverse course and use its second sector of Movement to go back to the System where it started, abandoning the Lane.

Destroyed Systems

Through cataclysm or conflict, a whole System may be destroyed and removed. Move any Ships on the destroyed System into an Adjacent Sector unless the effect that destroyed the System says otherwise. If there are then any empty Space Lanes Connected to the destroyed System, remove those as well.

Additional Map Rules

• Space Lanes can not cross each other.
• System Discs can not touch each other.
• Home Systems are always considered Fixed in place.
• You may use a Space Lane to test if a Connection is possible before committing to Moving.
• A System is only considered Floating if it is Connected to a Fixed System.

Discovering Planetary Systems

Most Systems are Planetary Systems, containing potentially habitable worlds. Planetary Systems show the most prominent planet or other astronomical features along with what type of Nodes can be built in the System.

If the System you Discover is a Hazardous Planetary System, all the Ships must Brave the Hazard.

• If any of your Ships do survive entry into a new Hazardous Planetary System or the Discovered System is not Hazardous, draw an Exploration Card and resolve the effects.
• If your Ships do not survive entry into a new Hazardous Planetary System, place an Exploration Card face down on the System. The first player to successfully Brave the Hazard with surviving Ships will resolve the card.
• Do not draw an Exploration Card when you Discover a Phenomenon.

Exploration Cards

There are five types of Exploration Cards: Crisis, Discover, Virgin Worlds, Allies, and Civilizations. Unless otherwise stated, Exploration Cards are resolved immediately and then discarded. In the case of Hazardous Systems, the Encounter card will remain face-down on the System until a player successfully Braves the Hazard and explores the system.

Remains in Play

Any options they give players must be used now or never. Exploration cards marked ‘Remains in Play’ remain face up on the System until they are resolved (usually when the System is Colonized) and are then discarded.

Recurring Events

Some Exploration Cards are returned to the Exploration Deck rather than being discarded after they are resolved. These cards are either:

• Placed on the bottom of the Exploration Deck (don’t reshuffle, just place the Ally on the bottom of the Exploration Deck), or
• Shuffled back into the Exploration Deck (do not shuffle the discard pile back into the deck; only shuffle the recurring Exploration Card back into the Exploration Deck). Doing so will also shuffle any recurring Exploration Cards that are on the bottom of the deck.

Diplomacy Tests

Some Exploration Cards are marked as requiring a Diplomacy Test with a Diplomacy Number. When you face such an Encounter, you must attempt a Diplomacy Test, with the specified outcomes if you pass or fail.

To make a Diplomacy Test, roll a die and add your Ascendancy. If the total is higher than the card’s Diplomacy Number, you pass the test, otherwise you fail it.

Exploration Card Types

• Crisis: Crisis Cards present some sort of problem or difficulty. Some Crisis Cards will force the Ships to Brave a Hazard. Other Crisis Cards require a Diplomacy Test when drawn.
• Discovery: In addition to Crises, new worlds hold the promise of never before seen wonders, technological revelations and contact with new species.
• Ally: When you draw an Ally card or receive one from another player, you’ve discovered a faction or person who may be open to establishing an agreement. In order to claim the Ally, you have to take a Diplomacy Test. If you pass the test, set the Ally Card in front of you. Ally cards either count as Trade Agreements or have a Special Rule you can use. If you fail the Diplomacy Test, place the Ally Card on the bottom of the Exploration Deck as a recurring event.
• Civilization: Some Systems you’ll Discover are already inhabited. These Independent Civilizations range from primitive, Pre-Warp societies up to fully Warp-Capable, advanced Cultures. When you draw a “Civilization” Exploration Card, the card will direct you to either place Production Tokens on the System, marking it as a Pre-Warp Civilization, or Warp Tokens, marking it as a Warp-Capable Civilization.
• Virgin Worlds: A number of the cards in the Exploration Deck are Virgin Worlds; planets which are perfectly suitable for habitation but devoid of sentient life that needs to be accommodated or conquered.

Independent Civilizations

Pre-Warp Civilizations

Pre-Warp Civilizations have not yet achieved faster than light space travel. These worlds have not developed any technology or infrastructure that’s usable by more advanced cultures. Pre-Warp Civilization cards will direct you to place a number of Resource Tokens on the System, representing the System’s raw materials and a population ripe for exploitation. The first player to Colonize the System takes the Resource Tokens from the System.

Warp-Capable Civilizations

Each Warp-Capable Civilization card directs you to place a number of Warp Tokens on the System equal to the level of the Civilization, marking it as a Warp-Capable Civilization.

Each Warp-Capable Civilization card will also direct you to Develop a number of Nodes in the System. When developing the Resource Nodes of a Warp-Capable Civilization, develop any Production Capacity first, then Research Capacity, and finally any Culture Capacity, up to the number of Nodes the Card instructs you to develop.

Taking Control of Warp-Capable Civilizations

Warp-Capable Civilizations have discovered sufficient technology and built up their planet’s infrastructure such that Colonization is no longer an option. Whenever there are Developed Structures on a planet, Hegemony or Invasion are your only options for taking Control.

Independent Civilization Examples

• The Romulans discover a Level 2 Warp-Capable Civilization on Terra Nova, which has a Capacity for 1 Production, 1 Research and 1 Culture. The Civilization card directs you to develop 2 Nodes. The Production Capacity is developed first: one Production Node. Next the Research Capacity is developed: one Research Node.
• The Federation player discovers a Level 3 Warp-Capable Civilization on Ardana. Ardana has 1 Production, 1 Research and 1 Open Capacity. It is possible to develop 2 Production Nodes, since Ardana has both a Production and an Open site. The Production Capacity is developed first, then a Research Node is placed as the third Node.

Encounter Clarifications

• Crisis: Crystalline Entity: The Crystalline Entity Exploration Card destroys all Ships in the System unless you have upgraded either your Weapons or your Shields, or both.
• Discovery: Dark Reflection: The Dark Reflection Exploration Card allows the player opposite you to control your Ships. If you are playing with an odd number of players, randomly determine which of the two players opposite you does this.
• Discovery: The Traveler: The Traveler Exploration Card requires you to place a new System and move ships from the System that you just explored to the System just placed.
• Ally: Ferengi Arms Dealer and Ferengi Researcher: The Ferengi Arms Dealer and Researcher Exploration Cards allow you to upgrade Weapons and Shields using Production rather than Research. If you choose to use this capability, you must use either Production or Research, not a mix of both.

Discovering Phenomena

Not all Systems contain habitable planets; there is a wide variety of Interstellar Phenomena that deserve further study. Science is dangerous: Phenomena are Hazardous to study and explore.

Do not draw an Exploration Card when you Discover a Phenomenon. Instead, when the System Disc you Discover is a Phenomenon, place one Research Token from the Supply on the Phenomenon.

Initial Research

As with Discovering any Hazardous System, all Ships in the System must Brave the Hazard. If at least one Ship survives, take all of the Research Tokens from the Phenomenon. You may place this Research on your Projects (no more than one per project) or in your Reserves. If all the Ships are destroyed, all Research Tokens remain on the Phenomenon.

Further Research

If one of your Ships starts your turn on a Phenomenon that has Research Tokens on it, you may attempt to take the Research Tokens by spending a Command to Brave the Hazard without actually Moving. Select the number of Ships you wish to Brave the Hazard with. If any of these Ships survive, take the Research Tokens.

Romulan: Science Fleet

A Romulan Science Fleet only rolls for one of its Ships when it Braves a Hazard. However, that Ship must survive Braving the Hazard to take the Research Token. If it fails, the Science Fleet can keep attempting to Brave the Hazard with further Ships, one at a time, without Exhausting a Command.

Temporal Anomaly

The Temporal Anomaly Phenomenon allows a player to refresh Commands when Braving the Hazard. Each Ship or Fleet only gains this benefit once per turn.

Romulan: Mining Fleet

A Romulan Mining Fleet can Exhaust a Command to take 2 Production from a Phenomenon. It does not need to Brave the Hazard to do this, although it still needed to Brave the Hazard when it ended its move on the Phenomenon.

More to Learn

During the Recharge Stage, a Research Token will be placed on each Phenomenon that doesn’t already have one. The first player each Round to successfully Brave the Phenomenon’s Hazard takes the Research Token. This Research Token may be placed on a Project or added to your Reserves.

Space Battles

You can Exhaust a Command to Initiate a Space Battle with rival Ships in a single Adjacent Sector, or in a single Sector in which you both have Ships.

Each Space Battle consists of a number of Combat Rounds in which both players roll to Score Hits, take Casualties, then decide whether to Retreat or keep fighting. The player who Initiates the Space Battle is the Attacker. The player being Attacked is the Defender.

Battles Between Sectors

Normally Space Battles take place between Adjacent Sectors. In this case, each player’s Ships remain in their own Sector and fire into the Adjacent Sector. Any special rules that apply to any Sector of the Battle apply to the whole Battle.

Battles in the Same Sector

Space Battles can take place between rivals in the same Sector. For example, this can happen if two Civilizations had a Trade Agreement which was broken, a Cloaking Device was used or a player built Ships in a System Occupied by a rival. In this case, the Ships involved are fighting within the same Sector.

Attacking from Multiple Sectors

If you have Ships in more than one Adjacent Sector, you may use a Command to have all the Ships in Adjacent Sectors join in the attack.

Battles with More Than Two Players

There will only ever be one Attacker, but it is possible for there to be more than one Defender. If the Sector being Attacked contains Ships from more than one opponent, all of these opponents are Defenders. The Attacker must decide how they will divide their dice between the Defenders before Rolling to Hit. All the Defenders’ Hits are directed to the Attacker.

Scoring Hits

Your current Weapons Level determines your Hit Roll. To Score a Hit, you need to roll equal to or higher than your Hit Roll. Your opponent’s Shield Modifier is added to your required Hit Roll, making it more difficult to hit.

Both players roll a number of dice equal to the number of Ships they have involved in the Combat.

Invulnerable Shields

If your opponent’s Shield Modifier increases your Hit Roll above 6, you cannot score Hits on their Ships. If both players are in this situation, the attack cannot succeed, so one of the players will need to Retreat from Combat to end the Space Battle.

Starbase Support in Space Battles

Starbases provide support for your Ships in Space Battles. If any Ships that are involved in the Combat are in Orbit of a System you Control with a Starbase at the time you make your Hit Rolls, roll an additional die to Hit. Starbases cannot fight on their own.

Cardassian: Weaponized Starbases

The Weaponized Starbases Advancement increases the number of additional dice rolled to Hit from 1 to 3.

Rerolls

Some Advancements and other cards allow players to reroll Hits or misses in Space Battles they are involved in. Unless an Advancement Card says otherwise, you cannot use it for rerolls in a Space Battle where you are neither the Attacker nor a Defender.

If any of these are in play during a Space Battle, you will need to separate your dice into those that scored a Hit and those that missed. Any cards that reroll successful hits will cause dice from the first group to be rerolled. Any dice that reroll misses will cause dice from the second group to be rerolled.

If you reroll a die, the new result replaces the original result, regardless of the outcome. You cannot reroll a die that has already been rerolled. The rerolled result is final.

Taking Casualties

Every Hit destroys an opposing Ship. Both players Roll to Hit and then Take Casualties simultaneously. If there is a choice of where casualties are going to be taken, the player who inflicted the Hits chooses how to allocate the Hits.

As Casualties are simultaneous, any Special Rules that are triggered by rival Casualties will occur before the effects of your own Casualties are determined.

For example, you score 4 Hits against a rival who has 5 Ships in a Fleet and 2 individual Ships, you may allocate all the Hits to the Fleet if you wish or spread them between the Fleet and the individual Ships. If the rival Fleet was a Klingon Marauder Fleet, which gives you 1 Production for each rival Ship destroyed, and you allocated all of your Hits against the Fleet, the Fleet would be Disbanded. However, any Ships you lost would still generate Production for the Klingon player as they were destroyed by the Marauder Fleet before it was Disbanded.

First Strike

Some Advancements give First Strike to Ships or Nodes in the first Combat Round of a Space Battle or Planetary Invasion. When your Ships have First Strike, your opponent must Take Casualties before rolling to Hit with their Ships and Nodes. First Strike is only used in the initial Combat Round of a battle.

First Strike does not grant an extra Attack before Combat begins, it simply forces your opponent to Take Casualties before firing back in the first Combat Round. If both sides can use First Strike in this Space Battle or Planetary Invasion, neither side may use it.

Retreating from Combat

After Taking Casualties, each player assesses the state of their Ships. Starting with the Attacker, players decide whether or not to Retreat.

Retreats are made at up to full Impulse Speed. Retreats must be made through existing Space Lanes; you may not place new Space Lanes with a Retreat Move. When you Retreat, all of the Ships in a Sector must Move out of that Sector as a group and the whole group must end their Retreat in the same Sector and not Adjacent to their opponent’s Ships.

Blocked Retreats

Ships unable to Move because rival Ships are blocking the Space Lanes may not Retreat.

Combat Continues

If none of the players involved choose to Retreat (or are unable to Retreat), another Combat Round begins. Without Exhausting any additional Commands, continue to fight additional Combat Rounds until either the Attacker or Defender Retreats or a player has no more Ships remaining.

Winning a Space Battle

The player who destroys all their opponent’s Ships or forces them into Retreat wins the Space Battle. The winning player may make a Tactical Maneuver with some, or all, of their Ships after the Space Battle is over. Tactical Maneuvers are a Move made at up to full Impulse Speed and do not Exhaust a Command. This move must be made through existing Space Lanes; you may not place new Space Lanes. All of the Ships in a Sector that move must Move out of that Sector as a group and the whole group must end their Tactical Maneuver in the same Sector.

Andorian: Field Testing

When the Andorians win a Space Battle, they may claim one destroyed Ship. These claimed Ships may be used in later turns as Research Tokens — but they must be spent before any actual Research Tokens (you can’t hoard rival Ships). Remember, the Field Testing ability is only used if the Andorian player wins. Andorians can not claim Borg Cubes.

Klingon: Ever Victorious

When the Klingon player wins a Space Battle (or fights in one where both sides destroy all of their opponents’ Ships), they gain 1 Culture if their opponents fielded 3 or more Ships.

If there are multiple Defenders in a Space Battle in which the Klingons are defeated, the Klingons still gain the 1 Culture if any one Defender that fielded 3 or more Ships had all of their Ships destroyed or Retreated from the Space Battle.

If the Space Battle is canceled (for instance because the opponent used the Advanced Romulan Cloaking Device Advancement), the Klingon player does not gain the Culture.

Klingon: Cult of Kahless

The Cult of Kahless Advancement allows the Klingon player to sacrifice their Ships to destroy opposing Ships instead of rolling to Hit. Choosing to do this prevents you from rolling to Hit with other Ships in the Battle for this Combat Round.

Your opponent still rolls to Hit with all of their Ships, and casualties are removed after all rolls to Hit have been made. Since the player that inflicted the Hits chooses which Ships are Hit, they will not normally choose the ones that are already going to die from this card.

Romulan: Superior Targeting Array

The Superior Targeting Array allows you to reroll one die in each Combat Round.

Planetary Invasion

When your Ships Occupy a Developed System you do not Control, you may use a Command to Invade the Planet. If there are any rival Ships in the System, you must Attack the Ships in a Space Battle first before Invading the System. If the Invasion is successful, you will take Control of the System.

Each Planetary Invasion consists of a number of Rounds of Combat in which both players roll to Score Hits, take Casualties, then decide whether to Surrender, Retreat or keep fighting.

Note: Invasions are a one-way affair: you may not use a Command to have your Nodes initiate an Attack against Ships Occupying their System.

Vulcan: Logical Observers

The Vulcans are loathe to destroy civilizations with potential to eventually become allies or partners. They may not Invade or attempt Hegemony against any Systems controlled by a rival with lower Ascendancy.

Scoring Hits

The Attacker rolls a number of dice equal to the number of Ships they have in the System. The Defender rolls a number of dice equal to the number of Nodes they have built on the planet, including the Control Node. Every dice rolled has a chance to Score a Hit. Starbases do not fight in Planetary Invasions, only in Space Battles.

As in Space Battles, both players’ current Weapons Levels determines their Hit Roll. To Score a Hit, you need to roll equal to or higher than your Hit Roll. Each player adds their opponent’s Shield Modifier to their Hit Roll, making it more difficult to Hit.

Vulcan Ambassadors in Invasions

Vulcan Ambassadors take no part in a Planetary Invasion (aside from adding an extra die to the Defender through the Vulcan High Command Advancement if any Ambassadors are present, which they do regardless of who is Attacking the system). They remain in the System no matter what the outcome is.

Taking Casualties

Every Hit scored by the Defender’s Nodes destroys one of the Attacker’s Ships.

In a Planetary Invasion, the goal of the Attacker is to take Control of the Planet, ideally with minimal damage done to the Planet’s Infrastructure. Hits by the Attacker don’t necessarily destroy Nodes. The number of Hits Scored by the Attacker determines the results of the Planetary Invasion. Depending on how many Hits the Attacker scores, there are three possible results:

• Successful Invasion: If the Attacker scores more Hits than the Defender has Nodes, the Attacker has invaded with overwhelming force and has taken Control of the System and won the Combat. Place the Attacker’s Control Node on the System, replacing the existing Control Node if the planet was Controlled by a rival. This is not optional, the Attacker must take Control of the System. The Attacker must still take any Casualties caused by the Defender.
• Collateral Damage: If the Attacker scores fewer Hits than the Defender has Nodes, the Attacker must choose a number of Resource Nodes to destroy equal to the number of Hits Scored. The Control Node is not destroyed. Another Combat Round is then fought, unless the Attacker chooses to Retreat or the Defender chooses to Surrender.
• Total Annihilation: If the Attacker scores a number of Hits equal to the number of Nodes in the System, including the Control Node, the surface has been completely razed in the Invasion. Destroy all the Nodes on the planet, including the Control Node. The Invasion is over: the System will need to be Colonized anew in a future turn. Neither the Attacker or Defender has won the Combat.

Note: Even if all the Attacker’s Ships are Destroyed, the Results of the Invasion are the same, i.e. all the Attacker’s Ships could be destroyed and still have a Successful Invasion.

Advancements that Destroy Nodes

Some Advancements (such as Cardassian Metagenic Weapons and Klingon Planetary Bombardments) automatically destroy a Node for each Attacking Ship. This prevents them from making a Successful Invasion in that Combat Round since a Successful Invasion requires capturing the Control Node intact. The only results possible are Collateral Damage or Total Annihilation.

Cardassian: Annexation Protocols

Cardassian Annexation Protocols allow them to treat a Total Annihilation result as a Successful Invasion, even if the Total Annihilation was a result of Metagenic Weapons or other Node-destroying Advancements.

Repelled Invasions

If the Defender’s Control Node survives and all the Attacker’s Ships are destroyed, the Invasion is over and the Defender retains Control of the System.

After a Combat Round, the Attacker may choose to Retreat, ending the Invasion. When Retreating, the Attacker may make an Impulse Speed Retreat Movement.

Surrender to Invasion

In Planetary Invasions, the Defender cannot Retreat but they may Surrender. The Defender may choose to Surrender before any Combat Round. If the Defender Surrenders, the Attacker immediately gains Control of the Sector and the Invasion is over.

Combat Continues

If the Invasion was not Successful and was not Repelled, another Combat Round begins. Without spending any additional Commands, continue to fight additional Rounds of Combat until either the Attacker Retreats, the Defender Surrenders or the Invasion is resolved.

Capturing Research Nodes

When you take Control of a rival’s intact Research Node, the player whose Research Node was captured must choose one of their Active Projects and give it to you. Any Research on the card is discarded. If you capture more than one Research Node, they must give you a Project per Node captured. If the Research Node is destroyed, nothing is captured. If the Invaded player does not have any Active Projects, then no Project is seized. Place captured Projects in your Project Area.

If a captured Advancement refers to its original owners (such as the Vulcan Exodus, Andorian Imperial Guard, and Ferengi War is Good for Business Advancements), it now refers to the new owner, and their Systems, Trade Agreements, Homeworld, etc. instead.

Capturing Starbases

Starbases are too valuable to destroy. Once a Starbase is placed on a System it remains there for the rest of the game. When Control of a System changes hands, Control of the Starbase does too.

When you take Control of a Starbase from a rival, take one of their Command Tokens. Place this token with your other Command Tokens, face down; it may not be used this turn. When a Starbase is captured, only the new owner’s Special Rules which affect Starbases apply.

With a Total Annihilation result, the Defender has lost Control of the Starbase and loses a Command, but the Attacker does not Control it. The first player to take Control of an Uncontrolled Starbase gains a Command.

Invading Uncontrolled Systems

Some planets may be Developed but Uncontrolled. You may Invade Uncontrolled Planets normally. Uncontrolled Planets do not have a Control Node to fight. Uncontrolled Planets’ Resource Nodes each add one dice, as normal. The player to the right of the Attacker rolls the uncontrolled System’s Attacks. Warp-Capable Civilizations’ Weapons Hit Rolls are modified by your Shield Modifier normally.

Civilization Tech Levels

Some Civilization Exploration Cards will direct you to place a number of Warp Tokens on the System, along with Developing Nodes on the System. The number of Warp Tokens corresponds to the Level of that Civilization. The higher the Level of the Civilization, the better their Weapons and Shields.

When a player takes Control of a System with a Warp-Capable Civilization, discard the Warp Tokens.

Note: Rather than keeping the Civilization Card on the table, you can calculate the Independents’ Hit Roll by subtracting the number of Tokens from 6. For example, a Level Two Civilization is a 4+ to Hit (6-2=4). The number of Warp Tokens are equal to their Shield Modifier and is their base Hegemony Resistance. Their Hegemony Resistance is also increased by the number of Nodes on the System.

Cultural Hegemony

When your Ships Occupy a Developed Sector you don’t Control, you may attempt to Culturally take over the System through Hegemony. How resistant a System is to Hegemony depends on how developed its infrastructure is and its culture’s Ascendancy.

You must have at least 2 Culture Tokens to attempt to take Control of a System via Hegemony (one to make the attempt and another to take Control, if the attempt was successful), unless you have an Advancement (such as the Federation Starfleet Diplomatic Corps) that reduces the cost of Cultural Hegemony when you only need 1 Culture Token.

The Hegemony Resistance of a System is equal to the number of Structures in the System plus the Ascendancy of the player who Controls it. Starbases and Nodes (but not Vulcan Ambassadors) count as Structures and each add 1 to a System’s Hegemony Resistance.

To attempt Cultural Hegemony, Exhaust a Command and spend a Culture. Next, roll a die and add your current Ascendancy. If the total is higher than the Hegemony Resistance of the System, you must pay an additional Culture Token to take Control of the System: place your Control Node on the System.

Ferengi: Profit Over Profundity

Other species find the Ferengi extremely off-putting, making Hegemony difficult. Ferengi don’t add their Ascendancy when making Hegemony attempts. They can still attempt Hegemony, but it is much more difficult without the addition of their current Ascendancy.

Vulcan: Logical Observers

The Vulcans are loathe to destroy civilizations with potential to eventually become allies or partners. They may not Invade or attempt Hegemony against any Systems controlled by a rival with lower Ascendancy.

Note: Even if your Ascendancy is high enough relative to the System’s Resistance that Hegemony is going to be automatically successful, you still need to pay a total of 2 Culture: 1 for the attempt and 1 to actually take Control.

Hegemony of Warp-Capable Civilizations

When you Discover a Level 1, 2 or 3 Warp-Capable Civilization, the Exploration Card will direct you to develop some of that System’s Capacity and place a number of Warp Tokens on the System.

The Warp Tokens on an Independent, Warp-Capable System is added to the System’s Hegemony Resistance. Independent Civilizations won’t have Control Nodes; the Hegemony Resistance of the System is the number of Developed Resource Nodes plus the number of Warp Tokens on the System.

For example, the Romulans attempt Hegemony of a Level 3 Warp-Capable Civilization. The System has 3 Developed Nodes, plus the 3 Warp Tokens, giving the System a total Hegemony Resistance of 6. The Romulans will need to get a total of 7 on their Hegemony attempt: With an Ascendancy of 2, they’ll need to roll a 5 or better to succeed.

No Hegemony of Pre-Warp Civilizations

You may not attempt Cultural Hegemony against a Pre-Warp inhabited System, it must be Colonized during your Building Phase.

Seizing Starbases and Research Nodes

As in a Planetary Invasion, when you take Control of a System that contains a Starbase you take a Command from the player who previously Controlled it. Likewise, if you take Control of a rival’s System with a Research Node, you take one of their Projects.

Starbases

Starbases allow you to build Ships away from your Home System. Grouping Ships into a Fleet allows you to move much more efficiently and may benefit from Fleet special rules.

Commission a Starbase

Commissioning a Starbase is a major endeavor, not to be taken lightly. To Commission a Starbase, Exhaust a Command and place a Starbase Token next to a System you Control that does not already contain a Starbase. There is no Resource cost to Commission a Starbase, but you may only place three of them over the course of the entire game. You may only Commission one Starbase per Ascendancy Level you’ve achieved. You may Control more than this, if you have taken Starbases from rivals. Once placed, Starbases are not moved, discarded or destroyed.

Each Starbase you Control increases your number of Commands by one. The additional Command starts Exhausted; you may not use it this turn.

Andorian Independence

From the outside, Andorians may appear disciplined, but Andorian captains are fiercely independent and protective of their accomplishments. Convincing prideful captains to work together often requires the Chancellor’s firm hand. When Commissioning a Starbase, Exhaust two Commands instead of one.

Vulcan Ambassadors

Vulcans can not build Star Bases, although they can gain Control of them through Planetary Invasions and Cultural Hegemony. Having gained Control of a Starbase, they gain the extra Command and can build Ships and form Fleets there as normal.

Fleets

Form a Fleet

There are two ways to form a Fleet:

1. You can form newly-built Ships into a Fleet in the Building Phase.
2. You can use a Command to group Ships into a Fleet in the Command Phase.

To group Ships into a Fleet in the Command Phase, the Ships must be in your Home System, at one of your Starbases, or in a System allowed by one of your Advancements. Only these Systems have the facilities necessary to equip and retrofit Ships for specialized Fleet configurations. Exhaust a Command, take at least 3 Ships off the board and place them on one of your three Fleet Cards. Then place the appropriate Fleet Marker on the board, in the same System.

Andorian Independence

When forming Andorian Fleets, Exhaust two Commands instead of one. Andorian Ships may still be grouped into a Fleet in the Building Phase without Exhausting a Command.

Fleet Type & Strength

Each Civilization has three different Fleet Cards, each of which is double-sided. The different sides of Fleet Cards have different Special Rules and allow for different numbers of Ships. When you Commission a Fleet, you must choose which side you’re using. To use a different side of a Fleet Card, you must Disband the Fleet and re-Commission it at your Home System or a Starbase.

Number of Fleets

The number of Fleets you can form is limited by your Ascendancy. You cannot have more Fleets in play than you have Ascendancy Tokens. You may form them in any order, i.e. you may Commission your Fleet #3 when you only have 1 Ascendancy Token.

Adding & Removing Ships from Fleets

You may add or remove Ships that are in the same Sector as one of your Fleets at any time during your turn, except when the Fleet is using a Movement Command (moving at Impulse Speed or is at Warp). If a Fleet is at Warp, it must drop out of Warp before you can add or remove Ships from it.

You do not have to be in your Home System or at a Starbase to add or remove Ships from a Fleet.

Disbanding a Fleet

At any time on your turn, including your Building Phase, you may choose to Disband a Fleet that is not at Warp by taking the Ships off the Fleet Card and putting them back on the board in the same Sector. It does not take a Command to Disband a Fleet.

If a Fleet ever contains fewer than three Ships it is immediately Disbanded, even in the middle of a Space Battle or Planetary Invasion. Any special rules are immediately lost.

Fleets in Space Battles

If the Fleet has a Special Rule that affects their Attack, roll the dice for the Fleet separately when rolling to Hit with both a Fleet and individual Ships.

Advancement Projects in the Command Phase

Launch Projects

On your turn, you may Exhaust a Command to draw two Cards from your Advancement Deck and add them to your Project Area. The number of Research Nodes you currently Control is the maximum number of Active Projects you may have.

You may Launch Projects even if doing so would put you over your maximum number of Projects. Any time you have more Projects in your Project Area than you Control Research Nodes, you must discard a number of Projects until you’re back down to your maximum number of Projects allowed. You may discard Projects that were already in your Project Area or newly-drawn Projects.

Place any discarded cards on the bottom of your Advancement deck and return any Research Tokens on the discarded Projects to the Supply. Do not shuffle your Advancement deck.

Note: You may sometimes take an Advancement Card from another player. If you discard an Advancement Card that came from another player’s Advancement Deck, it goes back to the bottom of their deck.

Ferengi: Rule of Acquisition #21

The Rule of Acquisition #21 Advancement allows you to draw Advancement Cards from their rivals’ Advancement Decks, but limits them to one Advancement Card acquired in this way at any time.

Utilize Special Rules

Some Special Rules on Advancements or Command Consoles may require you to Exhaust a Command to use the Rule. Special Rules requiring the use of a Command may be used multiple times per turn. Unless they say otherwise, Special Rules may be used during any player’s turn.

Some cards’ Special Rules will instruct you to “Exhaust” the card itself. To Exhaust a card, flip the card face down. Abilities that require you to Exhaust the card can only be used once per Game Round. Exhausted cards are Refreshed at the end of each Game Round, during the Recharge Stage.

The Ferengi Espionage Advancements Exhaust certain types of cards. Unlike other Espionage cards, the Ferengi may use theirs multiple times per turn, as long as they can pay the Production cost.

Exhausted Cards

When a card is Exhausted, it is temporarily out of the game until it is Refreshed in the Recharge Stage at the end of the turn. Exhausted cards can not be used in any way: Exhausted Advancements don’t increase the Warp distance of your Ships, Exhausted Trade Agreements may not be revoked, discarded, traded, etc. However, Tokens gained from or placed using this Advancement remain in place.

Using Rival’s Special Rules

If you have finished a rival’s Advancement, you gain the benefits of its Special Rules. Any reference to the rival’s civilization now becomes a reference to your civilization.

Recharge Stage Overview

At the end of each Game Round, there is a Recharge Stage in which players’ Resource Nodes Generate Resources, Trade Agreements generate Profits, some Advancements provide Resources and some basic game maintenance takes place.

Victory Check

At the very beginning of the Recharge Stage, if anyone has achieved an Ascendancy, Supremacy or Vulcan Agenda Victory, they have won the game.

Winning the Game

There are two different paths to winning the game (unless you are playing as the Vulcans who have their own Agendas). You can win the game by becoming the most ascendant civilization in the Galaxy or by militarily dominating your rivals.

Ascendancy Victory

At the end of a Game Round, a player who both Controls their Home System and has 5 Ascendancy Tokens wins the game. They have established their Cultural dominance over the Galaxy. Ascendancy Tokens may be purchased any time on your turn, with 5 Culture Tokens.

Supremacy Victory

At the end of a Game Round, if a single player Controls three Home Systems, one of which must be their own, that player has dominated the Galaxy and wins the game.

Note: if the Vulcan player changes their Home System using the Vulcan Exodus Advancement, their old Home System is no longer a Home System, and does not count towards an opponent’s Supremacy Victory.

Vulcan Agenda Victory

Vulcan players can only win by achieving one of their Agendas. They cannot win through an Ascendancy or Supremacy Victory. The Vulcan player does not need to Control their Home System to win.

One of the Agenda cards states ‘To win the game, complete 3 Advancements from other players, with a least 1 from each.’ If there are four or fewer players, you must complete at least one Advancement from each other player, and a total of three Advancements to win. If there are more than four players, you must complete one Advancement from each of three other players to win.

Tied Victories

At the end of a Game Round, if two players have achieved Victory, through Ascendancy, Supremacy or a Vulcan Agenda, the player who Controls the most Systems wins. If it is still a tie, both Civilizations have risen to greatness and the players share the victory.

Extermination

If a player has no Ships and Controls no Systems, their Civilization has been exterminated and that player is eliminated from the game. All of that player’s cards (including Trade Agreements given to rivals and Advancements taken from rivals) are discarded. Any of their Advancements held by rivals remain in play until discarded.

Resource Generation

Each player takes a Resource for each Resource Node they Control. Each Node produces 1 Resource of its type:

• Production Nodes Generate Production
• Research Nodes Generate Research
• Culture Nodes Generate Culture

Some Advancements may also Generate Resources.

Cardassian Occupation

Cardassian-Controlled Systems only Generate Resources if there is a Cardassian Ship in Orbit around that System.

Ferengi: Only Latinum Lasts

Profit is what really matters! Ferengi may purchase Culture Tokens for 5 Production.

Trade Agreement Profits

Each Trade Agreement has a number of Resources pictured on it. During Resource Generation, players take the Resources pictured on the Trade Agreements they have received.

Tip: Letting the player who’s in the lead continue to hold your Trade Agreements may allow them to widen their lead!

For example, the Klingon player currently holds a Federation 1 Production Agreement and a Romulan 2 Production Agreement. They still hold their own 3 Production Agreement. During Resource Generation, the Klingon player doesn’t get anything from their own Trade Agreement (you can’t trade with yourself) and gets a total of 3 Production from the rival Trade Agreements.

Remember, holding your own Trade Agreements doesn’t do you any good. Only Trade Agreements from other players Generate Resources.

Ferengi Commerce Authority

The Ferengi starting Advancement Generates 1 Production, for each rival-Controlled System that the Ferengi have Ships Orbiting. The more Systems the Ferengi are able to negotiate themselves into, the more trade profit they receive!

Ferengi Trade Agreements

Ferengi Trade Agreements do not have a fixed value. Instead, they generate 1 Production for each System that you Control that has Ferengi Ships in Orbit around it. Profits for everyone!

Exhausted Trade Agreements

Sometimes a Trade Agreement may become Exhausted. You do not receive any Resources from Exhausted Trade Agreements during Resource Generation. Exhausted Trade Agreements may not be revoked or exchanged until they are Refreshed during Maintenance. However, you still remain at Peace with a rival if the Trade Agreement you hold is Exhausted.

Note: The Romulan’s Suspicious special rule requires them to Exhaust all Trade Agreements when they receive one or have one they hold exchanged for another. This forces them to wait a turn until they benefit from the Agreement.

Resources from Advancements

Some Advancements generate Resources. These cards will not picture the Resources being generated, since they often vary from turn to turn.

For example, in Orbital Laboratories, the Federation player gets a Research Token for each Starbase they control. When they Commission or take Control of a new Starbase, they’ll receive more Research during Resource Generation.

Maintenance

After all players have finished Generating Resources, there are a few things to do before starting the next Game Round:

1. Refresh Cards & Command Tokens: As part of Maintenance, Refresh all Cards and Command Tokens, so they’re ready to be used again the following turn. Each player should have 5 Commands, plus one per Starbase, plus any additional Commands from Advancements.
   The Cardassian Totalitarian Regime starting Advancement gives them 6 Commands rather than 5 as their base level.
2. Refresh Trade Agreements: Normally, Trade Agreements are face-up when you receive them and stay that way. However, they may sometimes become Exhausted. During Maintenance, Refresh any Exhausted Trade Agreements.
3. Add Warp Tokens to Starships at Warp: During Maintenance, add an additional Warp Token to any Ship currently traveling at Warp.
   Tip: While you can spend Command Tokens during your turn to add Warp Tokens to Ships, if you are patient, you’ll get them for free.
4. Add Research Tokens to Phenomena: During Maintenance, add a Research Token to any Phenomena that doesn’t already have one. If a Phenomena already has a Research Token on it, don’t add an additional token. The first player to successfully Brave the Hazard each Game Round claims the Research from the Phenomenon.

Optional Rules

The following includes a variety of optional rules you may use to make the game more challenging, faster or just different. You may use any, all or none of these in your games. Feel free to make up your own variations and house rules too!

Accelerated Rules

The following optional rules make the game play a little faster. These can be useful if you’re short on time:

• Simultaneous First Turns: All players take their first turns simultaneously, building and spending their Commands at the same time. Players may not make Contact during this turn. If everyone agrees, you may also take your second turn simultaneously.
• Extra Starting Resources: Each player starts with 8 Production, 6 Research and 4 Culture.
• Starting Project: During the Game Set Up, each player starts with one Project in their Project Area. If you’re a new player, draw the Project randomly. If you’re more experienced, you can pick which Project you start with.
• Starting Advancements: During the Game Set Up, each player starts with one completed Advancement. Players can either draw the Advancement randomly or look through their Advancement Deck and choose which Advancement they’d like.
• Random Turn Order: Instead of devoting Resources to choosing Turn Order Cards in the Initiative Stage of each Game Round, pass the Turn Order Cards out randomly each turn.
• Wild Culture: Culture Tokens may also be used as either Production or Research Tokens.
• Easier Ascension: Ascendancy Tokens only cost 4 Culture Tokens instead of 5.

Advanced Rules

When all the players are experienced Captains with a few games under their belt, try some of these optional rules for an extra challenge:

• Mystery Turn Order: Use twice as many Turn Order Cards as there are players. Each Game Round, shuffle the Turn Order Cards and set half of them aside. When it is each player’s turn to choose a Turn Order Card, they don’t reveal their choice to their rivals until it is their turn.
• Random Galaxy: Instead of separating the Phenomena in Set Up, shuffle all the System Discs together.
• Unrestricted Trade Routes: Rather than asking for permission to travel through Sectors of rivals with whom you’re at peace, you may freely move through rival Ships with which you’re at peace. You may only revoke your Trade Agreements on your Turn.
• Humble Beginnings: Each player starts with no Resources and no Ascendancy (aside from the Vulcans who begin with 3 Ascendancy as per their normal starting rules).
• Focused Research: When you use a Command to Launch a new Project, you do not draw 2 random Advancements. Instead, you may look through your Advancement Deck and choose one Advancement as the Project to Launch.
• Allied Cooperation: When attempting Colonizing a System, Invading a Planetary System, or attempting Cultural Hegemony in a System in which only you and a peaceful rival have Ships, you may ask that rival for permission to do so. If they grant their permission, you can proceed as if their Ships were not there. If they deny their permission, you must fully Occupy that System (i.e. be the only player with Ships in the System) as normal.

Sample First Turn

On your first turn, you start with three Ships in your Home System, ready to explore the Galaxy. Here’s what your first foray into the Galaxy might look like. In this example, Sally is playing as the Federation. The Special Rule “Random Galaxy” is being used, which shuffles the Phenomenons into the stack of System Discs in Set Up.

Building Phase

On Sally’s first turn, she has 3 Production, 3 Research and 3 Culture. Since she hasn’t Discovered any new Systems yet and Earth is fully Developed, there are not as many decisions to make as there will be in future turns.

Sally decides to spend 1 Production to build an additional Ship. This still leaves 2 Production in her Reserves, enough to build some Resource Nodes on her next turn, if she finds an Undeveloped System she could Colonize.

Command Phase

In her Command Phase, Sally has five Commands.

• First Command: Sally Exhausts a Command to Launch New Projects. Sally draws two Advancement Cards. She can place one in her Project Area and must Discard the other, because she only Controls one Research Node.
  One key early decision is whether or not to Commission a Starbase on Earth. On one hand, it would increase her Commands by 1, which is very useful. On the other hand, Sally can already build Ships on her Home System, so some of the utility of a Starbase is lost when it is on a Home System. For now, Sally waits to see what Systems she Discovers.
• Second Command: With her second Command, she has a Ship Enter Warp. She moves one of her Ships off Earth and places a single Warp Token on the table, pointing back to Earth.
• Third Command: With her third Command, she has the same Ship Exit Warp. With a single Warp Token, her Ship can Exit Warp up to 1 System away. Because there are no existing Space Lanes Connected to Earth, she has to place a new Space Lane. Sally rolls the Space Lane Die and gets a 3. Her Ship travels to the end of the Space Lane, then she places a new System Disc at the end of the new Space Lane.
  The new System is Murasaki 312, a Phenomenon. Her Ship now has to Brave the Hazard. John, the player to her right, rolls a single die for her Ship. He rolls a 4, below the Phenomenon’s Level 5 Hazard, so her Ship is safe.
  Because Sally’s Ship survived the Hazard, she takes the Research Token and places it on “Starfleet Diplomatic Corps”, committing it to her newly Launched Project. The Federation’s “Explore Strange New Worlds” rule means she gets to add a bonus Culture to her Reserves, because she Discovered a Phenomenon.

• Fourth and Fifth Commands: With Sally’s fourth and fifth Commands, she has a second Ship Enter Warp and then has it Exit Warp into another new System. She again rolls the Space Lane Die, places a new Space Lane and then places a new System at the end of the new Space Lane. She finds a Planetary System that is not Hazardous, so Sally draws an Exploration Card.
  Delta IV has two Research Sites and one Open Site. The Card directs Sally to develop 2 Nodes in Priority Order. Production comes first, so Sally places a Production Node on the Open Site. Research is next in Priority Build Order, so she places a Research Node as the second Node. If she’s able to take Control of the System later, Sally may want to spend the resources to build a Culture Node on that Open Site instead.
  The Federation’s Special Rule means that Sally gets another bonus Culture for Discovering a Civilization! She now has 5 Culture, enough Culture that she could Ascend, but decides to wait and use the Culture to attempt Hegemony of Delta IV on her next turn. To successfully Hegemony a System, she’ll need at least two Culture.
  She has used her last Command, so her turn is over.

Strategy for Next Turn

Finding a Phenomenon and an inhabited System means that Sally isn’t going to be able to build a Colony on her next turn. Developed Systems have to be taken with Invasion or Hegemony. BUT – the Federation’s Prime Directive prohibits them from Invading Systems, so Sally will have to Attempt to Hegemony the Delta IV System on her next turn if she wants to gain Control of it. With two already built Nodes, she definitely does!

With two Developed Nodes and two Warp Tokens, the Hegemony Resistance of the System is four. Sally has one Ascendancy and the Federation’s starting Advancement gives her +1 to Hegemony Attempts. When she attempts Hegemony, she needs to surpass the System’s Resistance. With +2 to the roll, she’ll need to roll a 3 or better to take Control of the System.

On her next turn, she’s planning on adding another Research to her Project during her Building Phase, then trying to Brave the Hazard in the Murasaki 312 Phenomenon. If that’s successful, the Research Token from the Phenomenon will be enough to finish her first Project.

If all goes well, she’ll have a second System under her Control and a second completed Advancement by the end of her next turn.

Game Credits

• Game Design: Sean Sweigart, Aaron Dill
• Design Director: John Kovaleski
• Producers: Peter Simunovich, John-Paul Brisigotti
• Graphic Design: Katie Dillon
• Approvals Coordinator: Peter Przekop
• 3D Design: Charles Woods
• Acknowledgments: John Van Citters, Marian Cordry, Yasmin Elachi, Veronica Hart, Brian Lady, Keith Lowenadler. Special Thanks to all the Battlefront Staff who provided feedback and playtesting.
• Playtesters: James Abele, Jason Buyaki, Jason Delaney, Justin Evans, Patrick Gribble, Mark Honeycutt, Sally Honeycutt, Leonard Landrey, Stuart Lapwood, Jeff Lindsay, Greg Lockton, Greg Morris, Richard Roe, Phil Petry, Gabriel Rosauro, Rob Sadler, Steve Shipe, Conor Sipe, Benjamin Torell, Dean Webb, Lizzie Willick, Les Whittaker, William Yowell.