Ascendancy Rules

8/8/2019 Ascendancy Rules

1/32


2/32

2

Over two thousand years ago, one race established a galactic Empire by waging a merciless war upon every speciesthat they could not subjugate. To avoid genocide at the hands o the Empire, the survivors o these wars were

orced to fee to the ringes o habitable space, where they eked out a meagre existence and plotted their revenge.

A ter two millennia, the Empire has become complacent and decadent, and the races that were once persecuted realize that now is the time to strikenow is their time to ascend.

I. INTRODUCTION:

Ascendancy is a strategy board game or 2 to 4 players wherein you take on the role o an alien race attemptingto establish a thriving new civilization rom the ruins o the dying Empire.

A Short Game o Ascendancy lasts 6 rounds and can be completed in about an hour. A Long Game lasts or 9rounds and takes about two hours to complete. Although a complete game o Ascendancy can be completedin a very reasonable amount o time, each game represents an epic story o galactic conquest and the down-

all o a once mighty civilization. It is recommended that all players be amiliar with the short game be oreattempting the long game.

Throughout the game, you will be compelled to make agonizing decisions regarding how to advance yourcivilization will you ocus on obtaining technological or cultural superiority or will you build an invinciblearmada and crush all who stand in your path? In Ascendancy, the choice is yours.

II. OBJECT OF THE GAME:

The object o Ascendancy is to accumulate the most victory points (VP) at the end o 6 rounds (a ShortGame) or 9 rounds (a Long Game).

There are many routes to victory, and you can accumulate VP by wresting control o sectors o space rom theEmpire, by improving your in rastructure and planetary de ences, or by expanding your cultural infuence. The player with the most victory points (VP) at the end o the nal round is deemed to have ascended andbecome the new dominant Empire in the galaxy.


3/32

3

I. IntroductionII. Object o the GameIII. Table o ContentsIV. ComponentsV. Summary o PlayVI. The Short Game. Set-Up

1. Set Aside Unused Components2. Construct the Galaxy3. Select Races4. Set up the Game Board5. Set-up Home Sectors

. Gameplay1. Resource Phase (Phase I)2. Focus Phase (Phase II)

a. Assembleb. Buildc. Moved. Researche. Politics

3. Advancement Phase (Phase III)4. Empire Phase (Phase IV)5. Administration Phase (Phase V)

. Final Scoring . CombatVII. The Long Game. Set-Up

1. Set Aside Unused Components2. Construct the Galaxy3. Select Races4. Set up the Game Board5. Set-up Home Sectors6. Select Starting Technology

. Gameplay1. Resource Phase (Phase I)2. Focus Phase (Phase II)

a. Assembleb. Build

c. Moved. Researche. Politics

3. Advancement Phase (Phase III)4. Empire Phase (Phase IV)5. Administration Phase (Phase V)

. Final Scoring . CombatVIII. VariantsIX. CreditsX. Setup Maps

XI. Mobilise and Technology card re erence

III. TABLE OF CONTENTS:

P. 2P. 2P. 3P. 4P. 5P. 6P. 6P. 6P. 6P. 6P. 6P. 7P. 7P. 7P. 8P. 8P. 8P. 9P. 10P. 10P. 10P. 11P. 11P. 12P. 12P. 15P. 15

P. 15P. 15P. 15P. 15P. 16P. 16P. 16P. 17P. 18P. 18P. 18

P. 19P. 20P. 20P. 20P. 21P. 22P. 22P. 23P. 26P. 26P. 27

P. 30

d ompone ntslaxy

a dct s

P as I)ase I)

has e (Phase III)a

hase (P se

d Com onenlaxy

Boardct rsech ol gy

(Phase I)ase II)

hase (Phase III)hase IV)hase (Phase V)


4/32

4

Components marked with an asterisk (*) are only used in a Long Game.Components marked with two asterisks (**) are only used in a Short Game.

4 Player Mats double sided

24 Sector Tiles

117 Cards

1 Game Board double sided (in 2 parts)

266 Wooden Markers

76 Cardboard Markers

88 Cardboard Chits

IV. COMPONENTS:

4 Mobilise Cards 3 ImprovedMobilise Cards*

24 Sector Tiles - Barren Sector Quarantine Vortex

34 Technology Cards 16 Improved Technology Cards*

4 Race Power Cards* 4 Race Setup Cards*

4 Play Order Cards* 2 Combat

Summary Cards

2 Variant Cards*

24 Achievement Cards*20 Focus Cards*

112 Fleet Markers

4 Home Sectors

48 Bonus Chits

8 Empire Tokens** 13 Improved Empire Tokens*

3 Empire Technology Tokens

24 De ence Markers

24 Monuments

16 ImprovedBonus Chits

24 Shipyards

32 EmpireFleet

Marker

FirstPlayer

Marker**

RoundMarker

120 Resources

Take3 feets romtheUnusedFleetAreaand place

theminto yourReserve.

MOBILISE

DEFENCE NETS

Take3 feets romtheUnused FleetAreaandplacetheminto yourReserve.

+ 10VPs atthe End of the Game

IMPROVED MOBILISE

FIGHTERS

Withthistechnology,you canconstructmonumentswhenyouper ormthe

Buildaction.

TECHNOLOGY CARD

ARCHITECTURE

At theendo thegame,score4 VP oreachsectoryoucontrolwith a

monument and10 VP oreachsectoryoucontrolwithan

improvedmonument.Prerequisite:Archi tecture, Research Labs

TECHNOLOGY CARD

IMPROVED ARCHITECTURE

Youmay placeonemarkerinto asectorthat youcontrol.MonumentsrequireArchitecture .De encesrequirePlanetaryDefences.Takearesourceo yourchoice romtheResourcePool.

V ELEKSAcyberneticrace,longusedbytheEmpireasaplenti ulsourceo cheaplabour.FollowingmassrebellionstheVeleksarenowruthlesslyrepressedby theEmpire.TheirstrugglecontinuesandanyopportunitytodisrupttheEmpirewillbetaken.

SpecialPower: AgainstEmpireFleetsyouinfictonebonushitinthe rstround,a ter anylosses romDe encesbut be ore determininginitiative.

Yougain 10VPs oreachEmpirecontrolledsectoryouconquer(i.e.fip toitsresourceside).

V ELEKS

StartingForces:

1ShipyardMarker

1Monument

1HomeSectorMarker

7Fleets4inthe Reserve3inthe HomeSector

1TechnologyCard(takeninreversePlayOrder)

Ifitis Round8,gain30VP.

FIRSTFIRST

PLAYERPLAYER

COMBAT SUMMARYInvasion: You su erlosses

romthede endersPlanetaryDe ences;

War: Each side su erslossesduring awaruntilonly 1 sideremainsorall feetsin thesectorhave been destroyed.

Determine InitativeInfictCasualties

Repeatuntilonly 1sideremains.

Spoils o War: I you capturearesource sector,you maytakea matching resource

romthede eatedplayer(pool rom the Empire).

Reveal Phase IVRounds 1 to 8

Reveal Phase IVRounds 4, 6, 8

Long Game Variant4 Player only

Starting Resources:

4 Player - none

Add4newresources ofeachtypefromthe STOCKeachround

inPhase V (Cleanup).


5/32

5

V. SUMMARY OF PLAY:

Ascendancy is played in a series o rounds. Each round consists o 5 phases:

Resource Phase (Phase I): During this phase, you collect resources rom each resource sector that you currentlycontrol.

Focus Phase (Phase II): During this phase, you will determine where to ocus the energies and e orts o yourcivilization by choosing and executing 3 o 5 possible actions:

Assemble: When you choose the Assemble action, you may place a feet into each sector where you havea shipyard;

Build: When you choose the Build action, you may construct a shipyard, establish planetary de ences,or erect a monument in any sector that you control;

Move: When you choose the Move action, you may either move feets out o a single sector or movefeets within range into a single sector o the galaxy. Whenever you move a feet into a sectoroccupied by enemy feets, combat occurs;

Research: When you choose the Research action, you may select any available technology card;

Politics: When you choose the Politics action, you may carry out one o the ollowing: select 3 resources,take a Mobilise card or (in a Long Game only) take an Achievement card

Advancement Phase (Phase III): During the Advancement Phase, you will have an opportunity to spend theresources you have collected to advance your civilizations culture. You will then gain VP based upon the Erao cultural development that your civilization has achieved. You will also receive VP or each monument thatyou control.

In fnal round o play, a ter you complete the Advancement Phase, omit Phases IV and V and proceedstraight to Final Scoring.

Empire Phase (Phase IV): During this phase, the Empire builds feets, monuments, develops technology, andreclaims control o uncontrolled resource sectors.

Administration Phase (Phase V): During the Administration Phase, the Stacking Limit is en orced (i there aremore than 3 feets in any sector o the galaxy, the excess feets are removed), and play order is determined

or the next round. The round marker is advanced, and play then proceeds with Phase I o a new round.

Final Scoring: The game ends when you complete Advancement Phase (Phase III) in the nal round o play(Round 6 in a Short Game and Round 9 in a Long Game). Final Scoring takes place, and the player with themost victory points is declared the winner.

Mobilise Icons

Card e ect

Improved MobiliseCard

Technology Card

Focus actionwhere card appliesTake 3 feets rom the Unused Fleet Area

and place them into your Reserve.

+ 10 VPs at the End of the Game

IMPROVED MOBILISE

FIGHTERS

With this technology, you can constructmonuments when you per orm the

Build action.

TECHNOLOGY CARD

ARCHITECTURE


6/32

6

VI. SHORT GAME

A Short Game o Ascendancy can be completed inabout an hour. The Short Game is more tactical andstreamlined than the Long Game, and it allows play-ers the opportunity to adapt their strategy to takeadvantage o opportunities as they arise.

. SET-UP1. Set Aside Unused Components: The ollowing components are not used during theShort Game and should be returned to the box:

Focus Cards Research Labs (4) Improved Technology Cards Improved Mobilise Cards Achievement Cards Improved Empire Tokens Variant Cards

In a 2-player game, also remove 1 o each type o Technology card.

2. Construct the galaxy: Section X o the Rulebook provides several di e-rent maps or 2, 3, or 4 players. Choose a map and

ollow the indicated instructions or constructingthe galaxy. Place 1 Empire feet in each sector controlled bythe Empire.

Randomise the Bonus Chits and place 1 chit acedown (so its value is hidden) into each sector cont-rolled by the Empire.Note that certain Empire tokens will instruct youto place the Improved Bonus Chits during the Em- pire Phase (Phase IV).

3. Select Races: Take a Player Mat, 28 feets, and a Home Sectormarker matching the colour o your Player Mat. Place your Player Mat on the game table with the

side marked Short Game ace-up.I you are playing with less than 4 people, return anycomponents o an unused colour to the game box.

4. Set up the Game Board: Assemble the Game Board with the Short Gameside ace up on the table so that it is visible to allplayers. Place the round marker on Round 1 o theGame Track. Place one o your Fleet markers on the VictoryPoint Track (on the space marked 0) and placeanother Fleet marker on the Cultural Chart (on thespace marked Start).Note that the VP Track goes rom 0 to 99. Howe-ver, it is likely that you will accumulate more than100 points during the course o the game. Thereis a second VP Track printed on the board to keeptrack o increments o 100. When you reach 100VP take a feet marker rom the unused feets and put it on the 100 box. Thus, i you had accumulated 250 VP, one o yourfeet markers would be in the box marked 200 and

one would be in the box marked 50. Place resources into the Resource Pool on theGame Board. The number o resources placed in theResource Pool varies with the number o players.4-player game - Place 24 o each type o resource

into the Resource Pool3-player game - Place 19 o each type o resource

into the Resource Pool2-player game - Place 14 o each type o resource

into the Resource Pool

Unused resources are placed into the Stock. TheStock is located on the Game Board.

When you are instructed to take resources rom theResource Pool, you should never take them romthe Stock. Randomly select 2 o the 3 Empire Technology to-kens and place them ace down on Rounds 3 and5 o the Game Track. Return the unused Technolo-gy token to the game box (unseen). Randomly select 5 o the 8 Empire tokens and place

them ace down on the Game Track on Rounds 1through 5. Return the unused Empire Tokens tothe game box (unseen).

CultureChart Start

Victory Point Start (0)

VictoryPoints(100s)


7/32

7

The remaining Bonus Chits are placed ( ace down)next to Game Board. Also randomise the ImprovedBonus Chits and place them in a separate pile ( acedown). Shipyard, monument and de ence markers areplaced within easy reach o the players.

5. Set-up Home Sectors: Randomly select a starting player, who will take theFirst Player Marker. The First Player chooses a homesector by placing his Home Sector marker onto anyone o the indicated barren home sectors (dependson map, see Section X). Continuing clockwise, eachother player selects a home sector by placing his orher Home Sector Marker into one o the remainingindicated barren home sectors. Set aside 3 Fleet markers on your Player Mat thatwill be used as Focus tokens. You will use your Fo-

cus tokens to indicate which actions you have per-ormed during the current round o play. Place 2 feets, 1 shipyard, and 1 de ence markerinto your Home Sector. Place 7 feets on the Reser-ve space o your Player Mat. Place your remainingfeets into the Unused Fleets area on the GameBoard. The Empire only has a Reserve (on the Game Board).Whenever you place an Empire feet you take it romthis Reserve, and likewise, whenever the Empire lo-ses a feet it is returned to the Empire Reserve.

Note that it is important that you do not con use your Reserve and the Unused Fleets area. I theserules instruct you to take feets rom your Reserve,do not take them rom the Unused Fleets area.Likewise i you are instructed to place ships into your Reserve, you should be care ul not to place theminto the Unused Fleets area on the Game Board. Take a starting technology based upon the playorder:In a 2-player game, Player 1 takes Torpedoes and

Player 2 takes Shields.In a 3-player game, Player 1 takes Targeting, Play-

er 2 takes Shields and Player 3takes Shields.

In a 4-player game, Player 1 takes Targeting, Player 2takes Torpedoes, Player 3 takesShields, and Player 4 takesShields.

. GAMEPLAYA Short Game o Ascendancy takes place over 6rounds. Each round consists o 5 phases which arecompleted in order: Resource Phase (Phase I), theFocus Phase (Phase II), the Advancement Phase(Phase III), the Empire Phase (Phase IV), and the Ad-ministration Phase (Phase V).During the Focus Phase (Phase II), you select andcarry out 3 o the 5 possible actions: Assemble,Build, Move, Research, or Politics.Combat occurs when you per orm the Move actionand manoeuvre one or more o your feets into asector containing enemy feets.When the Advancement Phase (Phase III) is comple-ted in the 6th round, Final Scoring is carried out anda winner is declared.Note that Phases IV and V are omitted in the nal round o play. The phases are described and explained below.I a technology a ects a phase o play, an actionyou are carrying out, or combat, a description o thetechnology is provided in this Rulebook at the end o the appropriate section. Technologies are listedalphabetically.Note that all cards, feets and resources in the short game are public knowledge, you can look through the available technology and mobilisecards at any time and you should display your resources, Reserve feets, mobilise and technology cards or your opponents to see. The actual valueo Bonus chits you collect are private, you can look at yours at any time but they are only revealed at the end o the game.

1. RESOURCE PHASE (Phase I) Beginning with the First Player and continuingclockwise, each player collects 1 resource o theappropriate type or every resource sector that heor she controls.

Resource sectors are easy to identi y because everysuch sector has a picture o the resource that it gene-rates.As Home Sectors are barren sectors (they do notproduce resources), you will not collect resources inthe rst round o the game.

Resource Type

Home Sector Marker

Barren Home SectorResource Sector


8/32

8

I there are not enough resources in the ResourcePool, you do NOT take them rom the Stock, instead,gain 2 VP or each resource that you could not collect.

Technologies that a ect the Resource Phase

Terra orming: I you have this technology, du-ring the Resource Phase, a ter all players (includingyoursel ) have taken appropriate resources romthe Resource Pool , you may take one resource (o any kind) rom the Stock .

2. FOCUS PHASE (Phase II): The Focus phase is the heart o Ascendancy. It is du-ring this phase that you will make the decisions thatwill determine the ultimate ate o your civilization.During every Focus phase, you (and your op-ponents) will chose and execute exactly 3 o the 5

possible actions: Assemble, Build, Move, Research,and Politics.In the Short Game, all o the available actions areprinted on your Player Mat. When it is your turn toselect and execute an action, simply place a Focus Token on the box containing the appropriate ac-tion. (Focus tokens are the 3 Fleet markers that youset aside on your Player Mat during Set-up).An action is considered available i you have not al-ready placed a Focus Token on that action. The First Player begins the Focus Phase by choo-

sing an action (by placing a Focus Token on the ap-propriate action) and then executing the chosenaction. Play then continues clockwise with eachplayer selecting and executing one action at a timeuntil every player has per ormed exactly 3 actions. The Focus Phase ends a ter every player has exe-cuted 3 actions. There ore, at the end o the FocusPhase, each player will have placed Focus Tokens on3 out o the 5 actions on their Player Mat.Important: All actions are voluntary. This meansthat when you select an action you may chooseto carry out the action in its entirety, you maychoose to carry out only part o the action, or youmay choose not to carry out the action at all.

The 5 Game Actions are described in detail below:

a. ASSEMBLE: When you select this action, you may place a feet

rom your Reserve (on your Player Mat) into eachsector that you control with a shipyard.Note that you may choose not to place a feet insome o the sectors that you control with a shipyard.You do not have to place all the feets in your Reser-ve (even i you have su cient shipyards).

You may then take a resource o any type rom theResource Pool on the Game Board. I no resourcesare available in the Resource Pool, gain 2 VP.

Technologies that a ect the Assemble Action

Orbital Docks: Normally, you may only place a singlefeet at each shipyard you control. With this technolo-gy, you may place up to 2 feets at each shipyard when you select the Assemble Action.

b. BUILD: You may place one marker (shipyard marker, de-

ence marker, or monument marker) into a sectoryou control.

Note that each sector may only contain a maxi-mum o one o each type o marker (shipyard, de-

ence and/or monument).

Shipyards: Everyone can build shipyards.

Monuments: You can only build monuments i youhave researched the Architecture technology.When you place a monument marker in a sector,place it with the 2 VP side ace-up. I there is alrea-dy a monument in the sector rather than placing anew marker into the sector you improve the mo-nument instead, fip the monument marker over to

reveal the Improved (5 VP) side. You cannot havemore than a single Monument Marker in a Sector.

De ence Markers: You can only place de ence mar-kers i you have researched the Planetary De ence Technology.When you build Planetary De ences, place the de-

ence marker with the value 1 ace-up. The reverseside o the de ence markers are not used in a ShortGame.

You may then take a resource o any type rom theResource Pool on the Game Board. I no resourcesare available in the Resource Pool, gain 2 VP.

Technologies that a ect the Build Action

Architecture: Without this technology, you cannot place (or improve) monuments when you select theBuild action. Planetary De ences: Without this technology, youcannot place de ence markers when you select the

Build action. Robotics: This technology allows you to take asecond Build action immediately a ter completing the

rst build action.


9/32

9

Note that the Robotics technology does not allow you to place monument or de ence markers unless you have researched the appropriate technology.Note that the second Build action does not haveto be in the same sector, nor does it have to bethe same type o marker (assuming you can placemore than one type).

c. MOVE:With this action, you may move feets into a sectoror out o a sector. I you move feets into a sector, any feet (that youcontrol) within range can be placed into the chosensector.Your feets usually have a movement range o 1,this is increased with the Hyperdrive technology(see below).You do not need to control a sector to move a feet

into it. However, i you move a feet into a sectorwith enemy feets present, combat will occur. I you move feets out o a sector, any feet (thatyou control) in the chosen sector can be moved intoany other sector within range.

VORTEX: The Vortex is a special sector. No feetcan stop in the Vortex, and the Vortex is never consi-dered controlled. However, all sectors surroundingthe Vortex are considered to be adjacent to eachother ( or purposes o movement only).

A ter you have completed your Move action, i anyo your feets are in a sector with enemy feets, com-bat occurs. (See Section VII Combat).

A ter you have resolved any combat, check to seei any sectors are uncontrolled. A sector is uncon-trolled when no feets are in the sector, and thesector is not currently controlled by the Empire. Re-move all shipyards and de ence markers rom un-controlled sectors.

Note that uncontrolled resource sectors will revert to Empire control at the beginning o the EmpirePhase (Phase IV).Note that monuments are not removed romuncontrolled sectors.

Technologies that a ect the Move Action

Hyperdrive: This technology increases the range o your feets to 2. You may move through occupied sec-tors. Sub-Space Radios: This technology allows you to im-mediately take a second Move action a ter you complete your rst Move action.

Combat is resolved a ter you complete your secondMove action.Note that i you move a feet during your Move ac-tion, you cannot move the same feet again by usingSub-Space Radios to take a second Move action.Note that i you have Sub-Space Radios, combat does not occur at the end o your rst Move ac-tion. Combat will occur only i , at the end o your second Move action, 1 or more o your feets are in sectors with enemy feets.

Example 1: Assume that you have selected theMove action to move feets out o Sector A.Because each o your feets has a range o 1, theFleets in Sector A can move into any o the sectorsmarked with an X. Sectors marked with a Y areout o range. Remember, that when you select theMove action you can move all o the feets in a sec-tor, some o the feets in a sector, or none o thefeets. The feets you move out o a sector do nothave to have the same destination.

Example 2: Assume that you have selected theMove action and elected to move feets into SectorB. Because your feets have a range o 1, each o your feets in sectors marked with an X could re-ach Sector B. However, a feet in Sector Y would be

out o range.

Example 3: I yourfeets have a rangeo 1 and you use anaction to move thefeets in Sector C, eachfeet could be movedinto any o the sectorsindicated. This is be-

cause when two sec-tors touch the Vortexthey are considered tobe adjacent.

C

X

X XY

B

X

X XY

Y


10/32

10

Example 4: Hyperdrive technology increases therange o your feets to 2. I you move the feets inSector D, you could place them in any sector onthe indicated map (all the sectors on the indicatedmap are within range including sector Z). Remem-

ber that although feets with Hyperdrive technolo-gy can move through opposing feets (the feets inSectors X & Y), you can still move your feets intoeither (or both) o these sectors i you want to startcombat!d. RESEARCH:You may choose a technology card rom the pile.You cannot research the same technology twice.

Technologies that a ect the Research Action

Energy Cells: When you research this technology, take2 feets rom the Unused Fleets area and place theminto your Reserve.Note that unlike other technologies, Energy Cellsonly work once when you rst research thetechnology. Psi Labs: Be ore selecting a technology card, choosea Sector adjacent to a Sector you control. Remove anenemy feet rom that Sector, return it to the Reserve,and place a feet rom your Reserve into your Sector.You must have a feet in your Reserve in order to use Psi Labs. I the chosen sector is now uncontrolled removeany markers.Note that sectors touching the Vortex are consi-dered adjacent or movement only meaning youcannot use Psi Labs across the Vortex.

e. POLITICS: When you select this action, you may take 3 re-sources rom the Resource Pool or you may take aMobilise Card (provided you have the prerequisite

technologies). I you opt to take resources and there are ewerthan 3 resources available in the Resource Pool, gain2 VP or each resource you are unable to claim.

I you opt to take a Mobilise Card, place it ace upin ront o you and take 3 o your feets rom theUnused Fleet Area (on the Game Board) and intoyour Reserve (located on your Player Mat).Hint: Each Mobilise Card is worth 10 VP at theend o the game.

3. ADVANCEMENT PHASE (Phase III):Increase your cultural infuence:

Beginning with the First Player and proceedingclockwise, each player chooses whether to spendresources in order to increase their cultural infu-

ence.Cultural Infuence is measured in Eras as indicatedon the Culture Chart. Each Era is worth the speci-

ed number o VP every round during this phase. To advance your marker on the Culture Chart, youmust pay the cost, in resources, o the Era you aremoving into. Resources spent in this way are retur-ned to the Stock.Usually, it does not matter which resources youuse to pay the cost o cultural advancement. Forexample, in a 2-player game, it costs 3 resources to

advance rom Early Era 1 into Late Era 1. You couldthere ore pay the cost o advancement with 2 waterresources and 1 organic resource. However, whe-never you enter a Renaissance Era there is a restric-tion on the type o resources that you must spendto advance.

Renaissance Eras: Renaissance Eras are clearlymarked on the Culture Chart with a box surroun-ding the resource cost. To advance into a Renais-sance Era, you need to spend all di erent resourcetypes to pay or your advancement. This means that i the cost o advancing into a Re-naissance Era is [4] resources, you would have tospend 1 o each o the 4 possible types o resource(water, radioactives, metals, organics) to advance.

Example: Looking at the Culture Chart, you cansee that in a 2-Player game, Early Era 2 is a Renais-sance Era with a cost o 3. There ore, you couldpay 1 water, 1 radioactive, and 1 organic resourceto advance into this Era (because the resources areall di erent); however you could not spend 2 water and 1 organic resource to advance.

Victory PointsRenaissance Era

D

X Y

Z


11/32

11

Fleet Penalty: As you develop your Culture, it be-comes increasingly di cult to pay or and maintainlarge armadas o ships. This is refected in a FleetPenalty that you must pay every time that your cul-ture advances rom one Era into the next.Each time that you advance on the Culture Chart

rom one Era into a new Era, you must remove 1 feetrom the Reserve (on your Player Mat) and place it

into the Unused Fleet Area. I you have no feets inyour Reserve, you must instead remove a feet roma sector you control and place it into the UnusedFleet Area.You may advance more than once on the CultureChart during the Advancement Phase. However,you must pay the indicated cost (in resources andfeets) every time that you advance.

Note that Eras 1 and 2 are divided into an Early

Era and a Late Era period. You do not pay the Fleet Penalty when you advance rom the Early period o an Era into the Late period o an Era. There ore,when advancing rom Early Era 2 into Late Era 2, you do not pay the Fleet Penalty.

Cultural Scoring: A ter all players have had an op-portunity to advance their culture, each player gainsVP based upon where their marker is located on theCulture Chart. For example, i your marker is in Era2 Early, you collect 6 VP at this time (as indicated on

the Culture Chart).

Monument Scoring: You then score 2 VP or everysector that you control with a monument, and youscore 5 VP or every sector that you control with anImproved monument.

I it is the nal round o play, skip the Empire andAdministration Phases (Phases IV and V) and pro-ceed straight to Final Scoring.

4. EMPIRE PHASE (Phase IV): At the beginning o the Empire Phase, any uncon-trolled resource sector reverts to Empire control.(Remember that resource sectors have pictures o the resource that they produce.) Simply, fip eachsuch sector to its Empire controlled side. Do not fipbarren sectors.

Reveal the Empire Token or the round. Add feets,monuments, and/or Bonus Chits to every Empirecontrolled sector as indicated.When placing monuments, i the sector already hasa monument then fip the monument to the Impro-ved side.

+1 Fleet

Bonus chit ImprovedBonus chit

MonumentMarker

Nothingto add

In Rounds 3 and 5, reveal the Empire Technology Token and place it on the Vortex to indicate that theEmpire now possesses the indicated technology( or the rest o the game).

The Empire Phase is omitted on the nal round o play.

Empire technology tokens match

the technology cards - Targeting,Torpedoes and Shields

5. ADMINISTRATION PHASE (Phase V): Remove the 3 Focus Markers rom your Player Mat.

Enforce the stacking limit: I there are morethan 3 feets in any sector o the galaxy, removethe excess feet(s) and place them into the approp-riate Reserve.

Pass the First Player Marker clockwise to the nextplayer.

Advance the Round Marker and begin a newround o play.

riate Re

Pa s thplayer.

Advanrou o


12/32

12

. Final Scoring The game ends a ter the Advancement Phase (Phase III) in Round 6 is complete. Final scoring now takes place,with players receiving VP or each o the ollowing:

Each resource 2 VPEach monument marker 2 VPEach improved monument marker 5 VPEach shipyard and de ence marker 5 VP

Each Mobilise Card 10 VPEach Sector You Control 6 VPEach Bonus Chit Varies (VP is printed on each chit)

These VP are added to your previously accumulated VP. The player with the most VP is declared the winner.In the event o a tie, seating order will determine the winner. Amongst the tied players, the player who wentearliest in the nal round is declared the winner.

. CombatCombat hardly does justice to the epic scope o con-fict in Ascendancy. Each feet you control represents

thousands o combat ready ships and each combat in a sector represents a war lasting years or even decades.

At the end o a Move action, i your feets are in anenemy controlled sector o the Galaxy (either anempire controlled sector or with feets controlledby another player), combat occurs. I you eliminateall opposing feets and have at least one feet remai-ning you capture the sector.I combat will occur in more than sector, you deter-mine in what order to resolve the conficts.

Combat is resolved in three stages:

1. Invasion: You su er losses rom the de endersPlanetary De ences;2. War: Each side su ers losses during a war untilonly 1 side remains or all feets in the sector havebeen destroyed!3. Spoils o War: I you capture a resource sector, youmay take a matching resource rom the de eatedplayer. I you de eat the Empire, you may take amatching resource rom the Resource Pool.

Note that feets which are destroyed during com-bat are placed into the Reserve.

1. Invasion:I there is a de ence marker in the Sector, you su er1 loss (remove a feet and return it to your Reserve).

2. War:

Step 1: Determine initiative: The side with the mostfeets remaining has initiative. I both sides have thesame number o feets, neither side has initiative.

Note that initiative can change due to casualties su ered. Step 2: In ict Casualties: I neither orce has initia-

tive, then both sides infict one loss - remove 1 feetrom the sector rom each side.I one side has initiative, the side without initiativeremoves a feet rom the board rst. Then the sidewith initiative takes a loss in return i any enemyfeets still remain in the sector. Repeat Steps 1 & 2, until one side is eliminated orboth sides are annihilated!

3. Spoils o War: When you capture a sector remove all shipyard

and de ence markers rom the Sector. I you capture a ace up controlled resource sectoryou plunder a matching resource rom the de eatedplayer. I the de eated player does not have the ap-propriate resource, gain 2 VP while your opponentloses 2 VP. I you take an Empire controlled sector, take all bo-nus chits on the sector and fip the Sector tile over( rom the Empire controlled side) to indicate thatyou now control the sector. You then plunder a re-source o the appropriate type rom the Resource

Pool. I the appropriate resource is not available inthe Resource Pool, gain 2 VP.Note that i you enter an Empire sector with nofeets it is still considered combat, so you still gainSpoils o War (and assimilate a feet i you havethat technology).

End o CombatI you fipped over any technology cards to indicatethat they have been used during this combat, youmay now fip them ace-up.

Resolve any urther combat. I all combat has beenresolved complete the current Movement Actionby checking to see i any sectors are uncontrolled.


13/32

13

Losing Your Home Sector and Player Elimination:I all o the feets in your Home Sector are elimina-ted, you must immediately place your Home Sectormarker into a sector containing at least one o yourfeets.I you do not have any feets on the map, you mayplace your Home Sector marker onto any uncont-rolled sector (except the Vortex) along with a feet

rom your Reserve. I there are no uncontrolled sec-tors, you have been eliminated! Return all your re-sources and bonus chits to the stock. Remove anytechnology and Mobilise cards you possess romthe game. Your VP score is zero.

Technologies that a ect Combat

Assimilate: I you are victorious in combat, take afeet rom your Reserve and place it into the sector.

I you have no feets in your Reserve you cannot usethis technology.I your opponent has Escape Pods you cannot use thistechnology against them. Escape Pods: The rst time you su er a loss in eachcombat that is not prevented by Shields, place the lost feet by this card. Once the active player has resolved all o the current conficts, you may return any feetsnext to this card to your Home Sector When you use your Escape Pod technology, fip thetechnology card ace down to indicate that it has been

used during this combat.Escape Pods also prevent your feets rom being Assi-milated.Note that you cannot vacate your Home sector and retain control o it knowing that some feetswill be placed there at the end o combat, as youwill need to relocate your Home sector immedia-tely. Shields: Shields prevent the rst loss you su er duringeach combat. There ore, i you are involved in several combats as the result o one Move action, your trusty shields will prevent 1 loss in each combat.I you have shields and escape pods, your shields will

unction rst.When you use your Shield technology, fip the techno-logy card ace down to indicate that it has been used during this combat. Targeting: I you have Targeting technology and your opponent does not, you always have initiative. I both players have Targeting, determine initiative normally. Torpedoes: I you have Torpedo technology, you in-fict 2 losses during the rst round o combat When you use your Torpedo technology, fip the tech-nology card ace down to indicate that it has beenused during this combat.

Example 5: Jo moves 3 feets into Sector A whereAli has 2 feets. When Jo has nished moving feets,combat is resolved.Assume that neither Jo nor Ali possess any techno-logies that a ect combat. Combat is resolved as ollows: Invasion: Nothing happens because there is node ence marker in the sector. War (Step 1): Jo has initiative because she has 3feets and Ali only has 2.(3 feets vs. 2) War (Step 2): Jo inficts a loss and removes 1 o Alis feets, and then Ali removes 1 o Jos feets romthe board (losses go to the appropriate Reserve). War (Step 1) is repeated because both players stillhave feets in the sector, and Jo retains initiative (2feets vs. 1). War (Step 2): Jo inficts a loss and removes Alislast feet rom the sector (2 feets vs. 0). BecauseAlis last feet was removed, combat ends. Jo takes control o the sector and takes a resourceo the sector type (blue in this case) as spoils o war

rom Ali.Example 5a as 5 except this time Ali possessesthe Shield technology. Invasion: Nothing happens because there is node ence marker in the sector. War (Step 1): Jo has initiative because she has 3feets and Ali only has 2.(3 feets vs. 2) War (Step 2): Jo inficts a loss and Alis Shieldsprevent the loss. Ali fips the Shield technology card

over to indicate it has been used, and then removes1 o Jos feets rom the sector. War (Step 1) is repeated because both players stillhave feets in the sector. Neither side now has initi-ative (2 feets vs. 2). War (Step 2): Jo and Ali infict losses simultane-ously. War (Step 1) is repeated because both players stillhave feets in the sector. Neither side now has initi-ative (1 feet vs. 1). War (Step 2): Jo and Ali infict losses simultane-

ously, and no feets remain in the sector. Because all feets are destroyed, the sector is nowuncontrolled. Jo does not gain spoils o war. Alifips his Shield technology card ace-up.

A A A

A


14/32

14

Example 6 as 5 except this time Ali has a De encemarker and the Torpedo technology. Jo has theShield technology and Targeting . Invasion: Ali should remove 1 o Jos feets withhis planetary de ences, but Jos shielding technolo-gy prevents the loss and she fips her Shield tech-nology card ace down to indicate that it has beenused. War (Step 1): Jo has initiative due to Targeting. War (Step 2): Jo inficts a loss and removes 1 o Alis feets, and then Ali removes 2 o Jos feets romthe board due to Torpedoes (Ali fips the torpedoestechnology card over to indicate it has been used).(1 feet vs. 1). War (Step 1) is repeated because both playersstill have feets in the sector, and Jo retains initiativedue to Targeting. War (Step 2): Jo inficts a loss and removes Alis

last feet rom the sector (1 feet vs. 0). Because Alislast feet was removed, combat ends. Jo takes control o the sector removes Alis De-

ence marker and takes a resource o the appropri-ate type (water in this case) as spoils o war. Ali fips Torpedoes back as combat is over.

Example 7 Jo moves 5 feets into Alis sector. Alihas 3 feets, 1 Monument Marker, and the Shieldand Torpedo technology cards. Jo has Targetingtechnology. Invasion: Nothing happens because there is node ence marker in the sector. War (Step 1): Jo has initiative because she hasthe targeting technology. War (Step 2): Jo inficts a loss and Alis Shieldsprevent the loss. Ali fips the Shield technologycard over to indicate it has been used, and thenremoves 2 o Jos feets rom the sector due to Tor-pedoes and fips the torpedo technology card overto indicate it has been used. (3 vs 3). War (Step 1) is repeated because both playersstill have feets in the sector. Jo retains initiativedue to Targeting. War (Step 2): Jo inficts a loss and then Ali infictsa loss (2 vs. 2). War (Step 1) is repeated because both playersstill have feets in the sector. Jo retains initiativedue to Targeting. War (Step 2): Jo inficts a loss and then Ali in-ficts a loss (1 vs. 1). War (Step 1) is repeated because both playersstill have feets in the sector. Jo retains initiativedue to Targeting. War (Step 2): Jo inficts a loss and removes Alislast feet rom the sector.

Jo takes control o the sector and takes a resour-ce (water in this case) as spoils o war. The monu-ment marker is not removed. As combat is over Alifips back his shield and torpedo technology cards.Note that Sector B becomes uncontrolled because Jo vacated the sector.

marker and takes a res ou rce o the appropritype (wa ter in t his case ) as spo ils o war. Ali fiped oe s back as co mb ta is over.

B

B B

BB


15/32

15

VII. LONG GAME

A Long Game o Ascendancy takes about 2 hours toplay, and requires that you develop and success ullyimplement a long term strategy in order to succeed. The Long Game introduces several new conceptsand game play options, including improved tech-

nologies and racial powers, creating a more com-plex and demanding game play experience.

. SET-UP1. Set Aside Unused Components: The ollowing components are not used during theLong Game and should be returned to the box: 8 Empire Tokens 1 First Player Marker I you are playing with ewer than 4 players, set asi-de excess Play Order Cards and Research Lab tech-

nology cards. (You should use 1 Play Order Cardper player, and 1 Research Lab Technology card perplayer). Remove the highest Play Order cards (so in atwo-player game you use Play Order cards 1 and 2).

In a 2-player game, also remove 1 o each type o Technology card.

2. Construct the galaxy: Section X o the Rulebook provides several di e-rent maps or 2, 3, or 4 players. Choose a map and

ollow the indicated instructions or constructingthe galaxy. Place 1 Empire controlled feet in each sector con-trolled by the Empire. Randomise the Bonus Chits and place 1 chit acedown (so its value is hidden) into each sector cont-rolled by the EmpireNote that certain Improved Empire tokens will instruct you to place the Improved Bonus Chits du-ring the Empire Phase (Phase IV).

3. Select Races: Randomly shu e the Play Order cards and dealthem out. The person who received the Play OrderCard with the number 1 (this card is called appropria-tely enough the First Player Card ), chooses a Race,taking the appropriate race cards and matching seto 6 Achievement cards along with, a Player Mat andthe components matching the colour o the PlayerMat (28 feets, a Home Sector marker, and a set o 5Focus cards). Then in Play Order each other playerselects his or her race.Play Order: Whenever the rules state that playerstake actions in Play Order this means that the per-son with the First Player Card acts, then the Playerwith the Second Player Card acts, etc.At the end o every round you will have the opportu-nity to take a di erent Play Order Card based uponthe actions you have completed during the current

round. Determining the play order is discussed indetail in the Administration Phase (Phase V). Each player places his or her Player Mat on the gametable with the side marked Long Game ace-up.I you are playing with less than 4 people, return anyunselected races/colours to the game box.

4. Set up the Game Board: Assemble the Game Board with the Long Gameside ace up on the table so that it is visible to allplayers. Place the Round Marker on Round 1 o the

Game Track. Place one o your feet markers on theVictory Point Track (on the space marked 0) andplace another feet marker on the Cultural Chart (onthe space marked Start).Note that the VP track goes rom 0 to 99. Howe-ver, it is likely that you will accumulate more than100 points during the course o the game. Thereis a second VP Track printed on the board to keeptrack o increments o 100. When you reach 100VP take a feet marker rom the unused feets and put it on the 100 box.

CultureChart Start

Victory Point Start (0)


16/32

16

Thus, i you had accumulated 250 VP, one o yourfeet markers would be in the box marked 200 andone would be in the box marked 50. Place resources into the Resource Pool on theGame Board. Typically, whenever you draw resour-ces you will take them rom the Resource Pool. Theinitial number o resources in the Resource Pool isbased upon the number o player:4-player game Place 16 o each resource into the

Resource Pool3-player game Place 10 o each resource into the

Resource Pool2-player game Place 4 o each resource into the

Resource Pool

All unused resources are returned to the Stock.

Note that when you are instructed to take resour-

ces rom the Resource Pool, you should never takethem rom the Stock.

Shu e the 3 Empire Technology Tokens and stack them ace-down on the Game Board. The topmost Technology token will be revealed in Rounds 4, 6,and 8. Shu e the 13 Improved Empire Tokens and stack them ace down on the Game Board. In the EmpirePhase (Phase IV) o each round, you will reveal thetop Improved Empire Token rom the stack. At the

end o the game some tokens will be unrevealed. Place the unused Bonus Chits ( ace down) near theGame Board. Also randomise the Improved BonusChits and place them in a separate pile ( ace down). Place shipyards, monuments and de ence markersnear the Game Board where they can be easily ac-cessed. Place all unused Empire feets into the EmpireReserve (on the Game Board).

5. Set-Up Home Sectors:

In play order, each player chooses a Home Sectorby placing his Home Sector Token onto one o theindicated barren Home Sectors (depends on map,see Section X). Your remaining set-up is described by your Racesetup card which indicates how many feets youplace into your Reserve, how many feets you placeinto your Home Sector, which markers to place inyour home Sector (shipyard, de ence and/or monu-ment). Your race power card describes your race andany special rules that apply to you (racial powers).Any feets that are not placed in your Reserve or intoyour Home Sector are placed into the Unused FleetArea on the Game Board. Now put your race setup

card ace down (with your race picture showing) byyour mat and the race power card ace up in the tople t corner o your mat (over the no-powers variantrace printed on the mat). The Empire only has a Reserve (on the Game Board).Whenever you place an Empire feet you take it

rom the Empire Reserve, and likewise, wheneverthe Empire loses a feet it is returned to the sameReserve.Note that it is important that you do not con use your Fleet Reserve and the Unused Fleet Area. I these rules instruct you to take feets rom your Reserve, do not take them rom the Unused Fleet Area. Likewise i you are instructed to place shipsinto the Unused Fleet Area, you should be care ul not to place them into your Reserve.

6. Select Starting Technology

In reverse play order (meaning that starting withthe player holding the Fourth Player Card in a 4player game, the player holding the Third PlayerCard in a 3 player game, and the player holding theSecond Player Card in a 2 player game) each playertakes 1 available technology card.

. GAMEPLAYGameplay in Ascendancy takes place over a serieso 9 rounds with each round being subdivided into5 phases: the Resource Phase (Phase I), the Focus

Phase (Phase II), the Advancement Phase (Phase III),the Empire Phase (Phase IV), and the Administrati-on Phase (Phase V).During the Focus Phase (Phase II), you select andcarry out 3 o the 5 possible actions: Assemble,Build, Move, Research, or Politics.Combat occurs when you per orm the Move actionand manoeuvre one or more o your feets into asector containing enemy feets.When the 9 th round is completed, Final Scoring iscarried out and a winner is declared.

Note that Phases IV and V are omitted in the nal round o play. The phases are described and explained below.I a technology a ects a phase o play, an actionyou are carrying out, or combat, a description o thetechnology is provided in this Rulebook at the end o the appropriate section.


17/32

17

Note that all mobilise, technology and improved technology cards, feets and resources in the longgame are public knowledge; you can look throughthe available technology and improved technolo-gy at any time. You should display your resources,Reserve feets and mobilise and technology cards

or your opponents to see. Your ocus cards are private until they are revealed in the round. Any achievement cards you take are private, as are any Bonus chits, but the number o Achievement cardsand Bonus chits you hold is public knowledge. Youcan look at yours at any time but they are only re-vealed at the end o the game.

1. RESOURCE PHASE (Phase I)

At the beginning o the resource phase, you maytake a Reserve Fleet Action by placing one o thefeets rom your Reserve onto the Reserve Fleet Ac-tion Chart printed on the game board. This feetwill not be available or deployment this round (allfeets on the Reserve Action Fleet are returned totheir respective reserve during the AdministrationPhase), but the Reserve Fleet Actions may o er youa valuable advantage.RESERVE FLEETACTIONS In Play Order, you (and your opponents) may placeone feet rom your Reserve onto the Reserve FleetAction chart on the game board. There are seven

possible actions, all with an associated cost in re-sources.Like Renaissance Eras (see 3. Advancement) somecosts are marked with a boxed 4, you need to spend1 o each resource type to select this action.When you select the action return the speci ednumber o resources (and types in the case o aboxed 4) rom your player mat to the Stock.I you have no feets in your Reserve you skip thisstep, placing the feet is optional. Apart rom the

rst action (Trading), each action can be chosen by

only one player, and you only get one Reserve Fleetaction per round. The actions are explained below,the feet placed is returned to your Reserves duringPhase V.1. Trading - Cost = 0 Immediately take a resource o your choice rom the Stock.Note that this Fleet Action does not have a cost,and more than one player can select this action ina round.2. Monument Construction Cost = 1 Immediatelyplace a monument marker into a sector that youcontrol that does not contain a monument or impro-ved monument marker. Or improve a monument ina sector you control (fip the monument over to its

improved side). You do not need the Architecturetechnology to take this action.Note that when you place a monument marker ina sector, place it with the 2 VP side ace-up, each sector may only contain a maximum o one monu-ment marker.

3. Colonial Support Cost = 2 Immediately gain 10 VP.

4. Emergency Fleet Repairs Cost = 3 Immediate-ly place a feet into your Reserve rom the unusedfeet area, this feet can be used in Phase II.

5. Extended Campaign Cost = [4] At the end o Phase II (Focus Phase) take a Move Action. Fleetsthat have moved already in this round may moveagain. This is exactly the same as the Move Action inthe Focus Phase, and the same technologies a ect

it (see c. Move below).6. Breakthrough Cost = [4] At the end o Phase II(Focus Phase) chose a technology card that you donot already hold.Note that this is not considered a Research Action,and no technology a ects it.7. Improved Breakthrough Cost = [4] At the end o Phase II (Focus Phase) chose an improved technolo-gy card that you have the prerequisites or.Note that this is not considered a Research Action,and no technology a ects it.

RESOURCE ACQUISITION In Play Order, each player collects 1 resource o theappropriate type or every resource sector that heor she controls.Resource sectors are easy to identi y because everysuch sector has a picture o the resource that it ge-nerates.As Home Sectors are barren sectors (they do notproduce resources), you will not collect resources in

the rst round o the game. I there are not enough resources in the ResourcePool, you do NOT take them rom the Stock, instead,gain 2 VP or each resource that you could not coll-ect.

Technologies that a ect the Resource Phase Terra orming: I you have this technology, during theResource Phase, a ter all players (including yoursel )have taken the appropriate resources rom the Re-source Pool, you may take one resource (o any kind)

rom the Stock. Terra orming (Improved): A ter you have taken a re-source as the result o Terra orming, you may take asecond resource (o any kind) rom the Stock.


18/32

18

2. FOCUS PHASE (Phase II):

The Focus Phase is the heart o Ascendancy. It is du-ring this phase that you will make the decisions thatwill determine the ultimate ate o your civilization.During every Focus Phase, you (and your opponents)will each chose and execute exactly 3 o the 5 pos-

sible actions: Assemble, Build, Move, Research, andPolitics. In a Long Game, at the beginning o each FocusPhase, you select the 3 actions that you wish to per-

orm this round by choosing 3 o your 5 ocus cardsand setting the other 2 aside. Next, place your cho-sen cards ace down, stacked in the order you wishto resolve them. This means that the Focus card ontop will be the rst action that you resolve. In Play Order, each player reveals the top card o their Focus stack and carries out the indicated ac-

tion. Play continues in play order until every playerhas revealed and resolved 3 Focus cards. The Focus Phase ends when every player has exe-cuted 3 actions.

Important: all actions are voluntary. This meansthat when you select an action you may chooseto carry out the action in its entirety, you maychoose to carry out part o the action, or maychoose not to carry out the action at all.

The 5 Focus Actions are described in detail below:

a. ASSEMBLE: When you select this action, you may place a feet

rom your Reserve (on your Player Mat) into eachsector that you control with a shipyard.Note that you may choose not to place a feet in some o the sectors that you control with a shipyard.You do not have to place all the feets in your Re- serve (even i you have su cient shipyards). You may take a resource o your choice rom theResource Pool. I no resources are in the ResourcePool, gain 2 VP.

Technologies that a ect the Assemble Action

Orbital Docks: Normally, you may only place a singlefeet at each shipyard you control. With this technolo-gy, you may place up to 2 feets at each shipyard when you select the Assemble Action. Orbital Docks (Improved): A ter you have researched this technology, you will gain 5 VP or each feet you place with the Assemble action.

b. BUILD: You may place one marker (shipyard marker, de-

ence marker, or monument marker) into a sectorthat you control.Note that each sector may only contain a maximumo one o each type o marker (shipyard, de enceand/or monument).

Shipyards: Everyone can build shipyards.

Monuments: You can only build monuments i youhave researched the Architecture technology (ex-ception Reserve Fleet Action Phase I).When you place a monument marker in a sector,place it with the 2 VP side ace-up. I there is alrea-dy a monument in the sector rather than placing anew marker into the sector you improve the mo-nument instead, fip the monument marker over to

reveal the Improved (5 VP) side. You cannot havemore than a single Monument Marker in a Sector.

Defence Markers: You can build de ence markersi you have researched the Planetary De ence Tech-nology.When you place a De ence marker, place it with thevalue 1 ace-up unless you have researched Im-proved Planetary De ences. (See Improved Plane-tary De ences below).

You may take a resource o your choice rom theResource Pool. I none are available, gain 2 VP.

Technologies that a ect the Build Action Architecture: Without this technology, you cannot place or improve monuments when you select theBuild action. Architecture (Improved): I you have researched thistechnology, at the end o the game, score 4 VP or eve-ry sector you control with a monument and score 10VP or every sector you control with an Improved mo-

nument. Planetary De ences: Without this technology youcannot place de ence markers when you select theBuild action. Planetary De ences (Improved): Immediately up-grade all o your De ence markers to Improved De-

ence markers, by fipping them so the side with thenumber 2 is ace up. In the uture, whenever you place a De ence marker with the build action, place it with the Improved side ace up.


19/32

19

Psi Labs (Improved): Be ore building, choose a Sector adjacent to a Sector you control. Remove an enemy feet rom that Sector, return it to the Reserve, and place a feet rom your Reserve into your Sector. Youmust have a feet in your Reserve in order to use Impro-ved Psi Labs. I the chosen sector is now uncontrolled remove any markers.Note that sectors touching the Vortex are conside-red adjacent or movement only meaning that you cannot use this technology across the Vortex.

Robotics: This technology allows you take a second Build action immediately a ter completing your rst Build action.The Robotics technology does not allow you to placemonument or de ence markers unless you have alrea-dy researched the appropriate technology. The additi-onal Build actions rom Robotics and Improved Robo-

tics do not have to be in the same sector, nor do they have to be the same type o marker (assuming you can place more than one type). Robotics (Improved): This technology allows you totake a second Build action immediately a ter comple-ting the rst build action.

c. MOVE:With this action, you may move feets into a sectoror out o a sector. I you move feets into a sector, any feet within

range (that you control) can be placed into the cho-sen Sector.Your feets usually have a movement range o 1,this is increased with the Hyperdrive and ImprovedHyperdrive technologies (see below)You do not need to control a sector to move a feetinto it. However, i you move a feet into a sectorwith enemy feets present, combat will occur. I you move feets out o a sector, any feet (thatyou control) in the chosen sector can be moved intoany other sector within range.

Vortex: The Vortex is a special sector. No feet canstop in the Vortex, and the Vortex is never conside-red controlled. However, all sectors surrounding theVortex are considered to be adjacent to each other( or purposes o movement only).

A ter you have completed your Move action, i anyo your feets are in a sector with enemy feets, com-bat occurs. (See Section VII Combat).

A ter you have resolved any combat, check to seei any sectors are uncontrolled . A sector is uncon-trolled when no feets are in the sector, and thesector is not currently controlled by the Empire. Re-move all shipyards and de ence markers rom un-controlled sectors.Note that uncontrolled resource sectors will revert to Empire control at the beginning o the EmpirePhase (Phase IV).Note that monuments are not removed rom un-controlled sectors.

Technologies that a ect the Move Action

Hyperdrive: This technology increases the range o your feets to 2. You may move through occupied sectors. Hyperdrive (Improved): This technology increasesthe range o your feets to 3. You may move through

occupied sectors. I you take the Move Action gain 1additional resource o your choice rom the stock. Sub-Space Radios: This technology allows you totake a second Movement action immediately a ter you complete the rst. Combat is not resolved until you have completed all o your Movement actions.I you move a feet, you cannot move the same feet again during the Second Move action granted by Sub-Space Radios or during the Third Move action granted by Improved Sub-Space Radios.I you have Sub-Space Radios, combat does not occur

at the end o your rst Move action. Combat will only occur i , at the end o your second Move action, 1 or more o your feets are in sectors with enemy feets. Sub-Space Radios (Improved): This technology allows you to take a third Movement action immediately a -ter you complete the second. Combat is not resolved until a ter you complete your third Movement action.I you have Improved Sub-Space Radios, combat doesnot occur at the end o your rst or second Move ac-tion. Combat will only occur i , at the end o your third Move action, 1 or more o your feets are in sectors

with enemy feets.

For examples o movement see the Short Game rules,page 9 - 10 .


20/32

20

d. RESEARCH: You may choose any available technology card orimproved technology card. You cannot researchthe same technology twice.Improved technology cards have prerequisites thatyou must satis y be ore you can research them. Ty-pically you need to have the base technology andthe Research Labs technology in order to take animproved technology card.Note that Improved technology does not replacethe base technology, you retain the base techno-logy card and its e ect still applies.

Technologies that a ect the Research Action

Energy Cells: When you research this technology,take 2 feets rom the Unused Fleet Area and placethem into your Reserve.

Energy Cells (Improved): When you research thistechnology, take 3 feets rom the Unused Fleet Areaand place them into your Reserve.Important: Unlike other technologies, Energy Cellsand Improved Energy Cells only work once when you rst research the technology. Psi Labs: Be ore selecting a technology card, choosea Sector adjacent to a Sector you control. Remove anenemy feet rom that Sector, return it to the Reserve,and place a feet rom your Reserve into your Sector.You must have a feet in your Reserve in order to use Psi

Labs. I the chosen sector is now uncontrolled removeany markers.Note that sectors touching the Vortex are consi-dered adjacent or movement only meaning youcannot use Psi Labs across the Vortex. Research Labs: This technology is a prerequisite or all Improved Technology cards. Once you have resear-ched this technology, you can select the Improved ver-sion o technologies you have already researched. Research Labs (Improved): A ter you have researched this technology, whenever you select the Research ac-

tion you will gain 4 VP. At the end o the game, gain 8VP or every Improved Technology card you possess.

e. POLITICS: When you select this action, you may take 3 resour-ces rom the Resource Pool, you may take a MobiliseCard (provided you have the prerequisite technolo-gies), or you may take an Achievement Card. I you opt to take resources and there are ewerthan 3 resources available in the Resource Pool, gain2 VP or each resource you are unable to claim.

I you opt to take a Mobilise Card, place it ace upin ront o you and take 3 o your feets rom yourReserve (on the Game Board) and place them ontoyour Reserve (located on your Player Mat). I you opt to take an Achievement card, select oneo your 6 Achievement cards and set it aside. At theend o the game, you will reveal all o the Achieve-ment cards you have set aside and, ollowing theinstructions on each card, you will score additionalvictory points during Final Scoring.

3. ADVANCEMENT PHASE (Phase III):

Increase your cultural infuence:In Play Order, each player chooses whether tospend resources in order to increase their culturalinfuence.Cultural Infuence is measured in Eras as indicated

on the Culture Chart. Each Era is worth the speci-ed number o VP every round during this phase.

To advance your marker on the Culture Chart, youmust pay the cost, in resources, o the Era you aremoving into. Resources spend in this way are retur-ned to the Stock.Usually, it does not matter which resources you useto pay the cost o cultural advancement. For examp-le, i it costs 3 resources to advance on the CultureChart, you could pay the cost o advancement with2 water resources and 1 organic resource. Howe-ver, whenever you enter a Renaissance Era there isa restriction on the type o resources that you mustspend to advance.

Renaissance Eras: Renaissance Eras are clearlymarked on the Culture Chart with a box surroun-ding the resource cost. To advance into a Renais-sance Era, you need to spend all di erent resourcetypes to pay or your advancement. This means that i the cost o advancing into a Renais-sance Era is [4] resources, you would have to spend1 o each o the 4 possible types o resource (water,radioactives, metals, and organics) to advance.

Example: Looking at the Culture Chart, you cansee that in a 2-Player game, Early Era 2 is a Renais-sance Era with a cost o 3. There ore, you could pay1 water, 1 radioactive, and 1 organic resource to ad-vance into this Era (because the resources are all di -

erent); however you could not spend 2 water and1 organic resource to advance.


21/32

21

Fleet Penalty: As you develop your Culture, it be-comes increasingly di cult to pay or and maintainlarge armadas o ships. This is refected in a FleetPenalty that you must pay every time that your cul-ture advances rom one Era into the next.Each time that you advance on the Culture Chart

rom one Era into a new era, you must remove 1feet rom your Reserve (on your Player Mat) andplace into the Unused Fleet Area. I you have nofeets in your Reserve, you must instead remove afeet rom a sector you control and place it into theUnused Fleet Area.You may advance more than once on the CultureChart during the Advancement Phase. However,you must pay the indicated cost (in resources andfeets) every time that you advance.Note that Eras 1 and 2 are divided into an Early Era, Middle, and Late periods. You do not pay the

feet penalty when you advance rom the Early period o an Era into the Middle period o an Eraor when you advance rom the Middle period o an Era in to the Late period o an Era. There ore,when advancing rom Middle Era 2 into Late Era 2, you do not pay the Fleet Penalty.

Cultural Scoring: A ter all players have had an op-portunity to advance their culture, each player gainsVP based upon where their marker is located on theCulture Chart. For example, i your marker is in Era

3, you collect 15 VP at this time (as indicated on theCulture Chart). Monument Scoring: You then score 2 VP or everysector that you control with a monument, and youscore 5 VP or every sector that you control whichhas an improved monument.

I it is the nal round o play, skip the Empire andAdministration Phases (Phases IV and V) and pro-ceed straight to Final Scoring.

4. EMPIRE PHASE (Phase IV):

At the beginning o the Empire Phase, any uncon-trolled resource sector reverts to Empire control.Simply fip each such sector to its Empire controlledside. Do not fip barren sectors. Next, reveal the Improved Empire Token or the

round by fipping over the top token o the stack.Add feets, monuments, de ences or Bonus Chitsto every Empire controlled sector as indicated, andthen return the Improved Empire Token to the box.I the x2 token is revealed, fip the next two Impro-ved Empire tokens and resolve them.

When placing monuments, i the sector alreadyhas a monument then fip the monument to theImproved side. Similarly when placing De ences, i the sector already has a De ence then fip it to the

Improved (2) side. In rounds 4, 6, and 8, fip over the top Empire Tech-nology Token. Place the revealed Technology tokenon the Vortex to indicate that the Empire now pos-sesses the indicated technology ( or the rest o thegame).Remember: The Empire Phase is omitted on the

nal round o play.

+1 Fleet

Bonus chit

Nothing to add Reveal 2 more Empire tokens

Improved

Bonus chit

Monument

Marker

De ence

Marker


22/32

22

5. ADMINISTRATION PHASE (Phase V):

Enforce the stacking limit: I there are more than 3 feets in any Sector o the galaxy, remove the excessfeet(s) and place them into the Reserve. Return Fleets from the Reserve Fleet Actions Chart: Any feets on the chart are placed into the Reserve. Replenish the Resource Pool: Add 2 Resources o each type to the Resource Pool rom the Stock. Determine Play Order for the next round: Each Focus card you played this round has a time value printedon the card. Add up the time value o the 3 cards you played this round. The player with the lowest total chooses whether they want to go rst, second, third or ourth during thenext round and takes the appropriate Play Order card. Then, the player with the next lowest time total chooses,until every player has a Play Order card or the next round.In the event o a tie, use the current play order reversed to break the tie (i.e. the Player holding the largestvalued Play Order card o those tying chooses next).

Example: The Third Player Card has a larger value (3) than First Player Card (with a value o 1). There ore,i the time values o the First Player and the Third Player are tied, the Third Player would choose rst.

Play Order Benet: At this time, you may gain a bene t based upon the Play Order Card you are now holding:Play Order Card Bene t 1st Player Card I it is Round 8, gain 30 VP.2nd Player Card In Rounds 1 7, gain 1 resource (o any kind) rom the Resource Pool. In Round 8, gain 20 VP.3rd Player Card In Rounds 1-8, gain 10 VP4th Player Card In Rounds 1-7, gain 5 VP and take 1 resource (o any kind) rom the Resource Pool.

Advance the Round Marker and begin a new round o play.

. Final Scoring The game ends a ter the Advancement Phase (Phase III) in Round 9 is complete.At this point you gain VP based upon the technologies and Achievement cards you possess:Achievement: Education Gain 5 VP or each technology card you possess (including improved techno-

logy cards).Achievement: Expansion Gain 10 VP or each sector you control.Achievement: Mobilisation Gain 25 VP or each Mobilisation and Improved Mobilisation card you possessAchievement: Protection Gain 15 VP or every de ence marker in a sector you control, and gain 18 VP or

every improved de ence marker in a sector you control.Achievement: Ship Building Gain 15 VP or every shipyard marker in a sector you control.Achievement: Wealth Gain VP equal to your current Era o Cultural Advancement or every resource

you possess. Each set o 4 di erent resources is also worth an additional 10 VP.Example: i you were in the 5th Era o Cultural Advancement you would gain5 VP or every resource that you possess.

Improved Architecture Gain 4 VP or every Sector you control with a monument and gain 10 VP orevery Sector you control with an improved monument.

Improved Mobilise Cards Gain 10 VP or every Improved Mobilise card you possess.Improved Research Gain 8 VP or every improved technology card you possess.Racial Bonuses Gain VP based upon any racial bonus. In the long game, the Populi gain 5 VP

or every feet they have in play.

These VP are added to any victory points you have previously accumulated. The player with the most VP isdeclared the winner.In the event o a tie, play order will determine the winner. Amongst the tied players, the player holding thelowest valued Play Order card is declared the winner. (The First Player card is the lowest valued Play Ordercard, the Second Player card is the second lowest valued Play Order card, etc...)


23/32

23

. CombatCombat hardly does justice to the epic scope o con-fict in Ascendancy. Each feet you control representsthousands o combat ready ships and each combat ina sector represents a war lasting years or even decades.

At the end o a Move action, i your feets are in an

enemy controlled sector o the Galaxy (either anempire controlled sector or with feets controlledby another player), combat occurs. I you eliminateall opposing feets and have at least one feet remai-ning you capture the sector.Note that i combat will occur in more than one sector, you determine in what order to resolve theconficts.

Combat is resolved in three stages:1. Invasion: You su er losses rom the de enders

Planetary De ences.2. War: Each side su ers losses during a war untilonly 1 side remains or all feets in the sector havebeen destroyed!3. Spoils o War: I you capture a resource sector,you may take a matching resource rom the de ea-ted player. I you de eat the Empire, you may take amatching resource rom the Resource Pool.

Note that feets which are destroyed during com-bat are placed into the Reserve .

1. Invasion:I there is a de ence marker in the Sector, you su er1 loss.I there is an improved de ence marker in the Sector,you su er 2 losses.

2. War: Step 1: Determine initiative: The side with themost feets remaining has initiative. I both sideshave the same number o feets, neither side hasinitiative.Note that initiative can change due to casualtiessu ered. Step 2: Infict Casualties: I neither orce has initi-ative, then both sides remove 1 feet rom the sec-tor.I one side has initiative, the side with initiative re-moves an enemy feet rom the board rst, and thenonly su ers a loss in return i any enemy feets stillremain in the sector.

Repeat Steps 1 & 2 until one side is eliminated orboth sides are annihilated!

3. Spoils o War: I you capture a sector via combat, remove allshipyard and de ence markers rom the Sector. I you capture a resource sector via combat, youplunder a matching resource rom the de eatedplayer. I the de eated player does not have the ap-propriate resource, gain 2 VP while your opponentloses 2 VP. I you take an Empire sector, take all bonus chitson the sector and fip the Sector tile over ( rom theEmpire controlled side) to indicate that you nowcontrol the sector. You then plunder a resource o the appropriate type rom the Resource Pool. I theappropriate resource is not available in the Resour-ce Pool, gain 2 VP.Note that i you enter an Empire sector with nofeets it is still considered combat (and there ma- ybe a de ence marker to overcome), so you still

gain Spoils o War (and assimilate a feet i youhave that technology).

End o Combat I you fipped over any technology cards to indi-cate that they have been used during this combat,you may now fip them ace-up. Resolve any urther combat. I all combat has beenresolved complete the current Movement Action bychecking to see i any sectors are uncontrolled.

Losing Your Home Sector and Player Elimination:I all o the feets in your Home Sector are elimina-ted, you must immediately place your Home Sectormarker into a sector containing at least one o yourfeets.I you do not have any feets on the map, you mayplace your Home Sector marker onto any uncont-rolled sector (except the Vortex) along with a feet

rom your Reserve. I there are no uncontrolled sec-tors, you have been eliminated! Return all your re-sources and bonus chits to the stock. Remove any

technology and Mobilise cards you possess romthe game.


24/32

24

Technologies that a ect Combat Assimilate: I you are victorious in combat, you may take a feet rom your Reserve and add it to the sector.I you have no feets in your Reserve you cannot usethis technology.I your opponent has Escape Pods you cannot use thistechnology against them. Assimilate (Improved): Whenever you capture a sec-tor, do not remove shipyard and de ence markers, younow control them. Additionally, i you are victoriousin combat, you can take 1 resource (o any availabletype) rom your opponent. I your opponent was theEmpire take a resource rom the Resource Pool. I your opponent has no resources gain 2 VP and your oppo-nent loses 2 VP instead. The resource gained rom thistechnology is in addition to any resource you gain asa result o the Spoils o War.Thus, i you de eat an opponent in a resource sector,

you would take one resource matching the sector (this is the resource you gain as the Spoils o War), youwould take an additional resource (o any type) romImproved Assimilate.Note that you still get the bene t o Assimilate (ex-tra feet) as well. Escape Pods: The rst time you su er a loss in eachcombat that is not prevented by Shields (or Improved Shields), place the lost feet by this card. Once the ac-tive player has resolved all o the current conficts, youmay return any feets next to this card to your Home

sector Escape Pods also prevent your feets rom being Assi-milated.When you use your Escape Pod technology, fip thetechnology card ace down to indicate that it has beenused during this combat.Note that you cannot vacate your Home sector and retain control o it knowing that some feetswill be placed there at the end o combat, as youwill need to relocate your Home sector immedia-tely. Escape Pods (Improved): The second time you su er a loss in each combat that is not prevented by Shields(or Improved Shields), place the lost feet by this card.Once the active player has resolved all o the current conficts, you may return any feets next to this card toany sector that you control.When you use your Improved Escape Pod technology,fip the technology card ace down to indicate that it has been used during this combat.Note that you must be care ul to place the feets saved with Improved Escape Pods next to thistechnology and not next to the Escape Pod tech-nology card, because any feets next to the EscapePod technology card must still be returned to your

Home sector. I you vacate a sector you lose con-trol o it immediately, be ore you can return any lost feets to it rom Improved Escape Pods. Shields: Shields prevent the rst loss you su er duringeach combat. There ore, i you are involved in several combats as the result o one Move action, your trusty shields will prevent 1 loss in each combat.When you use your Shield technology, fip the techno-logy card ace down to indicate that it has been used during this combat.Note that i you have shields and escape pods, your shields will unction rst. Shields (Improved): Improved Shields prevent the se-cond loss you su er during combat.When you use your Improved Shield technology, fipthe technology card ace down to indicate that it hasbeen used during this combat. Targeting: I you have Targeting technology and your

opponent does not, you always have initiative. I both players have Targeting, determine initiative normally. Targeting (Improved): I you have Improved Targe-ting, you always have initiative. Torpedoes: I you have Torpedo technology, you in-fict 2 losses during the rst round o combat Note that Torpedoes do not infict damage during theInvasion phase o combat (when de ence markers in-fict casualties), torpedoes infict their damage duringthe rst round o the War phase o combat. Torpedoes (Improved): I you have Improved Torpedo-

es, you infict 3 losses during the rst round o combat.

A


25/32

25

Example 8 Jo moves 3 feets into Sector A whichis controlled by Ali. Jo has the Targeting technolo-gy and the Torpedoes technologies. Ali has 2 feets,Shields and Improved Shields. Invasion: Nothing happens because there is node ence marker in the sector. War (Step 1): Jo has initiative because she has the

Targeting technology. War (Step 2): Jo inficts 2 losses due to Torpedoes,Jo fips over her torpedos technology card to indica-te it has been used. Alis Shields prevent 1 loss andImproved Shields prevent the second loss. Ali fipsthe Shield and Improved Shields technology cardsover, and then removes 1 o Jos feets rom the sec-tor. (2 vs 2). War (Step 1) is repeated because both players stillhave feets in the sector. Jo retains initiative due to Targeting.

War (Step 2): Jo inficts a loss and then Ali infictsa loss (1 vs. 1). War (Step 1) is repeated because both players stillhave feets in the sector. Jo retains initiative due to Targeting. War (Step 2): Jo inficts a loss, and removes Alislast feet rom the sector. Combat is ended. Usedtechnology cards are fipped back. Jo takes control o the sector and takes a resourceo the appropriate type (water in this case) as spoilso war.

Example 9 Jo moves 3 feets into Alis Sector. Johas the Targeting technology and the Improved Torpedoes and Torpedoes technologies. Ali has3 feets, a de ence marker, Shields and ImprovedShields. Invasion: Jo removes 1 feet because Ali has ade ence marker in the sector (2 vs. 3).

War (Step 1): Jo has initiative because she hasthe targeting technology. War (Step 2): Jo inficts three losses due to Torpedoes and Improved Torpedoes, Jo fips overher both her torpedos and Improved Torpedoestechnology cards to indicate they have been used.Alis Shields prevent the rst loss, and his Impro-ved shields prevent the second loss. Ali fips theShields and Improved Shields technology cardsover, and then removes 1 o Jos feets. (1 vs 2). War (Step 1) is repeated because both players

still have feets in the sector. Jo retains initiativedue to Targeting. War (Step 2): Jo inficts a loss and then Ali re-moves Jos nal feet rom the sector (0 vs. 1). Ali has success ully de ended his sector. Becauseonly an attacking player is eligible or spoils o war,Ali does not gain plunder. Used technology cardsare fipped back.For less complicated combat examples see theShort Game rules page 13-14.

A A A

A


26/32

26

VIII . VARIANTS

Once you are experienced with the game you mightwant to try one or more o these variants. The rstthree variants are suitable or both the Short andLong games.

1. Quarantine Sectors: When building the mapuse the reverse side o the barren tiles or all non-home sectors. Each o these sectors is a QuarantineSector.A feet can never enter a Quarantine sector; althoughyou can pass through them i you have Hyperdrive. This variant leads to greater confict, because theplayers have less room to peaceably expand.

2. Custom Map: Build your own map. Feel ree touse Quarantine Sectors i you desire. You may also

choose to exclude the Vortex rom the game map.

3. Bonus or Player Elimination: I you eliminate aplayer (capture their Home Sector and they are un-able to relocate) then you take all resources and bo-nus chits they have on their mat. Take any technolo-gy cards they hold that you do not and remove theremainder rom the game. This variant is particular-ly vicious i combined with 1. Quarantine Sectors.

4. Variant Card: This variant is only suitable or a 3

or 4 Player Long Game. Place the Variant card overthe matching area o the Game Board. The VariantCard changes the amount o starting resources inthe game, and also changes the rate at which re-sources are added to the Resource Pool rom thestock.

5. Random race allocation: This variant is onlysuitable or a Long Game. During setup, instead o players selecting their race, shu e the race powercards (ones with identical backs) and deal one toeach player.

6. No Racial Powers: This variant is only suitableor a Long Game. In this variant, players do not take

racial cards at the start o the game, and the playersdo not have the use o any racial powers. Use the st-arting allocations o feets and markers as indicatedon the player mat (no racial powers variant). Insteado choosing 1 technology during set-up, each playerinstead chooses a total o 2 technology cards. Eachplayer selects one technology in reverse play order,and then, in reverse play order, each player choosesa second technology. With this variant you have more

reedom to choose your development strategy.

IX. CREDITS

Game design: Nigel BuckleEnglish Rules: John Signorino and Nigel BuckleProo reading (English): Sharon Khan, David NormanArtwork & Graphic Design: Matthias Catrein www.matthias-catrein.com

Special Thanks: John Signorino, Matthias Catrein,David Norman, Colin Watts, Pickles, Martin Butcherand Andrei Filip.

Nigel Buckle thanks everyone who playtested As-cendancy and in particular:Kie er Buckle, Colin Alex & Jim Watts, Trevor &Deborah Duguid-Farrant, Sean & Callum Duguid,David Pitman, Rob Dawbarn, Tim Smith, Stephen Tavener, John Bickell, Mukul Patel, Pickles, MartinButcher, Dave Kitcat, Martyn Skillern, Heather Bar-rett, Chris Norwood, Swedishbear, Sami & SharonKhan, Colin Beattie, Andrei Filip, Bruce Miller, LarryRice, Mary Tomaszewski, Justus & Minttu Kellonie-mi, Brian Moore, Simon Craddock, Mike Wall, Ben Tyrer, Johan Lagerstrm, Anna-Lena Adamsson,Andrew Burgin, Ben Hawkridge, Richard Tyson,James Mullen, Mike Saw ord, Tom Garretty, JohnMerrick, Angela Kingshott, Gareth P. McSorley,Juho Snellman, Fabio Lopiano, Raul Furnica, Kas-per Dupont, Steve McIlhatton, Jamie Hindley, KarlDeckard, Geo Goodman, Timothy Ismay, ClintWalls, Jesse Smit, Greg Cox, and Jason den Dulk.


27/32

27

X. SETUP MAPS

2 PLAYER: Construct the galaxy using 3 o each type o Resource Sector (12 total), 1 Vortex, and a numbero Barren Sectors (quantities vary depending on which Map you choose, Home sectors are barren sectors).Resource Sectors should be shu ed ace down and placed randomly in the indicated locations. Map 2A isrecommended or your rst game.

MAP 2A

MAP 2B

MAP 2C

HOME

HOMEHOME

HOME

HOME

HOME


28/32

28

3 PLAYER: Construct the Galaxy using 4 o each type o Resource sector (this means you will use all but 1o the Resource sectors simply shu e them and return 1 unseen to the box), 1 Vortex, 6 Barren sectors.Resource Sectors should be shu ed ace down and placed randomly in the indicated locations. Map 3A isrecommended or your rst game.

MAP 3A

MAP 3B

MAP 3C

HOME

HOME

HOME

HOME

HOME

HOME

HOME

HOME

HOME


29/32


30/32

30

XI MOBILISE AND TECHNOLOGY REFERENCE

All the technology and improved technology cards are listed below. The keys: [F] = Assemble Fleets, [B] = Build, [M]= movement, [P] = Politics, [R] = Research appear indicating which ocus action the technology a ects.The mobilise cards have technology prerequisites, to obtain a mobilise card you need to have researched two tech-nology cards with the appropriate matching icon within ( ). For example or De ence Nets you need any two o thetechnologies: Architecture, Planetary De ences or Robotics.

The improved mobilise cards have perquisite icons ound on improved technology cards.

Each Mobilise Card has the e ect: take 3 feets rom the Unused Fleet Area and place them into your Reserve.In addition each Improved Mobilise Cards is worth an additional +10 VP at Game End.

De ence Nets pre-requisite technologies (a)(a)Long Range Patrols pre-requisite technologies (b)(b)Marine Engineers pre-requisite technologies (c)(c)Strike Formations pre-requisite technologies (d)(d)Improved Fighters pre-requisite technologies (e)(

Ascendancy Rules

Documents

Transcript of Ascendancy Rules