Outer Rim (2015) Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Components
• Game Setup
• Playing the Game
  • 1. Maneuvers Phase
  • 2. Planning Phase
    • Active Sector and Firing Zone
  • 3. Firing Phase
  • Dealing Damage and Energy
• Ending the Battle
  • No Glory This Time
• Module Description and Use
  • Kalmians
  • Tellurians

Game Components

• Maneuver Board
• 2 Starship Boards
• 12 Modules
• 12 Maneuver Tokens
• 30 Energy Tokens
• 2 Destroyed Sector Tokens
• 1 Tie Token
• 16 Energy Dice (red – cannons, blue – shields)
• 2 Starship Pawns
• 2 Player Screens

Token backs for Tellurians and Kalmians: module and maneuver tokens are marked on the back to match one side of the conflict.

Game Setup

Before your first game, carefully remove all game components from their frames and sort them.

Next, players choose or randomly decide which starship they will command. Each player takes his set of game components needed throughout the game: 1 Starship Board, 1 triangle Starship Pawn (white for Kalmians, black for Tellurians), 6 Maneuver Tokens, 6 Module Tokens, 4 Red Dice (cannons) and 4 Blue Dice (shields). Module and maneuver tokens' backs match one side of the conflict – either Tellurians or Kalmians. Additionally, each player takes 1 Player Screen.

Energy Tokens are common for both players. Place them within easy reach of both players along with Destroyed Sector Tokens.

The Tie Token should be set aside for now, but it may be needed during the game.

Place the round Maneuver Board in the center of the table. Each player places his starship as shown in the starting positions diagram. Each player places his starship board in front of himself. This board contains information about cannons, shields and energy of all three starship sectors. These sectors are as follows: the Prow (marked with a small triangle), the Hull and the Stern.

Diagram: Starting positions of starships on the board – Stern Sector, Hull Sector, Prow Sector.

From among 6 available module tokens, each player chooses 3 modules and places them next to his starship board. All remaining modules should be returned to the box – they will not be used during this game. Effects and rules of all modules are described at the end of this rulebook.

Hint: More experienced players may start the game with a bigger number of modules, e.g. 4 or 5.

Playing the Game

The game is played in a series of rounds. Each round is divided into 3 phases, during which players perform actions unique to each phase.

1. Maneuvers Phase

During this phase, players simultaneously plan and then perform moves of their starships on the board. In order to move, each player chooses one from his 6 available maneuver tokens. He places this token face-down next to the board, while keeping all remaining tokens behind his screen so that his opponent cannot check the chosen maneuver. Once both players have chosen and placed their maneuver tokens, they reveal them by turning them face-up and move their starship pawns on the board. In order to move correctly, the maneuver token must be placed so that the facing of the starship shown on the token corresponds to the position of the starship pawn on the board. The upper, light edge of the token helps players place the token correctly.

Then, players move their starship pawns according to their maneuvers. Moving should always be performed through the light, square board spaces. A starship can move a maximum of 1 board space in one Maneuver Phase.

• Move Forward – the pawn is moved 1 space forward.
• Turn – the pawn is moved 1 space forward and then rotated according to the chosen maneuver token.
• Rotate – the pawn is not moved, but its player rotates it clockwise or counter-clockwise by 90 degrees.
• Stop – the pawn is not moved; it stays on the same space.

(Diagram: the pawn position before moving and after moving.)

No player can perform a move that would result in his starship leaving the board. If a player mistakenly places an invalid maneuver token and causes such a move, this move should be ignored – his starship is not moved, as if this player played the Stop token.

Starships can pass one another when moving, but if both end their move on the same board space, a collision occurs.

Collision – both starships suffer 3 damage. Each player chooses the sector of his starship to suffer this damage and lowers its energy value by 3. Then, players move their starship pawns back 1 space without changing their facing.

Hint: All information about energy and damage can be found on page 5, in the Dealing Damage and Energy section of the rulebook.

After both players are done placing their starship pawns in new positions, the next phase begins.

2. Planning Phase

During this phase, players simultaneously assign laser cannon dice (red) and force shield dice (blue) to the chosen sectors of their starships. For a player to properly plan the assignment of energy between his cannons and shields, first he must determine which of his starship sectors is the active sector.

Active Sector and Firing Zone

In order to properly determine the active sector and the firing zone, players should use auxiliary red lines from the board. If a starship covers the opponent's starship with two of its firing zones, its player chooses and declares which sector is his active sector. The active sector will fire, but it will also be targeted and hit by the opponent's starship. The diagram shows all possible firing zones.

After determining their active sectors, players secretly (using screens) place energy dice on their starship boards.

Each player has 4 cannon dice (red) and 4 force shield dice (blue).

Each sector has a starting energy value. The Prow and the Stern sectors have 18 energy and the Hull sector has 24 energy. During the game, these values will be changing. Each player can place his dice only in his chosen active sector. Each player assigns dice to spaces marked for cannons and shields. Dice can be placed so that a value from 1 to 6 is visible. The sum of energy from all assigned dice cannot exceed the energy value available to the player in his active sector. Players do not have to use all available spaces for cannons and shields from their active sectors, but they cannot place more dice of a given color than shown for that sector on the starship board. The diagram shows an example of the dice assignment in the Prow sector. Once both players have assigned their dice, they set aside their screens and show their starship boards to one another.

Hint: Players do not have to use all available energy, but this strategy brings no tangible benefits and is not recommended.

If a player makes a mistake by placing dice that show more energy than allowed in his active sector, but this mistake is found after revealing the starship boards, his opponent lowers the value of any one die so that the sum of energy is valid. Remember to lower the value of one die (even to zero). Only if it is not enough, you can proceed to the next die until the sum is valid.

3. Firing Phase

During this phase, players fire a salvo from their laser and ion cannons targeting their opponent's starship. At the same time, they do their best to avoid suffering damage to their own starships. The distance between the starships does not matter – lasers are equally efficient against close and far targets.

For practical reasons, this phase is resolved consecutively by both players, starting from the Tellurians player, but all effects of players' attacks are considered simultaneous.

Ion Cannons Barrage: Before attacking with his laser cannons, each player may decide that one of his batteries (i.e. one of his assigned red dice) makes the ion salvo in order to weaken the opponent's force shields. Such a player removes one of his cannon dice from his starship board and then lowers the value of his opponent's shield dice by the value of the removed cannon die. Ex. If a player removed a cannon (red) die with the value of 4, he could lower the value of his opponent's shield dice by a sum of 4 (for instance, lower one die by 2 and two dice by 1).

Hint: There is no point in using ion cannons if you have only one cannon die assigned or when your opponent has no shield dice assigned.

Next, each player fires a salvo from his remaining laser cannons. These attacks are meant to damage and – eventually – destroy the opponent's starship. In order to determine the efficiency of the attack, the following steps must be performed by the attacking player:

• The attacking player rolls a laser cannon die (red). For this attack to hit, the player must roll a result that is equal to or less than the value of this die chosen by him during the Planning Phase. The result of 6 is always a miss, and a given attack roll is failed even if the die originally showed 6.
• If the roll is successful, the attack hits. The attacking player places in front of himself the die showing the original value that he chose during the Planning Phase. Ex. if the player planned the die to use 4 energy (i.e. showing) and then rolled 2 (a hit), he places the die with the value of 4 showing.
• The attacking player repeats the steps above for all his cannon dice.

After the attacking player is done rolling his attacks, his opponent gets a chance to defend his starship from suffering damage by using protective force shields. In order to determine the efficiency of the defense, the following steps must be performed by the defending player:

• The defending player rolls a force shield die (blue). For this defense to protect the ship, the player must roll a result that is equal to or less than the value of this die chosen by him during the Planning Phase. The result of 6 always means an ineffective defense, and a given defense roll is failed even if the die originally showed 6.
• If the roll is successful, the defense is effective. The defending player sets aside his die and one of the dice that meant a hit against his starship (i.e. one of the dice in front of his opponent). The value of the shield die does not matter – shields absorb one successful hit no matter its value. Ex. if the player planned the die to use 3 energy (i.e. showing) and then rolled 3 (a successful defense), he chooses any die from among the attacking player's red dice and discards it (usually, it is best to discard the red die with the highest value).
• The defending player repeats the steps above for all his shield dice.

Hint: If your opponent has no more attack (red) dice to roll, but you still have defense (blue) dice, there is no point in rolling them. Additionally, if you have both the attack dice and the defense dice with identical values, you may roll them simultaneously to speed up the game.

After the Tellurians player has finished attacking, the Kalmians player resolves his attacks. Remember that all attacks and defenses are considered simultaneous, so there is no disadvantage in being the second attacker.

Dealing Damage and Energy

If, after resolving all attack and defense rolls, there are still any red dice in front of players, each player who has not managed to fully protect his starship must suffer damage. The damage suffered is equal to the value of the cannon dice that were not negated by shields. The player suffering damage must lower the energy value of his active sector that was hit by his opponent by the amount of damage suffered. This change is indicated by placing energy tokens of proper values on the damaged sector. If the total amount of damage is equal to or more than a given sector's energy value, such sector is destroyed – its player places a large Destroyed Sector token on this sector of his starship board. If a starship sector is destroyed, its player cannot assign any cannon or shield dice to it. If, during the subsequent rounds, such a sector suffers damage again, any damage dealt to it should be divided by half (rounding up) and then dealt to the adjacent sector. In case of the Hull sector, the attacking player chooses whether the Prow or the Stern sector suffers damage.

Energy is the "lifeblood" of any starship. Its amount keeps decreasing along with any damage suffered. During the subsequent Planning Phases, the player controlling the damaged starship can only assign to it dice with values that are limited by the current energy value of a sector. I.e. the more damage a starship suffers, the more limited it is when it comes to attacking and defending.

Ending the Battle

The battle ends when one of the starships has 2 sectors destroyed. The commander of such a vessel loses and his opponent wins!

In very rare cases, it is possible that both starships are destroyed simultaneously. If this happens, the winner is the player who has more energy in his last, not destroyed sector. If both starships have exactly the same amount of energy, the game ends in a tie.

If none of the above options occurs, the battle continues and another round begins.

No Glory This Time

After at least one starship suffers any damage for the first time during the game, players start using the following rule:

If, during the whole round, no starship suffers damage, place the Tie token next to the board. If, in the next round, no starship suffers damage again, the game ends in a tie.

However, once any starship suffers at least 1 damage, the Tie token should be set aside. It may return to the game if the above situation repeats during any other round.

Module Description and Use

Modules have various special rules that can be used by their players. Module rules take precedence over rules from this rulebook. All modules are discarded after use. Players may use any number of module tokens during one phase or round.

Below you can find rules descriptions of all modules in the game. The Kalmian modules are listed first, followed by the Tellurian modules.

Kalmians

Masking Devices – After both players have placed their maneuver tokens, you place your starship pawn facing any direction on any chosen, empty board space. You cannot perform your chosen maneuver this round.

Energy Reserves – Use this module at the beginning of the Planning Phase. During this phase, you have 6 energy more available in the sector that you choose as your active sector.

Lord Commander – Use this module after your starship suffers damage. Negate up to 3 damage just suffered.

Engineer – Use this module at the beginning of the Firing Phase. In your active sector, lower by 1 the values of any number of cannon dice. Then, increase by 2 the values of the same number of shield dice. You are still limited to the value of 6 from your dice.

Active Targeting System – Use this module after making all attack rolls to repeat all failed rolls.

Experimental Weapons – Use this module at the beginning of the Firing Phase. During this phase, you change one of your shield dice into a cannon die in your active sector.

Tellurians

Repair Unit – Use this module at the beginning of the Planning Phase. Increase by 3 the energy value of a chosen sector. You cannot exceed its starting energy value.

Orbital Mines – Use this module after your opponent performs a move on the board (other than Rotate or Stop). Choose a sector of his starship – this sector suffers 3 damage.

Gunner – Use this module at the beginning of the Firing Phase. In your active sector, lower by 1 the values of any number of shield dice. Then, increase by 2 the values of the same number of cannon dice. You are still limited to the value of 6 from your dice.

Commodore – Use this module after making all defense rolls to repeat all failed rolls.

Emergency Engines – Use this module after both players have performed their moves on the board. Perform an additional move by placing a second maneuver token.

Admiral – Use this module at the beginning of the Firing Phase. Change the values of any 3 dice in your active sector. The sum of energy must be the same after your changes.