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3MODULE 3 - CONFLICT | HIGH FRONTIER 4 ALL |
3A. Module 3
As Factions expand into the solar system and trade among themselves, they become less dependent on Earth and
less tolerant of Earth-centered trade monopolies and regulations. Secessionists start to clamor for Independence
and self-governance. But if the War of Independence (War) is declared, the game state changes drastically until
it is resolved, with hostilities between the Loyalists m and the Independents b. At stake: will space ventures and
pioneers be subject to regulatory governance by terrestrial superpowers and multinational organizations like the
UN, or will they become a free trade coalition of self-governing city-states?
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a. Modules. Module 0 must be used, using the Module 3 Political Assembly placard (instead of the Core
placard). Modules 1 & 2 are recommended (but not required). All Module 1 & 2 rules are listed in blue font.
You can also play with Futures (1D), which can influence combat (3F2).
b. Number of Players. 2 to 6 competitive. Solitaire is not supported.
c. Piracy Variant. Combat is allowed but not mandatory at all times against all opponents, but if your victim is
in the same bloc as you, you must pay him a bribe, following the vendetta rules (3D1).
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d. Age of Piracy Variant. Players who want to experience combat without the War of Independence can play
the Piracy Variant as above, but without blocs, propaganda, or extremists, and all attacks require paying the
defender a bribe. Do not use the 3A2f,g setup, Module 3 political assembly (3B2), propaganda (3B3), war
outbreak (3C), ET Home Bernal & Postwar (3F), and War/Anarchy (3D, except faction weapons 3D6, dislodge
3D7 and combat 3D8 are used).
e. Modified Future Wars Variant. A game without combat can use the evade rules (3D3, 4, 5) to modify Wars
of Independence that happen as a result of casus belli Futures (1D2c). As there are no extremist or corrupt
delegates (3D2), only your own delegates or allied delegates with permission can be petitioned to evade.
f. Software Versions. Tabletop Simulator by Justin Grey, VASSAL by Stefano Tiné.
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COVER ART by Josefin Strand depicts an attack on a cometary mining factory using a laser-heated missile with a beamed gray goo warhead.
In general, facilities on comets and asteroids are hardened targets, with their facilities either mobile or deep underground. Although this is a
violation of exoplanetary law, they can be infected with nanites capable of replicating using sunlight and regolith. Another attack strategy takes
advantage of the fact that many comets are covered with low density amorphous water-ice (ASW), a type of ice stable in the outer Solar System. If
a chain reaction is initiated, runaway recrystallization of this ice can cause it to explode.
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BLOOD CREDITS. The bribe gained by a pirate’s victim simulates, not a share of the booty, but rather a blood bribe that gives the victim a justifi-
able cause for revenge or justice. This is not just talk, such eye-for-an-eye justice is respected by others considering joining the victim's cause.
EASILY MISSED (Module 2):
Both your faction privileges
(B6a) and faction weapons
(3D6) are shutdown unless
you have a Home Bernal
(either per 2B3 or 3F1). [3Aa]
EASILY MISSED: If using
Module 1, the delivery
operation (I9) can’t be used,
see 1A8. [3Aa]
TIP: Age of Piracy is a good
way to try out the combat
rules, or if you are playing
a shorter game (e.g only 48
years or without Modules 1
& 2). [3Ad]
TIP (Modules 1 & 2): In a
Futures game with Module
3, you can no longer safely
ignore the political arena
just because it is over-
shadowed by other sources
of VP. [3Aa]

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4| HIGH FRONTIER 4 ALL | MODULE 3 - CONFLICT
3A1. Module 3 Components
1 Drawer Box.
These Rules.
6 Playmats/Play Aids. 1 per player.
1 Module 3 Political Assembly Placard.
12 Bribe Disks. Black, see 3B1.
6 Dropstone Tokens. Place on the map if a dropstone is dislodged (3D7) to show the location of its stack.
6 Propaganda Chits. Setup per 3A2f. Flipped per 3B3a,b,c. Determines victory in War per 3F4.
12 Damage Chits. Indicators for Factory damage (3E7c).
1 Red Cross Chit. Indicator for cancer hospital (3E9d).
1 Lutetia Site Chit. (optional Punch out).
5 POW Chits. Special glory chits (3D9c).
2 Six-sided dice.
3 Ziplock Bags
3A2. Module 3 Setup
Setup is per core setup (C), with the following additions:
a. Module 3 Political Assembly & Seniority Disks (C1). Use the Module 3 Political Assembly. Place 4 Seniori-
ty Disks on its center for a short game, 5 for an intermediate game or 7 if playing Futures (Modules 1 & 2).
b. Assign Factions & Crew. Players divide themselves into Independence and Loyalist blocs, then each bloc
among themselves assigns factions to each player (use dice if necessary). There must be at least one Loyalist
m player (Purple (socialist), Yellow (nationalist), or White (globalist)) plus one Independence b player (Green
(unionist), Gray (individualist), or Red (entrepreneur)).
c. Starting Aqua. Same as in Core (C5) (Aqua per player = the number of patent decks used). If quick start
(V1) is used, start with zero Aqua.
d. Starting Bribe. Each player takes 3 bribes (black disks) into their Reserves (only 2 bribes in a 5- or 6-player
game).
e. Starting Playmat & Dropstone. Each player takes the playmat of his faction color and puts the plastic
dropstone of his color and puts it on the spot with the dropstone picture.
BLOCS [3A2b]
INDEPENDENCE
LOYALIST
OPTIONAL: The latest
findings from the Rosetta
spacecraft found no
hydrated minerals on the
asteroid Lutetia (k 8:30),
contrary to 2004 data.
We have provided a hex-
shaped chit that you may
place on the map to use
the latest data. [3A1]

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5MODULE 3 - CONFLICT | HIGH FRONTIER 4 ALL |
f. Propaganda Chits are placed on the circles on the political assembly placard. Freedom, individuality, and
equality are placed Independence b bloc up, and honor, unity, and authority are placed Loyalist m bloc
up, as shown. No propaganda chit is used for centrist.
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g. Extremist Delegates. Each player starts with one delegate placed in his color of Ideology. Unlike Core,
place your delegate on top of the propaganda chit that sits in the color of your Ideology. As long as it
remains on the propaganda, this is your extremist delegate (3B2a).
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3A3. Core/Module 0-2 Rule Changes
Module 3 replaces the Core rules during Anarchy (K2e) and War, notably by restricting certain activities (3D4,
3D5), and allowing combat and Felonies against enemies but not allies.
a. Felonious. During War/Anarchy, all players gain an Ability equivalent to the Felonious faction privilege (per
K2e), but only Player Purple can use this Ability against allies.
b. Dropstone Stacks (add to E3). This is a new Stack created by the dislodge operation (3D7b).
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You may
only have 1 dropstone Stack. A new placard is provided with a slot for this Stack. After being created, Tokens
cannot be moved into or out of dropstone Stacks (they may be Decommissioned normally). If at any time the
dropstone Stack does not contain an Operational thruster meeting the requirements described in 3D7c, the
Stack is Decommissioned. Dropstone Stacks are immune to events and combat on the 2nd and later turns of
their dislodge (3D7e,f).
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INDEPENDENCE. In designing a game about a War of Independence, I have spent just as much effort simulating Independence as the War!
This was the whole point of the bloodshed, and I wanted the War’s outcome to make a difference in how the High Frontier proceeds postwar.
Independence is a step further out, getting humankind closer to the stars. This module introduces a tipping point when the internal market in
space generates as much human values and profits as does trade with Earth. It also illustrates some of the consequences: ugly politics, space
colonies moving further out, Anarchy, vendettas, embargoes, crash of the Aqua currency, and Home Bernals orbiting other planets.
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EXTREMIST is an uncompromising ideologue, and the leading representative of an ideological bloc. The game's ideologies are arranged so
that opposites lie on opposed sides of the hexagonal political assembly. For example, there is obviously no compromise possible between the
meritocracy of honor and the egalitarianism of equality. Likewise freedom and authority are opposites, as are individualism and unity.
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DROPSTONES. On Earth, these are boulders embedded in sedimentary rock that originally were dropped into the ocean bed from the underside
of melting ice-sheets. In this game, these are boulders or icebergs blasted off of small asteroids, and then deorbited into a flyby of Sol or a giant
planet. During the closest approach in the flyby, mass drivers are used for an Oberth thrust multiplier, sending the bolide into a target for a kinetic
kill. Practical places for this attack are moonlets or comets that are just barely captured by Sol or the planet, so that only a small delta-v is needed to
deorbit them. The propellant for the attack is derived by sacrificing part of the bolide itself.
SIX PROPAGANDA CHIT SETUP
[3A2f]
EASILY MISSED: Felonious
and Felonies are unchanged
in Module 3. [3A3a]

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6| HIGH FRONTIER 4 ALL | MODULE 3 - CONFLICT
c. Kamikaze Stacks (add to E3). This is a new transient Stack created when making a kamikaze attack (3E5).
You may have any number of kamikaze Stacks, but they are Decommissioned the turn they are created when
they attack (or at the end of combat if unable to attack).
d. Intercept Movement (add to H1). If during War/Anarchy your Spacecraft enters a Space occupied by an
enemy Spacecraft (Rocket, Freighter, Mobile Factory, or Bernal Stack), it must halt (and combat occurs at the
end of all your movement).
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e. Dive-Bombing Movement/Landing (H5e, H6). A Stack with a thruster or Freighter and no Humans can
declare a dive-bomb during its movement. This allows it to move through lander burns to an associated Site
as if they were lagrange spaces (not requiring Burns). The Stack is required to attack as a kamikaze weapon
(3E5) during Combat that turn; if unable to attack, it is Decommissioned at the end of the Turn.
f. Lobby (O4 of Module 0). This free action is unchanged during peacetime: Decommission a delegate and
pay 1 Aqua to use an inactive Law in that Ideology. However, a corrupted delegate (3D2) cannot be used to
lobby. During War/Anarchy, all Laws are nullified and cannot be lobbied.
g. War/Anarchy Colonist Limit (2Ca of Module 2). Unlike peacetime, when the number of Colonists is
strictly limited to the number of Anchored Bernals (plus 1 per promoted Bernal), during War/Anarchy
colonist limits are modified to be equal to the number of Bernals (both Anchored and unanchored, plus
1 per promoted Bernal). However, your exomigration is blocked unless you have evaded the War/Anarchy
restriction on exomigration by petitioning a delegate in the freedom ideology (3D5a). Once War/Anarchy
ends, normal exomigration rules (2A6) are reimposed.
h. Faction Privilege/Weapon Locked (2B3b of Module 2). If you have no Home Bernal Anchored, then not
only is your faction privilege locked, but also your faction weapon (3D6) is locked as well.
i. Miner Profession (2C1a of Module 2). For their professional ability (2C1b), a miner provides an additional
refuel when taking the site refuel operation (I5), including on an Anchored Bernal, instead of a free site refuel.
j. Bank. This term refers to the Space on the map where you store your Aqua (or monetized gold beads, see
3B5). Your bank is located in LEO, a Home Bernal (2B3), or an ET Home Bernal (3F1), which ever is furthest
from Earth. You may only have one bank.
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NO SHIPPING LANES IN SPACE. The intercept rule and map routes give a false impression that specific preferred routes exist among heliocentric
worlds. The velocity difference (delta-V) between them remains constant, but since they orbit at different velocities, the distances between
them varies enormously. The game mechanics attempt to resolve this by concentrating on the number of Burns to the destination, rather than the
distance. The only spots that are at a constant distance from a planet are gravitationally locked: Sol, Lagrange Points, moons, and Trojans.
EASILY MISSED (Module 2):
Since wartime colonist limits
are equal to the number of
your Bernal tokens on the
map, unless blocked you
must exomigrate as soon as
you boost or construct a new
one. [3A3g]
EASILY MISSED (Module 2):
Crew or Colonists killed in
battle return to your bank
(3F1f). [3A3j]
EASILY MISSED: Delegates
can't be Decommissioned
unless you are at your cube
limit (I7f). [3A3f]

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7MODULE 3 - CONFLICT | HIGH FRONTIER 4 ALL |
3B. Playmat & Political Assembly
Your playmat contains your faction weapon (3D6) and the firing results table (3E2). The reverse side is a player aid.
3B1. Bribes (War/Anarchy Only)
Each player starts with 2 or 3 bribes (black disks), see 3A2d. They represent grudges and blackmail rather than
wealth,
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and accordingly can be traded or negotiated between players only during peacetime. During War/
Anarchy, they are used in only 2 ways: to start a vendetta (3D1), or to corrupt a delegate (3D2). See example 3D3d.
a. Heroism. You can use a heroism chit (B3) as if it was a bribe (but not in endgame VP).
b. Endgame VP. Each bribe you hold at the endgame is worth VP depending upon which bloc won the War
(3G1). If the ending Active Law is individuality, each bribe is worth +1 VP (3G1).
3B2. Module 3 Political Assembly & Extremists
The Module 3 political assembly is the same as the Core version,
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with additional information on War Restrictions
(3D4, 3D5). It starts with 6 propaganda chits (3A2f), which indicate which Ideologies support loyalists, and which
support independents.
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a. Extremist Delegates. A delegate that sits on propaganda is called an extremist delegate, and the propa-
ganda it sits on is called an extremist propaganda. An extremist delegate is immune to Purge Rolls (K2e).
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WEALTH is material goods made by man. This includes water, insofar as it requires time, energy, and work to produce it (especially in space).
Water has particular value in LEO, the most thirsty spot in the solar system due to the demands of outgoing rockets. Increased technology and
rocketry increases the supply of water and thus equates to more wealth. An ET Home Bernal is a veritable fountain as it supplies cheap water elec-
tromagnetically catapulted from the shallow gravity fields of icy worlds. Wealth is distinct and separate from money or monetary value, and falling
prices in this case is not a sign of deflation, which is a decrease in the volume of spending in the economic system which cuts profits and makes it
harder to pay debts. —George Reisman, The Goal of Monetary Reform, 2000.
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POLITICS & ECONOMICS are linked. Politics is the science of how people should treat each other for maximum benefit, and economics is the
science of how to maximize human values under a particular politics. Normally, if your productivity allows you to be Independent and self-
reliant, you favor a politics of laissez-faire freedom, the Independence bloc in this game. But if you are not, you favor authoritarian regulations to
redistribute the wealth created by the productive, the Loyalist bloc.
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POLITICAL ASSEMBLY. The game’s political assembly simulates an arena designed to give spacefarers a voice despite their tiny constituency of
voters. It is a bit like the U.S. Senate, or the UN Charter, which gives an equal voting share to any state or country regardless how tiny it is. Thus it
is favored by the Independence bloc.
TIP: During War/Anarchy,
having a majority of
delegates does not matter,
since there is no Active
Law and no vote tally. Just
one delegate is enough for
either lobby or evasion of
restrictions. [3B2]
BRIBE TOKENS [3B1]
LOYALIST EXTREMIST [3B2a]

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8| HIGH FRONTIER 4 ALL | MODULE 3 - CONFLICT
b. Extremist Disgraced. If an extremist propaganda is flipped, move its delegate into the corresponding
Ideology. Once disgraced, you can never get a new extremist!
c. Your Bloc is indicated by the propaganda in the Ideology of your color (even if your extremist is dead).
d. Diplomatic Propaganda Flip. If you move the Active Law into an Ideology, see 3B3b.
3B3. Propaganda
Module 3 adds 6 double-sided chits called propaganda to the political assembly (3A2f).
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These continuously
track which Ideologies support the Loyalists, and which support Independents. If all 6 support one bloc during the
War, then War ends with that bloc being victorious (3F4). They are also used to determine desertions (3C3f). Each
propaganda can contain one delegate, and if so it is called an extremist propaganda. Flipping an extremist
propaganda disgraces its delegate off the chit and into the Ideology per 3B2b. Flipping a propaganda allows you
to blackmail a corrupt delegate there, Discarding it and stealing its bribe (3D2d). There are 3 ways that a propa-
ganda chit can be flipped (during War/Anarchy or peace):
a. Victorious Attack (preferably flips non-extremist, War/Anarchy only). If your attack is a victorious
attack (3D9), then flip one enemy propaganda, which cannot be extremist unless no non-extremists are
available. If an extremist is flipped, it must be that of the defeated enemy if possible.
b. Diplomacy (never flips extremist, peacetime only). If you cause the Active Law to shift, which results in
a vote tally (O3a), you can flip the propaganda of the Ideology of the new position of the Active Law (star)
Token, unless it has an extremist.
• Here I Stand. Moving the Active Law to centrist does not flip any propaganda.
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PROPAGANDA. If democracy is in vogue, the political reality is that space folk number in the thousands versus the billions on Earth. If repub-
licanism is respected instead of majority rule, then freedom from arbitrary seizures, trade regulations, and censorship is defended regardless
of majority opinion. Another political reality is that, in space, the de facto control lies with the people in-situ, and not with terrestrial politicians. If you
read The Martian, by Andy Weir, this point was brilliantly illustrated by the mutiny of the rocket commander, who was obviously of the “honor” rather
than the “authority” ideology. Defining a government as the entity with a monopoly of arms and ability to wield force in an area, the government on
an asteroid or distant planet will not be anyone Earth-based.
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CENTRIST DELEGATES are those who do not take a stand or any consistent position. Changing their stance more often than their socks, they
rely on pragmatism at the expense of principle. Such pragmatism allows them to finally take a stand and join the winning bloc when it is
clear who the winner will be.
INDEPENDENCE SIDE
LOYALIST SIDE
PROPAGANDA CHIT [3B3]
TIP (Module 2): If you
have an Anchored Bernal/
Colonists, you should flip the
propaganda of the Colonist
Ideology to match your bloc.
Otherwise, an outbreak of
War/Anarchy will induce the
Colonist to desert (3F4a).
[3B3b]

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9MODULE 3 - CONFLICT | HIGH FRONTIER 4 ALL |
c. Defection (flips your own extremist). As a free action on your Turn, you may flip your extremist propagan-
da. This disgraces your delegate (i.e. permanently moves it off the chit and into the Ideology). Furthermore,
if you have uncolonized Factory(s), you must choose one to convert to the color of one of your enemies
(3E2k). At the end of the War, players without extremists are counted among the defeated (3F4d).
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• Surrender. Defection can also be involuntary, as a result of combat (3B3a). If so, you do not suffer a Factory
loss, but are not allowed whistleblowing or sneak attacks (see below).
• Capitulation. If this results in all propaganda being the same bloc, the War ends (in your defeat!) at the end
of your Turn, see 3F4.
• Whistleblowing. You are allowed to blackmail one corrupt delegate in your faction's Ideology (3D2d),
which Decommissions its cube and steals its bribe.
• Sneak Attack. If you make attacks against your former allies on the Turn of defection, you are allowed to
attack first if you play your victim a bribe. You are also allowed Felonies this Turn against your former allies,
without needing a bribe.
3B4. Expanded Freedom To Roam Treaty (Module 2)
The Individuality Law (Freedom to Roam Treaty (O5f)) is expanded to allow the sale of a Black-Side Card if taken to
an allied or enemy Bernal, (but not your own!) with the following conditions:
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a. No Snow To Inuits. The Bernal must not be Adjacent to a Dirtside with the same Spectral Type as the Black-
Side Card being sold.
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TREASON is a collectivist term, since it denotes a crime against a country. Thus, it can only be understood by persons who accept a nation-
alist BSU. For an individualist (such as myself ), crimes can only be objectively defined as against an individual victim, not against a collective
such as a country.
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BLACK MARKET is an example of the free market in action, a private response to public regulations. Private and public institutions are
frequently confused, perhaps because many speakers twist definitions in order to make a point. For an institution or transaction to be
private, it must meet 2 conditions: (1) its funding must be from customers, and (2) its competition must not be under legal regulatory force. If an
institution instead gets its funding from taxes, it becomes just another bureaucracy. If its would-be competitors are outlawed, it becomes just
another monopoly.
EXAMPLE [3B3c]
War breaks out, and you are an Independent. But you have lots of glory, and prefer a Loyalist victory. So you flip your
extremist propaganda and defect. You decide to treacherously attack a Independent who is in the lead. You must
compensate her with a bribe, and roll first. Whatever the outcome of the attack, you have lost the War, but the Loyalist victory is worth it.
TIP: In a 2-player game,
you can always end the War
by defecting! You lose a
Factory. [3B3c]
EASILY MISSED: You never
forfeit a Factory unless the
defection was voluntary.
[3B3c]

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10| HIGH FRONTIER 4 ALL | MODULE 3 - CONFLICT
b. Refusal. If the buyer and seller are allied (War or peace), the sale cannot be declined.
c. White Flag during War/Anarchy. If the buyer and seller are enemies, the sale must be negotiated (needs
a delegate in honor), and combat against each other’s Tokens within, into, or out of the Bernal Space is
forbidden during the Turns of the sale.
d. Your Sales Benefits. You may receive the factory stock price (M2b) in Aqua, taken from the Pool.
Additionally, you may negotiate (N) for additional benefits (e.g. Aqua, Hand cards, isotopes, etc.).
e. Bernal Sales Benefits. Your opponent may take 1 card into his Hand, taken from the top of any patent deck.
3B5. Isotope Monetization (Module 1)
In Module 1, gold beads representing starship isotope fuel can be factory-refueled (1C1a) at factories matching
the Spectral Type of your GW thruster, should you have one. In Module 3, the first gold bead produced doubles
the costs of FINAO for all players, and gold beads stored at your bank (3A3j) can be used as currency for auctions
or FINAO:
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a. 2X FINAO Costs. Failure Is Not An Option (H7e) costs are instantly and permanently doubled for all players
(including those with Open Source faction privilege) if one of these occurs:
• Either the Lofstrom Loop (2B4f) or the GEO Space Elevator (2B4i) is Anchored as a Home Bernal.
• The first gold bead of isotope fuel is produced (1C1a).
• The first ET Home Bernal (3F1) is Anchored.
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SPONTANEOUS MONETIZATION OF ISOTOPES. Inflation is caused by increases in the quantity of money. As water becomes more plentiful,
prices using water currency become inflated. Perhaps the programmers would start charging 6 Aquas instead of 4 for FINAO. An industrialist
with his wealth stored in a water depot would see his wealth diminish daily. In order to preserve his savings for future projects, he would join the
growing demand for an inflation hedge. Once enough people want to own isotopes as a robust store of value and thus are willing to accept them
in exchange for their own goods and services, others become willing to accept them too, even those with no savings and thus no need of an
inflation hedge. At some point, isotopes become money that is universally acceptable.
EXAMPLE [3B4]
Your allied opponent has a Bernal at LTO (Low Titan Orbit), with a dirtside at ontario lacus (Spectral Type D). This Factory
is connected to kraken mare (Spectral Type V), which is unclaimed. You have produced a V Black-Side refinery, and ask
your opponent to pay you an Aqua if you bring this card to LTO. She accepts. Because you are allies, she must accept the sale, but she is
allowed to renege on the 1 Aqua payment. You get 8 Aqua from the Pool (plus 1 if she does not renege). For her benefit, she takes a card
from the radiator patent deck. On her turn, she industrializes kraken mare, which becomes a new Dirtside. The no snow rule prevents you
from selling any more V cards to her Bernal.
EASILY MISSED (Module
1): You may not produce
isotope FTs without having
a GW thruster in space that
specifies the Spectral Type
(1Cb). [3B5]
FREEDOM TO ROAM
EXAMPLE 3B4

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11MODULE 3 - CONFLICT | HIGH FRONTIER 4 ALL |
b. Exchange Rate. One gold bead counts as 10 Aqua. Thus, if you pay the programmers with 1 gold bead, you
get 2 Aqua in return.
c. Isotope Spectral Type. If you receive any gold beads in a transaction, either through negotiation or in an
auction, they automatically become the Spectral Type of your GW/TW thruster in space (does not need to
be Operational). If you gain a GW/TW thruster in space, any gold beads that you hold become that Spectral
Type.
3C. War Of Independence Outbreak
As the game progresses, Factory stock prices will decrease, increasing the chance of the War of Independence
(War). There are 2 ways that the War can start: By rolling high in a war outbreak roll (3C1) or by completing a casus
belli Future (1D2c, 3C2). See 3C3 for immediate effects.
a. One War Only. War outbreak will never happen again once one bloc or the other has won the War (3F4a).
b. Determine Your Bloc. During the first War/Anarchy, Players Purple, Yellow, and White start as Loyalists (m),
while Players Green, Gray, and Red start as Independents (b).
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This bloc can change as a result of losing a
battle (3B3a) or defection (3B3c).
c. Allies and Enemies. If you are a Loyalist, during War/Anarchy all other Loyalists are allies and all Indepen-
dents are enemies. It’s the other way around if you are an Independent. Your Crew is always your ally.
d. War Effects (3D) are enacted starting with the next player’s Turn, and last until the War ends per 3F4.
e. Abilities. If a card Ability or a rule outside this Module says “during Anarchy”, this means ”during War” as well.

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ASTROLOGICAL SYMBOLS used for Earth (m) and Sol (b) also signify the Loyalist and Independence Blocs respectively. These icons were
codified during the Renaissance for zodiac cults, and are still used in the science of astronomy. Using the sun icon b as an icon for liberation
furthers the heliocentric revolution started by Copernicus, which dethrones the Earth as the center of the universe.
EXAMPLE [3B5b]
You have a mini-mag orion that you wish to take through a Hazard and need to pay the programmers. You isotope refuel
one gold bead at your M Factory, and transport this by Freighter to an opponent’s Bernal. First you negotiate and pay a
small fee in Aqua. Then you use his Bernal as a bank to pay the programmers 1 gold bead, and receive 2 Aqua in change. There happens to be
a War going on, but you are Player Gray, and your extremist delegate automatically evades the War restrictions on FINAO.
EASILY MISSED: The term
'opponent' in these rules
is used to define all other
players, not allies or
enemies. [3Cc]
Players:
Green, Gray and Red
Players:
Purple, Yellow, WhiteWhite
STARTING BLOC [3Cb]

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12| HIGH FRONTIER 4 ALL | MODULE 3 - CONFLICT
3C1. War Outbreak Roll (adds to the Industrialization Operation)
Assuming the War of Independence has not yet occurred, or during a truce (3F3), each time that an Exploitation
Track is adjusted because a new Factory is built during industrialization (I7), roll one dice (1d6) and add
the number of Seniority Disks that have been placed into the assembly (O6). If the result is greater than the
(unmodified) stock value in that category, then there is an outbreak of War at the end of that player’s Turn.
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3C2. Casus Belli Outbreak (Modules 1 & 2 Futures)
Assuming it has not yet occurred, War starts by the successful completion of a casus belli Future (1D2c), including
secession (1D5e), footfall (1D5e), pan sapiens (1D5e), and robot emancipation by uplift (1D5e).
a. If a 2nd Casus Belli is Completed, points are still scored but do not trigger War.
3C3. What Happens If War/Anarchy Breaks Out?
If either the outbreak of War occurs, or the Anarchy event (K2e) is rolled, 3 effects (3C3a,b,c) happen immediately,
and war effects (3D) start at the end of the Turn. If Anarchy occurs during War, nothing happens except for the
Purge Roll, and combat becomes optional.
a. Bloc Assignment. The players are separated into the Independence and Loyalist blocs, according to
the propaganda of their color. Assuming no defections have occurred, Players Green, Gray, and Red are
Independence, and Players Purple, Yellow, and White are Loyalists.
17

16
TIPPING POINT. The war trigger in this game depends upon the establishment of multiple factories of the same Spectral Type. This implies
both a trade war for the Earth market, and an establishment of an internal market in space. If one of the competitors in the trade war uses
Earth-based regulations or taxation to gain a competitive advantage, this could be a basis for hostilities. Such defiance is sustainable only if the
income from internal trade rivals that from imports and exports to Earth. This point, called the tipping point (hat tip to Andy Doull), heralds the
financial independence of the colonies.
17
BLOC ASSIGNMENT follows logically from ideology. Freedom and individuality favor self-reliance and a can-do attitude, and respect inde-
pendence as a virtue. Unity and authority favor community, comradeship, and patriotism and respect loyalty (often in a military chain of
command) as a virtue. Equality and honor were not so obvious, and I had trouble deciding which bloc to put them into.
EASILY MISSED (Module 2):
A war outbreak roll is not
made if the Exploitation
Track is adjusted by a Mobile
Factory landing on a Claim.
[3C1] EXAMPLE [3C1]
On Turn 36, there are 3 Seniority Disks in the political assembly. You build the first factory on an M asteroid. The stock
price on the M column drops to 8, and you make a war outbreak roll. You roll “6”, plus 3 = 9. War is declared!
STAR TOKEN [3C3b]

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13MODULE 3 - CONFLICT | HIGH FRONTIER 4 ALL |
b. Remove Star Token. Move the Active Law star into the War/Anarchy slot (yellow star) on the political
assembly. This indicates Laws cannot be made active or lobbied.
c. Purge Roll (K1e). The 1st Player rolls one dice (1d6) and consults the dice numbers printed on the assembly.
Decommission (if possible) one delegate of each player color in this Ideology. Extremists are immune!
d. Delegates. If any player has a delegate in an enemy bloc, by the end of his Turn he must either (1)
Decommission it, or (2) suborn it by placing a bribe under it (3D2b). Player White is exempt (3D6c).
e. Unanchor Independence Bernals (Module 2). If any Independence player has a Home Bernal, by the end
of his Turn he must either (1) evade the “No Home Bernal Anchor” restriction (with a petition in authority), or
(2) it is unanchored.
18
Furthermore, a Bernal without any allied Dirtsides (i.e. all of its Dirtside Factory cubes
belong to the enemy), is similarly unanchored (3E9a).
f. Desertion of Enemy Colonists (Module 2). The faction Ideology (B6b) of each Colonist determines which
bloc the Colonist is allied with (checking the propaganda in its Ideology). If at the end of your Turn you are in
one bloc, and a Colonist of yours supports the other bloc, you must either (1) evade the “No Enemy Colonists”
restriction (3D5d honor), or (2) Discard this enemy Colonist to the bottom of the queue.
• Instances of Desertion. This can happen during War/Anarchy outbreak (3C3e), whenever the Colonist’s
propaganda is flipped (3B3a,b,c), or if you defect (3B3c).
• Exomigration. If a Colonist deserts during your Turn, exomigration is possible on your following Turn.
3C4. What Is the Difference Between War & Anarchy?
Anarchy is an event (K2e) that lasts only as long as Season Blue, and combat is never mandatory. War can end in
truce (3F3) or space lord (3F4g). But otherwise, all Anarchy rules are applicable during War as well:
a. Both move the Active Law (star token) into the War/Anarchy spot in the political assembly (3C3b).
18
INDEPENDENCE HOME BERNALS. Suppose an entrepreneur makes his living selling beamed energy from a powersat Home Bernal to
customers on Earth. Unfortunately, War breaks out, and the entrepreneur has known Independence sympathies. What happens? Let’s
assume the owner has de facto control over the space station. This means, even if one or more nations claim it as their own property, this has little
effect without a boatload of marines. And a direct assault is complicated by the fact that beamed energy has obvious defensive force. On the other
hand, the owner is unlikely to risk the lives of his workers, and his expensive property, by taking offensive measures of his own. Both he and his
customers will want to continue business as usual, yet the customers will be under pressure, perhaps fines, seizures, imprisonment, to find more
expensive energy elsewhere. The net result may be that the Bernal will uproot and move out of Earth orbit, using its own dirt shield as propellant.
The empty shell is uninhabitable during its journey to a new home.
EASILY MISSED: You are
always allied with your Crew
(3Cc). [3C3f]
TIP (Module 2): If you are
Independence and have a
Home Bernal, keep a spare
generator in your Bernal
Stack, so that you will be
able to travel to a better
location in case of War.
Furthermore, if your Colonist
is a Loyalist, remember
that they will desert (3C3f).
Perhaps send them on a
risky assignment, if their
replacements are more
trustworthy. [3C3e]
EASILY MISSED: Suborn
(3D2b) is a once-per-turn
free action, so you can only
save one of your delegates in
enemy ideologies. [3C3d]
EASILY MISSED (Module 2):
If unanchored, do not forget
dirt-refuel per 3E9a. [3C3e]

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14| HIGH FRONTIER 4 ALL | MODULE 3 - CONFLICT
b. Both start with a Purge Roll (K2e).
c. Both limit some Operations and free actions by war/anarchy restrictions (3D4, 3D5).
19
d. Both forgo Discarding Colonists during unanchoring (3A3g).
e. Both allow Felonies and combat against an enemy, vendettas (3D1), corruption & suborning (3D2), and
dislodging (3D7).
f. Both disable faction privileges (B6a), and enable faction weapons (3D6).
3D. War or Anarchy
War divides the players into two blocs (3B2c), your allies and your enemies. War features restrictions (3D4, 3D5)
on boosting, free market sales, initiating research auctions, entering LEO, FINAO, promoting, retaining Colonists,
exomigration, homesteading, and remaining in a Home Bernal anchorage.
a. Combat & Felonies are allowed between enemies during both War and Anarchy.
3D1. Vendetta (War/Anarchy Only)
A vendetta is an action forbidden by exoplanetary law. You can perform one only by paying your victim a bribe
just before the relevant dice roll (just after in the case of sabotage). There are 5 kinds of vendettas: sneak attack,
sabotage, Human kamikaze, gray goo, and dropstone:
19
TYRANNY OF THE ROCKET EQUATION. In space, the economy of both war and peace is dominated by transportation costs in which it is
normal to pour 99% of the vehicular energy into the propellant, where it flies uselessly into space at high speed, and only 1% to actually
move the space vehicle. Why do they voluntarily make such a lopsided partition of energy? Because in space, where every gram matters, the fuel
economy is improved by ejecting it at high energy. All vehicles need both energy and mass to maneuver. On Earth, everyone worries about energy
(e.g. how much fuel remains), but the mass is taken for granted. In this game, the fuel is taken for granted, but the mass (propellant) is carefully
tracked. The tyranny of the rocket equation means that rockets are extremely fragile in warfare: with feeble thrusting, high energies which cannot
be cloaked, big cryotanks that can’t be armored, and components so frail as to not be able to support their own weight if they sat on Earth.
EASILY MISSED: “Opponent”
and “enemy” are not the
same. “Opponent” means
another player. “Enemy”
means another player
who is also of the opposed
bloc during War (e.g. he
is Loyalist, but you are
Independence). [3D]
EXAMPLE [3D]
You want to prospect Luna, but unfortunately the 1st Player does not give her permission. Prospecting without her
permission is a Felony and only allowed if you are allowed Felonies. Then War breaks out, and you and her are enemies
(she is a Loyalist scum!). In War, you are allowed Felonies against enemies, and so do not need her permission. But suppose you and her are
allies. Now you still need her permission. Perhaps she will accept a bribe in return for permission!
EASILY MISSED: Felonies
are not vendettas and never
require a bribe. [3D1]
EASILY MISSED: Biological
warheads and amat bombs
are not vendettas. [3D1]

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15MODULE 3 - CONFLICT | HIGH FRONTIER 4 ALL |
a. Sneak Attack. This is a treacherous attack on an ally when you flip your propaganda to the other bloc
during a defection (3B3c).
b. Sabotage. On an opponent’s turn, immediately after he makes a successful Belt, Hazard, or Epic Hazard Roll,
force him to make a reroll. FINAO can't be sabotaged.
c. Human Kamikaze. Only Player Purple may fire this weapon, which allows him to use sacrificial Humans in
combat. Paying a victim a bribe allows you unlimited use of both Human kamikazes (3E5d) and Human
dropstones (3D7c) against him that Turn.
d. Beamed Gray Goo. Only Player Gray or a player having an Anchored Pharmaceutics Bernal/Lab (2B4g) may
fire this faction weapon (3D6e), which adds 1d6 to rayguns. Your 1 bribe payment for the vendetta allows
you unlimited use of gray goo against him that Turn.
20
e. Dropstone. Any player may attack with this weapon (3D7). Only Player Purple is exempt from paying the bribe.
3D2. Delegate Corruption & Suborning (War/Anarchy Only)
A delegate becomes a corrupt delegate by placing a bribe disk under its cube. Once corrupted (by any player),
a delegate can be petitioned by any player to evade war restrictions (3D3d).
21
Furthermore, it cannot be used to
lobby (O4) and does not count as VP at the endgame (3G1). A corrupt delegate is otherwise treated as an ordinary
delegate, with the following effects during War/Anarchy only:
a. Dismissal. Unless evaded (3D3), any of your uncorrupted delegates in an enemy bloc are Decommissioned
at the end of your Turn.
b. Suborn. As a once-per-turn free action, you may corrupt an uncorrupted delegate of any color. This costs
a bribe (place under the delegate). If the delegate is not your color, this also costs 4 Aqua, paid to the Pool.
Extremists and incorruptible delegates (3D6c) cannot be suborned.
c. Propaganda Oust. If you flip a propaganda of an Ideology for any reason, you can Decommission (oust) one
corrupt delegate in that Ideology, claiming his bribe as your own.
20
GRAY GOO describes self-replicating nanomachines, which are programmed to seek and consume materials useful for their self-replication.
These machines are minute enough to be propelled by beamed energy. If a target is rich in such materials, the machines could convert it
into more gray goo. —K. Eric Drexler, Engines of Creation, 1986.
21
SLIPPERY-SLOPE EFFECT. “Because individuals more readily justify small indiscretions as opposed to major ethical, moral disengagement is likely to
occur when unethical behavior develops gradually over time rather than abruptly,” —Welsh, Ordóñez, Snyder, & Christian, The slippery slope: How
small ethical transgressions pave the way for larger future transgressions, 2015.
CORRUPT DELEGATE [3D2]

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16| HIGH FRONTIER 4 ALL | MODULE 3 - CONFLICT
d. Blackmail. If you Decommission a corrupt delegate for any reason, you claim his bribe as your own.
• Instances: Ousting (previous bullet), martial law (O5d), or recovering a cube if at your cube limit (I7f).
e. Lobbying. During War/Anarchy, all Laws are shutdown and can’t be lobbied (O4) by any delegate (corrupt
or not).
f. Evasion. A corrupt delegate can be petitioned by any player to evade restrictions (3D3d).
g. Lingering Corruption. A corrupt delegate remains corrupted after War/Anarchy ends.
3D3. Petition to Evade Restrictions (War/Anarchy Only)
Certain Operations (3D4) and certain Abilities/free actions (3D5) are restricted during War/Anarchy. Each
restricted Operation and Ability/free action is associated with a certain Ideology as listed in the Module 3 political
assembly. You are not allowed to perform any restricted Operation, Ability, or free action unless you petition (free
action) the indicated Ideology using one of these 4 types of delegates:
a. An extremist delegate of your color (or of an opponent’s color, assuming a successful negotiation (N)).
b. A delegate of your color.
c. A delegate of an ally's color, with her permission/negotiation. This includes allied extremists.
d. A corrupt delegate of any color.
EASILY MISSED: The only
enemy delegate you can
negotiate with is an enemy
extremist. [3D3a]
EVADE EXAMPLE [3D3d]
EXAMPLE [3D2f]
War breaks out and you are Independent. Now you want to boost your Bernal. You will need to evade the War restrictions
on boosting, so you spend 4 Aqua to suborn a foreign delegate in the unity Ideology.
EXAMPLE [3D3b]
Player Yellow fundraises, moving a delegate into honor. Since he holds 2 glory, he lobbies the paleoconservative directive
law as a free action. Since the lobby effects last for the Turn, this fundraise gains him 2 Aquas for the 2 glory he holds. It is
Anarchy, so there is no cost and the delegate is not lost. Player Yellow then makes a negotiation with Player Green for use of her Powersat
for movement. The restrictions against negotiating with the enemy are evaded by the yellow delegate in honor.
EXAMPLE [3D3d]
Player Green (equality) has a bunch of cards that she wishes to boost, but unfortunately there is Anarchy and boosting
is restricted. To evade this, she must petition unity, the Ideology that has the “No Boost/Homestead Ops” restriction.
Fortunately she has a delegate in centrist, so she performs a fundraise op, which gains her an Aqua and a new delegate, and
importantly allows her to move her centrist delegate to unity. Since unity is currently an enemy bloc, she is forced to pay a bribe to
corrupt her delegate there. She is finally free to boost her stuff, but unfortunately other players can use her corrupt delegate to boost
their stuff as well.

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17MODULE 3 - CONFLICT | HIGH FRONTIER 4 ALL |
3D4. War/Anarchy Restricted Operations
The following Operations are restricted, as indicated on the political assembly by the WAR stop sign .
This means you cannot perform them unless you petition a delegate to evade the restrictions (3D3):
a. Limited Free Market Operations (Freedom, extremist = Player Red). Black-Side Card sales (I3b) are not
allowed, and White-Side sales (I3a) are restricted to pay 1 Aqua per card.
b. No Boost/Homestead Operations (Unity, extremist = Player Yellow). Boost (I4) and homesteading
(2A4) operations are not allowed. You may evade this if you own or negotiate with a L3 Lofstrom Loop
(2B4f) or GEO Space Elevator (2B4i) Home Bernal.
c. No Home Bernal Anchoring (Authority, extremist = Player Purple). This restriction applies only if you
are an Independent (even if authority becomes Independent). You are not allowed to anchor (2A5) a Home
Bernal, and if you already have a Home Bernal, it becomes unanchored at the end of your next Turn.
• Elevators. Building an elevator to your ET Home Bernal in the m Earth or e Mars Zones is restricted (3F1g).
d. No Auction Operations (Equality, extremist = Player Green). Initiating a research auction (I2) is not
allowed, but participating is not restricted.
22
22
WAR GRANTS. As in any emergency, politicians use war as an opportunity to increase their own tax-based power to manipulate the careers
of scientists and engineers and the capital of businessmen into particular military endeavors, against the workers’ own individual judgments.
Although this can lead to benefits, results achieved by the seizure of freedoms must be balanced against the war-winning results that would have
been achieved had the producers been allowed to follow their own visions.
WAR EASILY MISSED: You need
to petition a delegate
to perform a restricted
operation. The uncorrupted
delegate of an ally is not
enough, unless they agree
to a negotiation. [3D4]
EXAMPLE [3D4b]
It is War, and Player Red wants to boost a card. She has no delegates, but fortunately Player Green has a corrupted
delegate in unity that she can use to evade the unity restrictions on boosting.
EXAMPLE [3D4c]
You have a Home Bernal when War breaks out. You have no delegates in authority and should spend your first War Turn
electing a delegate to authority, to avoid the unanchor of your Bernal. You are in the Loyalist bloc, but even so your Bernal
is still threatened (think of it as a war appropriation). If Player Purple has an extremist, you can ask her for permission to keep your Bernal
anchored.
EXAMPLE [3D4d]
It is War, and Player Gray wants to auction a card. He has a delegate in equality he can use to evade the equality
restrictions on auctions. All players can participate in the auction, because only initiation is restricted, not participation.

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18| HIGH FRONTIER 4 ALL | MODULE 3 - CONFLICT
e. Limited Promotion Operations (Individuality, extremist = Player Gray). Promotions (1A5, 2A3) are
not allowed in the c (Venus), m (Earth), or e (Mars) Zones.
23

3D5. War/Anarchy Restricted Abilities & Free Actions
The following Abilities and free actions are restricted, which means you cannot perform them unless you petition
a delegate to evade the restrictions (3D3):
a. No Exomigration (Freedom, extremist = Player Red). You may not exomigrate new Colonists (2A6). If
evaded, then you may exomigrate (free action) up to your wartime colonist limit (3A3g).
b. LEO No-Fly Zone (Authority, extremist = Player Purple). You may not move from space into LEO. Does
not affect boosting.
c. No Enemy Negotiation (Honor, extremist = Player White). You are restricted from granting the enemy
any negotiation (See Section N in Core). As long as Player White retains his extremist, he is allowed to
negotiate or enable negotiation at any time.
d. No Enemy Colonists (Honor, extremist = Player White). If at the end of your Turn a Colonist of yours
supports the enemy bloc (3F4a), you must Discard this enemy Colonist to the bottom of the queue.
e. No FINAO (Individuality, extremist = Player Gray). You may not perform a “failure is not an option”.
23
SPACE INVESTMENTS. One of the worst economic effects of war is that it scares away investors. Regardless of which bloc the investor
supports, risking his/her life savings on labs or other infrastructure in a time of combat and sabotage is foolish, unless it can have an
immediate war-winning impact.
EXAMPLE [3D5c]
It’s War, and you are Independence Player Red. You want to boost and humbly ask Player Yellow for permission. Player
White interrupts, pointing out that for two enemies to negotiate, they need her permission first. You end up paying her a
Hand Card, and Player Yellow a bribe chit, before boosting.
EASILY MISSED: An
Independence Home Bernal
must petition every turn
to stay anchored. [3D4c] A
petition each Turn is also
required to hold enemy
Colonists. [3D5d]

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19MODULE 3 - CONFLICT | HIGH FRONTIER 4 ALL |
3D6. Faction Weapons (new War/Anarchy Faction Ability)
As listed on your playmat (right middle), you have an additional War/Anarchy Ability called a faction weapon.
Faction weapons can only be used during War/Anarchy! If using Module 2, faction weapons, like faction privileges
(B6a), are shutdown if you have no Home Bernal or ET Home Bernal (3F1). The faction weapons are:
24
a. Player Red (capitalist freedom). Your Crew or Anchored Bernals may use jammers, which allows you to
attack first if you are the attacker (3D8e).
25
Jammers are never used if you are the defender.
b. Player Yellow (national unity). Your kamikaze attacks (3E5) use biological warheads (see Table 3E2).
c. Player White (elitist honor). Your Crew/Colonists are marines who do not need buggies to make a buggy
attack (3E4).
• Incorruptible Delegates. Player White has this Ability, which allows his delegates to never become corrupt
(If playing Module 2, he must have a Home Bernal). Thus they cannot be suborned (3D2b, 3C3d).
d. Player Green (worker equality). Your Humans and robonauts do not need a Powersat to use fighting
mirrors (3E3c).
e. Player Gray (anarchical individuality). You may use beamed gray goo (3E3a), which allows your rayguns
to roll one extra dice for their FV. Unless your target is a dropstone, you must pay your victim 1 bribe for a
vendetta (3D1d) to use beamed gray goo against him for a Turn.
f. Player Purple (socialist authority). Costs 1 Aqua to attack using an amat bomb with your Crew or
Anchored Bernal. Amat bombs are not used if you are the defender.
24
BASAL SOCIETAL UNIT (BSU) of the factions establishes a supreme collective, as follows: Yellow = The patriotic are united under a supreme
nation or religion, White = the masses pursue a code of honor under a supreme elite, Purple = all societal members are regulated under a
supreme authority, Green = the workers collectively own capital under a supreme egalitarian union, Gray = individuals are supreme in an anarchy,
Red = freedom is supreme, as values and capital are exchanged on the free market, and only the use of force is regulated.
25
JAMMING is the use of high-power electromagnetic waves on identified frequencies to disturb communication, radar detection and weapon
targeting. Factories are vulnerable to ECM jamming, particularly the teleoperation of robonauts and the delicate process of electromagnetic
slinging of products and water to orbiting spacecraft.
EASILY MISSED (Module 2):
You can use faction weapons
only during War/Anarchy
(even if allowed Felonies),
and can use faction
privileges only during peace.
Like your faction privilege
(B6a), your faction weapon
is available only if you have
an Anchored Bernal. [3D6]
EXAMPLE [3D6e]
As Player Gray, you boost 2 rayguns and their mutual generator support into your Bernal in the GEO Home Orbit. It’s War,
and an enemy Home Bernal with a rad-hardness = 6 is in the Adjacent L2 Home Orbit. You pay one bribe to your enemy,
and attack with both rayguns as beamed gray goo, rolling 3d6 with each. After subtracting the ISRU on each shot, the resulting FV is 6 and
13. Both shots achieve a zap, but the first is ineffective while the second Decommissions the Bernal with genocide.
NOTE (Module 2): If a bribed
white delegate becomes
incorruptible (due to the
anchoring of a White
Bernal), than Player White
collcts the bribe. [3D6c]

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20| HIGH FRONTIER 4 ALL | MODULE 3 - CONFLICT
• War Crimes. Player Purple has this Ability, which allows him to perform a sneak attack without paying
a bribe (3B3c), to use human kamikazes (3E5d) and manned dropstones (3D7c), and suffer no
consequences from genocide (3E2m).
3D7. Dislodge (new War/Anarchy Operation)
A dropstone is a rocket-powered boulder or iceberg sent flying into a target with the help of gravity-assist from
a flyby. The dropstone comes off of a comet or moon, which is unaffacted by the dislodge. The dropstone forms a
new Stack type (maximum of 1 allowed) and is in addition to the number of Stacks permitted (E3). For the neces-
sary midcourse corrections, this Stack must include an Operational thruster (but not fuel, since the dropstone itself
is used for propellant). The entire dropstone Stack is Decommissioned in its attack, see 3E6.
26

a. Vendetta. When it comes to the attack roll (3E6), you will need a bribe to pay the defender (3D1e).
b. To Dislodge a Dropstone takes an Operation using an Operational thruster on one of the following Spaces:
• Synodic Comets. A dropstone from one of these comets is deorbited into Sol, and on the next Turn can
move outward at a rate of one Heliocentric Zone per Turn, starting in the d Mercury Zone. It can attack
when it reaches the targeted Heliocentric Zone per 3D7f.
• Jovian Himalia Moonlets. A dropstone from one of these 4 moons is deorbited into Jupiter, and the Turn
afterwards can attack any Site or Anchored Bernal in the f Jupiter Zone per 3D7e.
27

26
PEACEFUL DROPSTONES are a potential source of energy for the inner solar system, given the enormous potential energy available between
the outer and inner planets. If the dropstone is metallic, it can be decelerated magnetically at the using end, and the kinetic energy stored
in capacitors or flywheels. In this case, the source moonlets should be close to the planet rather than far out, so that the higher orbital speed can
be used to counteract the heliocentric orbital speed. This allows the dropstone to fall and accelerate into the inner solar system, picking up vast
amounts of energy.
27
GIANT PLANET DROPSTONES. A dropstone is ejected off its moonlet in the opposite direction of the moonlet’s orbital motion, which in
combination with rocket power gradually nudging it into a highly eccentric orbit around the giant planet. To escape the giant planet, it
makes a high thrust Oberth Burn at each periapsis (closest approach). Normally the feeble thrust of the mass drivers cannot significantly nudge
the orbit of such a huge dropstone, but the Oberth thrust multiplying effect at the closest approach allows slight changes, enough to eventually
liberate it from its giant planet yet leaving it in a circular heliocentric orbit around Sol. Therefore its strike zone is very narrow and because the
dropstone is essentially ballistic, it is limited to targets not much closer or further from Sol. This is the reasoning for the rule that the stone can only
attack targets within the Heliocentric Zone of origin. A dropstone deorbited from the Jupiter Zone and making a close pass of Sol can reasonably
be expected to arrive back in the Jupiter Zone in 6 years.
TIP: For dropstone strategy,
locations, and a diagram of
a typical dropstone helio-
centric orbit, see 3H3. [3D7]
JOVIAN HIMALIA MOONLETS
[3D7b]
EASILY MISSED: You can
even dislodge from the
special synodic comet
kreutz sungrazer (B7k)
(the thrusters will set the
stone’s course just before
they melt). [3D7b]

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21MODULE 3 - CONFLICT | HIGH FRONTIER 4 ALL |
• Saturnian Norse Moonlets & Methone. A dropstone from one of these 6 moons is deorbited into
Saturn, and the Turn afterwards can attack any Site or Anchored Bernal in the g Saturn Zone.
• Uranian Setebos/Sycorax/Prospero Moonlets. A dropstone from one of these moons is deorbited into
Uranus, and the Turn afterwards can attack any Site or Anchored Bernal in the l Uranus Zone.
• Frostline Dislodge. A dropstone dislodged as a tank of water from a Spacecraft can target explosive
ice worlds (3D7g), where the impacting water causes a chain reaction.
28
The Spacecraft must be in the
k Ceres or f Jupiter Zones, but not on a Site, and must expend either 5 FT or 5 tanks of water fuel in the
dislodge operation.
29
c. Dropstone Stack. Move non-Human cards at the Site into the dropstone Stack. (This is the only time,
other than Decommissioning, that Tokens may be moved into or out of a dropstone Stack.) The dropstone
Stack must contain an Operational thruster (however the thruster does not need any cooling, as the rock
itself supplies all the Therms required). This thruster must be of a certain type, depending upon whether the
dropstone is made of ice or rock:
• Dropstone From Hydration 4 Sites. This dropstone is an iceberg, and the dropstone thruster must be
non-Human with a base thrust (B2d) of 3 or higher.
• Dropstone From Other Sites. This dropstone is a boulder, and the dropstone thruster must be a non-
Human dirt thruster with a base thrust of 3 or higher.
28
EXPLODING WORLDS. For reasons that remain mysterious, comets sometimes spontaneously explode into activity that dies down in a few
days. The most recent, as I write this, was the Dec 2019 outburst from Comet Wirtanen. In 2005, the venting of water from Comet Tempel
1 increased 250%, averaging 40,000 tonnes per day. This was 5 days after a 19 GJ impact by the deep impact spacecraft, which itself made a
spectacular flash, the luminosity of which is still debated, but included water ejected from 1 meter below the silicate layer. Comets can suddenly
disintegrate, even well beyond the frostline where no significant solar heating trigger could occur. Some of the better known fragmenting comets
include Borisov (an interstellar comet), Schwassmann–Wachmann, and Biela's Comet. The distant centaur Echeclus has undergone frequent
outbursts, and the ejection of a huge chunk (see map,11:00g). Part of the answer may lie in the crystallization of ice from its non-crystallized forms,
which might release enough energy for a chain reaction.
29
FROSTLINE defines the boundary where simple molecules condense (dihydrogen H2, dinitrogen N2, dichlorine Cl2, water H2O, ammonia
NH3, hydrogen sulfide H2S, carbon dioxide CO2, methane CH4, ethane C2H6). This line is a little less than 5 AU from Sol, well beyond the as-
teroid belt and just before the orbit of Jupiter. It marks the clear separation between the terrestrial planets and the gas planets. Beyond the frostline,
with temperatures below 130K, ice remains on the surface rather than slowly subliming into space. The ice phase that dominates in the outer solar
system is low density amorphous ice (ASW), quite distinct from the hexagonal crystalline ice found everywhere on Earth.
SATURNIAN METHONE
MOONLET [3D7b]
SATURNIAN NORSE MOONLETS [3D7b]
URANUS SYCORAX GROUP [3D7b]

---

22| HIGH FRONTIER 4 ALL | MODULE 3 - CONFLICT
• Frostline Dropstone. This dropstone is a 200 tonne tank of water (5 FTs), and the dropstone thruster must
be a non-Human water thruster with a base thrust of 3 or higher. Fuel is not tracked. (The impactor must be
water, since only water can set off the runaway crystallization
30
at the target.)
• GW/TW Dropstone Thruster. Alternatively, the dropstone thruster for any dropstone can be a GW/TW
thruster of any thrust. A single gold FT of isotope fuel must be carried.
• Solar-Power. If the dropstone thruster is Solar-Powered, modify the base thrust by the stack’s Heliocentric
Zone modifier at the dislodgement Site for the above thrust requirements.
• No Manned Dropstones. Only the dropstone Stack of Player Purple (3D1c) can be created with Crew or
other Humans.
• Only One Dropstone. You are allowed to have only one dropstone Stack at any time.
d. Dropstone Insertion (1st Turn). Once dislodged, a dropstone token of your color must be placed upon
the flyby of the appropriate giant planet (or the solar oberth flyby (H8e) in the case of Synodic dropstones).
• High Velocity. Once underway, the dropstone is in a highly-eccentric-orbit, which disallows any Tokens to
land or liftoff it (exception: dive-bomb kamikaze, 3E5e). You can Decommission your cards on a dropstone.
• Combat/Events: Flyby or Space Oberth Flyby. In one of these Spaces, the dropstone can be range
attacked or suffer events as a Site target. Thereafter, it can only suffer events. The entire Stack is Decommis-
sioned if its thruster becomes non-operational.
30
RUNAWAY CRYSTALLIZATION can occur on worlds covered by unstable low density amorphous ice (ASW). This may explain why Comet
Holmes suddenly erupted in 2007, increasing its brightness by a factor of half a million over two days as it ejected 100 million tons of dust.
Metastable ASW worlds are common at the Frostline (previous footnote), where the solar temperatures are barely below the limit where more
stable crystalline phases of ice can form. Even at higher temperatures, ASW can form if it is flash-frozen as snow, more rapidly than the crystals can
align. Known worlds with mixtures of crystalline and amorphous ice have a Hazard labeled “runaway ice crystallization” on the map. The reaction
converting ASW into crystalline ice is exothermic, releasing over 28 GJ/tonne, making it 6 times more energetic than TNT. Because of its heat of re-
action and its high surface area, ASW snow might sustain a chain reaction that could involve the entire world, creating another Comet Holmes. This
reminds me of the plot of the science fiction novel “Cat’s Cradle” by Kurt Vonnegutt, in which the oceans of Earth are frozen by a few seed crystals of
ice-9, a fictitious more stable phase of water.
EXAMPLE [3D7c]
The dropstone from the previous example is placed into the Jupiter flyby on its turn of dislodgement. The enemy moves a
ship to a radiation belt Adjacent to the flyby and opens fire with two rayguns, taking out the generator. This Decommissions
the dropstone.
EXAMPLE [3D7b]
You dislodge a dropstone from himalia with a spheromak GW thruster plus its support (an electric generator with a
reactor support and remember that the cooling requirements are ignored).
DROPSTONE TOKEN [3D7c]
DROPSTONE AT SOLAR OBERTH
[3D7c]
EASILY MISSED: The solar
oberth is a Hazard space,
so a synodic dropstone
must roll for Decommission
or pay FINAO. [3D7d]

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23MODULE 3 - CONFLICT | HIGH FRONTIER 4 ALL |
e. Dropstone Arrival (Giant Planet Flyby 2nd Turn). On its 2nd Turn, this Dropstone must be moved to a
Space, which can be any Site or Anchored Bernal in the specified Heliocentric Zone (3D7b).
31
f. Dropstone Movement/Arrival (Synodic Dropstone 2nd Turn). A dropstone dislodged from a Synodic
Comet must on its 2nd Turn move from the solar oberth (d Zone) into the c Venus Heliocentric Zone spot
(see illustration in example 3E6). On each Turn thereafter, the dropstone has only 2 options: (1) Attack any
Site or Anchored Bernal in the Zone it occupies, or (2) move to the next Zone spot on the map further from
Sol. However, it cannot attack targets in a Heliocentric Zone further from Sol than the Site it was dislodged in.
g. Dropstone Movement/Arrival (Frostline Dropstones). The attack proceeds as if it were a Synodic Drop-
stone (previous bullet). However, the target can only be the Tokens (Factory, Colony, Outposts) on a Site that
is Hydration 3 or 4 in the k Ceres or f Jupiter Zones.
32
A Bernal in one of these Zones may also be targeted.
• Exploding Worlds. If a frostline dropstone achieves a Damage result, instead Decommission/Discard all
cards and Tokens and place a busted disk on the Site. This can create Genocide (3E2m) or exploitation adjust.
h. One Pass. Once moved to a Site or Anchored Bernal, the dropstone Stack is Decommissioned at the end of
the Turn. It is also Decommissioned if the War/Anarchy ends before it reaches its target.

3D8. Combat (War/Anarchy only)
Combat is the firing of weapons between Independence and Loyalist players. This is part of movement but must
occur after all movement before a Turn is completed. Combat takes place between players with Colocated or Ad-
jacent Stacks. During Anarchy (K2e), combat is optional. During War, it is mandatory (except for specified weapons
and ranged attacks).
31
DROPSTONE IMPACT. A 5 megatonne iceberg 100 meters in diameter, accelerated by a delta-v of 2.5 km/sec (one Burn), impacts with a force
more than ten of the largest nuclear bombs ever detonated. Most of this delta-v comes from the gravity assist, and the target velocity, as the
mass drivers can only impart a feeble velocity change to the big chunk of ice.
32
AMORPHOUS WATER can occur in various solid and liquid forms, the most common being low density amorphous water (ASW). It forms
around seeds of very cold dust, and can maintain its liquid form at temperatures between 140 and 210K. It is more viscous than normal
liquid water, and is thought to explode if exposed to seed crystals of normal ice. Water rapidly cooled (over 10,000K/sec) below 77K forms hyper-
quenched glassy water, a quasi-stable form that can be stored for years. High density amorphous ice is formed by squeezing normal ice to 16000
atm at temperatures under 77K. Even if the pressure is restored to ambient, it retains its high density form (1.17 g/cm3). This type of ice can form at
temperatures of 30K but low pressure on seeds of interstellar grains, of interest to the panspermia theory. An even higher density form (1.26 g/cm3)
is called very-high density amorphous ice. All of these forms may be implicated in explosions noted at frostline temperatures.
EASILY MISSED (Module 1):
Per 1B6a, A Mobile Factory
moves, attacks, and defends
as a Spacecraft if not sitting
on a Claim. If on a Claim,
it attacks and defends as
a Factory, including the
Factory gun. [3D8]
Himalia
dropstone
on its 2nd
Turn.
VALHALLA ATTACKED! [3D7d]

---

24| HIGH FRONTIER 4 ALL | MODULE 3 - CONFLICT
a. Combat Sequence of Play is generally:
• Complete All Movement. Do not forget to halt when entering an enemy’s Space (3A3d). If you start your
move on an enemy occupied space and choose to attack, you cannot move further that Turn.
• Choose first/next defending space. You may attack a defending space only once/Turn (using all weapons).
• Resolve Glitch Triggers if any attackers or defenders have a Glitch Token.
• Determine Who Fires First? In each battle, both the attacker and defender can fire all their unfired weapons.
• All Defender Weapons Fire. Each defending weapon may fire once per Turn, only against the attacker.
• All Attacker Weapons Fire. Each attacking weapon may fire once per Turn, only against the defending space.
b. Choosing Defending Space. To initiate combat, choose a single space with enemy Tokens which you can
attack with weapons which have not yet been fired this Turn. All the enemy Tokens participate.
c. Attackers & Defenders. On your Turn, you are the attacker, and all enemies on the defending Space are
defenders. Your allies do not participate in the attack.
d. Glitch Trigger. Combat is a Glitch Trigger for all attacking and defending Stacks.
e. Combat Order. If the attacker uses a raygun, jammers (3D6a), or a sneak attack (3B3c), he fires first.
Otherwise, the defender fires first.
f. LEO and Submarine Factories & Colonies cannot attack or be attacked, but other cards on a Submarine
Site can be, and can use a Submarine Colony to count as a manned Site (target column F of Table 3E2).
g. Total War. As the attacker in War, you must attack all enemies in the defending space that you are able to fire
upon. The defending space must fire upon all Colocated attackers. However, both the attacker and defender
are not forced to fire with weapons firing at range (3E3), kamikaze weapons (3E5), or amat bombs (3E3d).
EXAMPLE [3D8e]
In the previous example, you must target what is left of the Freighter (the Outpost). You cannot switch your attack to the
Factory. Since you have a raygun, you fire first, and Decommission the target.
EXAMPLE [3D8g] In the previous example, the defending Factory can now fire its gun, which destroys your Rocket.
EXAMPLE [3D8d]
In the previous example, the Freighter has a Glitch and so must make a Glitch Roll. This destroys the Freighter, leaving its
Cargo as an Outpost.
EXAMPLE [3D8b]
You have landed a raygun on an enemy Factory. An enemy Freighter is orbiting overhead, so you have two potential
targets. Since the Factory is a pretty tough target, you choose the Freighter as the defending space.
EASILY MISSED: Combat is
part of movement, and free
actions (G) are disallowed
during movement (H1c).
Accordingly, free actions
such as jettison cargo,
deposit glory at LEO, and
the epic hazard operation
(1A6) to claim a Futures
Star, are not allowed during
movement/combat. [3D8a]
SUBMARINE ICON [3D8f]

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25MODULE 3 - CONFLICT | HIGH FRONTIER 4 ALL |
h. Combat Results. For each combat, follow the firing procedure (3E1), rolling on the Firing Results Table
(3E2) to see if your attack succeeds against the target. If successful, see 3D9.
33
i. POWs & Post Battle Decommissions. Directly after the battle, Human POWs can be claimed by a manned
and victorious attacker per 3D9c. Then both the attacker and defender can Decommission surviving non-
Human cards. This can be useful to prevent further victorious attacks by the enemy.
3D9. Victorious Attacks (War/Anarchy only)
An attack is defined as all combat in a Turn against a single defending space (3D8b), regardless how many
weapons you roll for in your attack. If you are the attacker and your attack causes damage, unanchoring, or
Decommission(s) on a defending space, your attack is called a victorious attack. A victorious attack has the
potentially war-winning effect to flip an enemy propaganda:
a. Flip Enemy Propaganda. You must flip a non-extremist enemy propaganda if any exist. If none exist, flip an
extremist, and if possible it must be the extremist propaganda of the player who you defeated in combat.
b. War Hero. If the defender you defeated has glory chits in Reserves, you may steal one (of his choice).
33
SPACE COMBAT. For military purposes, a rocket is like a Zeppelin: huge, fragile, impractical to armor or camouflage. Its only advantage
compared to a ground base is its maneuverability, but a rocket with enough propellant for a useful delta-v is bound to have an acceleration
measured in milligravities. Unless on its last gasp of propellant, it’s about as nimble as the Titanic. In contrast, a hardened asteroidal Site is practically
indestructible, honeycombed with cavities hiding the laser, control system, and power storage (flywheels or fuel cells). A facility's staff is housed
underground for protection against ambient radiation, so even a surprise attack would face 5 meters of dirt. A laser sized to take out rockets would
make tiny pocks in the layer of regolith covering the facility. Each kilowatt-second heats a kilogram of rock about one degree K, and even a size 1
asteroid has 10^16 kg of rock! Moreover, lasers are so inefficient that each shot pours more energy (as waste heat) into yourself than the target. A
fort can reject that heat to its nightside, without the radiators needed by rockets. Forts track targets using a phased array radar spread out to defend
against lasers and missiles. –H. Keith Henson, L5 News, 1979.
EASILY MISSED: For an
attack to be considered
victorious, you must be
the attacker, never the
defender. [3D9]
EASILY MISSED: A victorious
attack is the only way to flip
an extremist propaganda
and to win a War. [3D9a]
EXAMPLE [3D9a]
Your dropstone damages a colonized Yellow Factory and the collateral roll removes 3 Outpost cards. After paying a bribe,
you flip the Yellow propaganda, which is the last Loyalist propaganda, ending the War with an Independence victory.
EXAMPLE [3D8h]
In the preceding 4 examples, suppose you had a gun instead of a raygun. The order of combat would be: (1) Choose
defending space (the Freighter), (2) Resolve Glitches, (3) Because you do not have jammers or a raygun, the defender fires
first. The Freighter has no weapons, but the Factory is allowed to fire even though it was not targeted. (4) Assuming you survive the
projectile from the Factory, you roll for your fire against the Freighter.

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26| HIGH FRONTIER 4 ALL | MODULE 3 - CONFLICT
c. POW Chit. If your victorious attack with Humans was against a Colocated Stack(s) with Crew/Colonists, and
after combat the defeated Stack(s) have no Operational thruster other than a Crew thruster, then you must
claim the Humans as prisoners of war. Transfer the prisoners to your Stack and place a POW chit on them.
This POW chit counts as a 0 VP Glory chit, but is flipped and stored on its 2VP side if brought to your bank in a
ticker tape parade (La) before the end of War/Anarchy. This returns the Crew/Colonist to the owner's bank.
d. POWs count as Humans (e.g. Glitch Repair) but otherwise provide no services and don’t count against
colonist limits. If abandoned, mark their position on the map using their POW chit. They are Discarded if
Decommissioned. They are also Discarded during peacetime (3F4e) or if “liberated” via ticker tape parade.
3E. Combat Battles
Combat is resolved one battle at a time, in which a battle is the exchange of fire between the defender's weapons
and the attacker's weapons. Either the attacker or defender rolls first for combat (see 3D8e). When it is time for
a player to roll for combat in a battle, he is called the firing player and must roll for each of his unused allowable
weapons, in any order he chooses. The other player is the targeted player.
34
a. LEO Security Zone. Combat is not allowed within, into, or out of LEO.
3E1. Firing Procedure
When it is your time to fire in a battle, roll for each of your weapons in any chosen order:
34
COMBAT ROCKETS. Rockets in the game can be visualized as giant cans of water zipping through space, barely influenced by feeble
puttering engines. If manned, the crew sits in the middle of all that water for radiation protection. What would an upgraded military version
be like? Perhaps a much more powerful engine? Unfortunately, high thrust engines expend a lot of water. A high thrust fighter would need vastly
more water for the same delta-v, and end up just as a fatter version with the same turtle performance. Rockets are inherently fragile, unstealthy, and
unmaneuverable. A rocket specialized for combat might trade-off its vulnerable radiators in favor of open cycle cooling, which would make it even
more of a propellant hog but would at least not make it much less maneuverable.
EASILY MISSED: It is a
Felony to execute POWs, but
everyone is allowed Felonies
against enemies during War/
Anarchy. [3D9d]
EXAMPLE [3E]
Your Rocket is a kuck mosquito powered by a project orion reactor. The reactor needs one Therm of cooling, provided by a
bubble membrane. On your Turn, you land on Ganymede where the enemy has an Outpost. You fire on the Outpost using the
gun for the project orion (Orion has a gun since its Rad-Hard >= 8). Then for your operation you prospect using the mosquito. Notice that
the single Therm supplied by the bubble was able to cool the reactor during both movement (including combat), and operations for that
Turn. If you had lost the bubble during combat, this would prevent your subsequent gun combat and prospecting operation.
COOLING EXAMPLE [3E]
POW CHIT [3D9c]

---

27MODULE 3 - CONFLICT | HIGH FRONTIER 4 ALL |
a. Operational. Weapon effects are resolved immediately and must be Operational at that moment to be fired.
If a weapon is Decommissioned or becomes non-operational before it is fired, it cannot fire.
b. Combined Arms. All weapons able to make a combat roll must do so, except:
• Allies Of The Attacker do not fight (until their Turn).
• Weapons Firing from Adjacent Spaces (3E3) are always optional to fire.
• Kamikazes (3E5) & Amat Bombs (3E3d) are always optional to fire (unless dive-bombing, 3E5e).
• Firing Solutions. Some weapons can fire in more than one way (e.g. ablative nozzles can kamikaze or fire
its gun). If so the owner chooses which way to fire, except that dive-bombing kamikazes (3E5e) must attack
as kamikazes, and a dropstone stack must attack a Site or Bernal as a dropstone.
• Cooling. All of your weapons are considered to fire simultaneously during the combat phase. Thus, if one of
your weapons needs cooling, it cannot share a Therm being used by another weapon that is firing.
c. Usage. A weapon which rolls for combat is considered fired. A weapon can fire once per Turn (whether
attacker or defender).
• Supports. As in Core (J1b), a single non-radiator support can service multiple weapons. However, a support
used to service a firing weapon (e.g. project orion) counts as fired and cannot also be fired as a weapon.
d. Range / Target. Ranged weapons can target Adjacent (with limits as listed) or their own Spaces. Non-ranged
weapons can target their own Space only.
e. Firing Results. See 3E2. If an attack is successful, see 3D9.
35
3E2. Firing Results Table
Each weapon fired (column A) makes one roll on this chart per Turn. Weapons may be ranged (column B) and/
or allow the attacker to fire first (column C). Roll to determine the fire value (FV, column D), and determine the
effect(s) according to where the target is located (columns E, F, G). Effects are applied if the FV is in the listed range.
All Colocated enemy Tokens and cards are targeted!
35
PASSIVE ARMOR is impractical for space rockets because of the large surface areas of fuel tanks and radiators. A layer of aluminum 1 cm thick
masses 13 tonnes for a single game liquid hydrogen tank, and a typical high thrust rocket will need many such tanks. To similarly armor a
typical radiator takes 80 to 160 tonnes (Mass = 2 to 4), and a rocket with a high fuel economy will need several. Such flimsy armor would not stop a
rifle bullet, let alone a meteor. Rather than armor, spaceships will require lightweight leak detection and automated active repair.
EASILY MISSED: Hazards
don't count towards
Adjacency for a ranged
attack. See Example 3E3a.
[3E1d]
REMEMBER: A Turn is
defined in the glossary as
the player turn phase (D1),
not the 1 year interval on
the Sunspot Cycle. [3E1c]

---

TARGET EFFECTS TARGET EFFECTS EFFECTS
RAYGUN (3Ea)
Yes (if non-
atmospheric
& not
connected
by buggy
road) Attacker
2d6 minus ISRU.
(3d6 minus ISRU if
beamed gra y goo).
-2 FV if Sit e has A djacent Crash Hazar d(s)
6+: , ,7+: , 1+: Zap
GUN (3E3b)
(cards with RH = 8+)
Defender
Firing RH minus 2d6.
(Factory gun = RH 8). 1+: , ,4+: , 1+: Overload,
FIGHTING MIRROR
(needs P owersat)
(3E3c)
Defender 2d6 minus ISRU.
-2 FV if Sit e has Adjacent Crash Hazard(s)
7+: , ,8+: , 1+: Zap
BUGGY (3E4)
Yes (if
connected by
buggy road)
Defender 2d6 minus ISRU.
1-2: ,1-4: ,
6+:
3+: , 5+: ,
KAMIKAZE (3E5)
(needs thrust er)No Defender
Base thrust minus 1d6
(Decommission
kamikaze stack).
1+: , ,5+: , 1+: Overload,
DROPSTONE (3E6)No
Defender
2d6
3-4: , ,3-7: ,
5+:
AMAT BOMB (3E3d) Yes
5+: , , 8+: ,
CAP
+5 FV if biological warhead
Attacker
28| HIGH FRONTIER 4 ALL | MODULE 3 - CONFLICT
FIRING RESULTS TABLE LEGEND
a. X-Y: is the range of fire values (FV) required to achieve the effect. (X+ means any value X or higher).
b. RH is short for rad-hardness (B2j).
c. 2d6 = the sum of the roll of 2 dice.
d. Overload causes a number of Glitch Rolls equal to the fire value (FV). All Stacks in the targeted Space are
affected, regardless of Human presence. Apply the result of each roll to the combined target Stack(s).
e. Unanchor . The targeted Bernal suffers the effects of (3E9a), including moving or removing its dome.
If already unanchored, it receives a Glitch disk.
f. Zap. Decommission 1 card, chosen by the firer, with rad-hardness less than the fire value. If an Anchored
Bernal is Decommissioned, this is genocide (3E2m).
g. Damage . If an undamaged Factory is present, place a damage chit to show it is damaged (3E7c).
h. Glitch . Place a Glitch (red disk) on each enemy Stack.
EASILY MISSED: An overload
is not affected by the pres-
ence of a Glitch disk, nor
does it place a Glitch. Cards
with a RH > 6 are immune to
overload. [3E2d]
REMEMBER: A Glitch Roll
Decommissions all target
cards with the matching
rad-hardness. [3E2d, i]
DAMAGE CHIT [3E2g]

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29MODULE 3 - CONFLICT | HIGH FRONTIER 4 ALL |
i. Collateral . Make a Glitch Roll.
36
j. Destroy has these effects:
• Decommission Cube. If a Factory is present, remove it and adjust the relevant Exploitation Track.
• Decommission Domes. If a Colony is present, remove it. This is genocide (3E2m).
• Unanchor Bernals. If this leaves a Bernal with no Adjacent Dirtsides, it is unanchored (3E9a).
• Discard Elevators. If at the end of a Turn a Space Elevator has no attached Factories, it is destroyed (1B9f).
k. Capture
CAP
. If a Factory is present, swap its cube with one of your color, subject to cube availability (I7f).
This becomes a maverick factory (3E8). All enemy FTs at the Site are confiscated. All enemy cards at the Site
are Decommissioned.
l. Target Column. Modifiers to the fire value and combat effects depend on the target column (E, F, or G):
• Unmanned Site (column E). Targets on a Site with no enemy Humans (including no Colonies or Bernals).
• Manned Site (column F). Targets on a Site that include enemy Humans.
• Space (column G). Any other location.
m. Genocide. In combat, if you remove a Colony dome from a Site or an Anchored Bernal (see 3E9a), you suffer
the loss of all remaining bribes (given to the victim), non-extremist delegates (O2a), and heroism chits (B3).
37
36
COLLATERAL DAMAGE. All facilities on asteroids or moons that are intended for humans to live or work will need to be at least 5 meters
underground, due to the harsh ambient space radiation. Space dwellers are troglodytes. Accordingly, ground facilities are automatically
hardened against surprise attack, although the mass drivers for factory-assist and the rectennas or solar panels for energy would still be vulnerable
to damage. Due to the transparency of space, a ground facility will have months or years to prepare for a non-surprise attack, including laser or
missile countermeasures, decoys, and clandestine moving of the facility. Unlike spaceships, facilities on the ground can use mobility, armor, decoys,
radiator-less heat rejection, and camouflage.
37
GENOCIDE. In this game, it would be a catastrophic stigma to a bloc if they were responsible for mass civilian deaths, especially in space
where every life has immense economic value and investment. It is safe to say that the bloc that sacrifices the moral high ground or gains a
reputation for being callous of lives has lost the War.
EASILY MISSED (Combat
Decommission): If you
Decommission a heavy
radiator, orient it to its
light side. If a thruster is
Decommissioned, you may
convert its Fuel into FTs. If
a Crew, Colonist, or Bernal
is Decommissioned, return
it to your bank. [3E2f, 3E2i]
EXAMPLE [3E]
Your Rocket containing project orion lands on an unmanned enemy Factory. The defending Factory fires first with its
gun, rolling 2d6 = 5, for an FV = 8 - 5 = 3, This makes 3 Glitch Rolls on orion’s stack: 3, 5, & 6, removing its de laval
thruster (RH = 6). But the orion reactor itself (RH = 8) survives with its radiator support, and fires its gun at the Factory, rolling 2d6
= 8, for an FV = 8 - 8 = 0. This is a miss. But your Rocket also has convict colonists (RH = 4), who survived the defensive fire. They
deploy their buggy (ISRU = 4) to attack, rolling 2d6 = 8 - 4 = 4. This is enough to both damage the Factory with a busted disk, then
capture it. You replace the cube with one of your color, leaving the Exploitation Track unchanged.
TIP: War makes buggy and
raygun robonauts more
important. [3E2l]

---

30| HIGH FRONTIER 4 ALL | MODULE 3 - CONFLICT
3E3. Ranged Weapons
A ranged weapon is unique in that it can be fired against Adjacent as well as Colocated targets. Firing against an
Adjacent target is always optional. A ranged shot can be blocked two ways: (1) if the Adjacent Target is linked to
the firer by a buggy road regardless of other connections (the horizon gets in the way). or (2) the Adjacent target
or firer is on an Atmospheric Site (the shot is lost in thermal ballooning). Ranged weapons include:
a. Raygun is any ISRU platform with the raygun icon (I6a).
38
Firing with at least one raygun is signficant in the
combat order for all your weapons (3D8e).
• Fire Value is 2d6 minus the raygun's ISRU. If firing beamed gray goo (3D6e), roll 3d6 instead of 2d6.
• Modifiers. If the target is a Site (manned or unmanned) with any Adjacent Crash Hazards, subtract 2 from
fire value (regardless of the number of Hazards).
39

38
PARTICLE BEAMS are formed by accelerating charged ions electromagnetically. Such ions are found in the exhaust of most rock-
ets, especially electric ones. Because ions are mutually repellent, they diverge greatly once out of the nozzle, making them use-
less for power transmission or combat over long range. To stop the divergence, an ion beam must be neutralized in one of three ways:
charge exchange, electron beams, or lasers. The first causes unacceptable losses in mass and divergence for our purposes, and the last
would double the power required. Electron beam neutralization fires a beam of electrons at the same velocity as the beam of positive
ions exiting the nozzle, whereupon they recombine to form neutral atoms. Once neutralized, a beam can no longer be aimed, focused,
or accelerated. To minimize divergence, the ions with the lowest ionization energy per mass, accelerated to the highest energies are
best. Cesium (Cs), for example, has an ionization energy of just 3.89 eV while having a mass of 133 g/mol. At 250 MeV of energy, a Cs
beam would have a minimum divergence of 0.86 nanoradians. Assuming a 10m long accelerator with current technology and an ion
source designed to minimize divergence, this beam would have an overall divergence of 40.5 nanoradians. It could cross 1000 km in
50 microseconds and remain focused on a spot 8.1 cm wide. Better focused beams can be achieved if negatively-charged ions are ac-
celerated for neutralization instead of electrons. At the extreme ranges in the game, in which each pivot is 16.6 light minutes, a particle
beam will need to be channeled with a laser beam (see left) to encourage the beam to condense and thus reduce divergence by 42%.
A laser-coupled cesium-iodine beam attains a divergence of 0.035 nrad, allowing a spot size of 3.5 cm over a million km (several light
seconds). –Malik Matterbeam, ToughSF: Particle Beams In Space, 2019.
39
LANDING/LIFTOFF HAZARDS include rapid spin, signifying an asteroid with a day that is less than 5.5 hours. This complicates
firing solutions and facilitates hiding or safely deploying phased array radar while on the farside.
EXAMPLE [3E3a]
Your big ship with 2 rayguns moves into the intersection shown outside kleopatra, where an enemy manned rocket
belonging to Player Red has just landed. The 2 Hazards do not count towards Adjacency, so you may open fire. Your
rayguns allow you the first shots. The first raygun rolls 8 minus its ISRU of 3 and minus 2 more for the Hazard modifier equals 3. This
is not quite high enough since a manned site needs a FV of 4+ to attain a collateral roll combat effect. The second raygun also
misses, and then the defender fires their own raygun.
RAYGUN ICON [3E3a]
Yellow dotted line
shows path of
raygun beam.
RAYGUN EXAMPLE [3E3a]
ToughSF, Laser-Coupled Particle Beam

---

31MODULE 3 - CONFLICT | HIGH FRONTIER 4 ALL |
b. Gun is any card with a rad-hardness of 8 or higher. Furthermore, each Factory has a gun, firing with a
rad-hardness of 8.
40
• Fire Value is the rad-hardness of the gun (Factories use RH = 8) minus 2d6.
• Modifiers. None.
c. Fighting Mirror is any card with an ISRU platform that receives beamed power via the Powersat privilege,
which can be negotiated (N4a). A fighting mirror must be in space; it will not work on a Site.
41
• Fire Value is 2d6 minus the mirror's ISRU.
• Modifiers. If the target is a Site (manned or unmanned) with any Adjacent Crash Hazards, subtract 2 from
fire value (regardless of the number of Hazards).
d. Antimatter (Amat) Bombs can be fired as a faction weapon (3D6f) by the Crew and Bernal cards of Player
Purple. If a player has an Antimatter Bernal Lab, his Crew and Bernals can fire amat bombs without cost.
• Cost. You must pay 1 Aqua to fire this weapon. Like all costly weapons, its use is always optional.
• Limits. Amat bombs cannot be fired at space targets other than Bernals.
• Fire Value is 2d6.
• Modifiers. None.
e. Buggies. See 3E4a.
40
FACTORY GUN is actually a repurposed coilgun or mass driver designed for factory-assisted launches of spacecraft or products from the
factory site. A factory could also deploy a flotilla of orbital fighting mirrors, each capable of reflecting a diffuse portion of a laser shot, giving it
a vastly superior range over comparable lasers on a rocket.
41
FIGHTING MIRROR is a mirrored concentrator, directing and focusing laser beams from a distant source onto a target. The larger the adaptive
optics, the larger the range. Diffraction gratings or chirped mirrors install negative dispersion to offset the positive dispersion of the laser
medium. As a weapon, lasers have the considerable advantage that they can fight without sacrificing mass, but their disadvantage is that they
generate more energy as waste heat than they can direct at a target. A fighting mirror overcomes this disadvantage by mounting the laser on a
huge heatsink, such as an asteroid, and using fighting mirrors closer to the target to do the work.
EXAMPLE [3E3b]
Your 2 buggies (1 of which is your Crew) storm an enemy Factory. She fires first with her factory gun, rolling snake eyes (2).
Thus her FV is 8 - 2 = 6. For her collateral roll, she rolls a 4. Both of your buggies have RH = 4, and both are Decommissioned.
EXAMPLE [3E3c]
You have a Powersat Home Bernal, which allows your robonaut in the gefion family barycenter to attack Ceres. The
Submarine Factory/Colony is underwater and safe from attack, but the enemy has an Outpost there. You make a 1d6
collateral roll = 3. This Decommissions the 2 Outpost cards that have RH = 3.
EASILY MISSED: Abilities
that adjust the ISRU (e.g.
divining nubots) are
relevant in ranged combat.
[3E3a,c]
Buggy Platform
ISRU
Missile Platform
Raygun Platform
ISRU PLATFORMS (3F4a,c, e)
EASILY MISSED: An ISRU
platform does not need
the push icon to be used as
a fighting mirror. [3E3c]

---

32| HIGH FRONTIER 4 ALL | MODULE 3 - CONFLICT
3E4. Buggy Weapons
Buggy weapons are any ISRU platforms with the buggy icon (I6b). Firing with a buggy simulates storming a facili-
ty with remotely-piloted vehicles.
42
a. Limits (Sites). The target must be on a Site either Colocated or accessible along a buggy road (B7f). Thus, a
buggy road makes a buggy into a ranged weapon (3E3) which defends as a manned Site if it originates from
a manned stack.
b. Limits (Space). Buggies cannot be deployed against space targets other than Bernals.
c. Fire Value is 2d6 minus the buggy’s ISRU.
d. Modifiers. None.
42
INFINITE PROPELLANT. All vehicles require mass to maneuver, but a ground vehicle enjoys nearly infinite propellant (but not infinite fuel). If
a buggy wants to go in one direction, its wheels push the asteroid it is on in the other direction, causing it to spin ever so slightly. Thus the
buggy is using the entire asteroid as reaction mass. Applying conservation of energy and conservation of momentum means that essentially all
the buggy’s energy goes into moving the vehicle, compared to a rocket in which almost all the energy goes into moving the propellant. A typical
airplane is halfway between these extremes, expending about half its energy moving itself, and the other half moving air backwards with its jets
or propeller. But an airplane also enjoys infinite propellant, and can turn circles, loop, barrel roll, stall, swoop, and other maneuvers essentially
forbidden to a rocket. A rocket can readily change the direction its nose is pointing, but unlike airplanes, rockets do not travel the direction they are
pointed. A typical rocket in the game using its full thrust to turn may produce a noticeable change in direction only after hours of observation.
TIP: Buggies and jammers
are a deadly combination
against Factories. [3E4]
EXAMPLE [3E4a]
Your UN Crew has a buggy platform. It is Colocated with an enemy Outpost, Factory, and Colony on Luna. Your attack
has no rayguns, so the defending Factory gun fires first, rolling a 7, for an FV = 8 - 7 = 1. You must make one Glitch
Roll, which is a 6. Since you have no cards with rad-hardness = 6, you are unscathed. Now it's time for your buggy attack and you roll
a 9. Subtracting the ISRU of the buggy (4) leaves an FV = 5. This is enough to destroy the Factory and Colony! You suffer genocide
(3E2m) and adjust the exploitation table.
EXAMPLE [3E4c]
Same as the previous example, except you additionally have a rock rats colonist with an ISRU = 3 raygun, and attack
first with both them and your buggy crew. This is a single attack, with the Crew supporting the Colonist (driving
them in the buggy). You have the choice to use either ISRU = 4 or ISRU = 3, and naturally you choose 3, the better ISRU.
EXAMPLE [3E4d]
Same as the previous example, except the defender also has an Operational buggy with ISRU = 3. Therefore your
opponent makes two attacks during his defense (the gun and the buggy). The buggy rolls 4 on 2d6, for a FV = 1. This
achieves a collateral, and it rolls a 4 on its 1d6 Glitch Roll. This kills your Colonist and returns its card to LEO.
BUGGY CREW EXAMPLE [3E4a]

---

33MODULE 3 - CONFLICT | HIGH FRONTIER 4 ALL |
3E5. Kamikaze Weapons
A kamikaze weapon is an unmanned thruster or Freighter fired as a missile against a Colocated target. Like drop-
stones, kamikaze weapons and their supports are Decommissioned after firing. Unless dive-bombing (2E5e), using
kamikaze weapons is always optional.
43
a. Kamikaze Stack. Kamikazes form their own Stack, which can move separately from the Stack it was created
from, as long as it does not enter any Burns (exception 3E5e) or make any Pivots. Because this Stack is
Decommissioned the same Turn it is created, it does not count against your Rocket Stack Limit (E5b). It does
not carry or track Fuel. It does not need to stop when entering an enemy-occupied Space.
b. Kamikaze Fire Value is base thrust (Freighters use net thrust) minus 1d6.
c. Kamikaze Modifiers. Biological warheads (3D6b) add 5 to the FV.
d. Human Kamikaze. Except for Player Purple, Humans may not ride on the thruster used to kamikaze (3D1c).
e. Dive-Bomb Kamikaze. During movement, a Spacecraft that you intend to use as a kamikaze later that
Turn may treat lander burns (H5e) associated to a target Site as lagrange spaces (i.e. not counted as Burns).
The Stack is required to attack as a kamikaze weapon during Combat that turn; if unable to attack, it is
Decommissioned at the end of combat. Dive-bombers can attack dropstones (3D7d).
43
MISSILES. The overwhelming imperative of every combat vessel is to save mass. Lessons learned from fighter jets and battleships,
surrounded by potential reaction mass for cooling and propulsion, are inapplicable in space. In particular, the mission delta-v of a space
warship can ill afford to sacrifice the mass needed for missile propellant. Moreover, space missiles can’t be camouflaged or use decoys, can’t
swoop or dodge, are marshmallow soft, and travel such vast distances that the defense has days or months to pick off any number of them. At
short range, however, missiles can be effective. Against rockets, they need no warhead, depending on kinetic kill. The destruction of the missile
in no significant way reduces the kinetic energy of its fragments, still deadly given the relative immobility and fragility of the targeted rocket. If
the target is a surface installation, a nuclear bomb is helpful to create a crater large enough to excavate the target. Nuclear bombs also give off
x-rays which cause dangerous spalling, neutrons which harm living tissues, and an EMP pulse which destroys uncaged electronics.
EXAMPLE [3E5b]
A Rocket Stack containing just the programmable matter robots kamikazes a Lofstrom Loop Bernal (RH = 8). The
Bernal attacks first with its gun, and rolls a “8”. This obtains an FV of 8 - 8 = 0, not quite enough to destroy the robotic
kamikaze. The missile then strikes and rolls a “1”. It has a base thrust of 2, so this obtains an FV of 2 - 1 = 1, This is enough to
unanchor the Bernal, and also make a single Glitch Roll against any cards in the Bernal Stack.
EXAMPLE [3E5e]
Your Rocket Stack in GEO launches a MET missile robonaut, plus its generator support. You move this Stack through
the lunar lander burn to attack an enemy Factory on the shackleton polar rim. Because this dive-bomb route ignores
the lander burn, and does not enter any other Burns, the kamikaze MET does not need fuel nor does it count as a Rocket Stack.
Yellow dotted line
shows path of
kamikaze missile.
DIVE-BOMB EXAMPLE [3E5e]
TIP: Humans are valuable
for manned defense,
Claim Jumping, and Glitch
repair. Think twice before
sacrificing them in a
Human kamikaze. [3E5e]

---

34| HIGH FRONTIER 4 ALL | MODULE 3 - CONFLICT
3E6. Dropstone Attack
A dropstone is a special Spacecraft Stack containing an Operational thruster (plus a boulder, iceberg, or water tank
represented by the dropstone token). Create it per 3D7b and move it per 3D7d,e,f,g, using your dropstone token
to mark its progress towards a target. Decommission the entire dropstone stack after rolling for its attack.
a. Vendetta. Except for Player Purple, you must pay the target a bribe (3D1e) to attack with a dropstone.
b. Limits (Target). A dropstone cannot target space targets other than Anchored Bernals.
c. Fire Value is 2d6.
44
Note that cards in a dropstone Stack can attack/defend using other types of weapons.
d. Modifiers. None. Note that a successful frostline attack (3D7g) Discards all tokens and busts the Site.
e. Immune to Counterattack. The dropstone attack is unaffected by combat during the Turn of its attack.
3E7. Factory Damage & Repair
A Factory can suffer 3 possible combat effects: capture
CAP, damage, or destroy .
45
a. Capture
CAP
. See 3E2k.
b. Destroy . If a Factory is destroyed, Decommission its cube and adjust stock prices on the Exploitation
Track. If there are no more Factories of a Spectral Type, its stock price is 10. If a Colony dome is present, this is
also Decommissioned, with genocide (3E2m).
44
KINETIC KILL. Dropstones utilize the enormous kinetic energy between orbits and don't need warheads. Moreover, their thrusters can be a
million times more armored than a rocket. The downside is that they need years to attain an attack orbit, and can only be deployed from
orbits which are already in shallow unstable gravity wells and thus can be more easily diverted.
45
FACTORY ROBUST POWER. Factories on comets may derive electricity from voltage differences driven by solar wind. Such power would be
robust against combat. Alternatively, charge accumulation can be discharged by an approaching neutrally-charged projectile, powerful
enough to ignite amorphous snow or damage electronics with EMP. Such a powerful static discharge was seen on the Deep Impact probe mo-
ments before it collided with Comet Tempel 1. “Beyond the frostline, a comet’s nucleus has no protective atmosphere to shield it from the solar wind or so-
lar UV radiation. Consequently, the nucleus gets charged between small positive values on the sunward side to very large values on the night side. The night
side potential is strongly modulated by the local solar wind speed.” –E.C. Whipple et. al, On the Electrostatic Charging of the Cometary Nucleus, 1981.
DROPSTONE EXAMPLE [3E6]
EXAMPLE [3E6]
Your heliocentric dropstone token is in the Earth Zone as shown. It's your turn, and you can either move it into the
Mars Zone, or use it to attack an enemy Bernal at Earth-Luna Lagrange L2. You choose the latter, and pay the
defender a bribe. After all your Spacecraft have moved, you roll 2d6 for your attack. Your roll is a 5, enough to unanchor the Bernal.
TIP: Rayguns are powerful
in attack or defense against
space targets, but lack the
punch necessary against
Factories or Colonies.
Guns, buggies, dropstones,
biological warheads, or
amat bombs are better.
[3E7b]
FACTORY DAMAGE CHIT [3E7c]

---

35MODULE 3 - CONFLICT | HIGH FRONTIER 4 ALL |
c. Damage . If a Factory is damaged, indicate this by placing a damage chit over the Claim but under the
Factory cube. For damage effects, see the next 3 bullets. Damage does not affect the Factory's stock prices,
Colony (if any), or ET production.
d. Factory-Assist/Dirtsides Crippled. Factory-assist (H6c) and factory-refuel (I5b) is disabled by damage.
Thus, a damaged Factory cannot serve as a Dirtside, cannot activate factory refuel or dirt refuel in an Adjacent
Bernal (2A7d), and cannot produce its products in Adjacent Bernals. It also cannot add to Dirtside Hydration.
If all of the Dirtsides of a Bernal are damaged, it becomes unanchored (3E9a).
46
e. Factory Gun Disabled. A damaged/destroyed Factory no longer has a gun (3E3b).
47
f. Mobile Factories. Promoted Freighters (1B6) on a Site defend as Factories. If damaged, they cannot liftoff.
If not on a Claim, they defend as a Spacecraft (using the Freighter card’s values including rad-hardness, see
1B6a).
g. Victory Points. A damaged Factory and its Colony (if any) count for no Token VP at the endgame.
h. Repair. Damaged Factories are repaired (remove its damage chit) by an industrialize operation (I7) that
Decommissions an Operational robonaut at the Site.
i. A Space Elevator is destroyed if all attached Factories are destroyed (1B9f). Remove the Elevator’s Token.
• Earth Exception. The Earth Space Elevator is permanent once built, and is not removed even if its Home
Bernal has exited.
46
FACTORY DAMAGE. The surface facilities of a factory include its electromagnetic launchers (next footnote), its water depots, its commu-
nication and radar towers, its solar panels, and its robonauts busy gathering ores. These are soft targets. The living quarters and manufac-
turing facilities are at least 5 meters underground to protect against the harsh ambient radiation in space, and these are the hard targets. But the
transparency of space means that even the soft targets are pretty hard. A lookout with a telescope can detect an attacking rocket weeks before it
arrives, allowing soft targets to be moved, hidden, or buried. Because units on the ground accelerate easily, while rockets accelerate lethargically,
any projectile defense is far more effective than offense.
47
FACTORY-ASSIST is accomplished electromagnetically with surface coilguns or mass drivers, These launchers and their capacitor banks are
soft targets. The launch capsules are limited to a few gees when launching humans, but can be 10 gees if launching water or bulk materials.
EASILY MISSED:
Exceptionally, the
industrialize operation that
repairs a Factory does not
need a refinery. [3E2h]
EXAMPLE [3E7f]
The enemy dislodges a heliocentric dropstone, and you suspect your Factory is at ground zero. You promote your
Freighter, allowing you to move the targeted Factory as a Mobile Factory into the safety of space.

---

36| HIGH FRONTIER 4 ALL | MODULE 3 - CONFLICT
3E8. Maverick Factories
During a Factory forfeit (3B3c) or capture (3E2k), the Factory cube becomes a different color than the Claim and/
or the Colony. This is called a maverick factory, As an exception to (1B6c), the Token color determines who gets
Token VP (M2a), but the cube color determines who decides what gets produced and obtains factory stock price
VP (M2b) in the endgame. Colony Dome Location VP (M2b) goes to the faction color of the dome.
a. Mobile Factories. If allowed Felonies, your Mobile Factory may Claim Jump enemy Claims by landing on
them.
48
A Mobile Factory can also land on the Claim of an ally by negotiation (G6a), both in War and peace.
3E9. Bernal Unanchor (Module 2)
An Anchored Bernal can become unanchored due to (1) an unanchor result in combat (3E2e), (2) loss of its
allied Dirtsides (e.g. by combat or defection), (3) War/Anarchy restriction (3C3e), or (4) a voluntary unanchor (2B6).
a. Unanchor Effects. If a Bernal is unanchored for any reason, it suffers the following effects:
• Remove Colony Dome (2B6a). The lack of dome indicates it is unanchored. Place the dome onto one of
the Bernal’s Dirtsides. If no uncolonized Dirtsides are available, return it to Reserves, with genocide (3E2m).
• Homeless (2B6b). During peace, the number of Colonists you are allowed is equal to your Anchored
Bernals (2Ca), so that upon unanchoring you must Discard your choice of one of your Colonists (two, if the
Bernal is promoted). During War/Anarchy, the number of Colonists you are allowed is equal to your Bernals
48
A MOBILE FACTORY is much more mobile on the ground than in space. Contrary to intuition, (and contrary to Hollywood), almost anything
on a surface is much more mobile than anything in space. In a factory versus rocket combat situation, the mobility advantage lies with the
factory, not the rocket! A typical space factory with 100 tonnes of mass is lightweight on a low gravity world. On a size 1 asteroid, it weighs 750N,
or 169 lbs. Even on a much bigger world, a buggy can tow it at tens of milligravities in any direction. This compares to a rocket with a net thrust
of 6, which can accelerate at 10 milligees, after which it is still moving in essentially one direction. A rocket’s practical maneuverability is so limited
that, for targeting purposes, it might as well be stationary during the months of its approach. For one thing, a rocket without wings or atmosphere
cannot dodge or swoop. For another thing, rockets are massive, mainly due to propellant (unless it is on its last few tonnes of water, in which it
effectively becomes ballistic space junk). This mass and resultant kinetic energy associated with high speeds means that a high thrust course
change, the type made by rotating the rocket 90 degrees and firing the main engine, will produce a milliradian course change after an hour. This is
with the thrusts typical in the game, higher thrusts are possible but waste precious propellant, and still will make little more than a degree of course
change in an hour. Rockets are essentially unidirectional except in the very long term.
RED MAVERICK FACTORY [3E8]
TIP (Module 2): If you
Anchor your Bernal
Adjacent to the promotion
colony specified by its
dome icon (2A3b), you
can Promote it into a Lab,
and then use the Lab to
Promote your Colonist,
Freighter, and GW Thruster
cards. [3E9]
EXAMPLE [3E8]
Your promoted Freighter lands on an enemy Claim. Because it is War, you Claim Jump (a Felony free action),
changing the Claim to your color and gaining an instant Factory. This adjusts the Exploitation Track.
EASILY MISSED (Module
2): During peacetime,
anchoring generates
exomigration (2A5f), or 2
exomigrations if the Bernal
is promoted. [3E9]

---

37MODULE 3 - CONFLICT | HIGH FRONTIER 4 ALL |
(both Anchored and unanchored, see 3A3g)(plus 1 for each promoted Bernal), so that you Discard Colo-
nists if the Bernal is destroyed, rather than when it is unanchored.
• Dirt Refuel (2B6c). You may add a gray Wet Mass Chit for the Bernal and set it to any value per G1c. This
represents converting its dirt shielding into dirt propellant.
49
• Unanchored Home (2B6d). If you unanchor your Home Bernal, you lose the benefits of 2B3. It can no
longer function as a bank (3A3j), and if it holds Aqua, convert them to FTs. Your faction privileges and
weapons are locked. Its Home Ability (2B3c) and profits (2B3d) are shutdown. You may not boost to there
(2B3e).
• Supports (2B6e). The unanchored Bernal must be provided with its supports to either activate its thruster
or to re-anchor. The latter Decommissions the supports.
b. Target. A Bernal (whether Anchored or not) always defends as a space target (3E2 column G). Combat does
not affect a Bernal's promoted status.
c. Redundant Unanchor. If a Bernal that is already unanchored suffers an unanchor combat result, place a
Glitch token on its Stack (unless it already has one).
d. Cancer Hospital/Lab. Place the red cross chit under this Bernal as a reminder that it is not a combat
unit, does not interrupt movement, and always evades the No Home Bernal restriction (3D4c). If you attack
this Bernal or any Colocated Tokens, this is genocide (3E2m).
49
DIRT SHIELD. As soon as a Bernal is anchored, it is covered with hundreds of Mass points of dirt as a radiation shield. This dirt is regolith that
is catapulted from a dirtside factory. It is essential for making the space station habitable, and comprises the vast majority of a colony’s
anchored mass. If the Bernal is unanchored, the dirt can be used as propellant, making the Bernal into a giant dirt rocket for the next anchorage.
REMEMBER (Module 2): An
unanchored Home Bernal
loses its home benefits
(2B3, including profits &
faction privileges) and
faction weapons (3Aa).
[3E9a]
EXAMPLE [3E9a]
Your Bernal is unanchored by a dropstone. This moves its colony dome to its uncolonized Dirtside. Because it's
wartime, no Colonists are Discarded due to colonist limits (3A3g). You fully load it up with dirt (setting a gray Wet
Mass Chit). (Per footnote 49, this dirt is taken from the Bernal's now useless dirt shield, so no Dirtside is needed for this dirt refuel.)
Because it doesn’t have a generator, its dirt thruster is not Operational and can’t be activated.
REMEMBER (Module 2):
When boosting or building
the Cancer Hospital, it is
your responsibility to add its
red cross chit. If you forget,
your opponents can't be
held responsible if it gets
attacked! [3E9d]

---

38| HIGH FRONTIER 4 ALL | MODULE 3 - CONFLICT
3F. ET Home Bernals & Postwar
3F1. ET Home Bernals (Module 2)
If during War you are a member of the Independence (b), or in a postwar Space Republic (3F5a) (everyone), then
you may count your Stanford Ring Anchored Bernal with a dirtside hydration of 4 or more as your Home Bernal.
This Home Bernal, called an ET Home Bernal, is the same as a terrestrial Home Bernal except you cannot boost
there from Earth (2B4e). Furthermore, these Abilities and Privileges are not lost in War or Anarchy. Additionally:
a. Bank. Transfer your currency (Aquas and/or Isotopes) to your ET Home Bernal, which is now your bank (3A3j).
b. Faction Privilege & Faction Weapon Unlocked, even during War/Anarchy or peace.
c. Bernal Home Abilities Unlocked, even during War or Anarchy.
d. Profits. One Aqua per turn.
50
e. Second Bernal. Although you cannot boost to an ET Bernal, your second Bernal acquired goes directly to
your ET Home Bernal.
f. LEO Bypassed. After you anchor an ET Home Bernal, all actions and operations previously performed in LEO
(except boost) must now be performed at this Bernal's orbit, which becomes the destination for:
• Decommission of Crew (E7c),
• Combat Casualties. If your Colonist is Decommissioned as a result of Murder/Suicide or combat, it
immediately restarts here.
• Delivery Operation (I9) if not using Module 1.
• Ticker Tape Parade (La).
• Free Market for the sale of Black-Side Cards only (I3b). However, respect the no snow to Inuit rule (3B4a).
• Exomigration (2A6). Your Colonists exomigrate here.
g. Building Space Elevators (Module 1). If your ET Home Bernal is a Lofstrom Loop Microgravity Bernal or
Elevator Bernal in a lagrange space (including lagrange burns), and there is a single lander burn or single half
lander burn between that Space and a Dirtside, then you may perform an epic hazard operation (1A6) to
build a Space Elevator.
50
BERNAL PROFITS. A Bernal orbiting an icy world with a small gravity well has access to an abundance of cheap water. As noted in footnote 17
(Core Game), this inflates local prices in Aqua, and makes exporting Aqua attractive. Thus, an increase in the supply of money quickly flows to
other Bernals as the inhabitants make purchases abroad.
NOTE (Module 2): The
Stanford Bernal designates
your Home Bernal or ET
Home Bernal. But if your
Kalpana is anchored where
you want your Home Ber-
nal to be, you are allowed
to swap Stacks and Tokens
to make the Stanford into
a Kalpana. [3F1a]

---

TERRESTRIAL SPACE ELEVATOR
Art by Liftport (www.liftport.com).
39MODULE 3 - CONFLICT | HIGH FRONTIER 4 ALL |
• Operation. The Bernal is considered to be the unit performing the epic hazard operation (1A6), but is not
Decommissioned in the event of failure.
• Route. The elevator can be built from the Bernal through a lander burn or half lander burn to any Dirtside,
or along a printed route that is linked to your Bernal or any of its Dirtsides.
• Limit. Each Site is allowed only one Space Elevator.
• War Petition. During War/Anarchy, building an elevator to your ET Home Bernal in the m Earth or e Mars
Zones requires a petition (3D4c) in the authority ideology.
• Token. Place a Space Elevator Token over the Burn, or over the Space Elevator icon printed on the map if
there is one.
h. Radiation Cycler. Your Anchored Tourism Cycler allows safe passage through any Colocated or Adjacent
Radiation Belts.
EXAMPLE [3E9g]
Your Bernal has a Dirtside on Haumea as shown. Because it can't Anchor at a Hazard Space (such as the ring), it
Anchors where shown (which is still Adjacent to its Dirtside). By moving a Freighter to the ring and performing an
Epic Hazard Roll, you establish a Space Elevator and place a gray stick where shown. If your Bernal is the Lofstrom Loop Bernal, you
don't need the Freighter.
TIP (Module 2): The Galilean
moons (Callisto, Ganymede,
Europa, & Io) are great
places for a loftstrom/GEO
space elevator. [3F1g]
SPACE ELEVATOR EXAMPLE
[3E9g]

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40| HIGH FRONTIER 4 ALL | MODULE 3 - CONFLICT
3F2. Futures & Combat (Modules 1 & 2 Futures)
The successful completion of certain Futures (1D) has an effect on combat:
a. Mini-Black Hole (TW Thruster Future, 1D3b). May dislodge (3D7) dropstones from any Size 1 Site. Send
them to either the solar oberth or (if it's a moonlet) to its planetary flyby.
b. Mass Beam (TW Thruster Future, 1D3c). The FV of your guns (3E3b) is their firing rad-hardness minus 1d6
(instead of minus 2d6).
c. Enzmann Starship & Lithiated Ammonia Ice (TW Thruster Futures, 1D3f,g). As a once-per-turn free
action, you may destroy any dropstone.
d. Beehive Ark (Freighter Future, 1D4b). Your Tokens on Size 1 Sites are immune to all combat.
e. Antimatter (Freighter Future, 1D4f). Gain amat bomb weapons (3E3d), which you can use without paying
Aquas.
f. Golden Apples (Freighter Future, 1D4e). FINAO is no longer a war restriction (3D5e) for all players. If other
players pay for FINAO (whether Aqua or Isotopes), you receive the payment.
g. New Venus & Footfall (Colonist Futures, 1D5a,f). If using Module 3, to complete this Future (in war or
peace), you must use the dislodge operation (3D7) to convert the Synodic Comet into a synodic dropstone
that targets Venus or Earth. This busts the comet (to indicate it has been deorbited). This is a vendetta (3D1e).
• Completing either of these Futures allows you to use the dislodge operation to convert other Synodic
Comets into dropstones that can target any Site during War/Anarchy. Further, no bribe is necessary to attack.
• Target Effects. In all cases, use the dropstone stack rules (3D7c), insertion rules (3D7d), and movement/
arrival rules (3D7f). The impact automatically busts the target Site, destroying all its Tokens (with genocide
if colonized). The dropstone stack is destroyed as well.
h. Dyson Bubble (Colonist Future, 1D5j). May prevent your opponent from using Solar-Powered cards during
combat against you. The use of this Ability may be negotiated (N) with your allies, regardless of location.
EXAMPLE [3F2h]
Your ally is under attack by a raygun using Solar-Power. Before the dice are rolled, he asks you for help. You respond
that you will block the attacker's sun in return for a bribe. In the interest of providing a realistic experience, please
limit these sorts of "real time" negotiations to less than 15 seconds.
NEGOTIATION EXAMPLE [3F2h]

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41MODULE 3 - CONFLICT | HIGH FRONTIER 4 ALL |
3F3. Truce
If you have petitioned to evade the restrictions on enemy negotiations (3D5c), then you can temporarily end the
War by declaring a truce (free action). War effects end at the end of your Turn, but can resume per 3C.
a. Cost. You must pay 4 bribes to your enemies, such that each enemy gets at least one (if possible).
3F4. War End & Victorious Bloc
If all 6 propaganda chits (3A2f) are flipped to one side at the end of combat in a Turn, the War ends and that bloc
is the winner of the War (but not necessarily the winner of the game!). The War also ends if after a defection (3B3c)
all players are on the same bloc. War effects (3D) stop at the end of that player’s Turn.
51

a. War Is Over. Once the War ends in victory for one bloc, combat is not allowed except during Anarchy.
In-flight weapons such as dropstones cannot attack during peacetime (this overrides “must attack” rules for
weapons). There are no more war outbreak rolls (3C1), since the War is over and will not resume.
b. Revival of Sol Political Assembly. If the Independence bloc wins, the 1st Player moves the Active Law (star
token) into the political assembly, into his choice of Ideologies among those with the most delegates. Normal
Module 0 rules resume. Use Space Republic rules 3F5a.
c. Dissolution of Sol Political Assembly. If the Loyalist bloc wins, spacefarers no longer have a political voice.
Remove the political placard. This Discards all delegates and the Seniority Disks, Active Law token, propagan-
da, and any bribes. Thereafter use the Space Empire rules 3F5b.
• First Player. The current 1st Player remains the 1st Player for the rest of the game.
51
HOW DO WARS END? Since the beginning of the 20th century, 85% of civil wars have ended through military victory rather than
international intervention or other negotiated settlement. –Lincoln Bloomfield, Why Wars End: CASCON's Answers from History, 1997.
EXAMPLE [3F4c]
Five propaganda are flipped to Loyalist, leaving only one Independent. As an Independent, on your Turn you decide
to capitulate (a free action), flipping the final propaganda to Loyalist. The War ends and your side loses. The players
stack the Seniority Disks and retrieve their delegates, and then the political assembly and all its remaining stuff are unceremonious-
ly dumped into the box!
EASILY MISSED: A truce lasts
only to the next Anarchy or
War outbreak. [3F3]

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42| HIGH FRONTIER 4 ALL | MODULE 3 - CONFLICT
d. Defeated Players. All players without extremists have lost the War and forfeit all bribes in their Reserves to
their choice of player(s) with extremists.
52

e. POW Release. All prisoners of war cards are returned to the owner’s bank (3A3j) if Crew, or to the bottom
of the Colonist queue if Colonist. Discard any POW chits that have not been flipped to the 2 VP side via ticker
tape parade (3D9c).
f. Colonist Limits. After War/Anarchy ends, players are once again limited to having a number of Colonists
equal to the number of Anchored Bernals (plus 1 for each Anchored and Promoted Bernal). Compare to
3A3g. On your Turn, if you have too many, choose Colonists to Discard to the bottom of the queue to bring
you into compliance with 2Ca. If you have too few, perform exomigrations (2A6), drawing from the top of
the queue until you comply.
g. Space Lord. If you still have your extremist and you cause your bloc to win the War on your Turn, you may
end the game immediately at the end of your Turn. Score per 3G1 to see who won the game.
3F5. Postbellum Turns & Games
Turns and games of High Frontier played in a future after the War of Independence use different rules depending
on if the Independents or the Loyalists have won the War:
a. Space Republic (Flag = b). If the Independents have won, Module 0 but not Module 3 is used. When the
Anarchy event occurs use K2e, and the rules for ET Home Bernals (3F1) remain in effect.
53
You no longer
need permission from the 1st Player to prospect Luna. You can Anchor Bernals to Luna.
b. Space Empire (Flag = m). If the Loyalists have won, Module 0 is not used, but Module 3 can be used. When
the Anarchy event occurs use the Age of Piracy variant (3Ad), and ET Home Bernals are not used.
52
REPUTATION. The more bribes you end with, then the fewer you have used for bribes or vendettas, and thus the more honorable you seem.
53
FREE TRADE. This is what all the fighting was about. The Core game assumes that all trade is between Earth and the colonies, and that trade
between the colonies is legally forbidden by an Earth-based government. Such a “royal monopoly”, backed by the guns of the regime, is
commonly the case in colonies such as Viking Greenland, Spanish Main, and Porfirian Mexico. (See my games Greenland, Lords of the Spanish Main,
and Pax Porfiriana for details).
TIP: If your enemy can win
by space lord, or if you
have lots of vulnerable
holdings, it may be best to
truce, defect or capitulate.
[3F4g]

---

43MODULE 3 - CONFLICT | HIGH FRONTIER 4 ALL |
3G. Module 3 Endgame
The game ends when Seniority Disks are exhausted per Core
(M1).
3G1. Endgame Scoring Table
Scoring is per the Core Game (M2), except apply the victory
point multipliers shown in the last 3 columns in the table
shown to the right. Apply these to all players, regardless if they
won or lost the War.
a. Ties. Resolve ties by most Aqua, counting gold beads as
10 Aqua. If still tied, share the victory or position.
EXAMPLE [3G1]
Independence wins the War, and later the
game ends in a Space Republic. You score
exactly as per the Core Game (M2), except no Token VP for
damaged Factories/Colonies.
EASILY MISSED: The political scoring (O7) for some of the
Ideologies are changed from Core. [3G1]
Endgame Victory Points (VP)
Loyalists
Victorious
Token VP: 1 VP for each w ooden or plastic
Token in a player color
(on map or assembl y)
No change except:
damaged F actories/Colonies and
corrupt delegates do not count .
Bonus VP:
Depends on
the Token’s
location:
Factory Stock Price:
2X if link ed to a Space Elevator.
Colony Dome L ocation:
+1 Astrobiology , +2: Submarine , Bernal
Glory Chits.
Dirtside Hydration:

Dirtside Hydration = VP,
Terrestrial H ome Bernal = 6 VP.
Future Stars.
1X,
except
2X glory
1X 1X,
except
stock
price =
2 VP
regard-
less of
track.
Politics VP:
Increase the
Token VP for
all players
according
position of
Active Law:
Freedom = +1 VP per Factory cube.
Honor = + 1 VP per glor y chit,
Unity = +1 VP per C olony dome .
+1 VP per her oism chit .
Authorit y = +1 VP per Claim.
Equality = +1 VP for each
uncorrupt ed delegate .
Individualit y = +1 VP per w ood/
plastic Token on Hazar dous Sit es.
+1 per bribe in Reserves.
0X
(political
assembl y
dissolved )
1X 0X
Bribe VP: 1 VP for each bribe in R eserves0X 1X 2X
Bernal VP:
For
Anchored &
Promoted
Bernals:
Promot ed Cancer Hospital B ernal : +1 VP per C olony dome .
Promot ed Clima te Control Bernal: +2 VP per D irtside for this Bernal .
SSO Diploma tic: +1 VP per delega te in the Ideology of your player color.
Promot ed Diploma tic Bernal: Your delega tes are +1 VP each.
Tourism C ycler: +2 VP per D irtside for this Bernal .
Independence
Victorious
SPACE
EMPIRE
SPACE
REPUBLIC
Truce or War
Continues

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44| HIGH FRONTIER 4 ALL | MODULE 3 - CONFLICT
3H. Strategy (Paweł Garycki & Geoff Speare)
3H1. The Glory Rush
In the antebellum phase, don’t make the mistake of waiting until you have the “perfect” combination of thruster,
robonaut, and refinery. A player who departs early can collect multiple glory chits and return them to LEO.
54
a. Fundraise Operation becomes invaluable in Module 3 to prepare for War. If you grab an early lead in glory,
set the Active Law into honor. The Law here is Paleoconservative Directive (Fundraise income = 1 Aqua per
glory chit), which increases the motivation for political intervention for those with glory, and removing it for
those without it. With each fundraise, you entrench this Law.
b. Parallel Strategies. The pursuit of glory does not consume Operations other than refueling. After a glory
mission is underway, you can participate in auctions and prepare industrialization missions. If a robonaut is
sent as well, sites can be claimed at the same time (though watch out for Claim Jumpers!).
c. Solar Sails & Non-Crew Dirt Rockets are useful glory-seekers, as they either do not need fuel or can refuel
at any Site with just Crew. An active Mooncable or Dharma Refuel faction privilege is also useful to sustain a
glory rush.
d. One-Way Martian Glory. If in a super hurry to snatch martian glory before your opponent, just 3 tanks of
water will get a Crew with a fuel consumption of 8 or 9 to deimos in 2 Turns, without needing a single boost
or auction. It's a one-way trip, though.
e. Propaganda & Diplomacy. If you are Independence, the outbreak of War/Anarchy will kill your delegates
in honor (unless you corrupt them, and you can only corrupt one per Turn). To avoid the ruination of your
political dominance, you will need to use diplomacy (3B3b) to sway honor into the independence bloc.
f. Footprints & A Flag. Unless using the Quick Start Variant (V1), winning the glory race is the easiest way to
grab points and paleoconservatism is the best way for your long-range plans to be uninterrupted by War, or
to win the War. But don't forget that glory can be stolen from you if you lose a battle (3D9b).
54
GLORY is the old way of to invoke national pride to justify investment in space. Think Apollo program. The new justification is Exoglobaliza-
tion. They don't "tell stories" or "make research" in space, exoglobalists just use the space for their daily activities. Loyalists like "stories", they
like space mysticism, they like doing the impossible. Secessionists regard this as sentimentalism and just do possible things, proving the "glories"
and other stories are things of old. This is similar to Christianity conversion mechanism in the boardgame Greenland. Polytheists collect those
trophies (glories) for many VP and Monotheists just ditch them and do the mining (Exoglobalization). —Paweł Garycki, 2020
GEOFF'S TIP: Pursuing
M patents and Sites is a
traditional strategy, but
this edition weakens that,
to the point where D may
be the new M! Possible
D targets are at Deimos,
Hygeia Family, and the
Jovian Trojans (greek camp).
Further out are the moons of
Uranus. [3H]
GLORY CHIT, REVERSE [3H1d]

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45MODULE 3 - CONFLICT | HIGH FRONTIER 4 ALL |
3H2. Faction War Readiness
a. Player White (honor)
+ Marine attack/defense.
+ Can negotiate or enable negotiation at any time (with Home
Bernal).
+ Starts Loyalist so doesn't need to petition authority for its Home
Bernal.
+ Delegates never become corrupt (with Home Bernal).
- (NASA) Restricted faction privilege due to ban on boost (use Space
Elevator or Lofstrom Loop Bernals to evade this).
+ (ISRO) Dual platforms including a raygun.
+ (ISRO) Good at ET Home Bernal at refueling precious isotope fuel,
acting as a new currency.

b. Player Yellow (unity)
+ Biological warhead attack/defense means that even Sails can be
used as kamikazes against Factories.
+ Starts Loyalist so doesn't need to petition authority for its Home
Bernal.
+ (UN) Dual platforms.
+ (B612) Dual platforms, including a raygun.
- (B612) Lower rad-hardness of Crew.

c. Player Purple (authority)
+ Antimatter bombs ranged attack/defense.
+ May do war crimes, including a powerful Human kamikaze.
+ Controls the Home Bernal Anchorages of Independent players.
- (China) Obsoleted faction privilege as Felonies become legal.
+ (ROSCOSMOS) Increased rad-hardness of Crew.
+ (ROSCOSMOS) Dual platforms including a raygun.

d. Player Green (equality)
+ Fighting mirror ranged attack/defense.
+ Starts Independent so enabling an ET Home Bernal.
- (Anonymous) Dual platforms.
- (Anonymous) Open Source FINAO faction privilege is limited by
Wartime restrictions on FINAO.

e. Player Gray (individuality)
+ Beamed gray goo ranged attack/defense.
+ Starts Independent so enabling an ET Home Bernal.
- (SpaceX) Obsoleted faction privilege due to War/Anarchy restrictions
on auctions.
+ (Norse) Dual platforms.
+ (Norse) Scrum Troubleshooters faction privilege beneficial for
post-combat Glitch repair.
- (Norse) Lower rad-hardness of Crew.
f. Player Red (freedom)
+ Jammers guarantee being the first to attack.
+ Starts Independent so enabling an ET Home Bernal.
+ (Shimizu) Dual platforms, including a raygun.
- (Shimizu) Skunkworks faction privilege becomes obsolete due to
Wartime restrictions on Auctions.
- (Shimizu) Lower rad-hardness of Crew.
+ (NASDRA) More easily fueling their second Bernal due to Mooncables,
useful in exiting the Earth m Zone.

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46| HIGH FRONTIER 4 ALL | MODULE 3 - CONFLICT
3H3. Playing Hardball with Dropstones
Industrializing a dropstone location that matches the Spectral Type of
key cards you hold gives a potent military advantage. But this won’t be a
surprise attack.
55
Here is a list of dropstone military bases and products:
a. Spectral Type D.
• Many Synodic Comets.
• Asbolus & Pholus are Centaurs
56
that can bombard all Zones
except Neptune and are rather easy to prospect.
• Methone of Saturn has a bizarrely smooth surface like an egg, which
might indicate that it harbors a CUDO,
57
the ultimate dropstone.
Submarine Factories and Colonies here are immune to counterstrike.
55
NOWHERE TO HIDE. “I know this is going to start all you submarine lovers
and cloaking device fans foaming at the mouth, but there ain’t no stealth
in space. The exhaust or waste heat from a terawatt starship could be detected from
Alpha Centauri by a primitive passive sensor. The Space Shuttle's much weaker main
engines could be detected past the orbit of Pluto. The Space Shuttle's maneuvering
thrusters could be seen as far as the asteroid belt. And even a puny ship using ion
drive thrusting at a measly mili-gee could be spotted at one astronomical unit. As of 2013, the Voyager
1 space probe is about 18 billion kilometers away from Terra and its radio signal is a pathetic 20 watts
(or about as dim as the light bulb in your refrigerator). But as faint as it is, the Green Bank telescope
can pick it out from the background noise in one second flat. Even the waste heat from life-support is
readily detectable.” — Winchell Chung, Atomic Rockets/Project Rho Website, 2013.
56
CENTAURS. As suggested by the half-man, half-horse beasts they are named for, these
worlds behave sometimes like comets (outbursts and comas) and sometimes like aster-
oids. They have eccentric orbits that are unstable since they cross one or more giant planets, As
hinted by luminosity measurements, centaurs can be classified into two colors: very red and blue.
Nobody knows why. The water signature on the Centaur Chiron disappeared after high activity.
Nobody knows why this would be either. Centaurs labeled on the map include comet schwas-
smann-wachmann 1 (f 9:00), chiron (f 12:00), elatus (f 1:00), echeclus (g 10:30), okyrhoe &
pholus (g 11:00), chariklo (h 9:00), and asbolus & hylonome (h 10:00).
57
CUDO stands for compact ultra dense object. These hypothetical objects with nuclear
density or greater are theorized to reside in the cores of some comets and moons, which
would explain some mysteries in understanding cometary impacts.
• (iceberg) With a Colony here, produce & promote the
Neumann Matter Robot, and send it on a ride.
• (iceberg) Crossfire Focus H-B Fusion (requires a colony)
TW Thruster + Diamonoid Tether generator.
• Helical Railgun robonaut with Diamonoid Electro-
dynamic Tether generator (this is the only option for
three of Saturn's Norse moonlets).
58
• (iceberg) H-B Cat Inertial Robonaut + Diamonoid
Electrodynamic Tether generator.
• (iceberg) Colliding Beam H-B Fusion thruster + one of
a couple of D generators/reactors.
• Ablative Laser robonaut is a winner.
59

b. Spectral Type S.
• Sycorax in the Uranus system.
• Skoll in the Saturnian system (needs dirt thruster).
• Synodic Comet Icarus.
• (iceberg) Amat-catalyzed Fission-Fusion + Free Radical
Hydrogen Trap reactor.
• (iceberg) Saltwater Zubrin GW thruster.
• (dirt) Wakefield e-beam + Z-pinch μfission generator.
• (iceberg) D-D Inertial Fusion robonaut.
• (iceberg) Timberwind + Free Radical Hydrogen Trap or
VCR Light Bulb Fission reactors.
58
NORSE GROUP is a diverse group of retrograde irregular moonlets of
Saturn.
59
D-SITE. As their name suggests, nothing is known about D-sites other
than they are dark (D = "dark). They are supposed to be leftovers from
the formation of the solar system, but this may be overturned when the Lucy
spacecraft arrives in the Jovian Trojans (scheduled 2027).

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47MODULE 3 - CONFLICT | HIGH FRONTIER 4 ALL |
OrbitofCometEncke
Earth or Luna Strike
(Year 3)
Dropstone
(Year 2)
Dropstone
(Year 1)
Dropstone
(dislodge
started)
Trajectory of a dropstone
dislodged from Comet Encke
prior to aphelion (4.1 AU).
Dropstone has both low- &
high-thrust rockets.
Taurid Swarm
Comet Encke
Hi-thrust
Oberth
Burn
Sol
SYNODIC DROPSTONE TRAJECTORY
(dislodged from a typical Jovian Comet)
c. Spectral Type V.
• Setebos & Prospero in the Uranus
system.
• Synodic Comet Encke
• MagBeam robonaut.
• Ablative Nozzle with H-
6
Li Fusor or
Fission-augmented D-T Inertial Fusion.
• Pulsed Plasmoid thruster.
d. Other Spectral Types.
• Himalia Jovian Moonlets
60
do
not offer a complete set of patents
because there is no thruster for C
Spectral Type that has a base thrust of
3 or more.
• Spectral Type H, which are some
random Synodic Comets, do not
provide the necessary supports.

e. Broaden your Baseball Field.
• The Mini-Black Hole Future which
opens up endless possibilities,
including in the Neptune Zone (e.g.
arrokoth).
60
HIMALIA GROUP is a group of prograde irregular moonlets of Jupiter that follow similar orbits to Himalia and seem to have a common origin.

---

48| HIGH FRONTIER 4 ALL | MODULE 3 - CONFLICT
3H4. Military Bernals: A Guide to Death Stars.
a. Bernals share certain capacities during War/Anarchy:
• If Independent, you might be able to establish an ET Home Bernal.
• Gun & Kamikaze may easily unanchor it; a buggy might unanchor it.
• Raygun, Fighting Mirror, & especially Dropstones may destroy as
well as unanchor a Bernal, especially the ones with low rad-hardness.
An attacker may be deterred by the penalties for genocide.
• Amat Bomb Ranged Attack is possible if you have the amat bomb
faction weapon (e.g. Player Purple).
• Damage of its Dirtside may harm orbital production and refueling
and lowers dirtside hydration VPs.
• Repair. If a Bernal gets unanchored, providing it with a generator and
dirt allows it to move and/or re-anchor.

b. Antimatter Factory (2B4a).
• Ranged Attacks with both amat bombs and gun (rad-hardness = 9,
rad-hardness = 10 as Lab).
• Supports Provided for Cat-Fusion Z-Pinch Torch Robonaut for a bug-
gy attack, Ablative Nozzle for a gun attack, N-6Li Microfission thruster
for a gun attack, Amat-catalyzed Fission-fusion or partially Colliding
FRC 3He-D Fusion for a gun and Project Valkyrie for an additional gun.
c. Cancer Hospital (2B4b). Although fragile, it's protected by the red
cross chit & can't be politically unanchored. Beware the Purple faction.
• Lab also has the red cross chit. Your Crew and Colonists have a
rad-hardness of at least 7, so much more durable in battles.

d. Climate Control Bernal (2B4c) has a gun (rad-hardness = 8).
e. Collimator Bernal (2B4d) has a gun, especially the Lab (rad-hardness 9).
• Powersat gives you access to fighting mirrors.
• Thrust Enhancement helps Mobile Factories (e.g. as kamikazes).

f. Diplomatic Bernal (2B4e) is fragile (rad-hardness 6).

g. Lofstrom Loop Microgravity Bernal (2B4f) is a gun,
especially the Lab (rad-hardness 9).
• Allows Boost & Homesteading during War/Anarchy.
• Doubles FINAO costs for all players (3B5b).
• As an ET Home Bernal may help construct Space
Elevator at Mars/Phobos, Saturn (if anchored to ring
moonlets), Uranus (if anchored to cordelia), Neptune
(if anchored to despina), Pluto/Charon and Haumea. At
Pluto or Uranus this will likely be promoted afterwards.
• Lab. Because Factory damage shuts down factory-
assist, this will stop your exports on 6+ size worlds.

h. Pharmaceutics Bernal (2B4g) is fragile (rad-hardness
6) and its Ability (imposing academia hand limits) is
especially situational in War/Anarchy.
• Enables Beamed Gray Goo. The extra raygun dice
gives the extra punch needed for ground targets, but at
the cost of a vendetta bribe.
• Lab imposes the academia hand limits upon those
who use the research grants law (peacetime only, as all
Laws are shutdown in War/Anarchy). The beamed gray
goo is also here - see above.

i. Solar Cell Factory (2B4h) is fragile (rad-hardness 6).
• No Combat Value.
• Lab is a gun, and gives +2 to Solar-Power thrust. If re-
turned to Home Orbit, it gives +3 to Solar-Power thrust.

---

49MODULE 3 - CONFLICT | HIGH FRONTIER 4 ALL |
j. Space Elevator Bernal (2B4i) is fragile (rad-hardness 6). Note
that the Elevator stick is itself immune to attacks.
• Evades Boost and Homesteading restrictions
• Doubles FINAO costs for all players (3B5b).
• As an ET Home Bernal may help construct Space Elevator at
Mars/Phobos, Saturn (if anchored to ring moonlets), Uranus (if
anchored to cordelia), Neptune (if anchored to despina), Pluto/
Charon and Haumea. Note that at Mars and eventually at giant
planets you’ll likely promote it afterwards, however at Mars you
must be in a hurry before the War breaks out.
• Lab. Note that having a damaged Factory on a 6+ size site
affects you because of the shutdown of factory-assist.

k. Tourism Cycler (2B4j) has no combat value.
• As an ET Home Bernal, it may help navigate through the Rad
Belt to Europa, Enceladus,
61
Saturn, Miranda, Puck, Cordelia and
Uranus. However, at giant planets you’ll likely want to promote
this to have a Lab.
61
ENCELADUS is a moon of Saturn famous for its tiger stripes with geysers that eject
enough water to form Saturn’s E-ring. The south pole location of the stripes make
the moon into a north-moving rocket. Assuming a total power of 5.8 GW and a mass flow
of 200 kg/sec, in game language this rocket has a thrust of 12 and a fuel consumption
of 5. Although there are various theories for the power source for the geysers, the moon
contains amorphous ice overall while the stripes are filled with crystalline ice. Although
Saturn lies well beyond the frostline, Enceladus is electrically connected with Saturn and
the high energy irradiation (perhaps 300 MW) into the south pole could be sustaining a
recrystallization reaction that powers its jets. Flash-freezing of the ejected water creates
more ASW snow to sustain the reaction. If these ideas are correct, Enceladus might not have
a subsurface ocean.
3H5. Atlas of Strategic Locations
a. Mercury d and Venus c Zones
• Heliocentric Dropstones travel rapidly to here from the solar oberth.
• Powersat & Fighting Mirrors are obtained by industrializing any
asteroid up to the Earth Zone.
• Dyson Bubble Future gives you access to blocking sunlight to your
opponents during combat.
b. Earth m Zone
• Home Bernal. If an Independent, your Home Bernal will be
unanchored during War/Anarchy unless you petition authority.
• Antimatter, Collimator, & Lofstrom Home Bernals have offensive
ranged weaponry.
• Lofstrom Loop or GEO Space Elevator evades the War restrictions
on boosting and doubles FINAO costs for all players (3B5b).
• Phaeton & Icarus are the closest Dropstone iceberg locations.
• Luna. With no particular War significance, remember you can
prospect it without permission. Expect some buggy combat between
competing sites. Beware on your Elevator - it may be destroyed.
c. Mars e Zone
• Martian Factories are safe from orbital rayguns and mirrors due to
the dusty atmosphere, but are vulnerable to dropstones and buggies.
• Hellas Basin & North Pole are the closest Sites for an ET Home
Bernal. Boost-cost-reducing Bernals can help construct the Phobos
Space Elevator.
d. Ceres k Zone
• This Zone is relatively safe from dropstones because of solar oberth
being so far away and there are no giant planet flybys here.
• Ceres is the closest Submarine. An industrialization here is immune
to attacks.

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50| HIGH FRONTIER 4 ALL | MODULE 3 - CONFLICT
• The Gefion Family is a good location for your ET Home Bernal.
62

Unless you can industrialize one of its dry S-types, this Site won't be
able to produce any isotopes, as there is none for Spectral Type C.
• Synodic Comets allow you to drop icebergs throughout this Zone and
are good spots for ET Home Bernals. The Beehive Ark Future makes all
of your tiny Sites into safe havens.
• Vulnerable to Frostline Dropstones: hertha, lutetia, hygiea, eichsfeld-
ia, one of karin cluster and all comets.
• Sites with Hazards (including all comets) are a bit safer against
ranged attacks and give extra VP if the endgame Law is in individuality.
Some asteroid families can berth an ET Home Bernal.
• Hertha, Lutetia, & Psyche are promising M Sites for an Antimatter Lab.
e. Jupiter f Zone
• Himalia Moonlets are the dropstone threat throughout this Zone
(3H3d). Two Factories here can berth an ET Home Bernal.
• Io is an easily forgotten source of Powersat, enabling fighting mirrors
especially to Independents. It is also a host of Mass Beam Future,
significantly boosting the FV of your guns (3F2b).
• Galilean Moons (the 4 big moons of Jupiter) have Hazards which
slightly lower the firepower of ranged weapons. They are unstable
against frostline dropstones. The 3 that are icy
63
can host a Submarine
and are good locations for ET Home Bernals and isotope production.
62
GEFION FAMILY is an asteroid family of S-type asteroids, plus interlopers such as
Ceres and Minerva, located in the main asteroid belt. It has more than 2,500 known
members.
63
JOVIAN ICY MOONS. The lattice order of ice is dependent on its condensation tem-
perature and rate, its temperature history, and its radiation environment. Low tem-
peratures and high radiation fluxes favor amorphous ice (ASW) on the surface of Europa,
and lower radiolytic fluxes and higher temperatures would favor crystalline ice on Callisto,
with the two equally balanced on Ganymede. –G. B. Hansen, Amorphous and Crystalline
Ice on the Galilean Satellites: a Balance between Thermal and Radiolytic Processes, 2003.
• Synodic Comets make good ET Home Bernal Sites and dropstone
bases, although it will take some time for stones to travel. On most
Sites a runaway crystallization attack is possible (safe sites include 2
Trojans in each family). You can drop a frostline dropstone in this Zone.
• Centaurs (in the 3 outermost Zones) are useful for the Mini-Black
Hole Future, giving you access to the vast array of Dropstone locations
(3F2a). Chiron is a potential ET Home Bernal site.
f. Saturn g Zone
• ET Home Bernals can be anchored almost anywhere in this system.
There are many Submarines.
• Norse Moonlets & Methone pose a Dropstone threat throughout this
Zone. Phoebe and Methone are icebergs, and the rest are dirty. You
may intercept those stones and icebergs at Saturn Flyby. One direction
allows you to bypass the Ring Hazard (think Encke Gap).
• Titan is defensible due to the protective atmosphere and its
Submarine. To build an ET Home Bernal, you must have Dirtsides at
two lake Sites.
• Enceladus not only hosts Submarine but is also a good location for
your Antimatter Lab.
• Saturn itself has a protective atmosphere, and an ET Home Bernal in
the dust ring has an impressive Dirtside Hydration of 16 in the unlikely
event that all its moonlet Dirtsides get industrialized. Boost-cost-re-
ducing Bernals can help construct the Space Elevator if you survive the
Epic Hazard Roll.
• Kreutz-Sungrazer is still an option for dropping icebergs up till Saturn
Zone. Beware of melting there. Its Golden Apples Future allows you FI-
NAO during War and makes you the recipient for the FINAO payments
of your opponents! (3F2f).
g. Uranus h Zone
• Sycorax & its Moonlet Friends provide some isotope flexibility at
designing Uranus-targeted self-sustained dropstone launchers. You
may intercept them at the Uranus Flyby.

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51MODULE 3 - CONFLICT | HIGH FRONTIER 4 ALL |
• Three Icy Moons provide Submarines with a promising Spectral Type
D. Tourist Cycler ET Home Bernal on or near the ring Rad Belt can help
pass through it.
• Uranus itself is quite a safe haven for enabling a Submarine (with
Spectral Type H!) and having the beam-protective atmosphere for its
aerostat combat. Beware of the Elevator’s destruction. Cordelia can
contribute to an ET Home Bernal and with the boost-cost-reducing
Bernals can help construct Space Elevator.
• Synodic Comets Pholus & Asbolus are suitable as self-sustained
military bases plunging dropstones upon almost the entire Solar
System. They can also be used with the apocalyptic Mini-Black Hole,
Footfall or New Venus Futures. Both are easy to prospect given their
size and possess the friendly D isotope for good patent combos.
h. Neptune j Zone
• This Zone is safe from Dropstone attacks. Solar-Power is shutdown so
the solar-dependent weapons will not work there.
• Triton is a good Spectral Type M that is also a Submarine. This M site
is a good destination for your Antimatter Lab. It is also a host of Mass
Beam Future, which makes your guns more powerful (3B2b).
• Neptune itself is only protected by its atmosphere. Beware of your
Elevator at despina. This moon itself may contribute to a neptunian ET
Home Bernal. With boost-cost-reducing Bernals it would be easier to
construct a Space Elevator there.
• Two Solar Exits invite your ad-astra Futures to intercept a Dropstone.
• Pluto t System & Haumea welcome boost-cost-reducing Space
Elevators as ET Home Bernals. Especially if you attempt the Beanstalk
Future, be aware that your Space Elevators can be attacked.
3I. Panspermia War (Paweł Garycki)
This is the Panspermia Scenario (Core Appendix V12), with some extra rules for
interspecies War. These rules can also be used for continuing a grand campaign
from Bios:Origins on Venus or Mars (V8) or Earth if ending with a different
species shape than the archetype (V7, use 3Ic shape resolution).
a. Number of Players. 2 or 4 competitive. See V12a
b. Setup. See V12, and using any Modules except Module 0 is not used
and Module 3 is used.
c. Martians and Venusians (continued from Bios:Origins). These human-
oid species come from a different home world - with a similar Goldilocks
biochemistry. Accordingly, consider references to “Earth” in the Modules
to refer to Mars or Venus, whichever is the actual home world. Similarly,
LEO = LVO or LMO (e.g. Security Zone). If your Martians/Venusians/Earth-
lings evolved a non-Archetype shape, gain the following:
• Flyers. Gain the marines faction weapon (3D6c).
• Swimmers. In combat, enemy Submarines defend as ordinary
colonized Factories.
• Armored. Humans add 3 to their printed rad-hardness and have a gun.
• Burrowers. On Sites, your attackers always attack first, even before
jammers, and your Humans are immune to collateral rolls (3E2i).
d. Starting Loyalty. Earthlings start as Loyalists (m), while alien species
are Independents (b).
e. Research Auctions are per V4c.
f. Piracy. Use the Piracy Variant (3Ac). Thus combat is always allowed but
not mandatory.
g. Colonists are unchanged.
h. Home Bernal. See V12c,d,e,f,g,h. Your designated Home Bernal
cannot ever become an ET Home Bernal.

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52| HIGH FRONTIER 4 ALL | MODULE 3 - CONFLICT
Copyright © 2020,
Ion Game Design & Sierra Madre Games
Authors: Phil Eklund & Justin Grey
Rules: Paweł Garycki, Geoff Speare, Dom Rougier, Stefano Tiné
Part of High Frontier 4 All – Core: SMG28-4
Product no: SMG28-4.3
SUMMARY OF BERNAL & BERNAL LAB ABILITIES FOR MODULE 3:
Antimatter Factory Your Crew and Bernals can fire Antimatter Bombs.
Cancer Hospital Red Cross (attacking it is Genocide). Immune to No Home
Bernal restriction.
Lofstrom Loop Microgravity Bernal Immune to boost & homesteading restrictions.
With an Epic Hazard Op, may build a Space Elevator over a
(half)lander burn. Doubles FINAO costs for all players.
Pharmaceutics Bernal You may fire Beamed Gray Goo (pay a bribe).
Space Elevator Bernal Same as Lofstrom Loop. Its stick token at Earth is immune
to attacks.
SUMMARY OF FUTURES MODIFIED FOR MODULE 3:
TW THRUSTER FUTURES
Mini-Black Hole (1D3b, 3F2a) May dislodge (3D7a) dropstones from any SIze 1 Site.
Mass Beam (1D3c, 3F2b) The FV of your guns (3E3b) is their firing rad-hardness
minus 1d6.
Enzmann Starship & Lithiated Ammonia (1D3f,g, 3F2c) Destroy any dropstone (1/
Turn).
FREIGHTER FUTURES
Beehive Ark (1D4b, 3F2d) Your Tokens on Size 1 Sites are immune to all combat.
Antimatter (1D4f, 3F2e) Gain amat bombs (3E3d), which you can use without
paying Aquas.
Golden Apples (1D4e, 3F2f) FINAO is no longer a war restriction (3D4i) for all
players. If other players pay for FINAO (whether Aqua or
Isotopes), you receive the payment.
COLONISTS FUTURES
New Venus & Footfall (1D5a,f, 3F2g) Use the dislodge operation (3D7) to complete
these Futures. Completion allows you to convert any
Synodic Comet into a synodic dropstone, in which you do
not need to pay a bribe.
Dyson Bubble (1D5j, 3F2h) May prevent a player from using Solar-Power cards
during combat.
SUMMARY OF DROPSTONE DISLODGE LOCATIONS:
Synodic Dropstone A dropstone dislodged from a Site with a colored border
can reach targets (Sites or Bernals) in a Zone no further
from Sol than the Site dislodged from.
Jovian Himalia Moonlets A dropstone dislodged from one of these 4 moons can
target a Site/Bernal in the f Jupiter Zone.
Saturnian Norse Moonlets & Methone A dropstone from one of these 6 moons can
target a Site/Bernal in the g Saturn Zone.
Uranian Setebos/Sycorax/Prospero Moonlets A dropstone from one of these 3
moons can target a Site/Bernal in the h Uranus Zone.
Frostline Dislodge A dropstone dislodged as a 5FT tank of water from a Space
craft can target Site that is Hydration 3 or 4 in the k Ceres
or f Jupiter Zones. The Spacecraft must be in the k or f
Zones, but not on a Site, and must expend either 5 FTs or 5
tanks of water fuel in the dislodge operation.

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