# ISS Vanguard

## General Info
- **Year Published**: 2022
- **BGG Rating**: 8.3
- **BGG Rank**: #159
- **Players**: 1-4 (Best with: 2)
- **Duration**: 90-120 min
- **Weight**: 3.67 / 5
- **Designers**: Andrzej Betkiewicz, Krzysztof Piskorski, Marcin Świerkot, Paweł Samborski
- **Artists**: Dominik Meyer, Ewa Labak, Ingram Schell, Pamela Łuniewska, Patryk Jędraszek, Piotr Gacek
- **Publishers**: Awaken Realms, Albi, Delta Vision Publishing, MeepleBR, Pegasus Spiele, Ігромаг
- **Categories**: Adventure, Exploration, Novel-based, Science Fiction, Space Exploration
- **Mechanics**: Cooperative Game, Dice Rolling, Narrative Choice / Paragraph, Open Drafting, Scenario / Mission / Campaign Game, Solo / Solitaire Game, Storytelling, Variable Player Powers

## Verdict
Perfect for those who love dense sci-fi and campaigns where choices truly matter. A feast for narrative enthusiasts.Deep and branching storylineStunning high-quality componentsGreat balance of strategy and tacticsHuge variety of crew membersSteep learning curveHeavy reliance on reading/translationHIGHLY RECOMMENDED

## Description
Suit up, because ISS Vanguard isn't just a game—it's an epic odyssey. You and your crew take command of the first human vessel capable of venturing into deep space. Split into four critical sections—Security, Recon, Science, and Engineering—you must cooperate to survive the unknown while unraveling mysteries encoded within human DNA. The gameplay is split into two distinct phases that shift the scale of the experience.

First, there's the Ship Management phase. Here, the game takes on a strategic and administrative tone. Using a massive binder, you'll decide your destinations, research cutting-edge technologies, recruit crew members (with over 100 unique characters available!), and resolve critical situations. It's all about logistics and ensuring your ship doesn't become space debris before the mission ends. Then comes the Planetary Exploration phase, where things get intense. You'll select and customize a Lander, assemble the perfect team, and descend onto hostile planetary surfaces. In this phase, the focus shifts to tactics: every die roll and card played is crucial to exploring points of interest, fighting off threats, and—most importantly—returning to the Lander before your supplies run dry.

The soul of the game is its narrative, penned by Krzysztof Piskorski (the mind behind Tainted Grail). Forget dry manuals; the story unfolds through mission logs, dynamic dialogues, and branching choices that genuinely alter the campaign's course. Your successes and failures are recorded, making every playthrough a unique story. It's a dense experience with stunning components and a 'hard' sci-fi atmosphere that keeps the tension high. If you love the feeling of being in a space exploration movie where survival depends on tough calls and teamwork, ISS Vanguard is your next destination.

## How to Play
Game Objective
In ISS Vanguard, players control different sections of a spaceship and its crew to explore planets. The goal is to conduct Planetary Exploration, completing missions and gathering Discoveries. The game involves managing crew capabilities, navigating dangerous sectors, and ensuring the survival of the crew to advance the story as detailed in the Logbook.

Setup
Follow these steps to prepare for your first mission:

    General Components: Place 1 game round/dice check reference card and 1 danger die reference card per player. Set up 4 crew boards, card tray A (planetary exploration), card tray B (ship management), the Planetopedia, 1 start token, all turn tokens, success tokens, time tokens, and markers.
    Dice: Prepare 12 injury dice and 2 danger dice.
    Crew Assignment: Players choose which sections to control (each of the 4 sections must have a controlling player). The player controlling a section is the section player.
    Crew Selection: Each section player draws 3 random cards from Recruits (card tray B), picks 2 starting crewmembers for their sections, and places them in the rank 1 sleeve. One crewmember is placed on a crew board, and the other is placed in Resting Crew.
    Away Team: Players who control more than one section pick only one for the away team. For those not in the away team, move their crewmember card to Resting Crew and their section dice to the section compartment.
    Deck Preparation: For each away team crewmember, take the 10 rank 1 section cards (marked with a white bar) from their section compartment, shuffle them, and place them in the section deck slot.
    Planet Board: Open the Planetopedia to pages 02-03 (Eye of the Void). Place the tutorial rank-up card (incomplete side) at the top edge.
    Mission Setup: Place mission card M01 in the mission space and unique discovery 1 facedown in its designated space. Shuffle 5 tutorial event cards next to the board.
    Final Touches: Place miniatures in sectors 1 and 2 (at least 1 per sector). Place a turn token (turn available side up) next to each crew board. Give the start token to the Recon section player.
    Start: Read the mission card aloud, each section player draws 2 cards from their section deck, and begin with Log 1.


Game Flow
The game progresses through rounds of Planetary Exploration:

    Round Start: The crewmember with the start token gives it to any crewmember (including themselves).
    Player Turns: Starting with the crewmember holding the start token and moving clockwise, each crewmember takes their turn.
    Turn Structure:
        
            Perform 2 Actions: Resolve two actions fully, one at a time.
            End of Turn: Flip the turn token to the "turn ended" side. Draw and resolve 1 event card. If the card's biome icons match the sector's icons, resolve the main effect (bottom); otherwise, resolve the secondary effect (top).
        
    
    Round End: When all turn tokens are "turn ended," the round ends. Flip all tokens back to "turn available" and begin a new round.

This sequence repeats until a lift-off action is performed, a crewmember receives a fourth injury card, or a log or mission card ends the exploration.

Actions and How to Play
Standard Actions
On your turn, you may perform 2 actions. You may perform the same action twice, unless it is a special action.

    Travel: Move to a connected sector via a path. You cannot travel if a "no movement" icon is visible in your sector. Resolve each icon on the path. If a travel icon is encountered, resolve the effect on the global condition card.
    Prepare: You may do one or both:
        
            Draw 1 section card (discard down to your section card limit: 2 for rank 1, 3 for rank 2, 4 for rank 3).
            Perform a dice check to match results with a section card in hand or the global condition card.
        
    
    Rest: 1. Reduce supplies by 1 on the lander track (cannot rest if at 0). 2. Refresh half of your total section dice (rounding up). 3. Draw 1 section card (discard down to limit).
    Lift-off: Only possible for a crewmember in the lander sector and requires unanimous agreement from all other crewmembers. This ends Planetary Exploration immediately.


Special Action
You may perform 1 special action visible on the planet board, a POI card, the global condition card, a threat card, a mission card, or a lander mod/rank-up card.

Dice Checks
Dice checks are tests performed using section dice:

    Choose Dice: Take any number of available section dice. Other crewmembers in the same sector may assist by contributing 1 available section die.
    Add Dice: Add your injury dice and any danger dice indicated by the action.
    Roll: All dice form a roll pool.
    Modify: Use equipment cards or section cards with "during a dice check" effects. Assisting crewmembers may play up to 1 section card.
    Combinations: Use section card dice combinations, global condition dice combinations, or convert abilities to treat basic results as specific icons. Accident results cannot be used for combinations.
    Injury/Danger Resolution: Match rolled injury dice to icons on your injury cards. Resolve danger dice via the reference card. Move injury dice back to the crew board (1 per column).
    Special Effects: Resolve effects in black frames (global condition first, then others left-to-right, top-to-bottom).
    Mark Outcomes: If no tracks exist, mark the highest requirement met (green is success, red is failure).
    Spend Dice: Move all dice to the spent pool.
    Resolve Outcomes: Apply the effect of the marked outcome or track.


Other Mechanics

    Exertion: Not an action. Sacrifice 1 die to refresh 5 section dice. If you have 3 or fewer dice in play, gain an Exhausted injury instead.
    Crewmember Skill: Discard 1 charge from the crew board to use a skill at any time.
    Leads: Gain lead tokens from the lead bag. When a deck reaches a total value of 3, gain the top discovery card.


End of Game and Scoring
Planetary Exploration ends under the following triggers:

    Lift-off: A crewmember in the lander sector performs the action with unanimous agreement. If crewmembers are left behind, they die. If the mission is incomplete, mission failed penalties are applied in the Ship Book.
    Emergency Evac: Triggered when a crewmember who already has 3 injury cards receives a fourth. This saves everyone but results in failing the exploration and the loss of all non-unique discoveries.
    Log/Mission Trigger: A log or mission card explicitly tells you to end exploration.

Consulte o manual para detalhes sobre a pontuação final e condições de vitória/derrota globais.

Tips for Winning

    Manage Your Dice: Use Exertion carefully to refresh your section dice, but be mindful that having 3 or fewer dice in play will cause an Exhausted injury.
    Coordinate Assistance: Use the assistance of other crewmembers in the same sector during dice checks to increase the roll pool and improve the chances of hitting high-value outcomes.
    Optimize Equipment: Use equipment cards that provide "during a dice check" effects to modify results and avoid the red (failure) outcomes.

## FAQ
### Is the game too complex for beginners?
Yes, it has a significant weight (3.67 on BGG). It's not for casual gamers; it requires reading and attention to rules, but the immersion is worth it.

### Can it be played solo?
Absolutely! The game has robust solo rules, allowing you to experience the entire campaign as the lone commander of the mission.

### How long does each session take?
Expect to spend between 90 and 120 minutes per session, but remember it's a campaign, so the overall journey is quite long.

### Is it available in English?
Yes, the original version is in English, and since it's a narrative-heavy game, proficiency in the language is key.

### What's in the box?
A lot! It includes a ship management binder, miniatures, icon-based dice, crew cards, and mission books.

### Is it similar to Tainted Grail?
Yes, especially in the narrative structure and the weight of choices, as they share the same author, though the space theme changes the dynamics.

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