Twilight Imperium: Armada Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Object of the Game
• Getting Started
• Components
  • Ship Disks
  • Crew Disks
  • Tech Disks
  • Control Panels
• Other Components
• Setting Up
  • 1. Choose a Scenario
  • 2. Build your Fleet
  • 3. Set up your Control Panel(s)
• Order Counters
• Crew, Tech, and Torpedoes
  • 4. Place your Ship(s)
• Initiative Counters
• Playing the Game
  • Step One: Assign Orders
  • Step Two: Command Initiative
  • Step Three: Execute Orders
    • Segment One: Squadrons
  • Segment Two: Ships
  • Movement
  • Collision
  • Executing Orders
  • Order: Attack
  • Damage
  • Critical Hits
  • Damaging Squadrons
• Step Four: Boarding
  • Crew Combat
  • Control
• Step Five: Ready
• Other Rules
• Special Abilities
  • Types
  • Effects
  • Multiple Disk Effects
  • Timing
• Special Ship Types
• Appendix One: Icon Keys
  • Factions
  • Crew Type
  • Tech Type
  • Special Ship Type
  • Critical Hit Type
• Appendix Two: Scenarios
• Expanding the Game
• Expanding the Universe
• Turn Order

Object of the Game

The object of the game depends on the scenario you're playing. Scenarios establish the game's premise, set objectives for the players to accomplish, and determine the forces with which they can begin play. There are several scenarios at the end of these rules.

Getting Started

To start playing Twilight Imperium: Armada, you'll need one or more ship disks, some crew and tech disks, and an opponent. This starter box includes all the disks you need to start playing, though your opponents will need their own starter boxes. The only other thing you'll want is a flat playing surface - preferably one with a tablecloth, since this will prevent your ship disks from slipping when you move them.

Components

There are four main components in Twilight Imperium: Armada: ship disks, crew disks, tech disks, and the control panel.

Ship Disks

Ship disks (also known simply as ships) make up the backbone of your fleet. Ships fall into two broad categories: class ships and unique ships.

Class ships are included in each starter box and do not have a ship name printed on them. Instead, there is a white box on the disk in which you can write your own name for the ship. This means that, no matter how many class ships you get, you can always tell them apart in play by the customized names you've given them.

Unique ships have names printed on them already, and only one of each unique ship can ever participate in the same game.

Example: Chris has two FSS Orion ships, but he can only use one of them in a single game. He also has two class ships: both cruisers that came with his two Federation of Sol starter boxes. He names one of the cruisers the FSS Jupiter and the other the FSS Challenger. Chris can play with both of these ships in the same game.

Every ship has a number of characteristics that affect game play. These characteristics are identified in the accompanying ship illustration.

• Size: Ships come in three different sizes - standard, small, and large. A ship's size determines its maximum speed. This is the maximum number of times you can flip the disk end-over-end to move. Ship movement is covered in more detail below.

Ship Size	Maximum Speed
Small	6
Standard	5
Large	4

• Maximum Shields: This is the number of hits your ship can take before its shields are down. For more information on shields, see "Damage" below.
• Maximum Hull: This is the number of hits your ship can take once your shields have been reduced to zero. If your ship suffers enough hits to reduce its hull to zero, it is destroyed. For more information on hull damage, see "Damage" below.
• Beam Damage: This is the number of damage counters you drop when your ship fires its beam weapon at an enemy ship. For more information on beam weapons and damage counters, see the "Command: Attack" section below.
• Name: This is where a unique ship's name is listed.
• Crew/Tech Capacity: This is the total number of crew and tech disks you can assign to the ship.
• Cost: This is the number of your beginning points you must spend to include the ship in your fleet.
• Torpedo Capacity: This is the number of torpedoes your ship starts with at the beginning of the game.
• Squadron Capacity (Carriers Only): This is the number of fighter and bomber squadrons the carrier can support. If a ship has a squadron capacity, it is a "carrier." For more information on fighters and bombers, see "Squadrons" below.
• Faction Icon: This icon tells you to which faction the ship belongs. Factions are important during fleet building, detailed below.
• Special Ship Type: If a ship has an icon here, this icon identifies what type of special ship it is. For more information, see "Special Ship Types" below.

Crew Disks

Crew disks represent the people who operate the ships in your fleet. As with ships, every crew disk has a number of characteristics that affect game play. These characteristics are identified in the accompanying crew disk illustration.

• Command: You total the command ratings of every crew disk on your ship, and the result is that ship's command initiative. Command initiative affects the order in which actions are resolved during each phase of the game turn (see "Command Initiative," below).
• Combat: During boarding and crew combat, you total the combat values of all your crew on the boarded ship. This is the number of damage counters you flip to resolve the combat (see "Step Four: Boarding," below).
• Crew Type: This icon identifies the crew's type, such as Captain, Security, or Marine. This also indicates whether the crew is unique, limited, or unlimited. If the type icon is on a white background, the crew disk is unique. If it has a white border around it, the crew disk is unlimited. If the type icon has neither, it is limited. (Most crew are limited, which means that you may only have one copy of that crew disk on each ship. Unique, limited, and unlimited crew are important during fleet building, detailed below.)
• Faction Icon: This icon tells you to which faction the crew disk belongs. Factions are important during fleet building, detailed below.
• Name: Unique crew disks have their names listed here. Non-unique disks have their title here.
• Cost: This lists how many of your starting points you must spend to include the crew disk in your fleet.
• Orders: Some crew can be activated to execute ship orders. These icons indicate the orders the crew disk is capable of executing (see "Crew Orders," below).
• Special Ability: Many crew disks have Special Abilities. Special Abilities are described in detail below.

Tech Disks

You can also spend your starting points to purchase tech disks, which represent the advanced technologies found on sophisticated starships. Like ship and crew disks, tech disks have several characteristics that affect game play. These characteristics are identified in the accompanying tech disk illustration.

• Tech Type: This icon lists the tech's type, such as beam weapons, shields, or structural. This is important because you can only assign one tech disk of each tech type to a single ship (e.g., one beam weapon tech, one structural tech, etc.).
• Faction Icon: This icon tells you to which faction the tech disk belongs. Factions are important during fleet building, detailed below.
• Name: This entry lists the name of the technology.
• Cost: This is the number of your starting points you must spend to include the tech in your fleet.
• Special Ability: This is the effect the technology grants your ship during play.

Control Panels

Each ship in your fleet must have a control panel. The control panel makes recording your ship's characteristics, crew and tech complement, and current status as simple as possible. The components for one control panel are included in every starter box. For instructions on setting up and using your control panel, see below.

Other Components

• Torpedo Disks: Most ships, and bomber squadrons, can fire torpedoes, which are represented by the torpedo disks.
• Fighter and Bomber Disks: Fighter and bomber disks represent squadrons of fast-moving fighters and torpedo bombers. The term squadron refers to both fighter and bomber disks. Note that squadrons are different from ships.
• Damage Counters: When determining damage, you shake up and drop a number of damage counters. For every damage counter that lands with the explosion side up, you score a point of damage. Damage counters are also used to determine critical hits, as described below.
• Beam Range Template: This template represents the range of beam weapons and teleporters.
• Initiative Counters: These counters are used to determine the order in which the ships act during the game.

Setting Up

Setting up is done in four steps:

1. Choose a scenario
2. Build your fleet
3. Set up your control panel(s)
4. Place your ship(s)

1. Choose a Scenario

Twilight Imperium: Armada can be played using any number of scenarios, each with its own set-up. For the purposes of these rules, we'll use the "Last Starship" scenario, which is suitable for two players. The players each have 30 points to spend on their fleets, and the objective is simply to destroy the opponent's fleet. ("Last Starship" and other scenarios are described in detail on page 14.)

2. Build your Fleet

You build your fleet by spending points to purchase one or more ships and outfit them with crew and tech. Depending on the number of points allotted by the scenario you choose, you might have a huge fleet with several fully equipped ships, or just a single ship with no tech or crew.

In a large game with several players, you may decide to split up into teams. While the disks you control are your fleet, all the disks controlled by a team are called an armada.

Factions: There are four factions in Twilight Imperium: Armada - the Federation of Sol, the Baronies of Letnev, the Sardakk N'orr, and the Emirates of Hacan. You must choose the faction you wish to play before building your fleet. You can only purchase ships, crew, and tech belonging to that faction, with one exception: You can always include mercenary crew in your fleet, regardless of your faction. (You can tell what faction a disk belongs to by looking at its faction icon.)

Crew and Tech Disks: After you've purchased one or more ships, you'll probably also want to recruit some crewmembers and technology. Crew and tech disks are purchased with your beginning points and must be assigned to a specific ship. Each crew and tech disk fills up one slot of a ship's capacity.

There are some restrictions on the tech and crew you can include in your fleet:

1. You can only assign one tech disk of each tech type to a single ship (e.g., one beam weapon tech, one shields tech, one structural tech, etc.).
2. Only one of each unique crew may be included in the same armada.
3. You cannot have multiple copies of the same crew disk on a single ship, unless that crew disk is unlimited.
4. You can have an Admiral or Captain on a ship, but not both.
5. You can only have one Captain on a ship.
6. You can only have one Admiral in your fleet.
7. If you have Wing Commander crew or Squadron tech in your fleet, they must be assigned to a carrier.

Squadrons: If you have at least one carrier ship in your fleet, you may also include fighter or bomber squadrons in your fleet. You may not include more squadrons than your carriers have total squadron capacity. If you ever have more squadrons than your carriers have total squadron capacity, you must immediately remove the excess squadrons from play. For example, if you have seven squadrons and two carriers, each with a squadron capacity of four, and one of the carriers is destroyed, you must immediately remove three squadrons from play.

3. Set up your Control Panel(s)

You need to have a control panel for each ship in your fleet. Each ship comes with an identification marker with the ship's name and image printed on it. By placing this marker on the corresponding control panel, you can always keep track of the control panel that goes with each ship in your fleet.

Status Markers: The control panel comes with three status markers: one for shields, one for hull, and one for speed. These markers allow you to track your ship's status during the course of the game. Place the markers in the numbered indentations along the top of the control panel to record the current value of each of the three characteristics.

The shields status marker indicates the current strength of your ship's shields. You begin the game with your shields at the ship's maximum value. Place the shields status marker in the indentation corresponding to your ship's maximum shields rating as indicated on the ship disk, modified by any tech disks you have assigned to the ship. For example, if your ship's base shield rating is 5 and you have a shield tech with a +2 shield bonus, you would place the shields status marker in the indentation marked "7."

The hull status marker represents your ship's current hull strength. You begin the game with your hull at the ship's maximum value. Place the hull status marker in the indentation corresponding to your ship's maximum hull rating as indicated on the ship disk, modified by any tech disks you have assigned to the ship. For example, if your ship's base hull rating is 4 and you have a structural tech with a +1 hull bonus, you would place the hull status marker in the indentation marked "5." If at any time your ship's hull is reduced to zero, the ship is destroyed.

The speed status marker represents your ship's current movement rate - the number of times it can flip end-over-end each orders phase. When you begin the game, your ship can be moving at any speed you like up to its maximum speed. Simply place the speed status marker in the indentation corresponding to your ship's starting speed. For example, if you want your ship to begin the game moving four flips each orders phase, you would place the speed status marker in the indentation marked "4."

Example: Control Panel - In this example, the FSS Predator's current speed is 2, and its current hull and current shields are both 4. Its first order is "Attack," its second order is "Change Heading," and its third order is "Change Speed." Because this is the third orders phase, all three order counters are face-up.

Order Counters

Each control panel also comes with three order counters. The order counters have five sides, with the icon for one order type printed in each corner. Using the order counters is described in detail below.

Crew, Tech, and Torpedoes

Once you have set up your control panel for each ship, you should place all the crew and tech disks assigned to that ship beside the control panel, face-up. You should also collect a number of torpedo counters equal to the ship's torpedo capacity and place them in a stack alongside the control panel.

4. Place your Ship(s)

Most scenarios assume the players' ships begin play at opposite ends of the playing area, and tell you to place your ships within "range: 1" of your end of the table. "Range: 1" means within the standard beam range, as measured by your Beam Range Template. "Range: 2" means within twice that range. All squadrons begin play within range: 1 of a carrier.

For our example scenario, "Last Starship," place your ships within range: 1 of your end of the table.

Initiative Counters

Finally, when all ships have been placed, take a number of initiative counters equal to the number of ships in play and place them face-down to the side of the playing area. For example, if you and your opponent are playing with four ships total, place the initiative counters labeled 1, 2, 3, and 4 face-down beside the playing area. (If you have more ships than initiative counters, write additional numbers on the blank initiative counters included in each starter set.)

Playing the Game

Twilight Imperium: Armada is played in a series of turns. Each turn has five steps:

1. Assign Orders
2. Command Initiative
3. Execute Orders
4. Boarding
5. Ready

Step One: Assign Orders

Each turn your ship executes three orders. During this step, choose which orders you want your ship to execute this turn, and in what order. It pays to consider your orders carefully and plan ahead - once you've assigned orders to your ships, you can't change them during the course of the turn. There are five orders, each represented by a different icon on the order counter: change speed, change heading, activate shields, attack, and activate crew.

• Change Speed: This order allows you to raise or lower your ship's current speed by one or two. When you reveal this order (during step three, below), move the speed status marker on your control panel to indicate the ship's new speed.
• Change Heading: Unless given an order to turn, your ship moves in a straight line. You must issue the change heading order to change your ship's direction of movement. When you execute this order, you can rotate your ship disk in any direction up to 360°. If your ship's current speed is 0, it may change heading at any time without executing an order. Evasive action (see "Collisions," below) also allows you to change heading without issuing an order.
• Activate Shields: This order allows you to raise or lower your ship's shields to any value, from zero up to its maximum. When you reveal this order, move the shields status marker on your control panel to indicate the ship's new shields value.
• Attack: This order allows your ship to execute one attack. You may either fire your beam weapon once, fire one torpedo, or teleport any number of crew from your ship to another ship.
• Activate Crew: This order allows you to use a crew disk aboard your ship to perform its orders and some Special Abilities. See "Order: Activate Crew," below, for more information.

Once you have chosen which orders you wish to execute, place the three order counters into the three indentations along the bottom of the control panel to secretly declare your ship orders each turn. For example, if you wanted to attack on your first two phases and activate shields on your last phase, you would place the corner with the attack icon in the phase 1 and 2 indentations, and the corner with the activate shields icon in the phase 3 indentation. You should always place your order counters face down so the other players cannot see what you plan to do. The counters are turned over and revealed during each orders phase (see "Execute Orders," below).

Step Two: Command Initiative

Once you and the other players have assigned orders to all of your ships, you must determine the order in which you will take your actions during the turn. Add up the total command value (see "crew disks," above) of the crew on each of your ships. The ship with the highest total command value is called the first ship. The one with the second-highest is the second ship, and so on. (If two or more ships are tied, the one with the lowest current speed goes first. If this is tied, determine order randomly.)

The player who controls the first ship draws, at random, an initiative counter. The player then looks at the counter and, keeping it hidden from the other players, places it face-down on either the first ship or any other ship (even one controlled by an opponent). If the player places the counter on a different ship, he must immediately draw a second counter and place this counter face-down on the first ship.

When the controller of the first ship is done, the controller of the second ship likewise draws a random initiative counter, and places it either on the second ship or a different ship of his choice (as long as that ship does not already have a counter on it). If the player places the counter on a different ship, he must immediately draw a second counter and place this counter face-down on the second ship.

If the second ship already has a counter on it, its controller must place the first initiative counter he draws onto a different ship, and does not draw a second counter.

In this fashion, each player takes a turn drawing and placing an initiative counter for each ship he controls, until every ship has an initiative counter face-down on it. Note that if you control multiple ships, you will draw and place initiative counters multiple times. For example, if you control both the second ship and the third ship, you will draw and place initiative counters for both ships before the controller of the fourth ship gets to do so.

Example: Carl and Greg are playing against each other, and each is controlling two ships. Carl adds up the command of each of his two ships: one has a total command of 14, the other of 6. Greg likewise adds up the command of each of his ships: one has 10 command, the other 9.

Therefore, Carl's ship with 14 command is the first ship, Greg's 10 command ship is the second ship, Greg's 9 command ship is the third ship, and Carl's 6 command ship is the fourth ship.

As the controller of the first ship, Carl draws a random initiative counter. There are four counters, labelled 1 to 4, and Carl draws a "2," which he places face-down on the first ship.

Now Greg, as the controller of the second ship, draws a random initiative counter and gets a "3." He thinks he can do better, so he places the counter face-down on Carl's ship that does not yet have a counter on it, then draws a second counter. This counter is a "4" and Greg has no choice but to place it on the second ship.

Greg is also the controller of the third ship, so he draws the last initiative counter, which is a "1." Because every other ship has a counter on it already, Greg has no choice but to put the counter on the third ship.

Carl is the controller of the fourth ship, but since there are no initiative counters left, he may not draw or place a counter.

When every ship has an initiative counter on it, the Command Initiative step is over and the initiative counters are turned face-up.

Step Three: Execute Orders

This is the step in which most of the action takes place each turn. Movement, attacks, damage, and most crew and tech effects take place during this step. Crew combat occurs during Step Four: Boarding.

This step is divided into three orders phases, and each orders phase is further divided into three segments:

1. Squadrons: All players activate their fighters and bombers.
2. Ships: All players move each of their ships their current speed and execute the orders assigned for the phase.
3. Torpedoes: All previously launched torpedoes move.

After the third segment is completed, the next orders phase begins, starting over with the squadrons segment. (See the back of this book for a complete breakdown of the turn order.)

Segment One: Squadrons

At the beginning of each orders phase, all players may activate all of their fighter and bomber squadrons in play. The order of activation is determined by the number of squadrons in play: the player with the least number of squadrons in play activates all his squadrons first, followed by the player with the second-least, etc., until all players have activated all their squadrons. If two or more players have the same number of squadrons in play, the player whose carriers have the highest total command value activates first. If even this is tied, determine the activation order randomly.

When you activate a squadron, you may do three things:

• Move: You may move the squadron (by flipping it end-over-end along its flat edge) any number of times up to its maximum speed. While squadrons may move over or end their moving on torpedoes and other squadrons, they may not move over, or end their movement on, ships. Ships may, however, move over, or end their movement on, squadrons. If there is a ship overlapping the squadron you want to move, simply lift the ship, move the squadron, then lay the ship back down (being careful not to change the ship's position).
• Change Heading: You may rotate the squadron in any direction, up to 360°.
• Attack: You may fire the squadron's beam weapons or torpedoes (only bombers have torpedoes) just as you would attack with a ship. Squadron attacks work just like ship attacks (see "Order: Attack," below), except that squadron beam weapons never inflict critical hits on ships (see "Critical Hits," below).

You may perform any or all of these actions once during your squadron segment, in any order you choose. You may also change heading and attack before, during, or after movement. This means that a squadron can take part of its movement, then attack and change heading, then take the rest of its movement.

However, you can never move a squadron a number of flips greater than its maximum speed in a single segment. Likewise, you can never change heading or attack with a squadron more than once in a segment. (Note that there are crew and tech disks you can activate to exceed these limitations for specific squadrons.)

Example: Chris has two fighters and a bomber in play. During the squadrons segment, he activates all three disks when it is his turn. He moves his first fighter eight flips; it has a maximum speed of 12, so he has four flips remaining. He fires the fighter's beam weapon at an enemy capital ship, then changes the fighter's heading and moves the remaining four flips - hoping to get out of range! Chris then changes the second fighter's heading and moves it 12 flips. It isn't in range of any enemy ships or squadrons, so it can't attack. Finally, Chris launches a torpedo from his bomber, changes the bomber's heading, and moves it eight flips.

Segment Two: Ships

During the ships segment, each ship moves and reveals its order for this orders phase. The order in which this happens is determined by the initiative counters on each ship. The ship with the counter labeled "1" goes first, followed by the ship with the "2" counter, and so on, until every ship has moved and revealed its orders.

When your ship's number is up, it must take two actions:

1. Move its current speed
2. Reveal the order assigned for that orders phase

You may choose to reveal but not execute an order. In this case, your orders phase ends when you move your ship its current speed.

Movement

A ship disk moves by flipping end-over-end, along its flat edge, in a straight line. Each phase, you must flip the ship disk a number of times equal to its current speed. Any ship that moves off the table or out of the play area is considered to have withdrawn from battle and is removed from play.

Example: Movement - You move a disk (whether a ship, torpedo, or squadron) by flipping it end-over-end in a straight line along its flat edge. In this example, the disk above is moving four flips. It begins at point A and ends at point B.

Collision

While moving, ships can freely pass over one another. However, it is possible to collide with another ship.

If your ship overlaps another ship at the end of its movement, there is a chance the two ships will collide. Shake and drop five damage counters: If exactly one of the disks shows a critical, the ships have collided. Your ship takes one hull hit, regardless of its shield status, and you must immediately reduce the ship's current speed to zero. You also lose all remaining orders in the turn, including any unexecuted orders for crew who were activated before you moved. Finally, the player whose ship you hit may pick your ship up and place it so that it is adjacent to, but not overlapping, his ship, facing in any direction.

If your ship is about to collide, you may declare evasion action. Doing so allows your ship to change heading in the middle of its movement, regardless of its current order. When you declare evasive action, you must finish your ship's movement, then reduce its speed to zero and remove all remaining orders from its control panel. You may not declare evasive action during the third orders phase of a turn.

Executing Orders

A ship may execute its order either before or after moving. A ship can move and then execute its order, or execute its order and then move. For example, a ship with the attack order could move its current speed and then fire its beam weapons, or fire first, and then move its current speed. Orders may not be executed in the middle of a ship's movement unless it is specifically allowed by a disk's special ability.

Activating crew may allow you to execute more than one order in a phase. In this case, each order may occur before or after movement, but again, no orders can be executed in the middle of the ship's movement.

The change heading, change speed, and activate shields are explained in the "Assign Orders" section, above. The attack and activate crew orders are explained below:

Order: Attack

You have three options when your ship executes an attack order:

• Fire Beam Weapons: You may only attack with beam weapons if there is a target within range of your weapons. A ship is in range if the beam range template can be placed between your ship and the target so that it overlaps both disks. When you fire your beam weapons, shake and drop a number of damage counters equal to your ship's beam weapon rating (see Damage, below).
• Launch Torpedo: The indentation on the front of your ship disk represents your torpedo bay. When you launch a torpedo, place it in the bay to begin its movement. Torpedo movement is described below (see Torpedoes). Note that you may not fire a torpedo from the indentation on the rear of the ship disk unless the ship has a tech specifically allowing you to do so.
• Teleport Crew: To teleport crew, you must be within range: 1 of the target ship or terrain disk. In addition, if you are teleporting crew between ships, shields for both ships must be at zero. (You can use the activate shields order to lower your shields.) You can teleport any number of ready crew (see "Order: Activate Crew," below). If you teleport crew to an enemy ship, crew combat is resolved during Step Four: Boarding. Note that a ship's capacity is only relevant during fleet building, before the game begins. During the game, capacity limitations are ignored, so you can always beam crew to a ship, regardless of how many crew or tech disks have been assigned to it. You can never teleport crew aboard fighter and bomber squadrons.

Damage

Every weapon - whether a beam weapon or torpedo - has a damage rating. To determine the damage inflicted by an attack from your ship, shake and drop a number of damage counters equal to the weapon's damage rating. You score a hit for each disk that lands with the explosion side face up.

Hits are first deducted from shields. If a ship takes further damage after its shields are reduced to zero, these hits are applied to the ship's hull. If the ship's hull is reduced to zero, it is immediately destroyed.

Critical Hits

If a ship takes at least three hits to its shields, or at least one hit to its hull, the ship may suffer a critical hit. The back side of each damage counter lists a critical hit type icon. There are five types of critical hits: bridge, life support, engineering, weapons, and shields. Whenever there is a potential critical hit, shake and drop one of each of these five damage counters.

If the ship has suffered damage only to its shields, a critical hit occurs only if exactly one damage counter lands with the "critical" side face up. If the ship suffered any hull damage, a critical hit occurs if one or two damage counters land with the "critical" side face up.

Example: Carl's ship fires on Greg's ship, inflicting two hits on its hull. Carl now checks for a critical hit. He takes five damage counters, each with a different critical hit icon on its back, shakes them up and drops them. Four of the counters land with the explosion face-up. The fifth lands with the "engineering" critical hit icon face-up. Greg's ship takes an engineering critical hit.

If a critical hit result is indicated, apply the result to your damaged ship, as listed below:

• Engineering: Remove all tech disks on your ship from play.
• Bridge: Remove all bridge crew (Admirals, Captains, First Officers, or Commanders) on your ship from play.
• Life Support: You may not activate crew disks on your ship to perform crew orders (though you may still activate them to use Special Abilities).
• Weapons: Your ship may no longer fire beam weapons, neither with an "attack" command, nor with a crew order.
• Shields: Your ship may not use the "activate shields" order, neither with an "activate shields" order, nor with a crew order.

If the ship suffers hull damage and two critical hits are indicated, both results are applied to the ship. When your ship suffers a critical hit, place the critical damage counter by your control panel to keep track of its effects. If the ship suffers the same critical hit a second time, the ship is automatically destroyed.

Damaging Squadrons

When a squadron is hit, damage is determined normally. However, if the damage inflicted does not destroy the squadron, it does not reduce the squadron's hull. For example, if you fire a beam at your opponent's bomber squadron, which has 2 hull, and get only one damage, the damage has no effect. (This represents that squadrons are easy to destroy, but hard to hit due to their speed and small size.)

Order: Activate Crew

When you execute this order, you can activate your crew and tech disks to perform crew orders or use their Special Abilities.

Crew Orders

If order icons are printed on a crew disk, it may be activated to execute those orders. These orders are the same ones you can assign to your ships each phase, and they work the same way.

Most of these crew disks feature more than one order. Unless two of these orders are paired together on the same row, you may only use one of them when you activate the crew. If a crew disk does have two orders paired together in the same row, you can use both of the orders when you activate the crew.

Crew orders can be executed before or after movement, just like normal ship orders. Multiple crew orders can be executed in any sequence. A few bridge crew - usually Captains and Admirals - can execute Activate Crew crew orders. These work just like normal Activate Crew orders, and they can be used to execute other crew orders. The key thing to remember when executing these "order chains" is that the orders can be resolved in any sequence.

Example: Chris is playing the Federation of Sol and has Capt. McGreggor and Cdr. Lukas aboard the FSS Armageddon. He has revealed an Activate Crew order for the dreadnought and wants to use his bridge crew to execute orders. First, Chris activates Capt. McGreggor to execute her Attack and Activate Crew orders, which are paired together in a single row. He can execute these orders in any sequence, so he executes the Activate Crew order first, using it to activate Cdr. Lukas. Chris executes Cdr. Lukas' Change Speed order, then his Attack order. After both of these orders have been resolved, Chris executes Capt. McGreggor's remaining Attack order. In this fashion, with a single Activate Crew order, Chris changes his ship's speed and attacks twice in the same orders phase.

Ready vs. Activated: Crew and tech disks are either "ready" or "activated." If a crew or tech disk is face up and capable of executing an order or Special Ability, it is "ready." If a crew or tech disk has been flipped over for any reason, it is "activated." Activated crew and tech disks can't do anything until they are readied again. However, their command rating is still counted for the purposes of command initiative.

Special Abilities: Crew and tech disks have many different Special Abilities. Some of these require the Activate Crew command to produce their effects, but many of them do not. For details, see "Special Abilities" below.

Reloading Bombers

Bomber squadrons begin play with a number of torpedoes equal to their torpedo capacity, just like ships, and fire their torpedoes just like ships (see "Torpedoes" below). Unlike ships, however, when a bomber runs out of torpedoes, it may return to a carrier to refill its torpedo bays.

If your carrier ship has the Activate Crew order, and you have a bomber squadron within Range: 1 that is not carrying its full torpedo capacity, you may execute this order to fill the bomber with torpedoes up to its capacity instead of activating any crew or tech disks. Note that these torpedoes do not come from the carrier's torpedo supply, but are brought into play at the time the order is executed.

Segment Three: Torpedoes

Torpedoes move their full speed immediately when they are launched, and again at the end during the Torpedo segment.

Torpedoes are removed from play after they have moved at the end of the third orders phase each turn. Thus, a torpedo launched during the first orders phase will move up to four times, while a torpedo launched during the third orders phase will move only twice.

To move a torpedo, you flip it end-over-end on its flat edge a number of times equal to its movement. A torpedo's speed never changes, and you must use its full movement unless it hits a ship or obstruction. Torpedoes can never hit fighters, bombers, or other torpedoes.

You do not have to use Change Heading orders to turn torpedoes. During its movement immediately after it is launched, you can change its heading after each flip. On subsequent moves, you can change its heading once at any point during its move. All torpedoes move simultaneously.

If a torpedo contacts a ship at any time, its damage is immediately applied to the ship and the torpedo is removed from play (see "Damage," above). This means that ships can run into torpedoes during their movement, and damage is immediately applied. Your ships can hit your own torpedoes, so launch and move them carefully.

Step Four: Boarding

During this step, you resolve crew combat on any ship containing crew belonging to opposing players. If you teleport crew aboard a ship that has no crew, you seize control of the ship uncontested. Note that disks with the crew type "Security" can never teleport aboard an enemy ship, though they may teleport to another ship in your armada. (Note that personal tech disks that affect combat and command values are assumed to be with the crew whose values they are affecting, and therefore cannot affect crew on two different ships.)

Crew Combat

To resolve crew combat, you and your opponent should total the combat values of all your ready crew aboard the contested ship, then shake and drop an equal number of damage counters, counting the number of explosion results you get. The player who scores the most hits wins, and the opponent loses one crew disk. The loser always gets to choose this casualty and may select activated crew disks. If there is a tie, both players lose one crew of their choice.

This process is repeated two more times or until one player's crew has been eliminated. If both sides have surviving crew aboard the ship at the end of the third round of combat, the side whose crew on the ship has the highest combined command value assumes control (see "Control," below).

Example: Chris and Darrell are on the same team and have beamed crew aboard Brian's ship. The combat value of Chris' crew is 4, while the combat value of Darrell's crew is 2. They drop six damage counters between them and score three hits. The combat value of Brian's crew is 3, so he drops three damage counters and scores one hit. Chris and Darrell have the higher total, so Brian must eliminate one of his crew. He chooses his Flight Control crew since he was already activated and therefore wasn't helping in the combat.

Control

The player whose crew has the highest total command value on a ship at the end of Step Four controls the ship for the following turn. If you have taken control of an enemy ship, you should take its control panel and use it just as if it were one of your original ships.

If your opponent still has surviving crew on the ship, or is able to teleport crew to the ship during the course of the turn, the ship will again be contested during the next Boarding step.

Step Five: Ready

All players flip their activated crew and tech disks face up, readying them for the next turn. Collect all the initiative counters from the table and place them face-down near the playing area. The turn is over and a new one begins with Step One: Assign Orders.

Other Rules

Special Abilities

Many crew and tech disks in Twilight Imperium: Armada have Special Abilities. Each Special Ability is composed of two icons: one for type, and one for effect.

Unless otherwise specified, a disk's Special Ability only affects the ship it is on, or other disks on the same ship, and cannot affect disks that are not part of your fleet.

Types

There are five types of Special Abilities, each with its own icon: continuous, starting, instant, command, and expendable.

• Continuous Special Abilities are in effect throughout the game. The disk does not need to be activated to produce the effect, and the effect is continuous (even if the disk is activated) unless the disk is destroyed. If the disk is destroyed, however, the ability is immediately lost.
• Starting Special Abilities are just like continuous ones, except that their effects are applied at the beginning of the game and are not lost if the disk is subsequently destroyed.
• Instant Special Abilities require their disk to be activated. These disks can be activated to use their Special Abilities once per turn at any time during the game. However, they must be activated (flipped face down) after they are used. The Special Ability can't be used again until the disk is readied, but the effect lasts until the end of the current orders phase. If a disk with an instant Special Ability is activated during the Boarding Step, its effects last until the end of the current combat round. Instant Special Abilities do not require ship orders to execute.
• Command Special Abilities are just like instant Special Abilities, except that to use these abilities, your ship must execute an Activate Crew order. When the ability is used, the disk is activated (flipped face down) just like an instant ability.
• Expendable Special Abilities are just like instant abilities, except that the disk is removed from play when the ability is used. The disk cannot be used again for the remainder of the game.

Effects

Special Abilities have many different effects, each with its own icon. Below is a list of these effects:

1. +X Beam Damage: The ship's beam damage is increased by X.

2. +X Command: The command values of all your crew on the ship are increased by X during the Boarding Step only.

3. +X Maximum Shield: Your ship's maximum shield is increased by X.

4. +X Maximum Hull: Your ship's maximum hull is increased by X.

5. +X Crew/Tech Capacity: The ship's crew/tech capacity is increased by X.

6. +X Torpedo Capacity: The ship's torpedo capacity is increased by X.

7. +X Squadron Capacity: The ship's squadron capacity is increased by X. Note that this effect can only apply to carriers, which already have a squadron capacity.

8. +X Maximum Speed: Your ship's maximum speed is increased by X.

9. +X Torpedo Speed: Your ship's torpedoes' speeds are increased by X, but only when they are first launched during the ship segment.

10. +X Torpedo Damage: Your ship's torpedoes' damage is increased by X

Example: Special Abilities - the sidebar illustrates five abilities with their icons:

• A continuous ability (icon: continuous) with the maximum-hull effect: "This ship has +2 maximum hull."
• A starting ability (icon: starting) with the teleporter-penetration effect, shown with "(2)": "This ship starts with the ability to teleport crew through 2 shields."
• An instant ability (icon: instant) with the +3 beam weapon damage effect: "You may activate the disk with this Special Ability to give your ship +3 beam weapon damage for the duration of the current orders phase."
• An instant ability with the cancel-critical-hit effect: "You may flip the disk with this Special Ability to cancel one engineering critical hit as soon as it is inflicted."
• An expendable ability (icon: expendable) with the +3 torpedo speed effect: "You may discard the disk with this Special Ability to give one torpedo +3 speed when they are first fired."

Multiple Disk Effects

A disk may not be affected by multiple copies of the same disk at the same time. For example, the Flight Commander disk has the Special Ability "Instant: +1 Squadron Beam Damage." If you have two copies of this disk (one on each of two carriers), you may flip one of them to increase a squadron's beam damage by one, but not both. You may activate the second Flight Commander to affect a different squadron, or wait until next orders phase (when the first Flight Commander's Special Ability is no longer in effect) to affect the same squadron a second time.

Timing

Because instant and expendable Special Abilities can be activated at any time, questions may arise regarding which Special Ability takes effect first. Unless a disk specifically says otherwise, the Special Ability activated most recently takes effect before the Special Ability activated before it.

Special Ship Types

There are several special types of ships, each with its own unique abilities. Each of these special types is listed below, along with a description of its abilities. Note that if a ship does not have a special type icon, it is just an ordinary ship without any unusual qualities.

• Gunship: A gunship may only change speed by one (regardless of any special abilities of crew or tech on board). A gunship also has double beam weapon range.
• Blockade Runner: A blockade runner never collides with other ships. If it ends its movement overlapping another ship, simply ignore the collision rules. (Other ships may still collide with the blockade runner, however.) Before you move your blockade runner, you may choose to "overload the engines." If you do so, you may move the blockade runner up to four extra flips. After moving, shake and drop three damage counters. For each one that lands explosion side up, the blockade runner receives one hull hit.
• Scout: If a scout ship has a change heading order, it may execute that order at any point before, after, or during its movement.
• Carrier: Only carriers have squadron capacity, and only carriers may have Squadron tech disks or Wing Commander crew disks assigned to them.
• Escort: When executing an attack order, the escort may fire its beam weapon at any torpedo or squadron in range. (Torpedoes are destroyed with one hit.) If the torpedo or squadron is destroyed, the escort may immediately fire a second time.
• Flagship: At the end of the Command Initiative step, after the initiative counters have been turned face-up, you may switch your flagship's initiative counter with the counter on one other ship in your armada. You may only have one flagship in your armada.

Appendix One: Icon Keys

Factions

• Federation of Sol
• Baronies of Letnev
• Sardakk N'orr
• Emirates of Hacan
• Mercenary (any faction)

Crew Type

• Admiral (Bridge Crew)
• Captain (Bridge Crew)
• First Officer (Bridge Crew)
• Commander (Bridge Crew)
• Officer
• Wing Commander
• Engineer
• Security
• Marines

Tech Type

• Torpedo
• Beam Weapon
• Personal
• Shields
• Engineering
• Structural
• Sensor
• Teleporter
• Squadron

Special Ship Type

• Gunship
• Blockade Runner
• Scout
• Carrier
• Escort
• Flagship

Critical Hit Type

• Engineering
• Weapons
• Bridge
• Shields
• Life Support

Appendix Two: Scenarios

Name: Last Starship Players: 2 Teams: 2 Factions: Any Point Value: 30 Mission: An enemy fleet has slipped into your territory! You must destroy the invader! Setup: Teams start on opposite ends of the table, each fleet within Range: 1 of its end. Restrictions: None. Victory: The first player to destroy the enemy fleet wins.

Name: Finders Keepers Players: Any Teams: Any Factions: Any Point Value: 100 per team Mission: No one knows what to make of the strange ship that has drifted in from the outer rim, but everyone wants a piece of it. Setup: Place an unused standard-sized ship disk in the center of the table. The fleets are placed at least Range: 3 away from the central ship and Range: 2 away from each other (though ships within a fleet may be placed as close together as you wish). Restrictions: None. Victory: The team that can keep control of the derelict ship for two consecutive Ready steps wins.

Expanding the Game

If you want to include planets, space stations, asteroids, and other interstellar hazards, visit www.diskwars.com to download them (and the rules for using them) for free! Diskwars.com is also your source for new scenarios, variants, and connections to the disk-gaming community.

Expanding the Universe

Looking for more Twilight Imperium? Visit www.fantasyflightgames.com to explore the Twilight Imperium boardgame, the Twilight Imperium: Mag•Blast card games, and the Twilight Imperium role-playing game. The Twilight Imperium universe is yours to conquer!

Turn Order

One Turn

• Step One: Assign Orders
• Step Two: Command Initiative
• Step Three: Execute Orders
  • Orders Phase One: 1. Squadron Segment, 2. Ship Segment, 3. Torpedo Segment
  • Orders Phase Two: 1. Squadron Segment, 2. Ship Segment, 3. Torpedo Segment
  • Orders Phase Three: 1. Squadron Segment, 2. Ship Segment, 3. Torpedo Segment
• Step Four: Boarding
• Step Five: Ready

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Transcription notes: the printed Credits block (design, development, art, playtesting, translations, and special thanks) is omitted under the house convention. Minor printed typographical slips were corrected silently in wording, namely missing words and duplicated words, including "may not affected" (read as "may not be affected"), "launched.during" (read as "launched during"), "droping" (read as "dropping"), "with the the squadrons" (read as "with the squadrons"), and "ose one crew" (read as "lose one crew"). Icon-only key entries (factions, crew, tech, special ship, and critical hit icons) are rendered as word lists.