Zaxxon Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents
• How to Set Up the Game
• Gameboard Setup and Labeled Parts
• Your Mission
• How to Play the Game
• Game Play in the Outer Fortress
• Game Play in the Inner Fortress
• How to Win the Game

Contents

• 4 fighter planes with bases
• 4 brick walls (2 short, 2 long)
• 4 gun turrets
• 2 dice
• 1 spinner
• 1 instruction booklet
• 4 fuel tanks
• 4 missile silos
• 1 Zaxxon pawn
• 1 gameboard
• 1 label sheet

How to Set Up the Game

1. Open up the gameboard and place it on a flat surface so it's accessible to both players.
2. Carefully break off all the plastic parts from the three runners.
3. Fighter Plane Assembly: carefully insert each plane into a base as shown in Figure 1. Squeeze the prongs together that extend from the underside of the plane and insert them into the top of the shaft that extends up from the base.

Figure 1 — Plane Assembly: a fighter plane (upper part) is shown above its base (lower part), with the plane's underside prongs aligned to the top of the base shaft.

4. Zaxxon Robot Assembly: carefully assemble the front and back halves of the Zaxxon robot as shown in Figure 2. Line up the pegs of the back half with the peg holes of the front half, then press together, inserting the pegs into the peg holes.

Figure 2 — Zaxxon Assembly: the Zaxxon robot's front half and back half, shown separated, with the back half's pegs aligned to the front half's peg holes.

Gameboard Setup and Labeled Parts

Figure 3 — Gameboard Setup and Labeled Parts: a diagram of the gameboard, with a key to the pieces that go on it.

• Blue Fuel Tanks (shown as a fuel-tank piece)
• Missile Silos (shown as a silo piece)
• Long Walls (shown as a long brick wall)
• Gun Turrets (shown as a turret piece)
• Blue Fighter Planes, numbered 1 and 2 (shown as planes on bases)
• Short Walls (shown as a short brick wall)
• Red Fuel Tanks (shown as a fuel-tank piece)
• Zaxxon (shown as the robot)
• Red Fighter Planes, numbered 1 and 2 (shown as planes on bases)

The board has a Player 1 start area and a Player 2 start area at opposite ends, each marked with a numbered player shield. The board also shows Restart and Fuel markings on hexagonal spaces.

5. Label Application: refer to Figure 3 to identify the game parts and labels, then attach labels to game parts as shown. Just peel the labels off the sheet and press into place. Here's how. Attach the 4 missile silo labels to the 4 missile silos, the 4 gun turret labels to the 4 gun turrets, and the 2 red and 2 blue fuel tank labels to the 4 fuel tanks. Attach the 2 Zaxxon labels to opposite sides of the Zaxxon pawn. Attach matching colored number labels to opposite sides of each plane base, for example, the 2 red #1 labels to opposite sides of the same base. Attach 2 wing labels to each plane that match the color of its base label.
6. Gameboard Setup: place each labeled game part on a space marked with its corresponding letter as shown in Figure 3. For example, place the 4 missile silos on the 4 missile silo spaces marked by the letter "B." Notice that the labels on the missile silos, gun turrets and fuel tanks match the spaces on which they belong. Also, be sure the front of Zaxxon is facing toward the small purple triangles in the inner fortress.
7. One player becomes Player 1 and "flies" the fighter planes with blue markings labeled #1 and #2 that are on the blue Home Base. The other player becomes Player 2 and "flies" the fighter planes with red markings labeled #1 and #2 that are on the red Home Base.
8. Both players take a die.

Your Mission

Your team of fighter planes must shoot 2 fuel tanks, 1 gun turret and 1 missile silo in your outer fortress and 2 fuel tanks in the inner fortress and EACH plane must shoot Zaxxon. See Figure 4 for an illustration of the outer and inner fortresses.

Figure 4A — Outer Fortress (shaded blue). Outer Fortress of Player 1, flying Blue Planes.

Figure 4B — Inner Fortress (shaded blue). Outer Fortress of Player 2, flying Red Planes.

How to Play the Game

1. Rolling the Die: both players roll their die AT THE SAME TIME. Reroll the die if there is a tie. On EACH turn, the player rolling the Lower Number on the die ALWAYS plays first. Then the player rolling the Higher Number plays second.
2. Using the Spinner: the player rolling the Lower Number spins the spinner. The spinner controls enemy fire directed at fighter planes from missile silos and gun turrets (later in the game the spinner will also control the movement of Zaxxon). When RED is spun, any plane that is in or enters a missile silo area CONTAINING A MISSILE SILO is shot down and returned to its home base. When BLUE is spun, any plane that is in a gun turret area CONTAINING A GUN TURRET is shot down and returned to its home base. If a missile silo or a gun turret has been shot and removed from the board, there is no enemy fire from that area so any planes in that area are safe. Notice that the missile silo areas are surrounded by a red border and the gun turret areas are surrounded by a blue border. See Figures 5A and 5B for locations. When WHITE is spun, all planes are safe. Please Note: if your plane is shot down by a missile silo or gun turret in the inner fortress, return it to a RESTART space in your outer fortress.

Figure 5A — Missile Silo Areas (shaded blue).

Figure 5B — Gun Turret Areas (shaded blue).

3. Order of Play: after spinning the spinner, the player who rolled the Lower Number moves his or her plane or planes according to the die count just rolled. Then the player who rolled the Higher Number moves his or her plane or planes according to the die count just rolled. You can move one of your planes the full amount on the die or move both of your planes, splitting the die count between them in any combination.
4. How a Fighter Plane Moves: a fighter plane can move from one space to any adjacent space by die count as shown in Figure 6. A plane can change direction or land on the same space more than once on the same turn. A plane cannot pass over or land on a space occupied by another plane. A fighter plane can "fly" at High Altitude or Low Altitude by raising or lowering it on its base. Each change in altitude (either High to Low or Low to High) counts as ONE on your die count. Your plane must be at Low Altitude to shoot a target and at High Altitude to cross a wall.

Figure 6 — How a Plane Moves: a plane can move from one space to any of the six adjacent spaces as shown by the arrows.

Game Play in the Outer Fortress

Figure 7 — How a Plane Shoots: a plane can shoot in any of 6 directions from the space it is occupying as shown by the arrows.

1. Shooting Targets: there are 4 targets (2 fuel tanks, 1 gun turret, 1 missile silo) your planes must shoot in your outer fortress. Your fighter plane can only shoot in a straight line, through empty adjacent game spaces in any direction from the space it is occupying as shown in Figure 7. Each space the shot passes through counts as one on your die count. Your plane must be at Low Altitude (down on its base) to shoot a target. When you shoot a missile silo or a gun turret, remove it from the board. When you shoot a fuel tank, move it to any one of the fuel spaces, marked "FUEL," in the inner fortress where it becomes an inner fortress target that you must shoot later in the game.
2. Crossing Walls: your plane can cross a wall only at the low section and it must "fly" at High Altitude (raised up on its base) when it crosses a wall. Your plane cannot land on top of a wall so you must have enough moves on your die count to cross a wall on one turn. The wall counts as one space on your die count.
3. Planes Shot Down: if your plane is shot down in your outer fortress by an enemy missile silo or gun turret, immediately remove your plane from the board and return it to your home base. Your plane remains in the game, of course, and you can move it back into your outer fortress on your next turn.

In summary, your fighter plane can do any combination of moving, changing altitude and shooting that adds up to your die count. Here is an example of a move when your die roll is 5. . .

Move Count	What You Do
#1	Move one space.
#2	Change altitude.
#3	Shoot TWO spaces and
#4	destroy a missile silo.
#5	Move one space.

Game Play in the Inner Fortress

1. Entering the Inner Fortress: when your plane crosses the short wall it leaves your outer fortress and enters the inner fortress. Your planes move, change altitude and shoot in the inner fortress the same way that they did in your outer fortress.
2. Shooting Targets in the Inner Fortress: your planes must shoot 2 fuel tanks of your color in the inner fortress and EACH of your planes must shoot ZAXXON once. When you shoot a fuel tank, remove it from the board. When one of your planes shoots Zaxxon, its mission is completed. Remove your plane from the inner fortress and place it on your home base. Move Zaxxon back to the space labeled "ZAXXON."
3. Dogfights: when your fighter plane tries to shoot down your opponent's plane, it is called a dogfight. The only part of the fortress in which dogfights can occur is in the dogfight area which is made up of all the spaces containing small black dots inside the orange border as shown in Figure 8. Your plane and your opponent's plane must be in the dogfight area and at the same altitude when you shoot. You shoot your opponent's plane by die count in the same way you shoot an enemy target. If you shoot down your opponent's plane, your opponent must immediately remove it from the inner fortress and place it on a RESTART space in his or her outer fortress.
4. The Radar Barrier: there is a radar barrier, labeled "RADAR," across the dogfight area. On your turn, you can move your plane across the radar barrier ONLY if you roll a higher number on the die than your opponent. If you roll a lower number, your plane cannot cross the barrier but you can shoot through the radar no matter what number you roll.

Figure 8 — Dogfight Area (shaded blue).

5. When to Move Zaxxon: when a plane crosses the radar barrier Zaxxon is alerted and immediately activated. Now Zaxxon is ready to move, shoot and attack fighter planes. The spinner directs when Zaxxon is moved for the remainder of the game. Here's how. When the player who rolled the lower number spins the spinner and a "Z" is spun, he or she must move Zaxxon according to the die count he or she just rolled. When a "Z" is not spun, do not move Zaxxon. Please Note: after moving Zaxxon, the player who just rolled the lower number also moves his or her planes by the same die count.
6. How Zaxxon Moves: Zaxxon can move sideways to the right or to the left, as shown in Figure 9A. Zaxxon can move diagonally forward to the right or left, as shown in Figure 9B, or Zaxxon can move diagonally backward to the right or left. Each move in any direction counts as one on your die count.

Figure 9A — How Zaxxon Moves Sideways.

Figure 9B — How Zaxxon Moves Diagonally.

Notice that Zaxxon always faces toward the attacking fighter planes no matter where it moves. Zaxxon cannot move out of the Zaxxon area which is made up of all the spaces containing a small black dot inside the purple border as shown in Figure 10. Remember, Zaxxon only moves by the die count of the player who rolls the lower number and spins a "Z."

Figure 10 — Zaxxon Area (shaded blue).

7. How Zaxxon Shoots: Zaxxon shoots in a straight line, from either space it is occupying in any of four directions as shown in Figure 11, above. The shot travels in one direction through adjacent spaces until it hits either a fighter plane, black space or black area on the gameboard. Each shot counts as one on the die roll no matter how many spaces it passes through. See Figure 12 for an example of Zaxxon shooting a plane. If Zaxxon shoots your plane, immediately remove your plane from the board and place it on a RESTART space in your outer fortress.

Figure 11 — How Zaxxon Shoots.

Figure 12 — Example of Zaxxon Shooting a Plane.

8. Optional Targets: the missile silo and gun turret in the inner fortress that are not surrounded by small purple triangles are optional targets. Neither player has to shoot them but it may be good strategy to destroy them so they can't shoot down your planes. If you shoot them, remove them from the board.
9. Indestructible Targets: the missile silo and gun turret that are surrounded by small purple triangles are indestructible targets. They cannot be shot and destroyed. If your plane is shot down by either an optional target or an indestructible target, remove your plane from the board and place it on a RESTART space in your outer fortress.
10. When attacking Zaxxon, your planes CANNOT enter the Zaxxon area which is shown in Figure 10. Your planes can only move as far as the white spaces adjacent to Zaxxon's area.
11. Continue to play as outlined above until one player completes his or her mission and wins the game.

How to Win the Game

Be the first player to destroy your enemy targets and shoot Zaxxon with both of your fighter planes.