District 9: The Boardgame Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Component List
• Setup
  • 1. Select Factions and Gather Components
  • 2. Choose a First Player
  • 3. Establish the District
  • 4. Prepare the District Boost Cards
  • 5. Prepare the Event Board
  • 6. Prepare the Unrest Board
  • 7. Prepare the Mech
  • 8. Assign the Puddi Pouch
  • 9. Draw Starting Hand
• How to Play
  • Playing a Round
  • Player Turn
    • 1. Gain Influence
    • 2. Cards and Orders
      • Spend Influence
      • Play Action
      • Issue Orders
    • Controlling the Zone
    • Evict
    • Claim
    • Revealing the Canister
    • What is a Critical Result?
• End of Day
  • End of Day 1
  • End of Day 2
  • End of Day 3 (Game End)
  • Winning the Game
• Factions
  • MNU Security Forces
  • 1st Reaction Force Battalion
  • Gangsters
  • Prawn Gang
• Additional Rules
  • Conflict and Engagement
    • Engaging
    • Compare Results
    • Damage
    • Critical Damage
  • Vehicle Dashboard Breakdown
  • Deployable Allies
    • Deploying a Deployable Ally
    • Deployable Allies and Orders
  • District Boost Cards
  • District Boost Allies
• Characters
  • Profile Cards
  • Wounds
• Mech
  • Mech Movement
  • Mech Profile
  • Mech Damage
• Prawn
• Unrest and the Unrest Tracker
  • Riot
• Zones
  • Controlling a Zone
• Tech Tiles
• Quick Reference
  • Player Turn Summary
  • Engagement Summary
  • Faction Card Influence Breakdown

Component List

• 4 District Tiles
• 2 Center District Tiles
• 1 Drop Ship Tile
• 56 Event Cards (3 decks: 16 Day 1 cards, 16 Day 2 cards, 24 Day 3 cards)
• 1 Card & Events Tracker
• 30 Prawn miniatures (15 yellow, 10 orange & 5 red)
• 24 Tech Tiles (1 canister, 6 white, 8 grey & 9 orange)
• 5 Character Profiles
• 1 Unrest Reference Card
• 24 Wikus Cards
• 2 Wikus miniatures
• 4 Character miniatures
• 1 District Unrest Meter
• 1 Mech Profile
• 16 Mech Tiles
• 1 Mech miniature
• 4 Vehicle Dashboards
• 4 Faction Base Tiles
• 24 Starting Boost Cards (4 decks, 6 per faction)
• 4 Outpost Tiles
• 160 Faction Cards (4 decks, 40 per faction)
• 13 Stat Counters (4 sets of 3 each & 1 Unrest)
• 4 Faction Rings
• 32 Deployable Ally Cards (4 ally decks of 8 cards, 1 for each faction)
• 32 Deployable Ally miniatures (8 MNU, 8 Gangsters, 8 Prawn Gang & 8 RFB)
• 1 Puddi Pouch
• 24 District Boost Cards

Setup

1. Select Factions and Gather Components

Each player chooses one of the factions to play and takes all components for that faction:

• 1 Vehicle Dashboard
• 3 Tracking cubes for stats
• 1 Faction Deck (40 small size cards)
• 1 Ally Deck (8 standard size cards)
• 1 Starting Boost Deck (6 small size cards)
• 8 Deployable Ally miniatures
• 1 Vehicle miniature
• 1 Faction Base Tile
• 1 Outpost Tile

Shuffle both decks and place them and the Vehicle Dashboard in front of you. Place the 3 tracking cubes on the stats at the top of your Dashboard - Influence and Strength start at 1, while Defence starts at 0.

Each player chooses one District Boost card from their starting boost deck and places it face up in the District Boost space on their Vehicle Dashboard. Discard the rest. (For more on Starting Boosts see Starting Boost Cards on page 31.) Place your Deployable Ally miniatures to the side; you will deploy them during the course of the game.

Your Vehicle miniature, Faction Base Tile and Outpost Tile will be used when all players Establish the District.

2. Choose a First Player

Each player discards the top card of their Faction Deck. The highest value becomes the First Player. If there is a tie, all tied players discard another card until a First Player is determined. The First Player will also be the Game Manager and they will monitor the Event and Unrest boards throughout the game.

3. Establish the District

All players will take a role in Establishing the District. Players will build the District Board, place their Faction Base Tiles, and populate the board with face down Tech Tiles.

1. Connect the two Center District Tiles in the middle of the playing area. Place the Day One Wikus miniature in the center space of the tile.
2. Beginning with the First Player and proceeding clockwise, each player will choose ONE District Tile and place it so it connects to the Center District Tile (if possible). District Tiles must be placed so that at least two edges touch an already placed tile.
3. Beginning with the First Player and proceeding clockwise, each player places their Faction Base Tile. The Faction Base Tile cannot be connected to the Center Tile, must touch two edges of another tile and must be at least two edges away from another Faction Base Tile. Additionally, the coloured "Base" edge of the tile must not touch another edge.
4. Each player places their Vehicle miniature in their Base.
5. Beginning with the First Player and proceeding clockwise, each player places 1 Tech Tile face down on an available Zone on the District Board. Players must place Orange Tech Tiles first, then Grey, then White. Tech Tiles may only be placed in Zones that contain the same colour as the Tech Tile being placed. For example, Orange may go on any full or half orange space. Continue placing Tech Tiles until all are placed, or no more can be placed.
6. Beginning with the First Player and proceeding clockwise, each player places their Outpost Tile in an available Zone. Outposts cannot be placed in an Orange or half Orange Zone, within two Zones of another Outpost, or on any Faction Base Tile.
7. Place the Prawn miniatures around the game board within easy reach of all players.

Diagram notes (Establishing the District): a District Tile must have at least 2 edges touching another Tile (one edge shown as NO, two edges as YES). Outposts cannot sit within two Zones of each other, cannot be in a Zone with an orange or half-orange space, cannot be on the Faction Base Tile, and cannot be on the Center District Tile.

4. Prepare the District Boost Cards

Shuffle the District Boost Cards and place them near the gameboard in reach of all players.

5. Prepare the Event Board

Place the Event Board near the Game Manager. Shuffle the Day One Event Card deck and the Wikus Deck and place them on the Event Board.

Take the five Profile cards (Prawn, CJ, Obesandjo, Koobus and Helicopter). Place the Prawn Profile card face up and the other four profile cards face down in their spaces on the Event Tracker. The four face down profiles will be revealed by events during the game.

Place the story Character miniatures (CJ, Obesandjo, Koobus and Helicopter) near the Event Board. Events during the game will allow players to deploy them to the District Board.

6. Prepare the Unrest Board

Place the Unrest Board near the Game Manager. Place the Unrest Tracker on the first space of the Unrest track.

7. Prepare the Mech

Place the Mech Profile Board near the gameboard. Randomly place the 16 Mech Tiles facedown on the Mech Profile Board. (For more information on the Mech see page 33.)

Place the Mech miniature near the Mech Profile Board.

8. Assign the Puddi Pouch

The Game Manager begins the game with the Puddi Pouch.

9. Draw Starting Hand

All players draw five cards from their Faction decks. These cards are kept secret from other players.

You are now ready to begin your first day in District 9. The Game Manager has the first turn.

How to Play

District 9: The Boardgame is played over three days, with each day having a different impact on the game.

In Day 1 all players are scouring the district for alien tech. Each player will have the chance to gather tech and enhance their Vehicle Dashboard. This will raise the Influence, Strength and Defense of your Vehicle which will be useful in quelling the growing number of District 9 citizens getting in your way. While the players are searching for Tech, Wikus is searching for the elusive canister that will bring a close to the day.

In Day 2 tensions are rising in the district and while players are still searching for tech, they now have the opportunity to return to their base or their outpost and bank some of the valuable tech they have already collected. The rising tensions bring new Characters to the district, each with a different agenda. When Wikus meets CJ the day comes to a close.

Day 3 starts with a bang as the drop ship crash lands in the middle of the district and the fearsome Mech emerges. The Mech will destroy anything in its path so the players have no choice but to accelerate out of their bases and try to take it down before the entire district is leveled and the valuable alien tech is lost forever.

Playing a Round

District 9: The Boardgame is broken down into Game Rounds and Player Turns.

The Round always starts with the Game Manager. Each player in clockwise order will take a Turn which consists of:

1. Gain Influence. At the start of a player's turn they gain Influence based on their improvements and tech.
2. Cards and Orders. During this phase of their turn players may spend Influence to improve their Vehicle Dashboard, play an Action, and issue Orders to move around the district engaging and collecting tech.
3. Resolve Event. At the end of each turn an Event is revealed. Events detail what is happening in the district. The current player controls any effects that might arise from the Event.
4. Refresh Hand. The current player may discard any number of cards and redraw to five.

When all players have taken a turn the round ends. During Day One and Day Two there is a Wikus Phase after which a new round begins. In Day Three a new round will flow on from the last.

Player Turn

Perform each of the following phases in order.

1. Gain Influence

At the start of your turn gain Influence (Influence icon) by adding up the following bonuses:

• Base 1 for your Vehicle
• Influence modifiers from your equipped Crew and Equipment.
• Influence from any Alien Tech you have on your Vehicle Dashboard.

The maximum Influence you can gain is 6. Influence is spent during the Cards and Orders phase of your turn and is reset at the start of your next turn. It does not accumulate from turn to turn and is only gained during this phase.

Example (diagram): 1 Base Influence + 1 Influence + 2 Influence = 4 Influence gained. The cards shown are MNU SGT. (Crew, cost 2, +1 Influence) and PRESS RELEASE (Equipment, cost 3, +2 Influence; "When added to your Vehicle, lower the Unrest Meter by 2.").

2. Cards and Orders

During your turn you may perform the following:

• Spend Influence. You may buy cards from your hand by spending Influence equal to the cost of the card.
• Play Action. You may play one card from your hand as an action by adding the number of Prawn shown to the Zone your Vehicle miniature is in.
• Issue Orders. You may issue up to three Orders on your turn. These may be the same Order or different Orders. These Orders may be used on either your Vehicle miniature or your deployed Allies.
• Order Allies. Ally miniatures that have been deployed to the district work independently of your Vehicle miniature. Each one may perform a free Order during your turn.

You may perform these in any order, including spending Influence or playing an Action between issuing Orders.

Spend Influence

You may play the Crew and Equipment cards in your hand to your Vehicle Dashboard by spending the Influence cost of the card. You have three spaces for Crew cards and three spaces for Equipment cards. You may discard Crew or Equipment cards at any time to make room for new cards or Tech. Each space may only contain one card or one Tech. Tech is discarded face up to the location of your Vehicle miniature. Cards are discarded face up near your Faction Deck.

After playing a card to your Vehicle Dashboard adjust your Strength and/or Defense trackers by the amount shown on the card. Strength always has a base of 1, while Defense has a base of 0. These values will fluctuate throughout the game as you gain and lose Crew and Equipment cards. The trackers will help both you and your opponents gauge what your relevant Strength and Defense are at any time.

While some Crew and Equipment provide Influence modifiers, Influence is only calculated at the start of a turn during Gain Influence.

Diagram labels: "Spend influence to play the card." "Defense goes up by one." "Place card on your Vehicle Dashboard."

Play Action

Once during you turn [sic] you may play a card in your hand as an Action. Actions are the alternate ability on your Equipment cards. You can only play Actions from your hand, not from Equipment you have added to your Vehicle Dashboard.

To play an Action you reveal the card and add the number of Prawn shown to the Zone your Vehicle miniature is in (to a limit of 6). Even if the full number of Prawn cannot be added to the zone, the Action still takes place. Prawn cannot be added to any Faction Base Zone.

After Prawn have been added read out and perform the Action as written on the card. After playing an Action the card is discarded, though some Actions will have effects that last until the end of your turn.

Diagram labels: "Cost: Add this many prawn to your Vehicle's Zone." "Action Name." "Action Effect."

Issue Orders

There are five possible Orders you can use on your turn. You may use the same Order multiple times and you can issue Orders in any order. During your turn you may only issue a maximum of three Orders. If you choose you may issue no Orders. Generally Orders are used on your Vehicle miniature however you may use any of your three Orders on your deployed Allies if you choose.

The Orders are:

Move. You may move your Vehicle miniature (or Deployable Ally) a number of Zones up to its Move stat. Any number of Units (Vehicles, Prawn, Characters or Deployable Allies) may occupy the same Zone. You always complete your Move, however each time you move out of a Zone containing Prawn with more Strength than your Defense the Prawn will Engage you. (See Conflict and Engagement on page 22.) When an Engage Order is issued against the Prawn raise the Unrest meter by 1.

Engage. Your Vehicle miniature (or Deployable Ally) may Engage another Unit in the same Zone. You may Engage the Prawn, your opponents Vehicles or Deployable Allies, a Character, or the Mech. (See Conflict and Engagement on page 22.) When an Engage Order is issued against the Prawn raise the Unrest meter by 1.

Controlling the Zone

Any number of miniatures can be present in a single Zone however only one Faction can control the Zone.

• You control the Zone if you have the most combined Strength (from your Vehicle and any deployed Allies present) of all Factions or Prawn in the Zone.
• No one controls the Zone if the Prawn have the most strength or all Factions and/or Prawn are tied for the most Strength.

Example (diagram): 1 Strength (default) + 1 Strength + 2 Strength + 1 Strength = 5 Strength total. "The MNU player has a total of 5 Strength, gained from the 1 default, and the cards currently in play on their dashboard." "5 Strength > 2 Prawn. This player has 'control of the zone' and may Evict to take the Tech Tile."

Evict

If you Control the Zone your Vehicle miniature is in (See Controlling the Zone above. For more information about Zones see page 36), you may evict the Prawn from their houses to uncover a facedown Tech Tile. Reveal the facedown Tech Tile and add the number of Prawn shown on the tile to the Zone (to a limit of 6). Then add the Tech Tile to an available space on your Vehicle Dashboard and raise the Unrest meter by 1. Finally reveal and discard the top card of the Wikus deck. If the card shows a "Critical Result" the Prawn in that zone are hostile and immediately Engage your Vehicle. (See Controlling the Zone above. For more information about Zones see page 36.)

Claim

If you Control the Zone your Vehicle miniature is in (see Controlling Zones on page 36), you may Claim a face up Tech Tile in that zone. Add the number of Prawn shown on the tile to the Zone (to a limit of 6), then add the Tech Tile to an available space on your Vehicle Dashboard. You do not reveal a Wikus card during this order as Prawn in the Zone are considered docile during a Claim order.

Revealing the Canister

If during an Evict Order or Event a player reveals the Canister they must leave it where it is. No player may Claim the Canister. The player that revealed the Canister draws a District Boost card (see District Boost Cards on page 29).

What is a Critical Result?

During the game players will be asked to reveal the top card of their Faction deck while Prawn, Characters and the Mech will be asked to reveal the top card of the Wikus deck. If the card shows a Critical (Example) then a Critical Result has occurred. This generally affects the outcome of combat but is also used to determine the severity of Evict Orders and some events.

Bank (only possible during Day Two and Three)

If your Vehicle miniature is in the same Zone as your Faction Base or Outpost you may Bank Tech Tiles by moving them between your Vehicle Dashboard and your Base or Outpost. You may bank as many Items as you want up to the limit of the spaces they are being moved to. Tech Tiles that have been banked cannot be lost while in your in your Base or Outpost [sic]. Banked Tech Tiles no longer add to your Influence during the Gain Influence step.

Order Allies

Each Ally that has been deployed to the district board may also be given Orders. Each Ally has one free Order per turn they may be given. These free Orders do not count against the three Orders you may issue as part of your Turn, however you may use any of your three standard Orders on your Allies instead of your Vehicle miniature if you wish. Deployable Allies may only Move or Engage, they cannot Evict, Claim, or Bank. (For more on Allies see Deployable Allies on page 28.)

Card diagram labels: "Card Type" (DEPLOYABLE ALLY), "Card Name" (CHECKPOINT TROOPER), "Influence", "Move" (1), "Strength" (1), "Defense" (2), "Special Ability": "All of your Deployed Allies in this Zone have +1 Defense."

3. Resolve Event

After you have finished issuing Orders and playing cards you reveal the top card of the current Day's Event deck and resolve all possible actions in the following order.

1. Event. Perform all effects listed.
2. Deploy. If the Character listed is not currently on the board, follow the instructions on the Event card to add their Character miniature to the board. Then flip their Profile card face up and perform the listed Deploy Action ability for that Character.
3. For the listed Character perform the related Deploy Ally action on their Profile card. If their Profile card is face down because they are not in play, ignore this effect.
4. For the listed Character perform the related Mech action on their Profile card. If their Profile card is face down because they are not in play, ignore this effect.
5. For the listed Character perform the related Prawn action on their Profile card. If their Profile card is face down because they are not in play, ignore this effect.

(Steps 3-5 are marked with the Deploy Ally, Mech and Prawn symbols shown on the Character Profile cards.)

For Steps 3-5 there are six possible Character Profiles that may be referenced during the game: Prawn, CJ, Obesandjo, Koobus, Helicopter and Mech. Additionally the players may be given the opportunity to "Deploy Ally" during one of these steps (see Deployable Allies on page 28).

(The page shows two sample Character Profile cards, the Helicopter ("Strafing Run") and Koobus, with numbered callouts 1-5 keyed to the steps above. The card text is not legible in the source scan and is not reproduced here; the Character Profile cards in the game components carry it.)

4. Refresh Hand

After a player has resolved their Event card they may discard as many cards from their hand as they choose and draw back up to five from their Faction card deck. Unless the Round has ended during Day One or Two it is now the next player's turn. If the Round has ended during Day One or Two go to the Wikus Phase before continuing with the next player's turn.

Wikus Phase

During Day One and Day Two after all players have completed a turn, before the Game Manager starts a new round, there is a Wikus Phase. During Day Three play continues clockwise around the table until the game ends.

The Game Manager deals two Wikus Cards to each player and adds one to the Puddi Pouch. Each player then chooses one of their Wikus cards to add to the Puddi Pouch and one to discard.

The player currently in possession of the Puddi Pouch resolves Wikus' actions in the following order.

1. Move Wikus one Zone and add one Prawn to that Zone (to a limit of 6).
2. Randomly draw one Wikus card from the Puddi Pouch and resolve all possible effects on the card.
3. Randomly draw another Wikus card from the Puddi Pouch and resolve all possible effects on the card.
4. Discard the remaining Wikus Cards and pass the Puddi Pouch to the player on your left (clockwise).

The Game Manager will begin the new round, not the player with the Puddi Pouch. The player with the Puddi Pouch will be the player that resolves Wikus' actions during the next Wikus Phase.

Note: The Puddi Pouch is symbolic, you do not need to put the cards into the Pouch, as long as 2 cards are drawn randomly from the selected Wikus cards.

End of Day

The game is played over three days with each day bringing new challenges to the players. While a day is most likely to end during the Event or Wikus phases, a day can end at any time so be prepared to face the changing conditions.

End of Day 1

Day One comes to an end when one of the following occurs:

• Wikus reaches the Zone with the Canister. If a player moves Wikus into this Zone they draw a District Boost Card (see District Boost Cards on page 29).
• All Tech Tiles have been revealed.
• The final Day One Event card has been drawn and resolved.

To setup for Day Two perform the following steps.

1. Remove the Day One Event deck and replace it with the Day Two Event deck.
2. Remove the Day One Wikus miniature from the district board and replace it with the Day Two Wikus miniature in the same zone.

Finish the current players turn and continue playing clockwise around the table as normal. The game is now in Day Two.

(Diagram: "Day 1 | Day 2" marks the Wikus miniature swap.)

End of Day 2

Day Two comes to an End when one of the following occurs:

• Wikus and CJ are in the same Zone. If a player moves Wikus or CJ into the same Zone as the other they draw a District Boost Card (see District Boost Cards on page 29).
• The final Day Two Event card has been drawn and resolved.

To setup for Day Three perform the following steps:

1. All players return their Vehicle miniatures to their Factions Bases.
2. Remove all story Characters (including Wikus) from the board, flipping the Profile cards for CJ, Obesandjo and Koobus face down.
3. Remove all remaining miniatures from the center two zones of the Center District Tile and place the Drop Ship Tile on top so the borders match. The drop ship has crashed into the middle of District 9.
4. Place the "Wikus" Mech on the Drop Ship Tile.
5. Remove the Day Two Event deck and replace it with the Day Three event deck.
6. Set the Puddi Pouch aside. It will no longer be needed as there is no longer a Wikus Phase.

Finish the current players turn and continue playing clockwise around the table as normal. The game is now in Day Three. There is no longer a Wikus Phase, however the Wikus cards will still be used to determine Critical Results. Play will proceed until the game ends.

End of Day 3 (Game End)

The Game comes to an end when the last Tile is knocked off the Mech. The player that does this may immediately add that Mech Tile to their Vehicle Dashboard. Starting with the Game Manager and going clockwise around the table each player may make a free Claim action in any Zone they control for each of their Units (Vehicle and each Deployable Ally). Prawn are not added to the board during these Claim actions.

Winning the Game

Players add up the value of all Tech and Mech Tiles they have collected as well as any Victory Points from District Boosts they still control. The player with the highest total wins.

(Diagram labels: "Victory points" (Advanced Optics card, value 2), "Tech Tiles", "Mech Tiles".)

Factions

MNU Security Forces

The MNU Security Forces are the front line police enforcement agency within District 9. They act as internal district security force as well as the first responder to any conflict between Prawn and Humans in the district. The MNU should act in accordance with international law and U.N. mandated protocols regarding the treatment of refugees, but ultimately serve the interests of their parent corporation Multi-National United over such restrictions.

Although MNU have been given the contract to maintain District 9 and manage and care for the Prawn they also benefit from having access to the alien mothership and any alien technology weaponry that might make its way into the district.

The MNU Security Forces are also responsible for protecting civilian MNU staff who routinely enter District 9 to conduct "community outreach", aka search, seizure and eviction from illegally constructed domiciles. There has been considerable criticism in the world press regarding MNU's priority toward the confiscation of alien tech for research and development, rather than focusing on their responsibility to provide peace and prosperity within District 9. It is clear that peace and prosperity do not exist in the district.

1st Reaction Force Battalion

A mix of ex-South African Special Forces and professional private military contractors, the 1st Reaction Force Battalion (RFB) is the military enforcement arm contracted by MNU to conduct overwhelming lethal force operations within District 9, when required.

Usually the MNU Security Forces, as well as the Gauteng Provincial police forces, are able to keep the peace in District 9, but occasionally things escalate beyond their control, especially when the Prawn employ violence through the use of alien weapons and technology. This is where the RFB excel.

Trained for armed conflict, they are ready and willing to do whatever it takes to keep District 9 under control. Backed by military grade weapons and equipment, they act decisively, and with overwhelming lethal force, to maintain the upper hand at all costs, especially when it comes to eliminating the threat of alien weaponry being used within the District.

Gangsters

There's no shortage of black market opportunities in District 9 for those quick and ruthless enough to make it happen. The Gangsters of District 9 gained control of the underground economy within weeks of the District being established, preying on the needs and desires of the new alien populace.

The Gangsters were first to discover the Prawn addiction to cat food, first to capitalize on Prawn biological imperatives to reproduce, and first to figure out how to profit from the Prawn hardwired obsession with resource hording and scavenging behaviors. The Gangsters of District 9 knew how to exploit these things for power and money, gaining a stranglehold on the District.

Later when the illicit trade in alien technology and alien body parts began to emerge, the Gangsters were primed and ready to take advantage. Along with seizing alien tech and selling to the highest bidders, they also encouraged the spread of 'black-magic rumors' claiming a supernatural gain of power and fortune from the practice of eating certain harvested Prawn body parts.

Prawn Gang

(The Prawn Gang faction page is illustrated with a Puddi cat food truck and the Prawn Gang figures; no separate prose is printed on the page beyond the faction artwork and title.)

Additional Rules

Conflict and Engagement

District 9 is filled with rising tensions and skirmishes between the various factions and the Prawn. Conflict will be a constantly occurring theme of any game of District 9: The Boardgame.

Conflict can be initiated by Players, Prawn, Characters and the Mech. The Attacker is the one who initiated the engagement. The Defender is the one being engaged.

The Attacker uses their Strength stat and the Defender uses their Defense stat.

Only the Attacker can deal Damage in an Engagement, however both Attacker and Defender can deal Critical Damage.

(Diagram: a Koobus card showing 3 Defense and a Helicopter card showing 3 Defense and 6 Strength examples; "Players reveal the top card of their Faction Deck adding the Influence value to their Strength or Defense and checking for a Critical Result." "Non Players reveal the top card of the Wikus Deck to check for a Critical Result." Strength/Defense tracker example: 6 Strength, 2 Defense.)

Engaging

When a Unit engages it may only attack one Unit in the Zone it is engaging. The Prawn are always considered a single Unit for the purposes of engaging.

When a Player Unit attacks or defends they reveal and discard the top card of their Faction deck and add the Influence number to their total. Additionally if the card shows a Critical Result, a Critical Damage is dealt.

When a Character Unit (or the Mech) attacks or defends the value is set by their Profile card, however they still reveal and discard a Wikus card. If that card shows a Critical Result, a Critical Damage is dealt.

When the Prawn Engage their Strength is equal to the number of Prawn in the Zone plus any bonuses from events or unrest. Prawn have no Defense and will take all Damage dealt. Regardless of whether the Prawn are attacking or defending the Prawn reveal and discard a Wikus card. If that card shows a Critical Result, a Critical Damage is dealt.

Compare Results

If the total Strength of the attacking unit is higher than the total Defense of the defending unit then the defending unit has been damaged. A defending unit can take both Damage and Critical damage. An attacking unit can only be damaged through Critical Damage.

Example (diagram, "Player vs Player Conflict"): 6 Strength > 3 Defense = Success.

• Engaging player: Determine Strength Total: 5 Strength + 1 Strength = 6 Strength. Flip the top card of the blue Faction deck. Note: Additional point of damage to defender because Engaging player's card has an icon indicating Critical Damage.
• Defending player: Determine Defense Total: 2 Defense + 1 Defense = 3 Defense. Flip the top card of the red Faction deck.

Example outcome: "Engaging player wins in this example. Engaging player deals 2 damage: 1 for having higher Strength than Defense and 1 for flipping a Critical."

Damage

Different Units take damage in different ways.

• Vehicles. When a Vehicle takes damage, randomly discard one of the Crew or Equipment cards attached to the Vehicle Dashboard. If there are no Crew or Equipment cards a random Tech Tile attached to the Vehicle Dashboard is discarded instead. If neither can be discarded there is no effect.

(Vehicle example: "Keep" and "Discard (randomly chosen card)" illustrated; "If no cards then discard one random Tech Tile.")

• Characters. If a Character is damaged one of their District Boost cards is discarded. If a Player did the damage they gain the District Boost card instead of discarding it. If a Character loses their last District Boost card they retreat from the board and their Profile card is flipped face down.
• Mech. If the Mech is Damaged, one Mech Tile from the current row is revealed and placed in the Mech's Zone. If the Mech Tile was Red, the Mech suffers an additional damage. (Diagram: "Red Tile means Critical!")
• Deployable Allies. If a Deployable Ally is damaged they are removed from the board and their Deployable Ally card is placed on the bottom of the Ally card deck.
• Prawn. When the Prawn are damaged, one Prawn is removed from the Zone for each point of total Strength the Attacker has.

(Engaging Prawn example: "+4 Strength" and "+1 Influence" from an equipped card give "= 5 Strength"; the top card of the Faction deck is revealed; "5 Prawn are removed"; "The 6th Prawn remains in the zone.")

Critical Damage

Critical Damage is dealt when a Critical Result is revealed by the Attacker or Defender. Different Units take Critical damage in different ways. Critical Damage can always be dealt in addition to Damage.

• Vehicles. When a Vehicle takes Critical Damage, randomly discard one of the Tech Tiles attached to the Vehicle Dashboard. If there are no Tech Tiles, a random Crew or Equipment card is discarded instead. If neither can be discarded there is no effect.
• Characters. When Critical Damage is dealt to a Character it is treated as Damage.
• Deployable Allies. When a Deployable Ally takes Critical Damage they are removed from the board and their Deployable Ally card is placed on the bottom of the Ally card deck.
• Prawn. When the Prawn take Critical Damage one Prawn is removed from the Zone.
• Mech. When Critical Damage is dealt to the Mech it is treated as Damage.

(Diagram: "If a player suffers Critical damage, discard one random Tech Tile." "Or, if no Tech Tiles, then:" "If a player has no Tech Tiles then they must discard one random Crew or Equipment Card instead." The removed Tech Tile is shown "placed face up in Zone" and the discarded card "placed onto player's discard pile".)

Vehicle Dashboard Breakdown

(The page is an annotated diagram of the Vehicle Dashboard. Its labels are:)

• Crew Faction cards go here.
• Equipment Faction cards go here.
• Influence Stat counter (Stat Counter #1).
• Strength Stat counter (Stat Counter #2).
• Defense Stat counter (Stat Counter #3).
• Move per order: 2 (the Move stat printed on the dashboard).
• District Boost Cards go here.
• Tech Tiles go here.
• "These spaces can hold Crew cards, Equipment cards or Tech Tiles. They cannot hold both at the same time."

Key (as printed on the dashboard):

• Action (A icon): Denotes Card Action.
• Order: Number of Orders Available.
• Influence: Play Equipment or Crew cards to Vehicle.
• Strength: Strength for Engaging & Zone Control.
• Defense: Defense against Conflicts & Leaving Zones.
• Move: Number of Zones a Unit may move when given a Move Order.
• Crew: Gives Stat Bonuses while in your Vehicle.
• Equipment: Gives Stat Bonuses while in your Vehicle.
• Tech: Generate Influence & Victory Points.

Dashboard text: "3 Orders per Turn: Move, Engage, Evict, Claim; Day 2 + 3: Bank." "1 Card Action per Turn."

Deployable Allies

During the course of the game, either through Action or Event cards, players will have the opportunity to play Deployable Allies to the board. Deployable Allies are considered to be Player Units.

The Strength of Deployable Allies combines with the Strength of your Vehicle and other Deployable Allies when determining who has control of a Zone.

Deploying a Deployable Ally

Deployable Allies can enter play through the instruction of Action or Event cards, or through the Event Trigger: Deploy Ally. When players are instructed to Deploy Ally they draw the top two cards of their Ally card deck, choose 1 and place the other back on the bottom of their Ally card deck.

The chosen Deployable Ally Card is played face up in front of you and the corresponding Ally miniature is placed on the District Board in the same Zone as your Vehicle miniature or Outpost.

Deployable Ally Placement (diagram):

1. The same Zone your Vehicle is currently in.
2. The same Zone your Outpost is in.

(Diagram labels: "Same Zone as Vehicle" and "On Outpost", both marked YES.)

(Card diagram, Checkpoint Trooper: labels "Influence", "Move" (1), "Strength" (1), "Defense" (2), and "Special Ability": "All of your Deployed Allies in this Zone have +1 Defense.")

Deployable Allies and Orders

Each Ally has one free Order it may perform on your turn, however you may also use any of your standard three Orders on any of your deployed Allies instead of for your Vehicle miniature.

During the game Deployable Allies may only be given the Move and Engage Orders, however at the end of Day Three each Ally in play has the opportunity to make a single Claim Order in their current Zone (See Game End on page 17).

Deployable Allies Move, Engage and Defend using their own personal stats. The Prawn will engage Deployable Allies leaving a Zone just like they would a Vehicle miniature, provided the Strength of the Prawn is greater than the Defense of the Ally.

District Boost Cards

District Boost cards are bonus cards that players can earn throughout the game. A player may only ever have one Boost card at a time. If they gain an additional Boost card they may look at the new card before deciding which to keep.

District Boost cards provide additional Victory Points at the end of the game and are one of the only ways to exceed the normal stat limits on your Vehicle Dashboard.

District Boost cards can be gained in the following ways:

• On Day One, the player that reveals the Canister draws a Boost card.
• On Day One, the player that moves Wikus into the same Zone as the Canister draws a Boost card.
• On Day Two, the player that moves either Wikus or CJ into the same Zone as the other draws a boost card.
• During an Engagement with another player, the Attacker will gain a District Boost card for dealing any Damage, and both players with gain a District Boost card for each Critical Damage dealt. The Attacker can earn two District Boost cards in this way.
• During an Engagement with a Character, when Damage or Critical Damage is dealt, a District Boost card is drawn from the pile of Boost cards (wounds) on that Character's Profile card. If a non-player Unit dealt the Damage or Critical Damage the District Boost card is discarded.

(Card diagram, Prawn Trader: Crew card; stat bonus +1 and +1; Victory Points 2; text "While this Crew Member is in your Vehicle, you may issue 1 Claim Order on your turn even if you do not control the Zone." Koobus Character Profile: "Characters have District Boost cards as wounds. When a Player damages them, that Player recieves [sic] the discarded Boost card.")

Koobus Character Profile (illustrated): Strength 2, Defense 3, Wounds 2. Deploy Action: "Remove 2 Prawn from the Zone with Koobus." Action icon 3: "Move Koobus up to 2 Zones." Action icon 4: "Koobus Engages all non-MNU and non-RFB Units in his current Zone." Action icon 5: "Move Koobus up to 1 Zone, then he Engages everything in his current Zone."

District Boost Allies

Some District Boost cards give the player special allies that act like Deployable Allies. When one of these District Boost cards is gained the player deploys the special ally as they would a Deployable Ally, taking the District Boost Deployable Ally card and placing it in front of them. If the Unit is lost the District Boost card is also lost. If the District Boost card is discarded the Unit is removed from the District Board.

(Diagram: "Attach ring to Deployable Ally miniature"; "Deploy to the same Zone as your Vehicle miniature or Outpost." Merc Commander card: "All of your Deployed Allies in this Zone gain +2 Defense.")

Starting Boost Cards

Starting Boost cards have special rules and abilities unique to each faction. These Boosts allow players a way to customize their faction to their personal preference. Each player selects one Starting Boost card from their deck and places it in the District Boost section of their vehicle.

Players may only ever have a single Boost (Starting Boost or District Boost) in their vehicle at a time. When a player earns a District Boost later in the game they may decide to keep their Starting Boost. If they do they discard that District Boost instead. However, if a player decides to keep the District Boost, they must discard their Starting Boost.

Variant Rule: At the start of the game before picking factions, all players can decide if they want to use Starting Boosts or not. District 9: The Boardgame can be played with or without them, but all players should be in agreement before the game begins.

Starting Boost cards illustrated on page 31 (Victory Points 0 unless stated):

• STEP OFF!!! (Starting Boost): "When you perform an Evict Order, do not flip the top card of the Wikus deck. The revealed Prawn are always considered docile."
• OVERWATCH (Starting Boost): "Once during your turn, when Prawn are added to the Zone your Vehicle currently is in, you may draw the top card of your faction deck. If you reveal a Critical, remove a number of Prawn equal to the Influence value of the card from the Zone."
• HERDING CATS (Starting Boost): "When you play a card Action from your hand, instead of placing the Prawn in the Zone your Vehicle is currently in, you may place the Prawn in any Zone."
• RAPID DEPLOYMENT (Starting Boost): "Immediately after you put a Deployable Ally into play, you may flip over the top card of your Deployable Ally deck and put the revealed Ally into play as well."

Advanced Optics (Victory Points 2, shown on the Vehicle Dashboard example): "Your Vehicle Engage Zones may target adjacent Zones."

Characters

While the players are trying to gather as much Tech as possible from District 9, there is an ongoing story unfolding around them. During the game Events will bring special Characters into play. These Characters have their own agendas and can just as easily help you as hinder you.

Profile Cards

Each Character has a profile card that determines what they will do when Events instruct a specific Character to do something. When the Character enters play flip the Profile face up, when they leave play flip the Profile face down. The Prawn also have a Profile card, but as they are always considered to be in play their profile remains face up.

(Diagram labels on the Obesandjo profile: "Character Stats", "Character Name", "Character Deploy Action", "Trigger 1", "Trigger 2", "Trigger 3", "WOUNDS (District Boost cards go here)".)

Obesandjo Character Profile (illustrated): Deploy Action: "Obesandjo steals 1 random Tech Tile from all players in his current Zone. Place the Tech back in the Zone to be Claimed again." Trigger 1: "Move Obesandjo up to 2 Zones." Trigger 2: "Obesandjo Engages all non-Gangster and non-Prawn Gang Units in his current Zone." Trigger 3: "Move Obesandjo up to 1 Zone, then remove 1 Tech Tile from each Vehicle in the Zone Obesandjo is currently in."

Wounds

Some Characters have a number of Wounds. This shows they can be engaged and forced to retreat from the district until an Event brings them back into play again (with full wounds). When a Character with Wounds enters the game take a number of District Boost cards from the top of the deck equal to the Characters wounds and stack them face down on that Character. Damaging that character will earn the player that damaged them the top Boost card.

(Example: "In this example, the Character 'Koobus' can sustain 2 wounds before being driven off. So he starts with two District Boost Cards placed face down on his profile card.")

Mech

The Mech enters play on Day Three and the only way the players escape Day Three is to defeat the Mech.

Mech Movement

When Moving the Mech it must end its turn in a different Zone to the one it began.

Mech Profile

Like Characters the Mech has a Profile, but as the Mech is a massive threat to the district the Profile is handled differently.

Note: The Mech will engage all player Units no matter where they are on the district board, Range is not a factor. Drawing Critical Results on Defense will damage the Mech.

(Mech Suit board: the printed row labels are "Engage all Player Units." (minus icon), "Engage all Player Units and Prawn in its current Zone." (double icon) and "Move 1 Zone." (triple icon). Each row shows Strength 6 and Defense values from 2 to 5 on the Mech Tiles. The printed note reads: "While there is at least one Mech Tile remaining in a row, the Mech has the Strength and Defense connected to that row." The Mech Tiles are shown with red Tile means Critical! callout.)

Mech Damage

The Mech has 16 damage it can sustain before it is destroyed. Damaging the Mech will cause one of the Mech Tiles to be discarded face up into the Zone the Mech is currently in. Once discarded these Tiles act exactly like Tech Tiles.

Damaging the Mech however is no easy feat. The Mech starts with 5 Defense and only when the first row is fully removed does the Mech lose Defense making it easier to damage.

Damage is always done right to left, from the bottom row up. If the revealed Mech Tile is red, the damage dealt is critical and the Mech sustains another damage.

The player that deals the last damage to the Mech may immediately add that Tile to their Vehicle Dashboard.

Prawn

There can never be more than six total Prawn in a single Zone. Prawn act as if they are single Unit and each Prawn represents a combined Strength and wound pool. Prawn come in singles, doubles, and triples for ease of management and are colour coded so that players can see which Zones are more dangerous.

Events and Unrest can increase the Strength of the Prawn, this is added to the Prawn total in a Zone.

When a Player Unit (Vehicle miniature or Deployable Ally) leaves a Zone with Prawn and the Prawn have a higher total Strength than the Defense of the moving Unit, the Prawn will automatically Engage that Unit. The Engaged Unit moves into the new Zone before the Engagement is resolved.

(Diagrams: "Single Prawn", "Double Prawn", "Triple Prawn"; "No more than 6 Prawn in a single Zone."; "Prawn cannot be placed on the Faction Base."; a green YES example.)

Unrest and the Unrest Tracker

Tension within the district grows over the course of the game, which can lead to anger and possibly even full blown riot from the Prawn population.

The Unrest Tracker begins at 1 and can be raised or lowered through Event, Wikus and Action cards. Additionally the tracker always moves up 1 space when one of the following happens:

• Each time the Prawn are Engaged by a player (not a Character).
• Each time a player uses the Evict Order.

The Unrest Tracker has three levels, each with an escalating effect on the district.

1. Uneasy (1-12). No change.
2. Angry (13-22). Each Zone with at least one Prawn has +1 Strength. This means a Zone with six Prawn will have 7 Strength for purposes of Engaging and Controlling Zones.
3. Riot! (23-30). Immediately when the Unrest Tracker reaches 23 or higher flip the Unrest Reference Card to the Riot side and give it to the player whose turn it is. This player is now the Riot Controller and the Riot will not end until the start of their next turn.

Riot

When the Riot begins each Zone with Player Units will immediately be Engaged by any Prawn in that Zone. Prawn are still angry so they retain their +1 Strength. The player with the Riot card determines the order in which these engagements happen.

While the Riot is in effect players cannot do the following with any of their Units:

• Move into Zones with Prawn
• Evict
• Claim

The Riot remains in effect until the start of the Riot Controllers next turn. When the Riot ends, the Unrest Tracker drops by 10 and the Unrest Reference card is flipped back and returned to the Unrest Board.

Zones

The District Board is broken down into Zones. Zones are determined by the orange lines on the board forming Zones. There are usually several Zones on a single District Tile.

When moving from one Zone to another you must move to an adjacent Zone, you cannot move diagonally across the lines where several Zones meet.

There can be no more than six Prawn in any one Zone but the Zone may contain any number of other Units.

Controlling a Zone

Even though any number of Units can be present in a single Zone only one Faction can control the Zone.

• You control the Zone if you have the most Strength (from your Vehicle miniature and any Deployable Allies present) of all Factions or Prawn in the Zone.
• No one controls the Zone if the Prawn have the most strength or all Factions and/or Prawn are tied for the most Strength.

(Diagram: "5 Strength > 2 Prawn. This player has 'control of the zone' and may Evict to take the Tech Tile." Strength example as in the Controlling the Zone section: "1 Strength (default) + 1 Strength + 2 Strength + 1 Strength = 5 Strength"; "The MNU player has a total of 5 Strength, gained from the 1 default, and the cards currently in play on their dashboard.")

(Diagrams: "Orange lines divides the Zones." Movement example marked "Yes" for moves to an adjacent Zone and "No" for a diagonal move across Zone lines.)

(Zone example labels: "Player", "Tech Tile", "Zone", "2 Prawn".)

Tech Tiles

Tech Tiles are what all players are trying to collect in District 9: The Boardgame. Tech Tiles are added to the board at the start of the game. The Mech is also made up of Tiles that once knocked off the Mech function just like Tech Tiles.

All Tech Tiles have a numbered value. This value increases your Influence pool at the start of your turn and counts as Victory Points at the end of the game.

When a Tech (or Mech) Tile is collected from the board through either the Evict or Claim Orders, add Prawn to Zone the Tile was in equal to the value of the Tile.

When Tech is discarded for any reason it is always placed in the same Zone as the discarding player's Vehicle miniature.

(Diagrams: "Three Prawn", "Two Prawn", "Five Prawn", "Three Prawn" with example Tech Tiles valued 3, 5, 2 and 3.)

Tech Tile placement key (as printed):

• White Tech Tiles can be placed on White or Half-White spaces.
• Grey Tech Tiles can be placed on Grey or Half-Grey spaces.
• Orange Tech Tiles can be placed on Orange or Half-Orange spaces.

Quick Reference

Player Turn Summary

1. Gain Influence. Add up all influence bonuses on your Vehicle Dashboard from Crew, Equipment and Tech to a max of 6.
2. Cards and Orders. Perform the following in any order:
   • Spend Influence. Buy Crew and Equipment from your hand by spending Influence equal to the cost of the card.
   • Play Action. Pay Action from your hand as an action by adding the number of Prawn shown to the Zone your Vehicle miniature is in.
   • Issue Orders (up to 3). Your Vehicle miniature or deployed ally may:
     • Move a number of spaces equal to their Move stat.
     • Engage an enemy (Prawn, Player Unit, Character Unit or Mech) in the same Zone.
   • If your Vehicle is in a Zone you control you may:
     • Evict Prawn from their homes to uncover facedown tech and add it to your Vehicle Dashboard. Increase Unrest.
     • Claim faceup Tech in the Zone and add it to your Vehicle Dashboard.
   • In Day 2 and 3 while your Vehicle is at your Outpost or Faction Base you may:
     • Bank Tech Tiles.

Engagement Summary

1. Choose Target. Your Vehicle or Ally Engages ONE Target in the same Zone. Viable targets are:
   • The Prawn. Increase Unrest.
   • Another Player's Vehicle or Ally.
   • A Character.
2. Engagement Modifiers. Player Units discard the top card of their Faction card deck. Add the Influence value to their total Strength and check for a Critical Result. Non Player Units discard the top card of the Wikus card deck to check for a Critical Result.
3. Compare Results. Compare total Strength of the Attacker against total Defense of the Defender. If the total Strength is greater the Engagement is a success and Damage is dealt.
4. Damage. Damage is dealt to a losing Defender in the following ways:
   • Vehicles lose a random Crew or Equipment from their Dashboard.
   • Deployable Allies are removed from the board.
   • Characters lose a Wound card.
   • The Mech loses a Mech Tile.
   • Prawn remove one Prawn for each point of total Strength in the attack.
5. Critical Damage. If a Critical Result is a revealed Critical Damage is dealt in the following ways:
   • Vehicles lose a random Tech Tile from their Dashboard.
   • Deployable Allies are removed from the board.
   • Characters lose a Wound card.

Faction Card Influence Breakdown

Influence value	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	Critical
Percentage of deck	3.33%	10%	13.33%	16.67%	3.33%	0%	3.33%	50%