Star Trek: Fleet Captains
Star Trek: Fleet Captains Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
- Star Trek: Fleet Captains Includes
- Setup
- Taking Your Turn
- System Checks
- Movement
- Reallocating Power
- Actions
- Playing Order Cards
- Discarding Order Cards
- Mission Cycling
- Location Tiles
- Starships
- Order Cards
- Missions
- Contacts
- Destroying a Ship
- Winning the Game
- Four-Player Rules
- Taking a Turn (Four Players)
- Quick Reference
- Credits
Star Trek: Fleet Captains Includes
The "Click" System
Each ship's stand has a special dial — its "combat dial" — that displays its current stats. Turning the dial on the stand lets you change the ship's stats. Simply take the miniature and turn the dial until it clicks. Click — your ship's stats have changed!
During the game you will frequently need to change a ship's stats, including after it takes damage in battle.
Some values on the combat dial have a blue background, which means the ship has activated its cloaking equipment. Each combat dial is also divided by thick black lines into three alert levels. Be careful when changing your ship's stats.
The goal of the game is to earn Victory Points (VP), which you gain by, for example, completing missions, succeeding at checks, or building space installations. Before the game begins you must decide how many VP are needed to win. The first player to reach that number of VP wins the game.
The number of VP needed to win can range from 6 to 38. The more VP required to win, the longer the game will take. As a recommended default we suggest playing to 10 VP (roughly 1.5 hours per game).
The VP total also determines the maximum size of the space fleet you may have on the board at any time during the game (see "Building a Space Fleet"). A longer game lets you build a larger fleet, which affects how many Actions you can take during your turn.
Once you've decided on the VP total, you need to set the size of the game board. The smallest board size is 3x4 location tiles. In theory there's no maximum board size, but in practice it's limited to the 50 location tiles included in the game. A larger board is preferable for a longer game. A smaller board, on the other hand, is preferable for a game with the most interaction and conflict between players. In short, a game to a higher VP total should be played on a larger board.
We recommend playing on a 5x5 tile board, which is ideal for exploration and combat and best suited to a game to 10 VP.
Setup
Before you begin exploring, you need to prepare the game board. These illustrations will help you do that.
Preparing the game board: Take all 50 location tiles, turn them face down, and shuffle them. For a 5x5 tile game, setup begins by placing the first tile in the center of the table (number 1 in the diagram). Lay out two more tiles on each side of the first tile in a straight line from you to the other player (number 2 in the diagram). Each player has a Command Post tile, which is placed at the end of this line. Now fill in the remaining space between you and the other player with two rows of six tiles each (number 3 in the diagram). Finally, lay out one more row of five tiles on each side of the previously placed row (number 4 in the diagram).
Beside the board, in two zones, place the card decks. One zone holds the mission cards, of three types. Split the mission cards into 3 decks (Science, Influence, and Combat — they all share the same back and differ only on the front) and shuffle each deck. Place each deck in sequence, one next to the other, in this zone. The second zone is for location tiles and contact cards. Location tiles are placed at the left edge of the zone, with the contact card deck laid out next to them.
Note: The second zone also has room for "purged" cards, where cards purged by players during the game are placed throughout play.
Note: Once you have played a few games and gotten comfortable with all the nuances of the game, you can try laying out the board however you like. Whatever board configuration you choose will be valid and playable.
Building a Space Fleet
Once you've set up the board, start building your space fleet. Fleet Captains can be played either as a two-player game or as two teams of two players each (see "Four-Player Rules"). One player/team plays the forces of the Federation, while the other plays the Klingon Empire.
The ships you'll play are determined by drawing cards. You cannot start the game with all your ships at once. Players are initially limited to a certain fleet size. The maximum size of your fleet at the start of the game equals the number of VP the players have set as the win condition. So in a game to 10 VP, a player's starting fleet size is 10.
Each ship has its own ship card, which shows the ship's size in the upper-right corner. The sum of the sizes of all the ships in your fleet cannot exceed the maximum fleet size.
Take all 12 ship cards, shuffle them, and stack them face down. Now everything is ready to build your fleet:
- Step 1: Flip the top card from the ship-card stack.
- Step 2: Add up the sizes of the ships on the flipped cards.
- Step 3: Take a card, discard a card, pass, or redraw:
- Take a card: If including the drawn card your fleet size is still below the maximum fleet size, place the drawn card next to your Command Post tile and flip another ship card.
- Discard a card: If including the drawn card your fleet size would exceed the maximum fleet size, discard the card and draw another (return to Step 1).
- Pass: If including the drawn card your fleet size exactly equals the maximum fleet size, place the drawn card next to your Command Post tile and stop drawing.
- Redraw: If the ship cards run out before you reach the maximum fleet size, you have a choice: you may keep the ship cards you've already drawn even though your opponent has ended up with a fleet-size advantage, or discard your previously drawn ship cards, shuffle them with the discards, and start over from Step 1.
Example: Vlad commands the Federation fleet and begins building his fleet by drawing ship cards. The first card he draws is the U.S.S. Venture, size 5. The next card is the U.S.S. Equinox, size 1. He places it next to the U.S.S. Venture card. The third card drawn is the U.S.S. Enterprise, size 6. Counting the previously drawn cards, Vlad's fleet size would be 12, which is more than the maximum fleet size of 10. So Vlad has to discard the U.S.S. Enterprise. The next card drawn is the U.S.S. Sutherland, size 4. Counting the previously drawn cards, Vlad's fleet size is now 10 (5+1+4=10), matching the maximum fleet size. Vlad places the card next to the others he's drawn and stops drawing.
Once you've built your fleet, take the remaining ship cards and set them aside. This is your reserve pool — cards from it may be needed during play.
Select the miniatures matching the ships on your ship cards and place them on your Command Post tile.
Getting Orders
Once you've built your space fleet, it's time to get orders. Take the order cards. Each card has a mark in the lower-right corner showing which deck it belongs to. Sort all the order cards into 10 decks.
Each deck has its own unique content. The Federation's "Main Engineering" order deck contains technical and support power cards, while the Klingon Empire's "Way of the Warrior" deck mostly contains combat cards and crew cards that boost combat capability.
Study the ship cards that make up your fleet to understand which mission cards you'll be drawing (see "Getting Missions"). This will help you decide which decks to choose.
Choose 4 order decks (40 cards total), shuffle them together, and stack them face down to the right of your Command Post tile. Then draw the top card of each deck into your hand.
Example: A player's starting Klingon Empire fleet forms a mission deck of 7 Combat missions, 3 Influence missions, and 1 Science mission. The player decides to choose order cards that will help complete Combat missions. So they choose "Way of the Warrior," "The Science of War," "Battleships," and "Code of Honor."
Getting Missions
You also have your own deck of mission cards, which represent the assignments you receive from Command. The type of cards in your mission deck depends on the ships in your fleet. Each ship card has a column on the right edge with three numeric values. These numbers show how many mission cards of each type you need to draw to build your mission deck. Larger ships let you draw more mission cards than smaller ships.
Example: If the U.S.S. Enterprise is part of your starting fleet, you need to draw 3 Science missions, 2 Influence missions, and 1 Combat mission.
Draw the corresponding mission cards in the amounts shown on your fleet's ship cards, but do not look at the face of the drawn cards. Shuffle the drawn cards and stack them face down beside your Command Post to form your mission deck.
The number of missions per ship equals its size. So in a game to 10 VP, you'll have 10 missions available.
Draw the top 3 cards from the mission deck you've built and lay them face up below your Command Post tile. If any of them are Secret missions, lay those face down instead.
The Command Post tile has a zone where you'll place your Victory tokens (see "Victory Sector").
Now everything is ready to begin the game!
Taking Your Turn
Determine who goes first by rolling a die, playing rock-paper-scissors, or some other method. The chosen player goes first, and turns pass from player to player until one player reaches the number of VP required to win.
During your turn you may take any of the following actions in any order:
- move each ship in your fleet
- reallocate power for each of your ships
- take 3 Actions
- play an order card
- swap a mission card (discard an incomplete mission and draw a new one)
- discard 1 order card
You are not required to take all of the listed actions — this list simply marks the maximum you can do in a turn. You're also not required to take these actions in any particular order (except that once you stop moving a ship or group of ships, you can no longer move that ship/group for the rest of your turn). You're allowed to move one ship, take an action with another ship, reallocate power on the first ship, then move a third ship, and so on. The main thing is to keep track of which ships you've moved and how many actions you've taken.
System Checks
Many actions and contacts in the game will require you to make a system check on your ship. Each check has a target level that you need to reach or exceed to succeed. To make a system check, roll one die and add the result to the ship's current level in the system being checked. If the sum of the die roll and the ship's combat-dial value is equal to or greater than the check's target level, you've succeeded.
Example: The U.S.S. Yosemite encounters a mysterious and dangerous Particle Fountain along its route. According to the contact card, the ship needs a Sensors check of 12 to pass the Particle Fountain unscathed. The U.S.S. Yosemite's current Sensors level is 7. So the Federation player needs to roll a 5 or higher to succeed at the Sensors check.
You will often be able to improve your odds of success by reallocating your ship's power (see "Reallocating Power"). This action can raise your system level.
Example: If the U.S.S. Yosemite reallocates power, it can raise its Sensors level to 13. If that's above the check's target, it automatically succeeds.
When you need to make a check on one of your ship's systems — for instance, in a newly opened location — follow these steps:
- Step 1. Find the current level of the system being checked on the ship's combat dial.
- Step 2. You may play one order card from your hand to modify the system being used by the ship.
- Step 3. Your opponent may play one order card from their hand to modify the system your ship is using. If you skipped Step 2, you may play an order card in response to a card your opponent plays (but if you passed and your opponent also passed, you can no longer play a card).
- Step 4. Add or subtract modifiers from crew cards or system tokens attached to the ship, as well as from order cards played by you and your opponent.
- Step 5. Roll the die. Add the die result to the modified system level. Compare the result to the target level. If it's greater than the target, the check succeeds; if it's less, the check fails.
Note: If the ship's modified system level is already above the target level, you automatically succeed. There's no need to roll the die in that case.
Note: A system check you make to complete a mission counts as an Action.
Note: If the system being checked is disabled (marked with a "D" on the combat dial), you automatically fail the check. You cannot play an order card to modify the stats of a disabled system.
Cooperative System Checks
Some system checks can't be passed by a single ship alone. Especially difficult tasks require several ships to take part in a cooperative system check.
To make a cooperative system check, all ships taking part must be in the same location, and each ship must spend 1 Action on the check. The ships add together the values of their systems before rolling the die. You still roll only a single die, but the modified system level is much higher.
Example: The Klingon Empire orders its fleet to complete the Geological Study mission on an uninhabited planet. This requires a Sensors check of 20. The I.K.S. Klothos and I.K.S. Maht-H will carry out the mission. Both ships have their Sensors set to maximum. The I.K.S. Klothos is at 7 and the I.K.S. Maht-H is at 10. They add their Sensors levels together to get 17. So to succeed at the check, the player needs to roll at least a 3.
Opposed System Checks
In some situations, a ship will need to make a system check against another ship. For example, during combat the attacking ship makes a Weapons check against the defending ship's Shields check (see "Combat Actions"). During an opposed system check, both players roll a die and add the result to their system level. Each player may also use 1 order card to modify their system level. Then the players compare their results, and if the attacker's result is higher, they succeed at the check. If the result is equal or lower, the attacker fails the check.
Example: The U.S.S. Yeager plays the order card Sensor Overload against the I.K.S. Bortas. The card calls for an opposed Sensors check. The U.S.S. Yeager's Sensors level is 6. The I.K.S. Bortas's Sensors level is 7, and it also has a crew card that grants a +3 bonus to Sensors. To improve their odds, the Federation player plays the order card Emergency Power (+2 to any system level). The Federation player rolls the die and gets a 4. Their total is 12 (6+2+4). Their opponent rolls the die and gets a 1. Their total is 11 (7+3+1). The U.S.S. Yeager's total Sensors result is higher than the I.K.S. Bortas's, so the effect affects the I.K.S. Bortas.
Ships may make a joint opposed system check (spending 1 Action per ship). Two small ships, for instance, might combine their Weapons levels to attack a larger enemy ship. When combining ship levels, only one die is rolled for all the ships combined, but otherwise the check follows the standard rules.
Note that combat is a special type of opposed system check (see "Combat Actions").
Movement
Each ship in your fleet may take one movement action each turn. The distance a ship can move is determined by its current Engines power.
A ship with an Engines power greater than 1 may move from its current location to any adjacent location (unless the location or a contact-card effect prevents further movement). Ships with disabled engines cannot move.
Locations are considered adjacent if they share a border. A player's Command Post is larger than the other tiles and is adjacent to three locations at once.
A ship's movement range is determined by its Movement Points (MP), equal to its current Engines power. Moving into any adjacent location costs 1 movement point. If you decide to keep moving a ship from an adjacent location into further locations, you'll need to spend more movement points. In the lower-right corner of each location tile is a number showing the location's size, which indicates how many movement points a ship must spend to cross that location. A ship can cross several locations in a single turn only if it has enough movement points to do so.
Important: You cannot interrupt a ship's movement action to take some other action. If you decide to stop a ship's movement, you cannot move it again this turn.
Example: The U.S.S. Reliant is at the Class M Planet location tile. Its current Engines power is 9. So it may do any of the following:
- Move to any one adjacent Class K Nebula, Empty Space, or Hypergiant Star tile (1 MP).
- Cross an adjacent Empty Space tile to reach the next Empty Space tile beyond it (5 MP).
- Cross both Empty Space tiles and stop on the unexplored tile beyond them (9 MP).
- Cross the Class K Nebula tile and stop on the unexplored tile above it (6 MP).
Note that the U.S.S. Reliant cannot cross directly through the Hypergiant Star location, since its size is 9 and the ship is limited to 9 MP.
Important: You must stop a ship's movement in any of the following cases:
- you draw a contact card while exploring a new location
- the ship (or any other ship) takes an Action
- you reallocate power on any ship
- you attempt to flee an enemy ship and fail
- you run out of movement points
- you begin moving any other ship
Once you stop a ship's movement (for any of the reasons above), you cannot move that ship again during the current turn. You can continue moving it on your next turn.
Remember that all the actions you can take on your turn can be done in any sequence. It's not necessary to move a ship immediately before its other actions. For example, before moving, a ship could take an Influence action, play a crew card, and reallocate power.
Command Post
Your Command Post is a special location that only your own ships may enter. Entering the Command Post doesn't cost movement points, so you can send a ship there even if it has no movement points left (but not if its engines are disabled). Ships entering the Command Post must immediately stop moving for the turn and begin carrying out their unique missions (e.g., Warp Experiment).
Exploration
If your ship moves onto an unexplored location tile, you must explore it (even if the ship is cloaked). Exploring doesn't cost an Action. Exploration happens in 3 steps:
Step 1: Reveal. Flip the location tile being explored and place it so its text faces you (this indicates that you were the one who explored it, which matters for a number of missions). Many location tiles have a specific effect that applies immediately, unless stated otherwise. If a scan token was on the location tile, discard it.
Step 2: Contact. In the lower-left corner of each location tile is a range of numbers. When exploring the location, you must roll the die. If the number rolled falls within the location tile's range, you draw a contact card and resolve it before taking any further actions. If you draw an event card, your ship's movement stops, even if it still has unused movement points.
Step 3: Stop or continue. If you didn't draw a contact card and your ship has enough unused movement points to cross the newly explored tile, you may continue the ship's movement. Otherwise the ship's movement stops for this turn.
Example: The I.K.S. Kronos One enters a previously unexplored part of space. The Klingon Empire player flips the location tile — it's a Class J Nebula, and any ships in this location get a +4 bonus to Shields. A Federation scan token on the location tile is discarded. Now the Klingon Empire player rolls the die and gets a 3. Since the check range for this location is "1-2," the player does not draw a contact card. If the ship's Engines power is 7 or higher, it can continue moving through the location, since its size is 6.
Enemy Actions
The movement rules above apply when there are no enemy ships in the locations your ship is moving through (or leaving). If your ship wants to leave a location occupied by an enemy ship, it must pass a Breakaway or Evasion check.
Breakaway Check: If your ship is not cloaked and begins its turn in a location with an uncloaked enemy ship, your ship must pass a Breakaway check before it can begin moving. To do this, roll a die and add the result to your ship's size. Your opponent also rolls a die and adds the result to the combined size of all their uncloaked ships in that location. If your total is equal to or greater than your opponent's, your ship may begin moving. If you fail the check, your ship may still begin moving, but your opponent may attack you with one of their ships (without spending an Action to do so). This also applies if you decide to leave your ship where it is.
Example: The I.K.S. Rotarran (size 2) and I.K.S. Somraw (size 1) are patrolling a location that also contains the U.S.S. Venture (size 5). The U.S.S. Venture decides to leave the location and makes a Breakaway check. The Federation player rolls the die and gets a 2, adds it to their ship's size, for a total of 7. The Klingon Empire player rolls the die and gets a 5, adds it to the combined size of their two ships, for a total of 8. Since the Klingon Empire player's Breakaway check result is higher than the Federation player's, the Klingon Empire player may now attack the Federation player's ship before it leaves the location.
Evasion Check: If your ship is not cloaked and tries to cross a location occupied by one or more uncloaked enemy ships, it must pass an Evasion check. The Evasion check follows the same rules as the Breakaway check, with one exception: if the check fails, your ship does not enter the location. Failing this check does not give your opponent the right to attack your ships.
Note: If your ship is cloaked, it does not need to make a Breakaway or Evasion check. See "Cloak Actions."
Combined Movement
If several of your ships begin their turn in the same location, they may move together as a combined force. Before moving, you must declare which of your ships are moving together. The movement range of ships moving as a combined force is determined by the Engines power of the ship with the lowest current Engines power. A combined force takes its entire movement action together and cannot split up until movement is finished.
Example: The U.S.S. Excelsior (Engines power 8) and the U.S.S. Reliant (Engines power 6) are in the same location. The Federation player decides to move them together as a combined force. The movement range of this combined force is determined by the ship with the lowest current Engines power — in this case, the U.S.S. Reliant, with an Engines power of 6.
If a combined force explores a new location, you may choose which of the ships makes the check called for on the contact card, unless the card states that the event applies to all ships. However, if you draw an event card, all ships in the combined force stop moving regardless of whether the event affects them.
Note: If a contact card has a positive effect, it only applies to one ship in the combined force. However, if a contact card causes a negative effect, it applies to all ships in the combined force.
Evasion Check as a Combined Force: When making an Evasion check as a combined force, add the combined size of all ships in the force to the die result. Otherwise the check follows the normal rules.
Breakaway Check as a Combined Force: When making a Breakaway check as a combined force, add the combined size of all ships in the force to the die result. If the check fails, your opponent chooses which of your ships their ship attacks.
Reallocating Power
Each ship in your fleet may reallocate its power once per turn. Reallocating lets you use your ship's stats to their best advantage. Larger, undamaged ships are quite powerful, giving you more options for making the most of all the ship's stats when reallocating power. Smaller ships and damaged ships, on the other hand, have less power. So you'll have to choose the most optimal stat values for your ships to make the best use of all their power.
To reallocate a ship's power, simply turn the dial on its stand left or right until you reach the stats you want. You may turn the dial in either direction as long as you stay within the same colored band on the combat dial (ships in cloak mode are the one exception to this rule, since they may become visible, thereby changing the combat dial's color).
You may reallocate a ship's power at any point during your turn, even if it interrupts another action or event. Each ship may reallocate power only once per turn, and reallocating power immediately stops the ship's movement if done during movement.
Example: The U.S.S. Equinox currently has its Engines at maximum power and its Sensors disabled. While exploring a location, the player draws a contact card that requires a Sensors check. Since the U.S.S. Equinox hasn't reallocated power yet this turn, the player may interrupt the contact phase and reallocate the ship's power, setting Sensors to its maximum level. If the U.S.S. Equinox had already reallocated power earlier, the player would have no way to change the Sensors level and would fail the check.
Actions
Each turn you may take up to three Actions with your ships. Actions are the main way players interact during the game. Normally each ship can take only one Action per turn (some order cards let a ship take an extra Action). There are seven types of Actions in the game:
- Cloak actions — activating the defensive equipment that lets a ship use cloak mode.
- Combat actions — attacking enemy ships.
- Influence actions — establishing control over locations and building installations.
- Recovery actions — bringing destroyed ships back into play.
- Repair actions — repairing damage to ships at installations.
- Scanning actions — scanning unexplored locations.
- Transport actions — moving cargo or crew between ships and planets.
- System checks — made at the player's discretion, e.g. while completing missions (see the "Missions" rules).
In general, any time you use a ship to do something other than move, reallocate power, or apply the effect of a drawn event card, it counts as an Action. However, if an event card or an enemy ship forces you to make a system check on your ship, that does not count as an Action.
Example: The U.S.S. Enterprise attempts to complete the Nebula Research mission. To do so, it needs to spend one Action to make a Sensors check.
During your turn you may take a maximum of 3 Actions. Each ship under your control may take only one of those three allowed actions (unless a command card states otherwise).
Important: The 3-Action-per-turn limit applies to a game played to 10 VP. If the game is played to a higher VP total, you can spend more Actions per turn. In a game from 13 to 15 VP, you may take 4 Actions per turn. From 16 VP and above, you may take 5 Actions per turn.
Action Tokens
Each player has 3 Action tokens. After a ship takes an Action, place an Action token on that ship's card. This lets you track which ships have taken an Action, as well as how many Actions you've already taken this turn.
Cloak Actions
Some ships are equipped with powerful devices that let them enter cloak mode. Only ships whose cloaking equipment is activated may use a Cloak action. Cloaking equipment is considered activated when the combat dial shows blue for the ship's current alert level.
Example: The U.S.S. Defiant may enter cloak mode if it is undamaged (white) or at yellow alert.
You may use a Cloak action to either make a ship cloaked, or to create a decoy if the ship is already cloaked.
While cloaked, a ship's other stats are limited. Its Weapons, Shields, and Sensors are usually disabled. At the same time, a cloaked ship is much harder for the enemy to find and attack.
While cloaked, a ship:
- may not take any Actions except a Cloak action, unless the card or the ship's abilities state otherwise.
- cannot be attacked by any other ship.
- does not need to make a Breakaway or Evasion check.
- cannot be the target of any other ship's system checks, except for a Scanning action used to detect a cloak token.
- cannot open new locations while moving.
To make a ship cloaked, the player turns the dial on the ship's stand until the combat dial shows blue for the ship's current alert level. The player then swaps the ship's miniature on the board for a cloak token, placed face down. A matching token, but face up, is placed on the cloaked ship's card.
Example: The I.K.S. Korinar, at red alert, decides to slip away from the Federation fleet. It spends one Action and enters cloak mode. The Klingon Empire player turns the dial on the stand until the combat dial shows blue. The ship is now cloaked. The ship's miniature is removed from the board, and a cloak token is placed face down in its place. A matching cloak token is placed on the ship's card.
Deactivating Cloak
Cloak mode is deactivated by reallocating the ship's power. To do this, turn the dial on the ship's stand to set any other stat within the current alert level, and swap the cloak token for the ship's miniature.
Note: You may reallocate a ship's power to deactivate cloak mode, but not to enter it.
Example: Having successfully avoided the Federation fleet, the I.K.S. Korinar wants to deactivate its cloak before taking a Repair action. The Klingon Empire player turns the dial on the stand to any other value within red alert. Then they swap the cloak token on the board for the ship's miniature.
A number of game effects (e.g. an enemy Scanning action) can also force cloak mode to deactivate. In that case, you may choose any power value within the ship's current alert level.
Movement While Cloaked
A cloaked ship moves under the same rules as an uncloaked ship, using the Engines power level shown on the combat dial.
Example: The cloaked but heavily damaged I.K.S. Korinar has an Engines power of 5, so it has 5 movement points.
Remember that a decoy's movement range equals the movement range of the cloaked ship with the strongest engines, while the cloaked ship's own movement range equals its own actual Engines power. If you're trying to hide a ship with weaker engines, don't move its decoy farther than the cloaked ship itself could travel.
The only difference from standard movement rules for a cloaked ship is that it cannot open new locations. However, a cloaked ship may enter an unexplored location, and the location tile remains face down. A cloaked ship must stop moving as soon as it enters an unexplored location. It can only continue moving on its next turn.
If a ship becomes visible while in an unexplored location, it must immediately explore that location under the standard rules.
Decoys
A cloaked ship may use a Cloak action to create a decoy. You can use decoys to mislead your opponent and hide the real location of your cloaked ship.
To create a decoy, add a second cloak token to a location that already has a cloak token. This token must not be distinguishable from the cloak token of another ship.
Example: To mislead the Federation fleet, the I.K.S. Korinar spends an Action to place a second cloak token in the location with the existing token. The second cloak token is the decoy.
When you place a decoy token in a location, you should gather up all the cloak tokens in that location and mix them together with the decoy token so your opponent can't tell them apart. Then place the tokens back in the location. You may look at your own cloak tokens on the board at any time, and you may mix together your tokens that are in the same location.
You may add one decoy token to a location for each of your cloaked ships.
A decoy can move between locations just like a normal ship. A decoy's movement range equals the movement range of the cloaked ship with the strongest engines. A decoy can move independently of your other ships. A decoy's movement range cannot exceed the movement range of the cloaked ship with the strongest engines. A decoy's movement range cannot be modified by card effects or abilities.
Decoys cannot take Actions or use special abilities.
Example: The Klingon Empire player moves the cloak token representing the I.K.S. Korinar and the cloak token representing its decoy into different locations. They may use up to 5 movement points for each token.
Decoys can be very useful, but you need to be extremely careful and keep close track of them when using them. Moving a decoy farther than one of your cloaked ships could actually manage might give it away to your opponent.
A decoy remains in play even if the ship that created it deactivates cloak mode, and even if there end up being more decoys in play than cloaked ships, or no cloaked ships left at all. If a player has no cloaked ships left, their decoys may only move to an adjacent location once per turn (as if they had only 1 movement point). Remember that only cloaked ships can create new decoys.
Contacts and Missions While Cloaked
Contacts and missions can affect your cloaked ships and their decoys. When your cloaked ship is affected by something external (e.g. takes damage) or earns Victory Points (e.g. by completing a mission), and it's unclear to your opponent which token is the real ship and which is its decoy, you must state whether the cloak token affected by the contact or mission is the real ship, or declare that it's a decoy, which may then ignore the effect directed at it.
If a contact or mission forces you to reveal the location of a cloaked ship, you may immediately move any decoy token into the location with the ship. If you're forced to reveal a decoy's location for any reason other than a Sensors check made by your opponent, you may immediately move it into a location with another one of your cloak tokens.
Example: On the previous turn, the I.K.S. Korinar reached a location where the Klingon Empire player can complete a mission. They announce that the mission is complete and show their opponent the cloak token representing the I.K.S. Korinar. They then return the cloak token to the board face down and take a decoy token, placing it in the same location as the cloak token just returned. The player then mixes the cloak tokens so the opponent can't tell them apart.
Combat Actions
If you want to attack an enemy ship, you must take a Combat action. Ship combat in the game is resolved through system checks. The attacking player is called the aggressor, and the defending player is the target.
During combat, the aggressor makes a Weapons check, and the target makes a Shields check. As with other checks in the game, each player may play one (and only one) order card and roll the die during these checks. The results of the checks are then compared:
- If the aggressor's Weapons check result is less than or equal to the target's Shields check result, the attack fails and has no effect.
- If the aggressor's Weapons check result exceeds the target's Shields check result, the attack succeeds and the target takes one point of damage.
- If the aggressor's Weapons check result is at least double the target's Shields check result, the target takes 2 points of damage.
- If the aggressor's Weapons check result is at least triple the target's Shields check result, the target takes 3 points of damage.
Each point of damage taken changes the target's alert level. An undamaged ship moves to yellow alert, and from yellow alert to red alert. A ship that takes damage while at red alert is destroyed.
So if a ship takes 3 points of damage in a single battle, it is considered destroyed (unless a played order card protects the ship from damage).
Example: The Klingon Empire battleship I.K.S. Negh'Var attacks the Federation science vessel U.S.S. Yosemite. Negh'Var's Weapons level is 11, while Yosemite's Shields is only 3. Things look bad for the Federation! The Klingon Empire player rolls the die and gets a 4, for a Weapons check result of 15. The Federation player rolls the die and gets a 1, for a Shields check result of 4. Since 15 is more than three times 4, the Yosemite takes 3 points of damage. The ship is destroyed.
Combined Attacks
A group of several ships may make a combined attack against a single enemy ship (the aggressor chooses which ship to attack if there are several enemy ships in the same location). This attack follows the rules for a Cooperative System Check. Each attacking ship spends one Action to take part in the attack and adds its Weapons level to the die result of the Weapons check. As under the standard rules, each player may play one card and add the die roll to the combined Weapons level of their ships.
If a ship is destroyed, see "Destroying a Ship" and "Recovery Actions."
Influence Actions
Influence actions are needed to expand your control over locations. Your influence level in a location is determined by the number of your influence tokens present there. A ship may use an Influence action to change the number of influence tokens in the location where it's located. A ship may also use this action to build or upgrade installations.
Important: You cannot take an Influence action in a location containing a visible enemy ship, unless an order card states otherwise.
There are two kinds of Influence actions:
1. Spreading Influence: If a ship takes this Action, you may place one of your influence tokens in the ship's location (if there are no enemy influence tokens there), or remove one of your opponent's influence tokens from the location (if your opponent's influence tokens are present). You may spread your influence even into a location without an inhabited planet.
Note: Both players' influence tokens cannot be present in the same location at once. To place your influence tokens in a location that already has your opponent's influence tokens, you must first remove theirs.
2. Building or Upgrading an Installation: A ship in a location with an inhabited planet, or in a location that already has an installation token, may build or upgrade an installation if there are enough influence tokens present in the location. Installations are represented by small square tokens.
The number of influence tokens needed for each installation level is shown in this table:
| Installation Type | Influence Required | Installation Required | Shields | Special Ability |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Outpost | x1 | None | 0 | Repair |
| Colony | x2 | Outpost | 15 | Repair |
| Starbase | x3 | Colony | 30 | Improved Repair, +1 VP |
Each location may only have one installation.
All new installations start as Outposts. An Outpost can be upgraded to a Colony, and a Colony to a Starbase. You cannot skip any of these upgrade steps, even if you have enough influence tokens. For example, you cannot upgrade an Outpost directly to a Starbase — you must first upgrade it to a Colony.
Influence tokens are not removed from the location after building an installation. An order card may have an effect that lets you upgrade an installation, but you'll still need the required number of influence tokens to do so.
Example: The U.S.S. Venture is in the same location as a Colony token. There are also 3 Federation influence tokens in the location. The U.S.S. Venture may spend one Action to upgrade the Colony to a Starbase.
Note: Some planets affect the number of tokens required to build or upgrade installations in a location. In some cases the planet reduces the required number of tokens, in others it increases it. It's even possible for a planet to allow an installation to be built without any influence tokens at all.
Installations are quite useful, since they let you repair damaged ships (see "Repair Actions"). In addition, if you upgrade a Colony to a Starbase, you immediately gain a 1-VP token and keep it even if the Starbase is later destroyed.
Installations and planets are controlled by whichever player has influence tokens in the same location. Remember that influence tokens cannot be captured by the other player (they must be fully removed from a location before an opponent can place their own influence tokens there), but installations can be. If your opponent has enough resources to remove your influence tokens from a location with an installation, and places at least one of their own influence tokens there, the installation comes under their control.
You cannot remove an installation from a location to prevent it from being captured. However, you may attack your own installation. Every installation, like a ship, has a defined Shields value. To attack an installation (your own or your opponent's), you must make a Weapons check. The check succeeds if the Weapons check result is equal to or greater than the installation's Shields value. On success, the installation is destroyed (the token is removed from the board). If the check fails, nothing happens.
Example: The I.K.S. Bortas arrives in a location occupied by a Federation Colony and wants to destroy it. The Colony's Shields is 15, while the I.K.S. Bortas's Weapons is 12. For the Klingon Empire player to succeed and destroy the Colony, they need to roll a 3 or higher.
Recovery Actions
You may take a Recovery action only if the combined size of all your ships is less than your current fleet size. This usually happens after losing a ship in battle or while exploring locations.
Remember that after your first ship is lost, your fleet size increases by 1 (see "Destroying a Ship"). Also, some cards (e.g. Reinforcements for the Klingon Empire and Code 47 for the Federation) increase fleet size by 1.
At the start of the game, all ships that didn't make it into your fleet form your reserve. Recovery actions bring ships in from this reserve.
When you take a Recovery action, look over the ships in your reserve and choose one ship you want to add to your fleet. The size of the chosen ship, added to the total size of your remaining ships, cannot exceed your current fleet size.
You may take several Recovery actions over the course of the game to bring more than one ship into your fleet (as long as fleet size allows).
Example: After a brutal battle with the Klingon Empire, the Federation fleet has been badly thinned and now consists of ships totaling size 6. The Federation's fleet size is 11 (since fleet size increased by 1 after the first ship was lost). The Federation player can spend an Action and bring the U.S.S. Prometheus (size 5) into play. Or they could spend two Actions and bring in both the U.S.S. Excelsior and the U.S.S. Reliant. The player cannot bring in the U.S.S. Enterprise-E, since its size of 6, combined with the rest of the player's fleet, would exceed the maximum fleet size.
Repair Actions
If your ship has taken damage from a lowered alert level, or has had a system disabled by a contact card effect, you can repair it at one of your installations or at your Command Post.
You may only use a Repair action if there are no visible enemy ships in the same location as the ship.
A player taking a Repair action in a location with their own installation, or at their own Command Post, may either turn the ship's dial to improve its alert level by one step, or repair a system that was damaged by an event.
Example: The I.K.S. Somraw has taken light damage (yellow alert) and has also fallen victim to the contact card Stellar Pulse, which fully disabled its Weapons. The ship arrives at a location with a Klingon Empire Outpost and can now spend an Action to remove the damage, or bring its Weapons back online (remove the D token).
If your ship is at a Starbase or Command Post, you can spend its movement points to make repairs instead. This special form of repair does not count as an Action and can be done regardless of whether you've already made repairs this turn. So you can sacrifice a ship's movement points to fully repair it (moving the ship from red alert all the way to undamaged). Note that this special repair does not count as a Repair action, so order cards that can only be played during Repair actions cannot be used during it.
Example: If the Somraw had been at a location with a Klingon Empire Starbase during repairs, it could have spent its movement points and 1 Action to both remove its damage and bring its weapons back online at the same time.
Scanning Actions
Only ships with a Sensors level of 1 or higher may take Scanning actions. There are 2 kinds of Scanning actions:
Scanning locations: A ship may take a Scanning action to examine an unexplored area. You may scan (i.e. peek at) a location tile adjacent to the ship taking the Scanning action. Secretly (without showing your opponent) look at the scanned location tile and place it back on the board face down. Then place your scan token on the tile. You may look at the scanned tile under your token again at any time, with no restrictions. Once your opponent explores the location, the scan token is discarded.
Note: Since the Command Post is adjacent to three locations, a ship at the Command Post may scan any of them.
Detecting cloaked ships: The second kind of Scanning action is used to investigate an opponent's cloak tokens. This action can only be used if an opponent's cloak token is in the same location as your ship taking the action. Investigating a token requires a successful Sensors check with a target level of 15. On success, the cloak token is revealed:
- if the cloak token is a decoy, it is removed from the board.
- if the cloak token is an opponent's cloaked ship, it deactivates cloak mode. The ship that performed the scan may now take one additional Action (though this cannot exceed the player's 3-Action-per-turn limit).
See "Cloak Actions" for more on cloaked ships.
Transport Actions
A ship's Sensors must be active to take Transport actions. Transporters are used for various purposes, e.g. moving cargo or crew between ships, or beaming landing-party tokens down to inhabited planets.
Moving cargo and crew between your own ships: If you want to move cargo or crew cards from one of your ships to another, all you need to do is take a Transport action while both ships are in the same location. You may move any number of cargo or crew cards between the two ships without restriction — but only between two ships at a time. No ship in the game has a cargo capacity limit.
Moving cargo or crew onto an enemy ship: You may attempt to move crew or cargo cards to or from an opponent's ship, but this requires a successful Sensors check. The target level for success equals the opponent's ship's Shields level. If you succeed at the check, you may choose to:
- force your opponent to discard one crew card attached to their ship (their choice). Your opponent may also discard any one crew card from their hand.
- take one crew card of your choice from your opponent's ship and place it on your ship as a prisoner (counts as cargo).
- take one piece of cargo (or a prisoner) of your choice from your opponent's ship and place it on your ship.
- take one piece of cargo of your choice from your own ship and place it on your opponent's ship (this is the only way to get rid of a Tribbles card).
If you rescue a prisoner from your opponent's ship, you may add the prisoner to the crew of the ship that successfully carried out the Transport action, or discard the prisoner card.
Example: The U.S.S. Enterprise-A arrives at a location containing the I.K.S. Gr'oth. The Federation player decides it's time to get rid of their troublesome tribbles and takes a Transport action. The U.S.S. Enterprise-A's Sensors level is 2, and the I.K.S. Gr'oth's Shields is 6. If the Federation player manages to roll a 4 or higher, they can transfer the Tribbles card to their opponent as cargo.
Landing parties: You may move landing-party tokens to inhabited planets in the same location as your ship. You may also retrieve landing parties (yours or your opponent's) from a planet in the same location as your ship. This action is automatic and does not require a die roll (even if an enemy ship is in the location).
Some mission cards call for moving a landing party both to and from a planet. This requires two separate Transport actions: one to move to the planet, and one to move the party back to the ship. You don't have to use the same ship for both actions to successfully complete the mission.
Playing Order Cards
During your turn you may play any number of order cards. Each time you make a system check, you may play one order card. A number of order cards also let you take a special action not covered by these rules. You may play a crew card by attaching it to one of your ships' crew. Each time you play an order card from your hand, you should draw a card to replace the one played (see "Order Cards").
You cannot play an order card to interrupt one of your own actions. For example, you cannot attach a crew card to a moving ship until it has finished moving.
Discarding Order Cards
If you wish, you may discard one order card from your hand each turn. Discarding an order card does not count as an Action. After discarding a card, you must draw a replacement.
Mission Cycling
Sometimes during the game you'll find yourself unable to complete a mission. If you wish, you may discard one mission card. This is called "cycling" a mission. Discarding a mission does not count as an Action.
After discarding a mission, you must draw a replacement from your mission deck. If your mission deck is out of cards, draw the top card from any of the three mission decks at the card console. You choose which of the three decks to draw from.
Location Tiles
The game board is made up of hexagonal tiles. At the start of the game, tiles are laid out on the table face down. Each tile represents an unexplored part of space, called a location.
Locations represent stretches of space, various planets, and nebulae. Some locations are quite dangerous and grant bonuses or penalties to system checks, or affect ships or crew.
The right side of each location tile describes its special effect. Every ship in the location is affected by that effect.
Example: The Class 17 Nebula affects a ship's targeting systems. All ships in this location suffer a -2 penalty to Weapons checks (including during combat).
At the bottom edge of each location is a range of numbers. The first time you explore a location, you must roll the die. If the number rolled falls within the range shown on the location, you must draw a contact card with some event or challenge that must be resolved immediately.
Example: While exploring the Class K Planet location, roll the die. If the die shows "1," "2," or "3," you must immediately draw a contact card.
The lower-right corner of a location shows its size, which determines how many movement points a ship spends crossing that location (see "Movement").
Starships
There are 12 ships per side in the game, but players won't necessarily use them all.
Each ship has a stand with a special display — the "combat dial" — that shows its current stats. The color of the combat dial reflects the ship's current alert level, which changes as the ship takes damage.
All ships begin the game undamaged (white combat dial) with any stats within that alert level. During the game, you can change a ship's stats by turning the dial on its stand, within its current alert level.
Every ship has a matching ship card. This card contains useful information about the ship, including its size, the list of mission cards drawn for it at the start of the game, and any special abilities. The card also has a table showing every combination of the ship's systems at each alert level.
Ship Systems and Stats
Every ship has four Systems: Weapons, Sensors, Engines, and Shields. The combat dial shows the current value for each of the four systems. This value reflects how the ship's power is currently allocated among all its systems. Smart allocation of a ship's power among its systems is key to winning the game.
Each turn of the dial on the stand changes the value of every one of the ship's systems within its overall power level — in other words, it reallocates the ship's power among its systems. For example, within a single power level, a ship might have a high Sensors level but a low Weapons level. See "Reallocating Power" for more detail on changing a ship's stats.
Example: On their last turn, the U.S.S. Voyager prepared to explore an unrevealed location and reallocated power, setting Engines to 9 and Sensors to 10. If exploring the location requires drawing a contact card, the ship's stats can then be changed to raise Weapons and Shields instead.
The value of each system on the combat dial is used when making system checks (see "System Checks").
If the combat dial shows a "D" instead of a numeric value for a given system, that system is disabled. A disabled system cannot be used by the ship, and any cards or abilities that modify a disabled system have no effect. If a modifier would reduce a system's level below 0, that system also becomes disabled.
A system at level 0 is active and can be used, but is considered unpowered. If a system's level is 1 or higher, the system is active and powered. Cards and abilities can activate unpowered systems, but have no effect on disabled systems.
Example: The Voyager's Weapons system is disabled and cannot be used.
Note: Each ship's card shows all of its stats at every alert level, so you can easily plan your power reallocation.
Alert Levels
Every ship has 3 alert levels, each shown by a different combat-dial color: undamaged (white), yellow alert (yellow), and red alert (red). The combat dial's color shows the ship's current alert level. When a ship takes damage, its alert level changes.
Example: The Ch'Tang has taken 3 points of damage and is at yellow alert.
Since every ship has 3 alert levels, that means every ship can take 3 points of damage before being destroyed. Larger ships are more powerful than smaller ones, and are therefore harder to damage and destroy, even though they have the same 3 alert levels as smaller ships.
On the combat dial, alert levels are separated by thick black lines, and you need to be careful not to accidentally cross those lines when reallocating a ship's power.
All ships begin the game undamaged (white combat dial), and you may set any stats within that alert level. During the game, you can change a ship's stats by turning the dial on its stand, within its current alert level.
Cloaking Equipment
Some ships have powerful cloaking equipment. A blue combat-dial color corresponds to the ship's cloak mode. Cloak mode can only be used by a ship after a Cloak action. See "Cloak Actions."
Order Cards
Each player has their own deck of order cards. Every order card includes one or more of three categories: Operations cards, Battle cards, and Crew cards. Every order card has at least one category. Some cards contain 2 or even all 3 categories. The left edge of an order card shows which categories it contains. Red corresponds to Battle cards, green to Operations cards, and blue to Crew cards.
The bottom edge of an order card lists its effect(s) when played. The effect used is also marked with the color of the corresponding category. An order card with multiple categories also has a described effect for each category. When played, a player may choose only one of its effects.
Example: The order card Data can be used as a Battle card, an Operations card, or a Crew card. If played during combat, it reduces any damage to the ship by 1. If played during a Sensors check, it grants a +5 bonus to Sensors. If played as a Crew card, it gives the ship a permanent +3 bonus to Sensors, and it can also be "purged" to fully prevent damage to the ship.
Note: The type of effect a player chooses when playing an order card determines what follows. For example, if a player plays "Data" and uses its Battle-card effect, their opponent cannot play a card that cancels an Operations-card effect, even though "Data" could have been played as an Operations card.
Many Operations cards and Battle cards have a one-time effect and are discarded after being played. Some remain in play. If an Operations or Battle card remains in play, it's placed next to the ship card its effect applies to.
Crew cards always remain in play and are placed next to the ship card to which the new crew member is added.
Note: An order card that doesn't state that it doesn't affect an opponent's ships always has an effect on the ship of the player who played it.
After you play an order card and use its effect, discard it and draw a replacement from the order deck. If an order card is played, for example, during combat, the card is discarded once combat is over and a replacement is drawn from the corresponding deck. A card with a permanent effect stays in play, and its replacement is drawn immediately.
When an order deck runs out of cards, take the discards, shuffle them, and form a new order deck. Purged cards are not included in the new deck.
Operations Cards
Most order cards are Operations cards. They contain effects unrelated to crew or combat bonuses. Many Operations cards contain modifiers for Actions or bonuses to system checks.
The text on an Operations card always begins by specifying when it can be played. Some cards have specific requirements the player (or their ship) must meet in order to play them.
Format of the text on Operations cards:
WHEN THE CARD CAN BE PLAYED (Requirements): Effect.
If the player (or their ship) does not meet a card's requirements, or the card doesn't apply to the action the player is taking, they cannot use that card. If the effect's description contains the word "interrupt," the player may play the card during any action (except combat) or event, as long as the requirements are met.
Example: The order card "First Contact" has the Operations-card effect: "Explore (an inhabited planet): Roll one die. On a result of 2-6, place a control token in the location. On a result of 1, place your opponent's control token in the location instead." You may only play "First Contact" while exploring a location with an inhabited planet.
Example: The order card "Modified Torpedo" has the Operations-card effect "Interrupt (Weapons 1+): +4 Sensors." You may play this card any time a Sensors check is needed, provided your Weapons level is 1 or higher.
Important: An Operations card cannot be played during combat!
Note: Most Operations cards can be played during your turn or your opponent's turn, as long as you meet the card's requirements.
"As an Action" Cards: Some Operations cards say "As an Action." To play such a card, you must spend one of your three available Actions. You must also declare which of your ships is using its Action (since each ship may only use one Action per turn). Such Operations cards let you take an action outside the standard set.
Battle Cards
Battle cards are used similarly to Operations cards. The main difference is that Battle cards may only be played during combat (Operations cards cannot be played during combat). You may also play Battle cards during other actions, e.g. during a Weapons or Shields check.
Example: The order card "Battle Stations" gives you a +2 bonus to Weapons and +2 to Shields. You may play this card during combat regardless of whether you're the aggressor or the target. You may also play "Battle Stations" during a contact that requires a Weapons or Shields check, or in any other situation where Weapons or Shields is used. Unless the Battle card states otherwise, its effect ends at the end of the current battle.
"End Current Battle" Cards: Some Battle cards contain the text "End current battle." If such a card is played, the battle ends immediately, with no Weapons or Shields checks rolled. Neither ship takes damage.
"Exclude a Ship" Cards: Some order-card effects can force your opponent to exclude one of their ships from a battle. The excluded ship remains in the battle's location, but its Weapons level does not count toward the Weapons check when calculating the results of the attack. The right to choose which ship is excluded from the battle belongs to your opponent.
Crew Cards
Crew cards represent crew members and officers who can be brought aboard a ship. When you play a crew card from your hand, you must attach it to one of your ships. A crew card grants a permanent bonus to that ship for as long as it remains attached.
There are 4 types of crew cards in the game: Captains, Officers, Engineers, and Specialists. A ship may only have one card of each crew type. If you want to add another card of the same type to a ship, you must first discard the crew card already on it of that type.
Example: Kurn is part of the I.K.S. Negh'Var's crew. He is a Captain. Vagh is an Officer and may also join the Negh'Var's crew. Both crew cards remain in play and grant bonuses to the ship. However, if the Klingon Empire player later wants to add Captain Mu'Daq to the Negh'Var's crew, they must first discard Captain Kurn's card.
Many crew cards also contain Operations-card or Battle-card effects. You may play these cards from your hand as standard Operations or Battle cards. In that case, though, the card must be discarded after its effect is used and can no longer be attached as a crew member. However, if you've already attached a crew card to a ship, you may still use its effect as an Operations card or Battle card (instead of using the crew-card effect) and discard it after use. This represents the sacrifice a crew member makes to save their ship. To play a crew card as a Battle or Operations card, you must meet its requirements. In addition, the card's effect only applies to the ship whose crew member is making the sacrifice.
Example: Mr. Spock is part of the U.S.S. Enterprise's crew. He is an Officer and, as a crew member, gives the ship a +3 bonus to Sensors. Mr. Spock can also grant a bonus as an Operations card (+5 to Sensors). The Federation player may discard the Mr. Spock card to get the +5 Sensors bonus on a check instead of the permanent +3 bonus. The card cannot be discarded to add a +5 Sensors bonus to the U.S.S. Yeager.
Note: Discarding a crew card to use its effect as an Operations card or Battle card does not count as playing an order card. So you may use its effect on a check together with another Battle card or Operations card.
Purged Cards
Some cards or in-game events will instruct you to "purge" order cards. Purging a card is different from discarding it. A purged card is placed in a special zone next to the board, forming a purged-cards pile. Purged cards are no longer used in the game. Note that discarded cards can be reused in the game after being shuffled back in, once the corresponding deck runs out, while purged cards no longer take part in the game at all.
Missions
Mission cards represent the orders given to you by Command. Completing missions is essential to winning the game, since it earns you Victory Points. There are 3 types of mission cards: Science, Influence, and Combat.
Before the game begins, you build your mission deck, whose composition is determined by the ships in your fleet. This way, you'll have mission cards suited to the type of ships in your fleet (see "Getting Missions").
During the game you will always have 3 mission cards in front of you. Normally these cards are face up, so your opponent can guess at your upcoming plans. Some mission cards are marked "Secret Mission" and should be placed face down. Your opponent should not know what your secret missions are.
Each mission card describes the task that must be completed to pass the mission. If a mission is completed successfully, place its card in your Victory Sector. A successfully completed mission earns the player the number of Victory Points shown on it.
Most mission cards contain a task the player must carry out. If you carry out the stated task, you've successfully passed the mission. A mission card must be on the table when you carry out the task it describes. If you draw a mission card you've already completed before, you'll need to complete it again to earn points for it.
Example: The Klingon Empire player decides to complete the Combat mission Attack Run. If they successfully attack a Federation ship and complete the mission, they earn 1 VP.
Important: Completing a mission takes one Action. If you have two missions that require the same action to complete, you'll need to perform that action twice to earn VP for both missions — not just once.
Example: You have 2 mission cards, both of which require passing a Sensors check of 10. If you succeed at one check, you've completed only one mission and earn VP for only that one. To earn VP for the second mission, you need to succeed at a second, separate Sensors check of 10.
Some missions require the player to meet certain conditions to be completed successfully. The text on such mission cards begins with the word "Condition." These mission cards differ from ordinary missions. To complete such a mission, the player checks whether they already meet its requirements. It's possible a player meets a mission's requirements the moment they draw the card. In that case, they may immediately place the mission card in their Victory Sector.
Example: You draw the mission card Expansive Survey. If you have already explored 6 adjacent locations, you have completed the mission and earn 2 VP.
Your mission deck cannot be shuffled. If you run out of mission cards and need to draw more, draw the top card from any of the three mission decks at the console. Each time you draw a card, you choose which of the three mission decks to draw from.
Contacts
The universe is a vast expanse offering endless opportunities for adventure, travel, discovery, and triumph. Star Trek wouldn't be Star Trek without various space anomalies, super-beings, supernovas, wormholes, and other stellar wonders.
Contact cards bring these mysterious and indescribable trials into the game. When a ship explores a location for the first time, there's always a chance the player will have to draw one of these cards. Each contact card is unique and can bring bonuses or penalties to the ship exploring the location.
Contact cards often require a ship to make a system check. When you draw a contact card, you must make the check it describes. Making the check is not an Action. If you succeed at the check, you receive whatever bonus is described. If the card's bonus is Victory Points, add the card to your Victory Sector.
Example: The U.S.S. Defiant has just explored a previously unknown stretch of space and draws the contact card Mysterious Abductions. The Federation player must make a Shields check of 12 using the ship's current stats. If they succeed, they may add the contact card to their Victory Sector (this card is worth 1 VP). If they fail, they must discard all crew cards attached to the ship.
A contact card is resolved immediately after being drawn, then discarded, unless the card says "Persistent Contact." Persistent contacts remain in play in the location where they were drawn until successfully resolved by either player. A player may also attempt a persistent contact if it's in the same location as one or more of their ships. Each ship attempting the contact must spend one Action on the attempt.
If you begin resolving a contact, you cannot interrupt it to take another Action. You may play one (and only one) order card to modify the contact. You may also reallocate power on the ship resolving the contact (as long as it hasn't already reallocated power this turn).
Destroying a Ship
A destroyed ship no longer takes part in the game and does not return to the player's reserve.
All crew and cargo aboard a destroyed ship are discarded to the designated area on the table. If a ship is destroyed in combat, the aggressor receives a 1-VP token for it (added to their Victory Sector).
Remember that after your first ship is destroyed, your fleet size increases by 1.
Winning the Game
Your goal in the game is to reach the required number of Victory Points. In a standard game, victory is achieved at 10 points.
The player who first reaches the required number of Victory Points wins the game, with one exception: if you went first in the game and are the first to reach the required VP total, your opponent gets one additional turn. If, after that turn, your opponent has as many VP or more than you, they win!
Example: The Klingon Empire player went first in the game. After many adventures and trials, they complete a mission and their Victory Sector total reaches 11. Since they went first in the game, the Federation player gets one additional turn to try to catch up. If the Federation player has 11 or more VP by the end of their turn, they become the winner.
Victory Sector
There are several ways to earn VP in the game. You'll earn most of your VP by completing missions. Some contact cards can also grant VP, and you also earn 1 VP for each enemy ship you destroy or Starbase you build.
Whatever the source, place your earned VP in your Victory Sector to keep track of your total VP. If VP are granted by cards, the amount is shown on the card itself. If you earn VP some other way (e.g. by destroying an enemy ship), use VP tokens. Once you reach the required number of VP in your Victory Sector, you win!
Four-Player Rules
If you've learned the two-player rules for Star Trek and feel ready to play it as a four-player game, follow the rules below.
Form 2 teams of 2 players each and decide which side each team will play. As in the 1-on-1 game, one team plays the Federation and the other plays the Klingon Empire.
Setting Up the Board
For a four-player game we recommend using a large board. The first time you play, try the suggested layout of 45 tiles.
Of course, you're free to lay out the board differently by mutual agreement of all the players.
Building Fleets
For a four-player game we recommend a fleet size of 16 for each team (again, you're free to build a larger or smaller fleet). Once you've settled on a fleet size, each team divides the ships between its two players as it likes, with the condition that the difference in fleet size between the two players on a team cannot exceed 2 points. Once players have divided the ships between themselves, they may no longer trade them.
Building Card Sectors
Each player builds their own card sector following the same principles as the two-player game. Players on the same team are expected to coordinate with each other while doing this, to build the most effective set of cards for each of their fleets.
Choosing Missions
Build a shared mission deck for each team following the two-player rules. Each player then draws 3 mission cards from the shared deck and lays them out in their own sector (secret missions are placed face down).
Taking a Turn (Four Players)
Turn Order and Actions
Teams take turns, with players on each team taking their actions simultaneously. Each player may take 2 Actions per turn (so each team gets 4 Actions total). A player on a team may only take actions with ships under their own direct control. Teammates may split up the order of their actions between themselves (e.g. player 1 takes an action, then player 2 takes 2 actions, then player 1 takes their second action), and may also take actions simultaneously when needed (e.g. during combat, if each player wants to assign an action to attack with a ship). Since teammates act together, they may freely discuss how to divide up their actions.
Missions
Players complete missions under the standard rules, with a few exceptions. Specifically, if completing a mission requires several actions (e.g. landing and retrieving landing parties) or the use of several ships (e.g. exploring or controlling a certain number of locations), any player on the team may declare the mission complete.
However, if completing a mission requires several actions over several turns with one ship (e.g. scanning a certain number of locations) or several actions with one ship in a single turn (e.g. destroying an enemy ship), then only the player who owns that mission card may complete it.
Trading Mission Cards
Teammates may trade face-up mission cards (one for one) by spending one Action on the trade. Their ships don't need to be in the same location to do this.
Playing Order Cards
Order cards are played under the standard rules, with a few exceptions. For system checks and battles involving ships belonging to different players (i.e. order cards are being played from more than one hand), the team must determine which player is "lead." The lead player's ship must be involved in the action taking place. Only the lead player may play an order card in that case.
Note: Some order cards may not translate well to team play. In such cases, the card's effect applies to the player who played it, rather than to the whole team.
Trading Order Cards and Crew Cards via a Transport Action
During the game, teammates may discuss the cards in their hands with each other. If both teammates' ships are in the same location, they may freely trade order cards (one for one) by spending one Transport action on the trade (a single Transport action lets them trade any number of order cards, as long as the numbers traded are equal). In addition, teammates may trade crew cards between two ships in the same location. The one-for-one restriction does not apply to trading crew cards.
Cloak Actions
Players on the same team may freely share information, in secret from the other team, about their own cloak tokens on the board that are face down.
Combined Forces
Players on the same team may form a combined force from their team's ships if both agree to it. The standard combined-force rules apply in a four-player game as well.
Fleet Recovery
In a four-player game, a team's fleet size increases by 1 each time the team's first and second ships are destroyed. This increase is shared between the team's players and may create a situation where one player's fleet is more than double the normal allowed size. Recovered ships enter play through the Command Post of the player taking the Recovery action.
Installations
Teammates share the benefits of installations (Repair and Improved Repair actions) and may freely upgrade any installation built by the team.
Victory
Each player on a team tracks their own VP in their own Victory Sector separately, but the players' VP totals are added together to determine the winning team. For team play, we recommend playing to 16 VP.
Quick Reference
During your turn you may…
- move each ship in your fleet
- reallocate power for each of your ships
- take 3 Actions
- play an order card
- swap a mission card (discard an incomplete mission and draw a new one)
- discard 1 order card
Actions
- Cloak actions — activating the defensive equipment that lets a ship use cloak mode.
- Combat actions — attacking enemy ships.
- Influence actions — establishing control over locations and building installations.
- Recovery actions — bringing destroyed ships back into play.
- Repair actions — repairing damage to ships at installations.
- Scanning actions — scanning unexplored locations.
- Transport actions — moving cargo or crew between ships and planets.
- System checks — at the player's discretion, e.g. while completing missions (see "Missions").
Credits
Designed By: Mike Elliott, Ethan Pasternack, and Bryan Kinsella
Playtested By: Michael Cox, Richard Mellot, Stan Davis, Glenn Goodwin, Rebecca Davis, Domenic Ippolito, Frances Pai, Jade Cravy, Aaron Epstein, Seth Stewart, Arnaud Gain, Jennie McKain, Steve Ciesla, Simon Reid, Brianna Goff, Edd Parker, Todd Krause, Harrison Krause, Liam Krause
Rules Editing: William Niebling
Rulebook Layout: Chris Raimo, Wilson Price
Graphic Design: Chris Raimo, Ethan Pasternack
Russian Translation: Vladislav Alyabyev ("Valdis")
TM & © 2011 CBS Studios Inc. © 2011 Paramount Pictures Corporation. STAR TREK and related marks and logos are trademarks of CBS Studios Inc. All Rights Reserved.