Star Wars: Rule the Galaxy
Star Wars: Rule the Galaxy Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents of the Box
- 28 First Order unit tiles:
- 4 × Stormtroopers, strength 1
- 8 × Stormtroopers, strength 2
- 8 × Snowtroopers, strength 3
- 4 × Flametroopers, strength 5
- 2 × Sergeants, strength 6
- 1 × Captain Phasma, strength 6
- 1 × Kylo Ren, strength 8
- 55 Resistance Movement cards:
- 9 × Rey
- 9 × Poe
- 9 × Finn
- 9 × Chewbacca
- 10 × BB-8
- 9 × Fire cards
- 5 fire markers (values 0, 1, 1, 2, 3)
- 1 movement marker (used in the 1- and 2-player game)
- 1 game board
- 1 rulebook
- 1 mug coaster
Goal of the Game
The players take on the roles of members of the Resistance Movement who must repel the attack of the First Order units. The players are forced to work together to defeat the enemy. If any of the units reaches the players (leaves the last space of the board), the game ends in defeat for all players. If, however, the attack is repelled (all units are destroyed), the player who has earned the most points wins. Points are awarded for destroying each enemy unit (the stronger the unit, the more points).
Example: If a player destroys a Snowtrooper unit, they earn 2 points. If a player defeats Kylo Ren, they earn 5 points.
The rules for 3 and 4 players are presented below. Changes for the 1- and 2-player game are described at the end of the rulebook.
Setup
(Setup for the 3- and 4-player game.)
- A – Place the board in the middle of the table.
- B – Shuffle the Resistance Movement cards thoroughly and place them next to the board as the Resistance Movement deck. Next to it, make room for the discard pile of used cards (during play, cards played by the players are placed here) and for the used fire cards.
- C – Each player draws one card from the top of the Resistance Movement deck. If a player receives a fire card, they must insert it into the middle of the deck and draw the next card from the top – this card cannot be a fire card.
- D – Among the First Order unit tiles there are 4 Stormtrooper tiles of strength 1 – set them aside for now. Shuffle the remaining tiles and divide them into two roughly equal parts. Add the 4 Stormtrooper tiles of strength 1 to one of the parts, shuffle it thoroughly, and place it on top of the other part. This creates the First Order stack. The 4 Stormtrooper tiles of strength 1 are in the upper part of the stack.
- Place the 4 tiles from the top of the stack on the 4 upper spaces of the board (picture side up).
- E – Turn the 5 fire markers face down (number side down) and shuffle them. Then place 4 of them on the board, on the spaces with red frames. The fifth fire marker is returned to the box without looking at its value – it will not take part in the game.
In the 3- and 4-player game the movement marker is not used; put it back in the box.
General Outline of Play
Actions of the Resistance Movement
On their turn, a player takes cards in turn from the Resistance Movement deck. This helps them destroy the approaching units. Be careful, because the deck also contains fire cards. If someone draws such a card, it means they have been shot at by the enemy. Each shot weakens the player (they lose some cards).
At the end of their turn, the player has the opportunity to destroy enemy units. Then they end their turn, and the turn of the next player begins.
Attack of the First Order Units
When all players have completed their turns, the units of the enemy regroup:
- all units on the board are moved forward by 1 space toward the Resistance Movement positions;
- on the first four spaces of the board, new units taken from the First Order stack are placed.
If any unit reaches the Resistance Movement positions (that is, leaves the last space of the board), the game ends in defeat for all players.
If, instead, the players destroy all enemy units, the player who has earned the most points wins.
Gameplay
The player who is best at wielding a lightsaber (or the youngest player) begins the game.
A player's turn consists of two parts:
- the player takes cards from the Resistance Movement deck to increase their strength;
- then they may (but do not have to) use their cards to destroy enemy units.
At the start of their turn, a player takes one card from the top of the deck and decides whether to take another card or to stop drawing cards.
The player may take as many cards from the deck as they wish, but must take them one at a time. The risk is that the deck contains fire cards. If the player draws one of them, they lose all cards taken during that turn. The more cards the player draws, the greater the risk of drawing a fire card.
- If the player takes a fire card as the first card, they place it beside the discard pile of used cards and continue the turn. Fire cards take effect only when there is already at least one card taken during that turn lying in front of the player.
- If the player did not draw a fire card and decides to stop drawing cards, they may (but do not have to) use the cards they hold to destroy one or more First Order units (see Destroying Units). Then their turn ends.
- If the player drew a fire card, they lose all cards taken during this turn. They do not lose the cards taken in previous turns. They may (but do not have to) use the cards they still hold to destroy one or more First Order units (see Destroying Units). Then their turn ends.
Fire cards are placed beside the pile of used cards, so that the players can see how many of them have been drawn. When the ninth fire card is drawn, the players must very carefully shuffle all cards (from the Resistance Movement deck, from the discard pile, and all fire cards) and create a new Resistance Movement deck from them.
Destroying Units
After finishing drawing cards from the deck – regardless of whether a fire card was drawn earlier or not – the player may destroy one or more First Order units. This is done according to the following rules:
- Shots may only be fired at units visible from the position of the Resistance Movement, that is, those that are in front of each of the four lanes of the board.
- The condition for destroying a unit is having the appropriate number of cards in the appropriate colour. The player places the required cards on the pile of used cards and takes the tile of the destroyed unit. The player places it on the table in front of them, so that the points on the tiles they have won are visible to all players.
Example: To gain a red Stormtrooper tile of strength 3, the player places 3 red cards (Chewbacca) from their hand.
Example: To gain a multicolour Kylo Ren tile of strength 8, the player places 8 cards of any colour from their hand.
- Among the Resistance Movement cards there are cards that act as jokers (BB-8); they can replace any colour.
Example: To gain a blue Stormtrooper tile of strength 2, the player places 1 joker (BB-8) and 1 blue card (Finn) from their hand.
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Among the First Order tiles there are 4 Stormtrooper tiles of strength 1. These tiles do not give points at the end of the game – there are no point symbols on them. Instead, they bear arrows symbolising actions that the player may carry out with the help of these units. After gaining such a tile, the player may, in any of their turns, use it to destroy a chosen enemy unit. It works as if a member of the Resistance Movement disguised as a Stormtrooper had infiltrated the enemy side – they may surprise and destroy a chosen unit. Remember that:
- the unit to be destroyed must have the same colour as the Stormtrooper tile that was gained, or be a multicolour unit;
- the unit to be destroyed may be on any space of the board;
- the Stormtrooper tile used by the player has a strength of 2.
After using a tile with an arrow, put it back in the box.
Example: The purple Flametrooper of strength 5 is hidden behind other units, so it cannot be shot at from the side of the positions held by the Resistance Movement. The only way to destroy it in this situation is to use a gained Stormtrooper of the same colour. The player places 2 purple cards (Rey), 1 joker card (BB-8), and the tile of the gained Stormtrooper, which in such a situation counts as 2 purple cards.
Trading Cards
Players may exchange cards with one another. On their turn, each player may exchange any number of cards with other players; each exchange is 1:1 (for one card given away, one card of the other player's is received). Players cannot exchange any tiles.
Players may also agree not to exchange cards at all – in that case the game will be harder.
Example Turns
Player A's example turn: Player A starts the game with a purple card (Rey). At the start of their turn, they draw a red card (Chewbacca) from the deck, take the risk, and draw one more card from the deck. Unfortunately, they are shot at by the enemy. They therefore lose the red card (Chewbacca) – they place it on the pile of used cards. They do not lose the purple card (Rey), because they had it before the start of this turn. The fire card is placed beside the pile of used cards. The player ends their turn. Their turn is followed by the turn of the next player.
Player B's example turn: Player B starts the game with a blue card (Finn). At the start of their turn, they draw a blue card (Finn) from the deck, take the risk, and draw one more card from the deck – it is a joker (BB-8). They do not want to risk losing two cards, so they end the drawing of cards from the deck. They use the cards they have to destroy a blue Snowtrooper of strength 3. They place 2 blue cards (Finn) and the joker (BB-8) on the pile of used cards. They place the tile of the destroyed Snowtrooper on the table in front of them. They end their turn. The next player begins their turn.
When all players have finished their turns, each unit on the board is moved forward by 1 space. On the first four spaces of the board, 4 new units taken from the First Order stack are placed.
Fire
If an enemy unit enters a space with a fire marker, each player must discard from their hand a number of cards equal to the value of the marker. The cards are placed on the pile of used cards.
Example: If an enemy unit enters a space with a fire marker of value 2, each player chooses 2 cards from their hand and places them on the pile of used cards.
The used fire marker must be removed from the board and returned to the box.
Ending the Game
The game may end in one of two ways:
- When any enemy unit reaches the Resistance Movement positions, that is, leaves the last space of the board. In this case it does not matter how many units individual players have destroyed – all players lose.
- When the players have destroyed all enemy units. In this case the players count the points on the units they have destroyed. The player with the most points wins. In the event of a tie, the winner is the player with the greater number of destroyed units. If there is still a tie, the winner is the player who can better imitate Vader's breathing.
Variant for 1 and 2 Players
The game proceeds according to the rules described above, with the following differences:
- In the 1- and 2-player game the Flametroopers (units of strength 5) do not take part. Their tiles are returned to the box.
- The enemy units move more slowly toward the Resistance Movement positions than in the 3- and 4-player game. In the 1- and 2-player variant the movement marker is used. It shows when the units on the board must be moved.
Movement marker, red side: "The units are not moved" (Oddziały nie są przesuwane).
Movement marker, white side: "The units must be moved" (Oddziały należy przesunąć).
Variant for 2 players. Before the game begins, the older player places the movement marker in front of themselves on the table, white side up, and then places the units on the first four spaces of the board. After the first turn of both players, the marker is turned to the red side – this means the units do not move from their places. After both players have completed their second turn, the marker is turned again to the white side up – this means the units regroup: those on the board are moved one space toward the Resistance Movement positions, and 4 new units taken from the First Order stack are placed on the first four spaces of the board. The movement marker is turned in the above manner after the subsequent turns, until the end of the game.
Variant for 1 player. The player turns the movement marker over at the end of each of their turns. The enemy units are moved similarly to the 2-player variant: every second turn.