Project: ELITE (First Edition) Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• 1. Components
• 2. Game Setup
  • 1 Choose a Character
  • 2 Get Dice
  • 3 Prepare Decks
  • 4 Choose a Setup card
  • 5 Round Marker
  • 6 Prepare the Timer
  • 7 Place the Spawning Area Tokens
  • 8 Get Weapons & Items
  • 9 Prepare Tokens
  • 2.1 Game Board Features
• 3. Round Overview
  • 3.1 Event Phase
  • 3.2 Alien Spawning Phase
  • 3.3 Action Phase (real-time)
  • 3.4 Alien Ability Phase
  • 3.5 Alien Movement Phase
  • 3.6 End of Round
    • 3.6.1. Winning/Losing the Game
• 4. Dice & Action Slots
  • 4.2 Randomizers
  • 4.3 Action Slots
  • 4.4 Search Slots
• 5. Characters
  • 5.1 Inventory
  • 5.2 Movement
  • 5.3 Losing Life - Getting Killed
• 6. Weapons/Items
  • 6.1 Weapon/Item Activation
  • 6.2 Weapon Constrains
• 7. Aliens
  • 7.1 Spawning Aliens/Bosses
  • 7.2 Aliens with more than 1 Life
  • 7.3 Spawning and Killing Bosses
  • 7.4 Alien Movement
• 8. Objectives
  • 8.1 Extermination Objective
  • 8.2 Recovery Objective
  • 8.3 Recon Objective
  • 8.4 Demolition Objective
• 9. Game Setup Area
• 10. Setup Cards
  • 10.1 Choosing a Setup card
  • 10.2 Make your own Setups
• 11. Line of Sight
• 12. Tokens
  • 12.1 Spawning Tokens
  • 12.2 Objective Tokens
  • 12.3 Acid Tokens
  • 12.4 Slime Tokens
  • 12.5 Alien Tech Tokens
• 13. Events
• 14. Maps & Terrain
• 15. Interaction & Decisions
  • 15.1 Working Together
  • 15.2 What's Done Is Done
• 16. Strategy Tips
• 17. Card Clarifications
• 18. Solo Game

1. Components

The printed component list, read down each of its three columns:

• 60 Alien Soldier miniatures
• 6 Special Alien miniatures
• 8 Boss Alien miniatures
• 6 Character miniatures
• 23 Weapon cards
• 19 Item cards
• 16 Alien Tech cards
• 30 Soldier Alien cards
• 6 Special Alien cards
• 8 Boss Alien cards
• 6 Character cards
• 24 Setup cards
• 1 2-sided Game Board
• 24 Objective tiles
• 1 Round Marker token
• 5 Alien Tech tokens
• 8 Objective tokens
• 36 1-Life tokens
• 6 5-Life tokens
• 2 Spawning tokens
• 5 Prevent Alien Move tokens
• 3 Spawning Area Tokens
• 12 Acid tokens
• 4 Slime tokens
• 6 Event tokens
• 7 Boss tokens
• 16 Action dice
• 16 Hit dice
• 1 D3 Randomizer die
• 1 D20 Randomizer die

Editorial note: the printed list gives no count for the Event cards or the Round Overview cards, although the setup steps and the Round rules use both. They are transcribed as printed.

2. Game Setup

Choose which Map you want to play with and place the Game Board in the middle of the table.

1 Choose a Character

Each player chooses a Character and receives the corresponding Character card and miniature. He places the card in front of him and the miniature in the Map's Starting Area (E). Each player places life tokens on his Character card's life slots. Each player also receives a Round Overview card.

[Diagram omitted: Character card with its life slots and life tokens, the Character miniature, and the Round Overview card.]

2 Get Dice

Each player receives 4 Action dice and 4 Hit dice.

[Diagram omitted: the Action dice and the Hit dice.]

3 Prepare Decks

Separate the Alien, Boss, Weapon, Item, Alien Tech and Event cards in 6 decks, shuffle them and place them next to the Game Board, leaving space near them for their discard piles.

4 Choose a Setup card

Choose the Objective and difficulty you would like to play with, using the Setup cards of the chosen Map (see 10. Setup Cards). Then adjust the Game Setup Area (C) accordingly (see 9. Game Setup Area).

5 Round Marker

Place the Round Marker on the 1st Round slot of the Map's Game Setup Area.

[Diagram omitted: the Round Marker.]

6 Prepare the Timer

Use a digital timer or cell phone with a timer application etc. Choose a player who will be handling time during the Action Phase. That player will be responsible for setting, starting and stopping the Timer, as well as letting other players know how much time remains.

7 Place the Spawning Area Tokens

Randomly distribute the 3 Spawning Area tokens among the Spawning Areas (D) on the Game Board.

[Diagram omitted: the three Spawning Area tokens placed on the Spawning Areas.]

8 Get Weapons & Items

Each player draws a total of 2 cards from the Weapon and/or Item decks in any combination placing them face-up in the middle of the Game Board. All drawn cards form a common pool. Those cards are then distributed among the players in any way they like and are placed next to their Character cards (Also see 6. Weapons/Items).

[Diagram omitted: a Weapon card and an Item card.]

9 Prepare Tokens

Sort the life, acid, slime, spawn and alien tech tokens and make piles next to the Game Board.

2.1 Game Board Features

A. Search Slots: Players can activate these slots to Search for new Weapons and/or Items (Also see 4.4 Search slots).

B. Objective Slots: Based on the chosen Objective, Setup cards indicate which tiles should be placed on which Objective slots based on the Map, Objective, difficulty and number of players. (See 10. Setup cards)

C. Game Setup Area: Before each game, the Game Setup Area is adjusted according to the Setup card of the chosen Map, Objective, difficulty and number of players.

D. Spawning Areas: Each Map contains 3 Spawning Areas. These are the points where Aliens enter the Game Board. Each Spawning Area is randomly assigned a number at the start of the game which determines which Aliens will be spawned there (also see 7.1 Spawning Aliens/Bosses).

E. Starting Area: Each Map has a Starting Area. This is the area where Characters are placed at the beginning of each game. The Starting Area is considered adjacent to all spaces it is in contact with. It counts as a single space for purposes of movement as well as Character and Alien abilities. However, any number of Characters and/or Aliens may step on it at the same time.

[Diagram omitted: the Game Board with the Search slots, Objective slots, Game Setup Area, Spawning Areas and Starting Area labelled A to E.]

3. Round Overview

Each game can last up to 8 Rounds. Each of these Rounds consists of the following 6 Phases:

• Event Phase - Draw Event(s) (if applicable - see 10. Setup cards).
• Alien Spawning Phase
  • a. Spawn Alien cards based on the chosen difficulty.
  • b. Spawn Boss(es) (if applicable - see 10. Setup cards).
• Action Phase - Played in real-time (default duration is 2 minutes).
• Alien Ability Phase - Aliens perform abilities according to their profile (players choose the order).
• Alien Movement Phase - Aliens move according to their profile (players choose the order).
• End of Round
  • a. Check Winning/Losing conditions.
  • b. Get back dice from One-Use slots.
  • c. Draw Alien Tech cards (if applicable - see 8. Objectives)

3.1 Event Phase

If there is an Event token (E) on the Game Setup Area for the current Round, reveal the top card of the Event deck and apply its effect at the time described. Its effect should be repeated every Round unless players cancel it during the Action Phase (see 13. Events).

3.2 Alien Spawning Phase

a. Based on the number of players and difficulty, reveal Alien cards, placing the corresponding Alien miniatures on the designated Spawning Areas.

b. If there is a Boss token (B) on the Game Setup Area for the current Round, reveal a Boss card, placing the corresponding Boss miniature on the designated Spawning Area.

3.3 Action Phase (real-time)

The Action Phase is played in real-time. The standard Action Phase duration is 2 minutes. The player handling the Timer sets it to a 2 minute countdown and once everyone is ready, he starts the Timer. Players begin to roll their Action dice (see 4. Dice & Action slots) until the end of the Action Phase, trying to perform as many Actions as they can with the symbols they are rolling.

Throughout the Action Phase a player may re-roll any number of dice, any number of times, in any combination. Players may keep any result rolled or may choose to re-roll it. However, any Alien Move results rolled must be resolved before re-rolling or doing any further action (see 4. Dice & Action slots).

Once the Timer's alarm goes off, the Action Phase ends and players may not roll dice any more. Any unused symbols rolled within the 2 minute duration can still be used, right after the Action Phase ends and the Timer has stopped. If the Action Phase ends and players still have unresolved Alien Move results, they must resolve them before doing anything else.

If during the Action Phase, any die rolls off the table, players may stop the Timer, retrieve the die and then start the Timer again to resume the Action Phase. While the Timer is stopped, players are not allowed to perform any action or discuss their plans.

3.4 Alien Ability Phase

During this phase, the Aliens perform any available abilities appearing on their profile cards. Players choose the order in which the Aliens perform their abilities - once a specific Alien is chosen, all Aliens of that type must perform their ability before another type is chosen.

3.5 Alien Movement Phase

During this phase, the Aliens move as many spaces as the movement number appearing on their profile cards following the arrows on the Game Board. Players move the Aliens in any order they want.

3.6 End of Round

a. Players check if any of the winning or losing conditions have occurred.

3.6.1. Winning/Losing the Game

In order for players to win the game, the following conditions must apply:

• The Objective has been completed.
• All players have returned their Characters to the Map's Starting Area.
• No Aliens have entered the Map's Starting Area.
• No Characters have been killed (see 5.3 Losing Life - Getting Killed).

The players lose the game if one or more of the following occur:

• An Alien steps into the Map's Starting Area. If this happens during Action Phase, the game ends immediately even if there is still time left.
• The 8th Round has ended and the players haven't completed their Objective yet.
• A Character is killed (see 5.3 Losing Life - Getting Killed).

b. Players take back any dice used on One-Use Action slots.

c. Players draw Alien Tech cards for any completed Objectives (see 8. Objectives).

4. Dice & Action Slots

Each Action die has 6 symbols on it. Players use those symbols to perform various actions throughout the game.

• Move: The player may move his Character one space towards any direction (including diagonally). This Action is performed without the need of an Action slot.
• Fix: The player may use this symbol on Action slots to activate Weapons or Items, cancel Events, complete Objectives etc.
• Search: The player may use this symbol on Action slots to activate Weapons or Items, cancel Events, complete Objectives etc. A player may also use this symbol on Search slots on the Game Board to draw new cards from the Weapons/Items decks.
• Shoot: The player may use this symbol on Action slots to Weapons or Items, cancel Events, complete Objectives etc.
• Use: The player may use this symbol on Action slots to activate Weapons or Items, cancel Events, complete Objectives etc.
• Alien Move: Whenever a player rolls an Alien Move symbol, before doing any other action, he must choose an Alien on the Game Board and move it one space following the arrows on the Game Board, based on the space it is currently on. If there are no Aliens on the Game Board, any Alien Move symbols rolled are ignored. If multiple Alien Move symbols are rolled at the same time, multiple targets may be chosen. Note that players may delay resolving Alien Move symbols for as long as they want, but they may not perform any other action in the meantime. Other players may continue playing as normal.

[Diagram omitted: the six die symbols as icons.]

4.2 Randomizers

Some Aliens and Events require a player to roll a die to randomly determine a space on the Game Board or a Spawning Area:

• D3 Randomizer: The D3 Randomizer refers to the RED die and is mainly used on several Alien cards for the determination of the Spawning Area from which those Aliens will enter the game. Alien cards that require a random selection of Spawning Area feature a red die symbol on them for the D3 Randomizer.
• D6 Randomizer: The D6 Randomizer refers to the GREEN die and is used for adding Spawning tokens for the "They Never End" Event. Each Map features 6 spaces with green numbers for the D6 Randomizer.
• D20 Randomizer: The D20 Randomizer refers to the YELLOW die and is used for several Events as well as some Alien abilities. Each Map features 20 spaces with yellow numbers for the D20 Randomizer.

[Diagram omitted: the red D3, green D6 and yellow D20 dice, an example Alien card with the red D3 symbol, and Map close-ups showing the green D6 and yellow D20 numbers.]

4.3 Action Slots

The Action slots indicate the activation cost of various things such as the use of Weapons, Items, the completion of Objectives, the means to Search or activate abilities as well as the way to cancel Events. Each Action slot depicts a symbol the player needs to place on it. There are 3 types of Action slots:

• Regular Action Slots: These slots have a white background. Regular Action slots may be used multiple times during each Action Phase by dice with the corresponding symbols on them. After activation, the player may take back those dice.
• One-Use Action Slots: Several Action slots have a red background. Whenever a player places a die on a One-Use Action slot, that die must remain there until the end of the Round. This means that each One-Use slot can be used only once during each Action Phase.
• Casualty Action Slots: Some Action slots have a red background and an X on them. Whenever a player places a die on a Casualty Action slot, that die must remain there until the end of the Round and then it is permanently removed from the game.

4.4 Search Slots

A player may have his Character Search for new Weapons and Items. This can be done by moving a Character on a space with a Search symbol on the Game Board.

To perform a Search, a player must have his Character step on a space with a Search symbol and then activate the slot by placing a die with a Search symbol on it. The player may then draw a total of 2 cards from the Weapon and/or Item decks divided any way he wants, and keep one of those cards. The other card must be discarded. A player activating a Search slot may choose to draw the card at the end of the Action Phase instead, in order to maintain focus on other tasks.

5. Characters

[Diagram omitted: the Character card Lilla, labelled Character Name, Ability and Life slots.]

5.1 Inventory

A Character may carry up to 2 Weapons (including Alien Tech Weapons) and an unlimited number of Items. A player may choose to discard a Weapon to make space for another.

A Character may exchange Weapons and Items with other Characters within range 1 as long as there is line of sight (LoS) between them. However this may only be done during the Action Phase.

5.2 Movement

A Character may not move through terrain (e.g. trees, walls etc. - see 14. Maps & Terrain).

A Character may not move through other Characters or Aliens.

A Character may not push another Character or Alien unless he/she is being pushed by an Alien.

Each Space on the Game Board may never contain more than one Character or Alien. Exception: Each Map's Starting Area may contain any number of Characters or Aliens at the same time.

Whenever a Character gets pushed by an Alien, he/she must move to an adjacent space and lose 1 life (also see 7.4 Alien Movement).

5.3 Losing Life - Getting Killed

Each time a Character loses life, the player must remove one life token from his Character's card. When the last life token on a Character card is removed, the player must permanently lose one of his Action Dice by removing it from the game. The Character card is then filled with life tokens once more and the process is repeated. A Character is killed when the player has no more Action Dice to remove from the game.

6. Weapons/Items

[Diagram omitted: the Weapon card Scar Makers and the Item card Launch Pack. Labels on the Weapon: Name, Activation Cost (Action slots), Effect/Ability, Weapon's Range characteristic, Weapon's Hit characteristic, and the number needed to wound when rolling a Hit die. Labels on the Item: Name, Card Type, Activation Cost (One-Use Action slot, red background), Effect/Ability.]

6.1 Weapon/Item Activation

Each Weapon/Item has an activation cost indicated in one or more Action slots. In order for a player to activate a Weapon/Item, he must first roll the required symbols and then move those dice on the Weapon/Item's card.

A player may not place any dice on a Weapon/Item before having rolled all symbols required to activate it.

After a Weapon has been activated, the player must roll Hit dice equal to the number of Hits shown on the Weapon's card. Any die with a result equal or higher than the minimum required by the weapon is considered a successful Hit. The player may then allocate this Hit to any Alien within the Weapon's range and line of sight (see 11. Line of Sight). Multiple successful Hits may be divided among multiple Aliens. Any Alien that is hit loses 1 life for each Hit allocated on it. If that Alien ends up with no more life remaining, it is killed and must be removed from the Game Board.

Note: Any Weapons activated from within the Starting Area may only shoot at range 1.

Items that get attached to Weapons remain attached throughout the game so the cost to activate and attach such an Item only needs to be rolled once throughout the game.

6.2 Weapon Constrains

A Weapon may have its characteristics improved more than once by attaching several Items on it. However, the same Item may not be attached to a Weapon more than once.

Several Weapons feature a red border around one or more of their characteristics (range, number of hits, minimum number needed for a successful Hit). Such characteristics may not be improved for that Weapon through Items, Abilities etc.

Weapons with range 4 or higher always shoot in a straight line (orthogonally and diagonally - see 11.Line of Sight). This rule must also be applied to any Weapons with smaller range that have their range increased to 4 or more by Items or other effects.

[Diagram omitted: examples of weapon characteristics with and without red borders.]

Some Weapons have more than one activation cost separated by a diagonal. These weapons are activated by covering any of the available costs.

[Diagram omitted: the Judge and Punisher Gun weapon cards.]

Other Weapons have a combination of regular Action slots and One-Use Action slots in order to be activated. Once any One-Use slots have been filled, the Weapon may be re-activated by rolling just the symbol(s) in the regular Action slots.

7. Aliens

[Diagram omitted: three Alien cards (Biter, Ductar and a third card) with labels: Race Name, Type, Alien's Life, Ability, the number of Aliens spawned, Spawning Area, Spawning Area determined by rolling the D3 Randomizer die, Players choose which Spawning Area this card will be spawned, "Acts Now" indicator, "Moves Now" indicator, Alien's Movement, and Miniature's color and silhouette to easily locate it.]

"Acts Now" indicator (colour of the ability box):

• Grey: Ability always in effect or when specified on the card.
• Green: Ability done when spawned (Acts Now) and during Alien Ability Phase.
• Red: Ability done during Alien Ability Phase.

"Moves Now" indicator (arrow icon):

• Red arrows: Alien does not move when Spawned.
• Green arrows: Alien moves when Spawned (Moves Now).

7.1 Spawning Aliens/Bosses

The number of Alien cards spawned during each Alien Spawning Phase is based on the difficulty level of the chosen Setup card:

• EASY: Spawn Alien cards equal to the number of players.
• MEDIUM: Spawn Alien cards equal to the number of players.
• HARD: Spawn Alien cards equal to the number of players +1.

Any Alien cards spawned by Events, Spawning tokens, Alien abilities etc are extra and do not count towards the standard number of Alien cards spawned each Round as indicated by the difficulty level chosen.

To spawn new Aliens/Bosses, reveal the top card of the Alien/Boss deck and check the following:

a. Which Alien is spawned (the silhouette on the top right will help you recognize the correct miniature.

b. How many Aliens of that race are spawned.

c. On which Spawning Area it must be spawned.

d. Whether or not it performs an ability right after it gets spawned (Acts Now).

e. Whether or not it performs a movement after it gets spawned (Moves Now).

When spawning an Alien/Boss card, each miniature spawned must be placed on a space with an X on it, next to the corresponding Spawning Area. After the total number of miniatures indicated on that particular card have been placed on the Game Board, they "Act Now" and then "Move Now" if the indicators on their cards say so.

[Diagram omitted: the Biter card with its spawning letters a to e, and four Biter miniatures placed on the X spaces of Spawning Area 1.]

Example: a Biter card requires 4 Biters to be spawned on Spawning Area 1. Each Biter is placed on a space with an X on it.

If there are not enough unoccupied Xs to spawn all the miniatures of that card, or if there are other miniatures already occupying those Xs, players must move other miniatures (following the arrows) to make space for all miniatures to be spawned.

7.2 Aliens with more than 1 Life

Several Aliens in the game have more than one life. To represent that, when an Alien with more than 1 life is spawned, put life tokens on its card equal to the indicated number. Each time the Alien gets hit, remove a life token from this card. Once there are no more life tokens on the card, the Alien is killed and must be removed from the Game Board.

7.3 Spawning and Killing Bosses

When spawning a Boss, put an Alien Tech token on the Boss's card. When the Boss is killed, place that Alien Tech token on the space the Boss was killed. When a player's Character steps on that space, that player may choose to remove the token from the Game Board and draw an Alien Tech card. A player may choose to keep the Alien Tech token as a reminder in front of him and spend it to draw the Alien Tech card after the Action Phase has ended to avoid wasting time.

7.4 Alien Movement

Throughout the game, an Alien may move for various reasons such as Alien Movement Phase, Events, Alien Move symbols, "Moves Now" indication when spawned etc.

Each time one or more Aliens need to move, players get to decide the order in which they will move as well as which path they will follow.

Every space on the Game Board features one or more arrows creating several paths for an Alien to follow. Alien movement must always follow those arrows. If an Alien's movement is blocked by another Alien or Character, both must be moved until the Alien that needs to move, completes its movement.

[Diagram omitted: a Boss miniature.]

8. Objectives

During each game, players must complete an Objective and return back to the Map's Starting Area. Using the Setup cards, players can choose which Objective they want to play with.

8.1 Extermination Objective

Objective: Players must remove the Extermination tiles from the Game Board and return to the Starting Area within 8 Rounds.

Setup: Shuffle all Extermination tiles face down and randomly fill each Objective slot on the Game Board as indicated by the chosen Extermination Setup card (based on the number of players). Then turn all tiles face up.

In the Extermination Objective, players must remove the Extermination tiles from the Game Board by adding the required Shoot symbols on them. To do so, one or more Characters must be within range 1 from an Extermination tile, and place dice with Shoot symbols on it, filling all its Action slots before the Action Phase ends. Once the Action Phase ends, all tiles with all of their Action slots filled with Shoot symbols are removed from the Game Board. The last player that contributed a Shoot symbol on an Extermination tile that got removed may draw one Alien Tech card at the end of the Round.

If the Action Phase ends and a tile has not been completely filled with Shoot symbols, all dice on it must be returned to their owners.

[Diagram omitted: Extermination tiles.]

8.2 Recovery Objective

Objective: Players must return the Recovery tiles from the Game Board to the Starting Area within 8 Rounds. All Characters must return as well.

Setup: Shuffle all Recovery tiles face down and randomly fill each Objective slot on the Game Board as indicated by the chosen Recovery Setup card (based on the number of players). Then turn all tiles face up.

In the Recovery Objective, players must move the Recovery tiles back to the Map's Starting Area. Each time a player places a die with a Use symbol on a Recovery Objective tile, he can move that tile to an adjacent empty space on the Game Board (either orthogonally or diagonally). Characters and Aliens may step on a Recovery tile on the Game Board, however a Recovery tile may not be moved if there is a figure on it (either Character or Alien) or on the space it needs to be moved to.

Once a Round ends, any tiles that have reached the Map's Starting Area are removed from the game and the player who moved them last, may draw one Alien Tech card at the end of the Round.

[Diagram omitted: Recovery tiles.]

8.3 Recon Objective

Objective: Players must move the Recon tiles from the Map's Starting Area onto designated points on the Game Board and then return to the Starting Area within 8 Rounds.

Setup: Shuffle all Recon tiles face down and based on the number of players, place Recon tiles on the Map's Starting Area. Also, place Objective tokens on each designated Objective slot on the Game Board, based on the number of players, as indicated by the chosen Recon Setup card. Then turn all tiles face-up.

In the Recon Objective, players must move the Recon tiles from the Map's Starting Area to the designated Objective slots. Each time a player places a die with a Use symbol on a Recon Objective tile, he can move that tile to an adjacent space on the Game Board (either orthogonally or diagonally).

Characters and Aliens may step on a Recon tile ...on the Game Board, however a Recon tile may not be moved if there is a figure on it (either Character or Alien) or on the space it needs to be moved to.

Editorial note: the printed sentence above reads "a Recon tile ...on the Game Board", with the ellipsis as printed in the source. It is transcribed as printed.

Once a Round ends, any tiles that have reached the designated Objective slots may not be moved any more. The player who moved them to their designated point, may draw one Alien Tech card at the end of the Round. Each Recon tile must be delivered to a different Objective slot.

[Diagram omitted: Recovery tiles and Objective tokens.]

8.4 Demolition Objective

Objective: Players must deliver the Demolition tiles in their possession to designated points on the Game Board and then return to the Starting Area within 8 Rounds.

Setup: Each player receives 2 Demolition tiles as part his Character's inventory. One depicting 3 and one depicting 2 Fix symbols.

Place Objective tokens on each designated Objective slot on the Game Board, based on the number of players, as indicated by the chosen Demolition Setup card.

In the Demolition Objective, players must place the Demolition tiles they are carrying on the Objective tokens as designated by the Demolition Setup card. Once a player gets within range 1 from an Objective slot and rolls the required Fix symbols, he may fill a Demolition tile's Action slots and place it in the slot. Each Demolition tile may only be completed by the Character carrying it. However, Characters may exchange Demolition tiles in the same way as they would exchange a Weapon or an Item.

A Demolition tile cannot be placed inside an Objective slot unless it is fully filled with dice.

Once the Action Phase ends, any tiles that have been successfully filled and placed are considered complete and the player(s) who placed them may draw an Alien Tech card at the end of the Round.

If by the end of the 8th Round, all Demolition tiles have been placed on different Objective slots on the Game Board and all Characters have returned to the Map's Starting Area, the Objective is complete.

[Diagram omitted: Demolition tiles and Objective tokens.]

9. Game Setup Area

Each Map features a Game Setup Area. This area is used as a reminder of things that will happen in future Rounds (Bosses, Events etc).

After choosing a Setup Card, players adjust the Game Setup Area of the Map to match the one depicted on the Setup card, adding Event tiles, Boss tiles etc as indicators of things to come.

[Diagram omitted: the Game Setup Area, with Event tiles (E), Boss tiles (B), Objective slots and the Round numbers 1 to 8.]

10. Setup Cards

[Diagram omitted: an example Setup card (Abandoned Lab, Extermination, Medium) with labels for Map Name, Objective Name, Setup for Objective slots used based on the number of players, Number of players, Layout for Game Setup Area of the Game Board based on the number of players, and Objective Difficulty; and the symbols for Event Tile (E), Boss Tile (B) and Objective slot.]

Editorial note: the 24 Setup cards are physical components. This rulebook explains how to choose and read them; the per-card contents (which tiles and tokens go on which Objective slots and Game Setup Area positions for each Map, Objective, difficulty and player count) are printed on the cards and are not reproduced here.

10.1 Choosing a Setup card

Setup cards allow players to easily choose the Objective and Difficulty based on the Map they want to play. We recommend starting with Easy Setup cards and moving up to harder Setups once you are more experienced with the game.

There are several ways to choose which Setup card to play with:

• By Difficulty (recommended) - Shuffle all Setup cards of the difficulty you want to play and randomly pick one to see which Objective you will be playing.
• By Objective - Shuffle all Setup cards of the same objective and randomly pick one to see what difficulty you will be playing.
• By Map - Choose a Map and shuffle all the Map's Setup cards. Randomly pick one.
• By Difficulty - Random Map - Shuffle all Setup cards of the difficulty you want to play from all Maps and randomly pick one to see the Objective and the Map you will be playing on.
• By Objective - Random Map - Shuffle all Setup cards of the same objective from all Maps and randomly pick one to see what difficulty you will be playing and on which Map.
• Totally Random - Shuffle all Setup cards from all Maps and randomly pick one.

After a Setup card is chosen, make adjustments to the Game Setup Area on the Map you will be playing, to match your chosen Setup card based on the number of players.

10.2 Make your own Setups

Players may always choose to make their own Setup. After choosing a Map and an Objective, they may adjust the Game Setup Area (see 9. Game Setup Area) adding Events, Boss tiles etc. to make the game as challenging as they desire.

Also, more Setups can be found at www.project-elite.com

11. Line of Sight

In order for a Character to Hit an Alien (and vice versa), a Character must have the Alien within his/her line of sight (LoS) and within his/her weapon's range.

For a character to have line of sight to an Alien he must be able to trace an uninterrupted line from the center of his space to the center of the Alien's space. Walls, trees, obstacles, Bosses and Mega-Bosses block line of sight. Non-Boss Aliens and other Characters do not block line of sight (LoS). This means that a Character may Hit an Alien behind another Alien or another Character as long as the Alien between them is not a Boss or a Mega-Boss. The Alien must also be within the range of the Character's weapon in order to be Hit.

Editorial note: "Mega-Boss" is not defined in this rulebook, and no Mega-Boss miniatures or cards are listed in the components. The term is transcribed as printed.

Example 1: Bus is using a range 3 Weapon to shoot at Aliens. All Aliens on green spaces are visible and within range so Bus may shoot at them. However:

a) Bus may not shoot at Alien #1 because it is out of range.

b) Bus may not shoot at Alien #2 because the Boss blocks his line of sight (LoS).

c) Bus may not shoot at Alien #3 because the terrain blocks his line of sight (LoS).

[Diagram omitted: the Example 1 battlefield with Aliens #1 to #3 and a Boss.]

Example 2: Bus is using a range 4 Weapon to shoot at Aliens. All Weapons with a range of 4 or more (even Weapons with a smaller range that had their range increased to 4 by items or other means), may only shoot in straight lines. All Aliens on green spaces are visible and within range so Bus may shoot at them. However:

a) Bus may not shoot at Alien #5 because the terrain blocks his line of sight (LoS).

b) Bus may not shoot at Alien #4 because the Boss blocks his line of sight.

c) Bus may not shoot at Aliens #1, #2 or #3 because they are not in a straight line from him.

[Diagram omitted: the Example 2 battlefield with Aliens #1 to #5 and a Boss.]

Example 3: Bus is using a Weapon with infinite range to shoot at Aliens. As mentioned in Example 2, all Weapons with a range of 4 or more (even Weapons with a smaller range that had their range increased to 4 by items or other means), may only shoot in straight lines. All Aliens on green spaces are visible and within range so Bus may shoot at them. However:

A) Bus may not shoot at Aliens #1, #2 or #3 because they are not in a straight line from him.

[Diagram omitted: the Example 3 battlefield with Aliens #1 to #3.]

12. Tokens

12.1 Spawning Tokens

At the end of the Alien Spawning Phase, reveal an additional Alien card for each Spawning token on the Game Board. Place those cards' spawned Aliens on the corresponding tokens' spaces. Treat each Spawning token as a temporary Spawning Area.

12.2 Objective Tokens

Objective tokens are used by Objectives such as Recon and Demolition and serve as indicators of where the Objective tiles must be delivered to.

12.3 Acid Tokens

Whenever a Character steps on a space containing an Acid token, he/she Loses one life. Aliens are unaffected by Acid tokens. A space containing an Acid token may still contain other tokens such as a Slime tokens. Objective tiles may be moved on spaces with an Acid token.

12.4 Slime Tokens

Whenever an Alien steps on a space containing a Slime token, that Alien must immediately be moved one additional space. Spaces containing Slime tokens do not count towards the number of spaces needed for an Alien's movement. Characters are unaffected by Slime tokens. A space containing a Slime token may still contain other tokens such as an Acid token. Objective tiles may be moved on spaces with an Slime token.

12.5 Alien Tech Tokens

Alien Technology tokens are mainly placed on the Game Board whenever a Boss is killed. A Character stepping on a space containing an Alien Technology token may immediately draw an Alien Technology card. The token is then removed from the Game Board. A player may choose to keep an Alien Tech token as a reminder in front of him and spend it to draw the Alien Tech card after the Action Phase has ended to avoid wasting time.

13. Events

Events are drawn during the Event Phase. The number of Events drawn in a game depends the Map, Objective and difficulty level chosen and is shown on the Game Setup Area.

After being revealed during a Round's Event Phase, an Event card remains in play and its effect is repeated every Round unless it gets removed by players.

In order to cancel an Event, players must contribute certain dice during the Action Phase, depicting the required symbols, according to the number of players. Players may contribute dice regardless of their Character's position on the Game Board. As soon as all symbols have been contributed, any effect that would take place later during the Round is instead cancelled and the Event is discarded.

If the Action Phase ends and players failed to contribute all the required symbols, the Event remains in effect in the following Round.

[Diagram omitted: the example Event card "Here They Come", which reads: "Before the Alien Ability Phase, all Aliens must Advance 1 space (follow arrows)." Its cancel cost is shown as Use, Shoot, Search and Fix symbols, with figures above them for the number of players.]

14. Maps & Terrain

The shaded light blue areas on the Maps below count as Terrain.

• Characters and Aliens may not enter or move through Terrain.
• Characters and Aliens may not shoot through Terrain.
• Terrain blocks line of sight (LoS).

[Diagram omitted: the two maps on the 2-sided Game Board, Abandoned Lab and Alien Crash Site, with the Terrain areas shaded light blue.]

Walls: In the example below, Bus has line of sight (LoS) and may shoot at the Biter. However, Characters may not move through wall corners so Bus would need 2 steps if he were to move to that space.

Trees: In the example below, Bus has line of sight (LoS) and may shoot at the Biter. In addition, Characters are also able to move diagonally through tree edges so Bus would only need one step if he were to move to that space.

[Diagram omitted: the Wall Example and the Tree Example.]

15. Interaction & Decisions

15.1 Working Together

During the Action Phase, a player may ask another player to perform any Alien Move results he has rolled. However, the player must wait until those Alien Moves are performed before doing any further action. Similarly, a player may ask another player to remove life tokens from an Alien he just hit successfully.

15.2 What's Done Is Done

Often during the Action Phase, players may perform an action and shortly after change their mind about it. Other times players may go after the same targets, block each other's movement or cause other Characters to lose life etc. However, once an action has been done by a player it may not be taken back. Each decision taken during the Action Phase is final.

16. Strategy Tips

• Plan and discuss your strategy before the beginning of each Action Phase. Set priorities and never forget your Objective.
• When rolling Alien Move symbols try to perform them on Aliens that will harm players the least.
• If there is increased risk, consider having some or all Players stop rolling their Action Dice before the Action Phase ends.
• Try to make the most out of each dice roll. The more you roll, the more the Aliens move. Try to foresee things you may have to do in the remainder of the Action Phase and try to use or keep some of the symbols you already rolled for later, instead of quickly re-rolling.
• The biggest strength of the Aliens is their combined movement. Try not to allow faster moving Aliens to get stuck up behind lines of slower Aliens, in order to prevent the collective increase of movement that will occur from the faster alien behind pushing everyone else.

17. Card Clarifications

This section includes additional information about some of the card included in Project: ELITE.

• Sarah Mercy: The healed Character gets back all life tokens. However, the player does not get back any lost Action Dice.
• Lilla: Those tokens may only be spent During the Action Phase to prevent Alien Move results rolled only by the player who controls her.
• Bus: His ability is always active and can be used on purpose.
• Scar Makers: Any doubles rolled do one wound in addition to any successful Hits on 5+. Example: Double 5s would do 3 wounds. Double 1s would do 1 wound.
• Ion Rifle: You may choose a different amount of dice to roll each time you activate Ion Rifle. If your roll total is 9 or more, no wounds are done. Items that allow you to re-roll failed results may not be used on Ion Rifle.
• Heat Gun: Its ability is also applied on any additional Hits gained.
• X-Ray Visor: Terrain should be treated as if it consisted of normal square spaces for the purposes of measuring the number of spaces the Character is shooting through. Walls also count as one space of terrain so the Character may only shoot through a maximum of 1 wall each time.
• Alien DNA: This cards ability must be performed right after the end of the Action Phase. The player may still use some if his unused dice before performing this ability.
• Sonic Blaster: If this Weapon successfully Hits the first Alien in a row of Aliens, all of them must Retreat (follow arrows in reverse) 2 spaces since each one is being pushed back by the previous one. If a Character gets pushed by a Retreating Alien, he/she must lose life as normal.

18. Solo Game

In order to play a solo game, the 2 following changes must be applied:

• During Setup, get 5 Action dice (instead of 4).
• During the Alien Spawning Phase, spawn cards as you would do in a 2-player game.