1. Objective

Be the first alien race to set up four colonies in your opponents star systems.

2. Equipment

a. piecepack or Piecepack Expanded (for 5-8 players)

b. hexpack or Hexpack Expanded (for 5-8 players)

c. A bag or bowl to randomly pick pieces from.

3. Description of Pieces

a. hexpack tiles (null value) - form the void in the center of the play area.

b. hexpack tiles (A-5) - are the planets in each solar system as noted by suit.

c. piecepack coins - are used for combat

d. pawns - are Transport Ships (no combat strength)

e. dice - are Warships (value = strength from 1 - 5)

f. hexpack chips - are Colony Ships (value = strength from 0 - 5)

g. all other components are not used

4. Set-up

a. Each player takes all of the hexpack tiles of one suit and places the Null tile in the center of the play area to form the void, then places the remaining tiles face up in front of him to form his system.

b. Each player takes all of the chips(6), pawns(2) and dice(2) of their suit. They place the dice, pawns and two chips on their center planet and one chip on each other planet.

c. All of the piecepack coins (regardless of the number of players) are placed in the bag and each player draws three, these are kept private.

d. The suit of your system and ships determine your race. The last player to choose his race takes the first turn, play then continues clockwise.

The following chart shows the powers of the different races. The suit to race combinations suggested are recommended but not required, all players should decide on the suit to race combinations before play begins.
If at anytime you have less then two colony ships in your home system you loose your race power.

Suit	Race	Power
Suns	Balchoth	When calculating attack strength in combat all of your colony ships are worth 2 and your warships are worth 4.
Moons	Celegorm	After combat has finished you may reclaim any coin you have just used.
Crowns	Druwaith	In combat you play your coin after your opponent has revealed thiers.
Arms	Gelmir	Any ships you lose in combat are returned toyour home worlds instead of going to the void.
Swords	Hirilorn	You are allowed to have 4 coins instead of the normal 3 and you may replenish your hand at the start of your turn.
Maces	Mormegil	After combat has finished you may claim the coin your opponent has just used.
Axes	Nirnaeth	You may "heal" damage done to another race by returning their ships from the void to one of their home worlds, for this they must give you one coin for each ship returned.
Arrows	Pelantiri	You win combat if you play a Diplomacy coin and you have at least one ship involved.
Stars	Seregon	When calculating attack strength you multiply your ship values by the balue of the coin you play instead of adding the values.

The following chart shows ship size and abilities.

Type	Type	Strength	Abilities
Chips	Colony Ship	1	This is your colony when placed on a planet, if it is removed for any reason the colony no longer exists. The value of the chip is the combat strength of the colony.
Dice	Warship	2	You must have a warship in your fleet to attack a planet or colony. A warship is not needed to defend a planet or colony. The strength of the warship is determined by the facing side. It is rolled when announcing an attack and any 'null' results are rerolled.
Pawns	Interstellar Transport	3	You must have a transport in your fleet to travel to another system. A transport is not needed to move from planet to planet within a system.

4. Play

a. If you have no coins at the start of your turn draw three from the bag. If there are no coins left, place all discarded coins back into the bag to be put back into play.

b. Reclaim one of your lost ships from the void and place it on any one of your home worlds.

c. Move any or all of your ships, a transport ship is required to move any other ships from system to system.

d. Declare your attack. Decide which system and planet you are attacking by placing the attacking fleet on the table next to the planet with the ships pointing towards it. At this point any warships are rolled with 'null' results being rerolled. Be sure to follow the abilities for ships listed in the chart above.

i. A warship is needed to attack another races planet or a colony on your home worlds.

ii. A transport ship is needed to move ships from one system to another for attack.

iii. Even if an opponent has no ships on his home world and you attack it he still defends it normally.

e. You may ask other players if they will ally with you for the attack. They do not answer yet.

f. Your opponent may ask other players if they will ally with him, he may ask the same players as you.

g. Alliances are declared and ships are committed.

i. A player may only ally with the attacker or defender not both.

ii. Allies may only offer colony and warships as aid.

iii. The allies’ ships must be from the system being attacked unless the attacking player is using a transport ship in which case the ships being offered as aid may come from the target system or the origin system.

iv. Defending allies’ ships must be from the same system as the planet being attacked.

h. Both main combatants choose a coin from their pile and conceal them until both players have chosen. Coins are then revealed.

i. Attack coins have a combat value equal to their displayed value (Ace = 1).

ii. Null coins represent Diplomacy.

i. Determine the outcome of combat using the chart.

Coins Played	Combat Values	Victory	Results
Attack / Attack	Coin value + all ships value Attacker has higher combat value	Attacker Wins	All attacking ships move onto planet, including allies. All defending ships are sent to the void, including allies.
Attack / Attack	Coin value + all ships value Defender has higher combat value	Defender Wins	All attacking ships are sent to the void, including allies. Defending allies are sent back to where they came from, and then they gain one coin or one of their ships from the void for each ship committed to defense.
Attack / Attack	Coin value + all ships value Tie	Tie	All ships are returned to thier original planets.
Diplomacy / Diplomacy	Players attempt a deal.	Deal reached	Both parties follow the terms of the deal.
Diplomacy / Diplomacy	Players attempt a deal.	No deal reached	Both players lose two ships to the void and the attack is cancelled.
Attack / Diplomacy	Player using attack coin wins.	Attacker Wins	All attacking ships move onto planet, including allies. All defending ships are sent to the void, including allies.  Defender gets one coin per ship lost from the attacker.
Attack / Diplomacy	Player using attack coin wins.	Defender Wins	All attacking ships are sent to the void, including allies. Attacker gets one coin per ship lost from the defender. Defending allies are sent back to where they came from, and then they gain one coin or one of their ships from the void for each ship committed to defense.

j. All used coins are set aside in a discard pile.

k. If you are successful in your first attack you are permitted to make a second following steps c - h again.

l. Play proceeds to the next player.

5. Winning

The first player to have four colonies on planets in other systems wins. If more then one player meets the goal at the same time then a joint victory is granted.