How to Play Space Empires: Close Encounters

Objective of the Game

Space Empires: Close Encounters is an expansion that introduces a wealth of optional rules and tools to customize your gameplay experience. While the core objective of the base game remains, this expansion focuses on expanding your empire through advanced ship technologies, military experience, and strategic resource management. Players aim to outmaneuver opponents, capture ships and colonies, and develop powerful fleets to dominate the galaxy. The game is designed to be highly customizable, allowing groups to select which new rules to incorporate into their sessions.

Preparation (Setup)

To set up a game of Space Empires: Close Encounters, follow these steps, incorporating the new elements from the expansion:

• Homeworlds: Each player receives a new 30 CP Homeworld counter. It is suggested to use this when playing with the expansion. If a Homeworld takes damage, its production reduces from 30-20-10-5-Eliminated.
• Ship Technology Sheet: Use the provided sheet. Remember that basic technologies like Attack 0, Defense 0, Tactics 0, and Move 1 are not listed but are inherent to all ships. Attack 1 is the first listed attack tech. For Fighters, Fighter 1 technology is also not listed as it's a baseline.
• "No Mines" Counters: These are included for scenarios involving Space Amoebas. In other scenarios, their generic deep space background can be used to represent "Design Your Own" terrain or to trigger other agreed-upon events.
• Alien Technology Cards: Shuffle the deck of 30 cards and place it face down next to the game board. Players should remove any cards that modify rules not being used in the current game.
• Empire Advantage Cards:
  • Random Method: Each player is dealt two cards, chooses one, and discards the other face down.
  • Balanced Method: Deal one more card than the number of players face up in the middle. Players bid CP for choice of an advantage. Each player starts with 75 CP (or more if agreed). The winner subtracts their bid from starting CP, picks an advantage, and spends remaining CP on technology. Non-winners lose nothing. The process repeats for remaining players. The last player bids zero and chooses one of the two remaining advantages.

  Place chosen Empire Advantage cards face down in front of each player. They are revealed when their condition is met or if Ground Units capture one of your colonies.

• Fleet Markers: Three Fleet markers are provided for each player to facilitate moving large stacks of ships. Place the Fleet Chart in view of all players.
• Unique Ship Counters: Each player has six Unique Ship counters. After drawing Empire Advantages, but before the game starts, each player designs a ship for that counter. All six counters use the same design.
• Facilities (Optional Rule): If using this rule, use the 20 CP Homeworlds and do NOT use the Head Start optional rule. Players may only spend 15 CPs on researching technology in each Economic Phase.

For the first game with the expansion, it is recommended not to play with rules grouped under the heading Advanced Expansion Rules.

Fluxo do Jogo

Consulte o manual para detalhes sobre esta seção.

Ações e Como Jogar

Ship Experience and Military Academies

Experience is tracked by group, not individual ship. There are five levels: Green, Skilled, Veteran, Elite, and Legendary. All ships in a group share the same experience level. Combining groups results in the newly formed group having the lower experience level of the combining groups.

Military Academies

If not playing with Ship Experience, Military Academies are not used.

• If a player has not researched Military Academies, all new ships start as Green.
• If a player has researched Military Academy Level 1, all new ships start as Skilled.
• If a player has researched Military Academy Level 2, all new ships start as Skilled, and all ships (including existing ones) are more easily promoted.

Gaining Experience

Only groups with combat capability gain experience (Bases, SYs, Ground Units, etc., do not).

• Green Groups: At the very start of the Economic Phase (before CPs are collected), each Green group on the board is promoted to Skilled.
• Combat Experience: A group may gain experience whenever it destroys a ship. For each ship destroyed by that group, an extra die is rolled when the group is done firing. If the die roll is less than or equal to twice the Hull Size of the destroyed ship, the group gains a level of experience.
• Modifiers to Gaining Combat Experience:
  • -1 if the destroyed ship has a larger Hull Size than the firing ship.
  • -1 if the side with the firing ship has Military Academy Level 2.

  These modifiers are cumulative. Gaining experience happens immediately, before the next group fires. Only one level of experience may be gained by a group in each battle. When a group gains experience, mark a half circle around the next experience letter until the battle is complete. Move newly experienced groups halfway to the next row on the Battle Board.

• Aliens: All non-player Alien ships are considered "Skilled." Experience can be gained by attacking Aliens.

Benefits of Experience

• If a group has more experience than the group it is firing against, its Attack Strength is increased by 1 for that attack.
• If a group has 2 or more levels of experience than a group firing at it, the Attack Strength of the firing ship is decreased by 1 for that attack.
• A group may not fire at a group that has 3 or more levels of experience than them unless all remaining enemy ships have 3 or more levels of experience than them. In that case, they may only fire at the least experienced ships.
• Elite and Legendary groups pay half maintenance (rounded down). If they would already pay half maintenance due to other rules, they pay no maintenance.
• Ships in a Legendary group require one more hit to destroy than normal. For Boarding Ships, their Hull Size is considered one larger. This benefit applies even if fired upon by units that normally don't gain experience.

Units that cannot gain experience (Bases, SYs, Doomsday Machines, Space Amoebas, Ground Troops) are not affected by experience. They don't gain experience, aren't penalized when shooting at experienced ships (except for Legendary ships' Hull Size), experienced ships gain no benefit when firing at them, and ships don't gain experience when destroying them. These units are not used to calculate enemy firing restrictions based on experience level.

Boarding and Capturing Ships

Properties of Boarding Ships (BD)

After researching Boarding Level 1, a player may build Boarding Ships (BD) (F5-0-2) (CP=12). At Boarding Level 2, they can be upgraded (F6-0-2).

• May make Boarding Attacks.
• If combat occurs in Asteroids or a Nebula, Boarding Ships still fire at "F", not "E".
• Boarding Ships always hit on a "1".
• Boarding Ships may not mount Attack Technology.

Boarding Attacks

A Boarding Ship's attack is handled differently:

• The Hull Size of the attacked ship is subtracted from the Attack Strength of the Boarding Ship.
• All other modifiers and technologies are ignored (no Attack Tech, Defense Tech, Fleet Size bonus, etc.) except for experience modifiers.
• If that number or less is rolled, the attacked ship is captured (one successful boarding attack captures a ship, regardless of Hull Size).
• Boarding Ships may attack each round regardless of previous success or failure.
• Boarding Ships may acquire experience when they successfully capture a ship.

Restrictions on Boarding Attacks:

• Carriers may not be attacked until all friendly Fighters in the battle are eliminated.
• Ships that are screened from combat may not be attacked or captured.
• Bases, SYs, Colony Ships, Colonies, Miners, MS Pipeline, Titans, Fighters, Doomsday Machines, Space Amoebas, and ships carrying troops cannot be captured. If a Boarding Ship fires on them, it makes a normal F1 attack with no Attack Tech, which may benefit from the Fleet Size bonus.
• Boarding Ships may be boarded.

Captured Ships

A ship captured by a boarding party immediately becomes controlled by the capturing player.

• May not attack, retreat, count for screening, or count for fleet size in the first round after capture.
• May be fired upon normally, screened, and re-captured.
• After the first round post-capture, a captured ship may attack and retreat normally.
• If playing with the experience rule, newly captured ships from other players are "Green" (regardless of Military Academy Level) but may gain experience normally.
• If playing with the experience rule, captured non-player alien ships are always "Green" and can never increase in experience.

Tracking Captured Ships

During battle, a captured ship can be represented by any spare counter. At the battle's conclusion, surviving captured ships must be switched to the capturing player's own counters. If a player cannot free up a Group counter, they must scuttle the captured ship. The new group's technology should be marked on the Ship Tracking Sheet. The former owner informs the capturing player of the ship's tech levels. Until upgraded or scrapped, a formerly captured ship must always be identified in battle. Captured ships with the same technology as existing ships can be combined into a group.

Captured Ships and Technology

Captured ships may use all technologies they possess but cannot give technology to other ships.

• Scrapping Technology: If a captured ship is at a friendly Ship Yard during an Economic Phase, it may be scrapped for its technology. The scrapping player gains one level of technology in each area where the captured ship has better technology, and the ship is removed. Players can successively scrap ships in the same Economic Phase to gain more technology and may also purchase technology levels.

Restrictions on Scrapping Technology:

• Scrapping a Carrier can only yield up to Fighter 1 Tech.
• Ground Combat technology cannot be gained by scrapping a Transport.
• Security Forces and Military Academies cannot be gained by capturing a ship.
• Any technology gained is limited to what is present on the scrapped ship.
• In a multi-player game without fixed teams, technology cannot be gained by scrapping captured ships.
• Ship Size technology can be gained by this method.

Captured Non-Player Alien Ships

Non-player aliens may be captured and used (maintenance must be paid). However, a player may never put any of their technology on them. They have standard alien technology (PD 2, Tactics 1, Move 3). They may be scuttled but not scrapped for technology. If stacked with friendly ships, ownership should be obvious. If moved alone, stack an "Empire" marker of your color with them.

Security Forces

Use only with Boarding Ships. If a player researches Security Forces, all their ships immediately and automatically gain the benefit. A ship does not need to be upgraded. This is an exception to the upgrade rule, similar to Bases, Ship Yards, and Military Academies. All NPA ships are equipped with Security 1.

• Effects: A player with Security Forces 1 adds one to the Hull Size of their ships attacked by Boarding Ships for boarding attacks. Security Forces 2 adds two to the Hull Size.

Titans

Titans are massive ships, larger than a Dreadnought. A player must have Ship Size Technology 7 to build a Titan.

In General

• Each hit from a Titan does 2 damage to a single ship instead of 1.
• May never retreat from combat.
• May never be screened.
• Are immune to Boarding Ships.
• Unless the attacking ship is a Fighter, a roll of 1 is not an automatic hit against a Titan.

Fleet Size Bonus

The Fleet Size Bonus is calculated normally. However, when firing at a Titan, ships other than Fighters do not get the bonus. Fighters get a +1 to Attack Strength against a Titan.

Can Carry Fighters

If a player with a Titan also has Fighter Tech, a Titan may carry 3 Fighters like a Carrier. An existing Titan can be upgraded when Fighter 1 is researched. A Titan is not considered a CV and may be fired upon while friendly Fighters are present. If a Titan is destroyed and there are more Fighters than can be carried by remaining CVs and Titans, the extra Fighters are eliminated.

Planet Destroyers

A Titan cannot attack a Colony like a normal ship. If it attacks, it destroys the planet. The Colony and planet are automatically destroyed. Remove the planet and replace it with a Destroyed Planet marker, making the hex an asteroid hex. A Titan may destroy a planet without a colony.

Titans and Mines

Mines do not kill a Titan but do one point of damage each. It takes 5 Mines to kill a Titan. If a battle follows Mine detonation, the Titan enters with damage. Fighters carried by the Titan are immune to mine damage unless the Titan is destroyed. All damage is repaired at the end of a battle.

Mine Sweeper Technology

• The cost of Mine Sweeper technology has been reduced, and Mine technology cost increased.
• Mine Sweeper 3 technology, allowing SWs to remove 3 Mines before detonation, has been added.

Movement Technology

• The cost of some Movement technologies has been decreased.
• Movement Technology 7, allowing ships to move 3 hexes in all 3 rounds, may be purchased.
• Reaction Movement (see 10.0) comes with some Movement technologies.

Reaction Movement

Exploration Technology Sensors

The base game's Exploration Technology Sensors can be upgraded to Exploration 2 technology. This allows Bases, Ship Yards, CAs, Flagships, and some Unique Ships to respond to a battle in an adjacent hex and send ships with the Reaction Ability to reinforce. This is called Reaction Movement. Bases and SYs are automatically upgraded with Exploration 2 but do not gain Exploration 1 benefits.

Procedure

After an opposing player finishes moving, a ship with the Reaction Ability in the same hex as an Exploration 2 equipped ship/base may make a Reaction Move—moving one hex to join battle. Multiple ships can react. The decision must be made before fleets are revealed and combats resolved. Reacting ships are part of the defending force.

Restrictions on Reaction:

• The Reaction Move can only be made into a battle hex (involving units from both sides). A friendly Colony with enemy forces qualifies. Non-combat ships without friendly combat-capable ships do not qualify.
• Ships in a hex with enemy units may not React.
• Reaction moves may not be made through Warp Points or Warp Gates.
• Reaction Movement, even with Advanced Comm Array, only allows one hex of movement per player turn.

Which Units May React

• At Movement Technology 3 (and higher): SCs, DDs, CAs, and Rs get the React ability.
• At Movement Technology 4 (and higher): Flagships, BCs, and BDs get the React ability.
• At Movement Technology 5 (and higher): BBs, CVs, Unique Ships, and Transports get the React ability.
• At Movement Technology 6 (and higher): DNs and SWs get the React ability.

An 'R' on the Ship Technology Sheet reminds players that the group gets the React ability at that Move technology level.

Fast Battlecruisers

This technology gives BCs more mobility. A BC with Fast Battlecruiser 1 technology may move one