Andromeda's Edge: Escalation — How to Play

Objective of the Game

In Andromeda's Edge: Escalation, players compete to establish dominance in the Andromeda galaxy. The theme involves navigating the dangers of the Nethervoid and dealing with the emergence of the Void Drake. Depending on the game mode, players aim to outscore their opponents or the Unity AI. In a multiplayer game, if your total VP is higher than Unity, you assert control of The Edge and drive them out. If your score is lower, Unity takes control.

Setup

The setup varies depending on whether you are playing a 5-player game or the solo "Struggle Against Unity" mode. Follow these steps for a 5-player game:

• Planets: If playing with 5 players, draw 10 planet tiles.
• Terminus Marker: Set the terminus marker to 60 or 70 VP.
• Factions: Players select from new Faction Cards: Nebulon Cloudpeople, Darkstar Acolytes, or Krawln.
• Upgrades: Add neutral ship upgrade tiles to the stacks formed during player setup.
• Shadows of the Void: Add the new event deck, the Nethervoid region tile, and the Void Drake (place the Void Drake on the Nethervoid).
• Moons: Choose to use only the 6 ancient nebula moons (pink back) or both the ancient nebula moons and the orphaned nebula moons (teal back) from the base game. If using both, place 2 in each nebula.

For Solo Mode (The Struggle Against Unity):

• Set up the game as a 2-player game.
• Unity Station: Use the Unity station mat and select 1 Unity Commander card (difficulty levels I, II, or III).
• Unity Pieces: Choose a color for Unity. Place Unity leaders on the leaders area of the Unity station (except for one leader, which becomes the command marker and is placed on the first space of the Command Wheel).
• Progress Tracks: Place progress track markers on the bottom space of each track and advance them according to the commander card.
• Decks: Set up the Unity conflict deck and Unity action cards. Unity does not receive tactics cards at the start.
• Victory Points: Place the human player's VP marker on the first space and Unity's on the second space of the victory point track.

Game Flow

The game follows the standard rules of the base game with specific additions for the expansion.

Multiplayer Turn Order

In a game including Unity, determine player order normally. The last player receives The Conn. Unity always takes its turn immediately after the player holding The Conn. After an event is resolved, the Conn passes clockwise.

Unity Turn Sequence (Solo/AI)

Unity's turn consists of the following steps:

1. Unity Launch: Roll a d6 to determine the Unity action card and the Launch Bay section used. Unity then resolves the Launch Ship action and the Region Action.
2. Recruit: Unity moves leaders from occupied regions to the Unity station.
3. Special Actions: Follow icons on the Unity card (e.g., Develop, Event, Repair).
4. Battle: Check for a raider in range.
5. Discard: Discard the used Unity action card and reveal a replacement.
6. Command: Advance the command marker on the Command Wheel based on remaining ships and Repair Barge status.
7. Scrapyard: Unity gains VP for ships in the Scrapyard.
8. Return: Unity ships return to the Launch Bay.

The Nethervoid Action

When you Launch to the Nethervoid, roll battle dice for the ship and choose 1 result. This is not a battle. Results include gaining energy, tactics cards, credits, advancing progress tracks, or gaining modules/upgrades.

Actions and How to Play

Unity operates differently than players. Unity does not use resources; instead, whenever it would gain a resource, it takes a tactics card from the deck. Unity does not pay resource costs for actions and does not have a hand-size limit for tactics cards.

Unity Specific Mechanics

• Modules: Unity can gain modules but does not activate them. When gaining a module, Unity gains the cheapest one from the appropriate column and advances the corresponding progress track.
• Develop: Unity builds developments on the leftmost undeveloped planet occupied by a Unity transport. Unity must discard the required number of leaders but pays no resource costs.
• Damage and Repair: When a Unity ship is damaged, it moves to the Scrapyard (unless it is the heavy cruiser, which can take 1 damage before moving to the Scrapyard). Unity repairs modules first; only if all are repaired does it repair a ship.
• Launching: Unity ships can Launch to occupied spaces and regions already occupied by other Unity ships. Unity ships cannot Voyage and cannot enter nebulae.

End of Game and Scoring

The game ends when the terminus marker is reached. Unity scores VP based on the following:

• Tracks: Positions on the 5 progress tracks.
• Developments: Score based on track progress (I, II, or III).
• Quasars/Vortexes: Bonus points for adjacent developments.
• Damage: -2 VP per damaged module.
• Moon Tokens: 2 VP each.
• Discovery and Supremacy Tokens: 3 VP each.
• Vault: 0, 1, or 2 VP for each tactics card (up to 15) based on the Commerce track.
• Relics: 2/5/9/14/20 VP for 1/2/3/4/5 relic icons on modules and moons on the station.
• Leaders: 1 VP per leader on the station.
• Destiny: The better of the 2 starting destiny cards.

Tips for Victory

• Relic Accumulation: Focus on collecting relic icons on your modules and moons, as they provide significant scaling VP at the end of the game.
• Unity Management: In solo play, remember that Unity will always target the player holding The Conn.