How to Play Core Worlds: Galactic Orders

Objective of the Game

In Core Worlds: Galactic Orders, the Galactic Realm has collapsed, and you are a barbarian Star Empire on the fringes of the galaxy. Your goal is to seize this opportunity to lead your kingdom to greatness. You must forge alliances with the six Galactic Orders, powerful organizations that still wield tremendous power, calling upon their aid when needed or drawing upon their influence in the final push to assume the mantle of galactic supremacy.

Preparation (Setup)

After performing the normal rules for Set-Up on pages 7-8 of the base game’s rulebook, perform the following steps:

1. Choose an area off to the side of the main playing area, preferably the other side of the table opposite the Sector Cards and Galactic Decks. Lay out the six large Galactic Order Cards face up in a row in this area.
2. Give each player the 21 Faction Tokens that match the Faction Symbol on his Starting Deck.
3. Give each player a Raven Token. Players should place these in the empty slot at the top of their Player Boards.
4. Place the First Blood Starting Event face up in the Central Zone. This is the first card in a stack of Event Cards that will build throughout the game in the Central Zone. Event Cards placed in this stack do not count towards the total number of cards placed in the Central Zone during each Galactic Phase.
5. Give each player the Capital City Advancement card bearing the same Faction Symbol as his Starting Deck. The players should place their Capital Cities in their Warzones to the immediate right of their Home Worlds. The Capital Cities are considered “attached” to the Home Worlds, which is signified by the arrow on the left side of the Capital City.

It is recommended that all players playing the expansion use the Pregame Draft Rules introduced on page 16 of the original rulebook.

Fluxo do Jogo

Galactic Phase

During the Galactic Phase, if a new Event Card is drawn, place it face up on top of the stack of Event Cards in the Central Zone. Event Cards do not immediately trigger upon being drawn, so ignore their text for the time being and continue to draw new cards from the current Galactic Deck. It is important to note that Event Cards do not count toward the total number of cards drawn during the Galactic Phase. They are considered neither Worlds nor non-Worlds for this purpose.

It is possible to draw multiple Event Cards during the same Galactic Phase. In this case, continue to place them one at a time on top of the Event Stack. Only the last Event Card drawn each Round will have any effect. If no Event Cards are drawn, then the previous Round’s Event will repeat itself during the current Round (or, in the case of the first Round, the Starting Event will take effect).

At the end of the Galactic Phase, after all cards for the Round have been drawn and placed, the top card of the Event Stack “triggers” and its text must be obeyed by all players. Sometimes an Event will require players to take immediate action, and other times an Event will have an effect during the remainder of the current Round. If an Event affects more than one player at the same time, the players must act in player order, starting with the Destiny Marker and continuing clockwise around the table.

Action Phase

At any time during a player’s turn in the Action Phase, he may spend (remove) one or more of his Faction Tokens from Galactic Order Cards in order to activate the special powers associated with those Orders. A player may do this multiple times, spending tokens from the same and/or different Galactic Order Cards during the same turn. Spending a token does not cost any Actions or Energy. Players should return their spent tokens to their pool of Faction Tokens.

Energy Phase

During the Energy Phase, the Capital City allows each player with at least three Worlds in his Empire to place any one card from his hand (Unit or Tactic) beneath the Capital City; that removes the card from the player’s deck for the rest of the game. Note: A card placed beneath the Capital City is still considered part of the player’s Empire for endgame scoring, but it is not considered part of the player’s Warzone.

New Home Worlds feature a bonus power: "During the Energy Phase, you may discard 2 cards from your hand to gain 1 Energy." You may use this ability only once during its respective phase.

Draw Phase

New Home Worlds feature a bonus power: "During the Draw Phase, if you have more Worlds than Units in your Warzone, draw 1 additional card." You may use this ability only once during its respective phase.

Ações e Como Jogar

Placing Faction Tokens

Most Units and Tactics drafted in Sectors 1-5 have a Galactic Order Icon on their central horizontal bar. Whenever a player deploys a Unit or plays a Tactic with a Galactic Order Icon on it, he places one of his Faction Tokens on top of the corresponding Galactic Order Card. Note that the token is not added when a Unit or Tactic is first drafted, but only when it is deployed or played from hand. However, when a player drafts a Prestige Card and places it in his Warzone, he immediately places one of his Faction Tokens on the corresponding Galactic Order Card.

Activating Galactic Order Powers

Each Galactic Order has a special power associated with it, as described on its respective card. At any time during a player’s turn in the Action Phase, he may spend (remove) one or more of his Faction Tokens from Galactic Order Cards in order to activate the special powers associated with those Orders. A player may do this multiple times, spending tokens from the same and/or different Galactic Order Cards during the same turn. Spending a token does not cost any Actions or Energy. Players should return their spent tokens to their pool of Faction Tokens.

• Galactic Senate: During your Player Turn, gain 1 Action Point (if you have at least 1 Action Point left). This ability cannot be used if the player has passed or used up all of his Action Points. You may spend multiple Faction Tokens to gain additional Action Points, up to a maximum of 6 Action Points at any given time.
• Science Guild: During your Player Turn, subtract 3 from the Draft Cost of one card in the Central Zone. You may spend multiple Faction Tokens from the Science Guild to reduce the Draft Cost of the same card multiple times. Although the cost reduction is cumulative, any extra cost reduction is lost. For example, if you remove a Faction Token from the Science Guild to reduce the draft cost of a card from 2 to 0, the extra point of reduction cannot be applied to a new card.
• Merchant Alliance: During your Player Turn, subtract 3 from the Deploy Cost of one Unit. You may spend multiple Faction Tokens from the Merchant Alliance to reduce the Deploy Cost of the same card multiple times. Although the cost reduction is cumulative, any extra cost reduction is lost. In other words, a single Faction Token cannot apply to more than one Unit.
• Mining Coalition: During your Player Turn, gain 2 Energy. You may spend multiple Faction Tokens to gain additional Energy. This Energy can then be used for any purpose, including drafting, deploying, invading, using card text, and so on.
• Order of Knighthood: During an Invasion, add +2 to your Fleet Strength or Ground Strength. Each Token only adds to Fleet or Ground Strength, not both. You may, however, spend multiple Faction Tokens to cumulatively add more Fleet or Ground Strength to the same Invasion. This may even allow a player to conquer a World without using any Units.
• Mystic Brotherhood: During your Player Turn, draw 3 cards. You may spend multiple Faction Tokens to draw additional cards. If your deck runs out of cards, you may shuffle your discard pile to form a new deck. If both your deck and discard pile possess a total of only 1 or 2 cards, then simply draw as many cards as you have left.

Garrisoning Worlds

The “Garrisoning Worlds” rule replaces the “Colonizing Worlds” rule on page 14 of the original rulebook. After a player conquers a World, he may choose to stack anyone Unit that was used in that Invasion beneath the conquered World instead of discarding it. That removes the Unit from the player’s deck for the rest of the game. Note: A card used to garrison a World is still considered part of the player’s Empire for endgame scoring, but it is not considered part of the player’s Warzone.

Minimum Cost

If an effect ever reduces a card’s Draft or Deploy Cost below 0, the card’s Cost is considered 0.

Phantom Ship

The Phantom Ship is unique in that it is considered both a Unit and a Tactic. As mentioned in its card text, it can only be deployed during an Invasion, and it must be used during that Invasion. Even though it is “deployed,” it does not cost any Action Points to play because it is a Tactic. The Phantom Ship has a base Fleet Strength of 1, as printed on its card. All text and benefits that apply to both Tactics and Star Cruisers apply to the Phantom Ship, including the cost reduction text of planet Taurus. At the end of an Invasion involving the Phantom Ship, a player may play Superior Engineering to return the Phantom Ship to his hand.

Fim de Jogo e Pontuação

Scoring the Galactic Order Cards

At the end of the game, the players score bonus Empire Points based on the Faction Tokens that still remain on the Galactic Order Cards. Faction Tokens that were removed from the Galactic Order Cards during the game have no effect on scoring. Each Galactic Order Card is scored separately.

The player who has the most tokens on a Galactic Order Card scores bonus Empire Points equal to the number of tokens he has on that Galactic Order Card. The player with the second most tokens on a Galactic Order Card scores bonus Empire Points equal to half the number of tokens he has on that Galactic Order Card (round up). All other players score no points for that Galactic Order Card.

If there is a tie for the most tokens on a Galactic Order Card, all tied players receive the full Empire Points they are entitled to; in this case no player scores points for having the second most tokens on that Galactic Order Card. If one player has the most tokens on a Galactic Order Card but there is a tie for second place, then no player receives Empire Points for second place. Note: In a 2-player game of Core Worlds, only the player with the most tokens scores points for each Galactic Order Card; there is no second place scoring.

Consuls of the Empire Variant Scoring

During final scoring, a player scores points for a Core World bearing his Faction Token as if that Core World were part of his own Empire. This may result in multiple players receiving different bonus points for the same Core World.

Dicas para Vencer

• Strategically decide when to spend your Faction Tokens for immediate advantages from Galactic Order Cards versus saving them for end-game Empire Points.
• Utilize the Capital City Advancement Card to thin your deck by placing less useful Units or Tactics beneath it, improving your draw efficiency for the rest of the game.
• Pay close attention to Event Cards as they are drawn during the Galactic Phase. Only the last Event Card drawn each Round will have an effect, so anticipate its impact on all players and adjust your strategy accordingly.