If you dont have the diploware on your computer, you should download it asap here.

If you are just starting out, you probably have only a vague idea of how things work at this point. Don’t worry; you shall soon get the hang of it. The tutorial is available from your start menu when you install the diploware, and its important that you work through it. There are plenty of experienced players with good advice, just join the discussion group from the webpage and dont hesitate to fire off your questions.

You can ctrl+click on the hyperlinks to go straight to a chapter or section – I’ve offset some of the links so that you don’t accidentally hit the wrong one.

First, close any unnecessary programs you have running. This helps to ensure that you don’t have too many things running on your computer, and so your Diploware will run efficiently. This is a very important step! After this, start the Diploware, which brings you to the Start-up Menu, where you can select a file to load. When you are playing in a game, you should select either your saved orders, or your newest Results file, which was sent to you by the GM. When you select this and open it, you are brought to your Headquarters (if not, then contact the GM for troubleshooting).

At the top part of the Diploware, you can see:

• Main Menus: The Diploware has 4 main areas. Each has a separate button at the top:

1. Headquarters: This is where you manage your diplomatic relations.
2. Map: This shows you the map, and is where you manage your various forces.
3. Messages: This shows you various reports and messages about what happened on the last turn.
4. Game: This allows you to save your orders, or open a new turn.

• HQ Plans: Also at the top of the menu, you can see HQ Plans. This has all of your planned Headquarters orders listed. These are orders for your realm as a whole, not for particular units you control. Any time you perform a Headquarters order, it will be listed here, and you can undo any orders if you change your mind. Note that your HQ Plans is available from all main parts of the Diploware.
• Help Menus: The Diploware has a help message for most of the menus. If you are not sure about something on the Diploware, click on the question mark, which will show you the help message for that menu.
• Turn Number: The number of the current turn is also shown at the top.

By clicking on the Messages at the top, you can see reports of the last turn’s events. You can click between normal Messages, Battle Reports, and Proclamations. You can see the following:

Even though you are impatient to learn about the map, I will now talk about the Game menu. Here, you can do the following:

Turns are due at the same time for all games, and there is 1 turn per week (unless otherwise indicated for your game).

• About Turns: Just to repeat how the game works: Each time turns are processed, you will be sent a unique Result file for your realm. This is a computer file attached to an email message, and you load this file into your Diploware to see your realm, troops, etc. You issue your orders using the Diploware, and then save them to an Orders file, and you send this as an email attachment to the GM. On the due date, the GM will run all turns at the same time, and all game events will occur. Then everyone is sent their new Result file, and things continue in this manner.
• Due Date: The normal due date is: Tuesday, 5:00 PM, Pacific Time (Pacific Time is for California, USA. In GMT this is 1 AM Wednesday). For the first turn of the game, the due date may be different, but the normal due date is used for other turns. To help get your bearings with the time zone, see below:

If you don’t send your turn in on time, please don’t expect the game to wait for you. Sometimes you

might get lucky – if you haven’t received your next turnfile, there is a good chance you can still send

your turn in and get it processed, but there is no guarantee. Send your turn in before the deadline if you

want to be sure it will get processed.

• Email Address: Send all email, and your turnfiles (the file created by the Diploware that has your orders) to:

After opening your turn, you are brought to your Headquarters, and you can return here by clicking on Headquarters at the top of the Diploware. You can think of this area as your Throne Room, where your advisors are available to carry out your commands. Performing an order would be similar to summoning your Grand Chamberlain, Chief Diplomat, or other minion to carry out your instructions. Here, you will see:

Please understand that these values are not always exact – some values may be rounded to the nearest number. For instance, if you own 4 starships with an upkeep value of 1.1 resources each, for a total of 4.4 resources, the expenses will be reported as only 4 resources. To be on the safe side, you should consider leaving a surplus of two resources in your treasury.

Each Empire has Diplomatic Relations with every other Empire in the game, which is shown on the list of Empires at your Headquarters. Your main Diplomatic Relations with each empire will be one of the following:

• War: Your forces will attack each other when they are in the same location.
• Neutral: Your forces will ignore each other.
• Alliance: Your forces will work together in battle.

The orders you can issue to change your diplomatic relations are:

Each Empire also has diplomatic statuses with other Empires, which are:

• Acceptance: You can indicate whether you will accept gifts from another Empire or not. If you don’t want to accept any gifts from a Empire (like a sector they want to give you), then you can give instructions to refuse any gifts from that Empire. To change acceptance, you can:

As mentioned before, at the top of the Diploware, you can see all of your planned Headquarters orders. This has:

• Treasury: this is the amount of resources you own.
• Used: This is the total amount of resources you have spent. This includes garrison activities (like building starships), as well as other headquarters actions. You may use more than you have, but this will probably result in not having enough resources to do everything you planned on doing.
• Undo: You can select any planned order, and undo it.

At last, we come to the map. To get here, click on the Map at the top of the Diploware. You can see a giant game board, with black sectors lined by golden borders, as well as the starships in each location. You can scroll up and down to see a greater area of the map. You can think of it as if your empire’s advisors have built a model replica of the Alpha and Beta Quadrants. Major locations and scouting reports of starships have been plotted here with miniatures as well, and all of this represents your view of the actual political situation of the area. It is up to you to write planned orders for your followers; to expand and protect your empire. Here, you will see the following:

A sector is a large area in the game. Some important notes about sectors are:

• Ownership: Each sector is either owned by a Empire, or is independent. Each empire has a banner, and this banner is shown on the map. Sectors without a banner are independent. Your forces can invade sectors to conquer them. When owned and annexed to your empire, they will provide revenue.
• Annexation: To get the full revenue from a sector, you must annex it (which costs resources). Being annexed to a empire means that the empire has established a government and dominion over that sector, so revenue can be extracted from it. A sector annexed to the owner will be adorned with a golden base under the ownership banner (otherwise, the banner is bare). The symbol signifies that the owner of the empire has established a bureaucracy there that will be able to extract revenue from the inhabitants.

Each sector and sea may have starships stationed there. On the map, the starships are shown in the following manner:

• Starship Miniature: Starships at a location will be shown by a painted miniature. The miniature will be for the most formidable starship there. A single miniature is shown for foreign starships (even if they are not mutually allied), and a separate miniature is shown for starships you own.
• Starship Base: Each starship miniature has a base or shield. This indicates if you own the starships, or if they are owned by a foreign empire. Starships you own are shown with a blue base (or a blue shield). Foreign starships are shown with a red base (or a red shield).

• Quantity: To the bottom right of the miniature, you can see the number of starships at the location.

JB: To get more information, click on the Starship Miniature. A box will open, explaining what starships are there, and which empire owns them. Independent starships hold many sectors at the start of the game, and it is typical strategy for many players to start the game by attacking neighbouring independent sectors.

On the bottom-right of the map, there is a button with a hammer and wrench. This changes the map display. You can do the following:

To get more detailed information about a location, click on some part of it on the map. This brings up the Location Report. This shows you:

• Name: The name of the sector.
• Owner: This is the empire that owns the sector, or if it is independent (owned by no empire).
• Annexed To: This is the empire that the sector is annexed to (or, if it is annexed to no empire, it is locally controlled).
• Sector Damage: Sectors can be damaged by battles, pillaging, or changing ownership. Damage reduces revenue, but it will recover over time.
• Tax Revenue: This is the resources revenue the sector will yield if it is owned and annexed to your empire (the actual revenue will be reduced by damage). You can also get reduced revenue by pillaging it, in which case the annexation doesn’t matter.
• Special Passage Rights: This is only shown if you own a sector, or if you have been granted special passage rights to a sector. This just means you have gained permission to move through the sector (of course, you don’t need this for your own sectors).
• Industrial Center: Some sectors have an Industrial Center. An Industrial Center represents a planet with an important industrial base and shipyards. Only some sectors have an Industrial Center, which cannot be built or destroyed. A sector with an Industrial Center will always have a garrison, and starships can only be built in sectors with an Industrial Center.
• Defences: Each sector may have defences built. There are different levels of defences, which give combat bonuses to the defenders in battle. Defences can be damaged from battles, and if so, will give a reduced bonus to defenders. The type of sector defences built, and a description of damage is shown.
• Your Forces: There is a list of all units you control at the location. All of your units are shown, with the name, total combat strength, total hit points, and all starships.
• Foreign Forces: There is a list of all starships owned by foreign empires, or independent starships. All such starships are shown, with the total combat strength and hit points.
• Movement Routes: At the bottom, the movement routes available for the location are shown, including bordering sectors, and seas with coastal connections.

When you open the Location Report for a sector, orders may be available. The order buttons are on the right-hand side. These are all Headquarters’ Orders, and can be seen on the HQ Plans menu (these activities are not done by units). The orders available are:

• Permission: This is only for a sector you own. This is to change the Special Permission for that sector. You can indicate a number of empires that will be permitted to move through this single sector, by adding or removing them from a list. Also, if you have been granted Special Permission by an independent sector, you can remove this, which will allow you to invade it. Units owned by such a empire will have permission to move freely through the sector. Changes take place before movement during game events.
• Study: This is to get more information about something in the location. You can study a type of sector defence, or type of starship. Any starship at the location can be studied. Details about starships and sector defences are explained in Chapter 5.

Under the map, there is a list of units that you own. You can see the following for each unit:

• Unit Type: There are 2 types of units: Garrisons and Fleets. A garrison is a force tied to a particular location, and is shown with a G (like G5 would be Garrison#5). A starfleet is a force with the ability to travel to other locations; these are shown with an A (like A11 would by Starfleet#11).
• Name: this shows the name of the unit. It’s a good idea to name units in a way that makes it easy to organize them.
• Location: this is the location that they are currently at (you can give movement orders of course).
• Starships/Admirals: There are 2 numbers shown here. The first is the number of starships in the unit (including ships and starships). The second is the number of admirals in the unit.
• Moves: This shows the move points of the unit. The first number is the available move points (how many move points remain). The second number is the move points that the unit had before any move activities. Issuing movement orders will decrease the available move points, and transferring starships may change the starting move points. Of course, garrisons can’t move and so they have no move points. If you want these starships to move, form a new starfleet in the sector, and transfer the starships from the garrison to the starfleet.

• Scout ability: Each starship has a chance of scouting adjacent sectors. Only locations with a movement route will be scouted. Each starship has a normal scout ability, which is for scouting connected locations. There is also a bonus scouting ability, which is to scout sectors connected to those.
• Cloaking ability: Some types of starships have the ability to cloak themselves. This represents absorbing or deviating light, becoming practically invisible, and moving stealthily to avoid detection. Foreign empires will not be able to see these starships (even if they are given Info sharing). Also, cloaked starfleets won’t fight in battles. However, cloaked units can be decloaked if foreign units successfully search and find them. When that happens, a unit will no longer be cloaked, so it can be brought to battle (your forces will only decloak neutral or enemy units, not friendly or allied units). Searching Ability: Some types of starships have the ability to search for cloaked foreign starships. Each starship has a chance of finding an uncovering foreign starships. This will not uncover allied starships, only neutrals and enemies.

• Important Note: If the unit list looks odd on your computer (it’s not in alignment, or you can’t scroll down), then you need to make a small change to your computer settings. To do this, go to the Start-up Menu, click on Help Guide, and read the trouble-shooting guide for how to fix the Unit List problem. If you are still in the dark, contact the GM. For most people, the unit list will look fine, and if so, you don’t need to do anything.
  

From the map menu, you can issue a number of orders to your units. First, select a unit on the unit list by left-clicking your mouse on the unit. The available orders for that unit will then be shown to the right of the unit list. When you select a unit, you can see its location on the map, as the starship base will be outlined in white. Also, any movement orders for that unit are shown with blue and red arrows (a blue arrow means you are moving through a location, a red arrow means the location is your last destination). You can also double-click on the selected unit, and the map will centre on it. Once you have selected a unit, you can perform different orders. The major unit orders available are listed on the right-hand side of the Unit List. You select an order, and then you receive a menu where you determine the specifics of the order. Each type of unit has different orders available. The orders are:

• Pillage Sector: (For Starfleets and Garrisons) This is to seize revenue and cause havoc and devastation in a sector. You can do this in a sector you own, or a foreign sector, but this yields less revenue than normal.

• Build Defenses: (For Starfleets and Garrisons) This is to build a new sector defence in a sector.
• Upgrade Defenses: (For Starfleets and Garrisons) This is to upgrade the sector defence in a sector to a higher level, for a cost in resources.
• Raze Defenses: (For Starfleets and Garrisons) This is to raze 1 or more levels of sector defence in a sector. You may be able to salvage resources from doing this.
• Form New Fleet: (For All Units) This is to create a new starfleet. To issue this order, select Form New Fleet.

• Build Starships: (For Garrisons) This is to build starships. There must be an Industrial Center at the sector to do this.
• Hire Admiral: (For Garrisons) This is to send your agents out to hire a admiral in an Industrial Center. They will then hire an individual of unknown skill. There is a cost of 15 resources to do this. Only a garrison with an Industrial Center can perform this order. The total resources cost for this order and all other garrison orders will be shown on your Headquarters.

• Cloak Unit: (For Starfleets) This is only for a unit in which all starships have cloaking ability, and is not currently cloaked. When a unit is cloaked, it can move through foreign sectors without being seen, although it won’t fight in battles. To issue this order, select Cloak.

• Decloak Unit: (For Starfleets) This is to decloak a unit that is cloaked, so it will be visible to other empires. This is only for a unit that is currently cloaked. To issue this order, select Decloak.
• Search: (For Starfleets and Garrisons) This is to search for foreign units that are cloaked in a sector, and decloak them. The search ability of the starships in the unit determines your chance of success.

As you know, you can give your units various orders. The orders given to a unit are saved onto the Unit Plan for that unit. Each unit has a separate Unit Plan. To see the unit plan, right click on any unit on the unit list, or select a unit and press the View Orders button. The Unit Plan shows various information about the unit. In the middle part, you can see:

At the top left of the Unit Plan, you can select to show the starships or admirals in the unit. If admirals are selected, then any admirals in the unit will be shown, and you can perform orders for them, which are:

At the top left of the Unit Plan, you can see the starships in the unit. At the top, you can select to show admirals or starships. If starships are selected, then you can perform orders for them, which are:

• Reassign Starships: This is to change the ranks that starships are placed in, which will affect when starships are taken as casualties during a battle. To issue this order, click on the starships in the unit. Then, select a type of starship and select Reassign Starships.

• Disband Starships: This is to decommission starships from your Empire, so you don't need to pay upkeep for them. To issue this order, click on the starships in the unit. Then, select a type of starship and select Disband. You won’t gain any resources from disbanding starships.
• Salvage Starships: This is the same as disbanding, except you may gain resources from the starships that are disbanded (this depends on the type of starship). The starships will be decommissioned. To issue this order, click on the starships in the unit. Then, select a type of starship and select Salvage Starships. You may gain resources from the disbanded starships (this happens during First Events).

• Study: This is to get more information about a type of starship. Starships are explained in more detail in Chapter 5.

On the left side of the Unit Plan, there are different admin orders for units. Each type of unit (Starfleet, Garrison) has different orders available, and the units that can perform each order are listed. All of these orders are done from the Unit Plan. None of these orders cost Move-points to perform. In addition, for garrisons, you can examine sector defences in the sector. The orders that can be performed here are:

• Defend Sector defences Option: This determines if an starfleet will defend sector defences during a battle, or will remain outside during a battle (when remaining outside, the starfleet can retreat, but does not gain the sector defence bonus). Each starfleet indicates if it will defend sector defences or not. The starships in a unit defending a sector defence will gain a defensive combat bonus, but such a unit cannot retreat from battle. You can defend sector defences in your sectors, as well as those owned by a friendly empire. If this option is Yes, then a starfleet will enter into any sector defence during a sector battle, thus gaining a defensive combat bonus, but will not be able to retreat. If this option is No, then a starfleet will remain outside of sector defences in a sector battle, and will gain no bonus, but will be able to retreat if necessary. To issue this order, click on the Defend Sector defences button, which will switch to the other option.

There are some map options available that make viewing the map easier:

• Map Options: There is a hammer and wrench next to the Zoom feature. Clicking on this gives you a number of options.
• Zoom: Click on the small magnifying glass on the bottom right of the map. Clicking on this will switch between normal map view, and zoom-out (where you can see more of the map).
• Change size of unit list: You can change the height of the unit list. To do this, place your mouse arrow in between the map and the unit list. Drag the unit list down to decrease the size of the unit list, to show more of the map. Drag the unit list up to increase the size of the unit list.
• Determine Units Shown on the Unit List: You can change the unit list so that only some types of units are shown. Click on Map Options, and you can see 2 buttons: Starfleets and Garrisons. Clicking these buttons will change the units shown on the unit list. For example, click on Starfleets, making the button unclicked. Now, go to the map, and Starfleets are not shown on the unit list. Go back and select starfleets again, and they will now be shown on the unit list.

Everyone prepares their orders separately, and then sends them to the GM to be processed. Everyone’s orders will be carried out at the same time. If you don't send in orders, then your Empire won’t do anything except pay upkeep and collect revenues (your forces will still defend your sectors). But, other Empires will still carry out their orders. All the game events happen in a certain order, which is shown here. Pay special attention to the order in which events are listed. This is the exact order that they occur when turns are processed. Also, please see the Details section - these concepts are important for understanding this chapter.

Everyone’s turn is processed together at the same time. There are "First Events", then "Movement Events", and then finally "Last Events". The First Events are things like declaring war, etc., which all happen before the Movement Events. The Last Events are things like gaining revenue, etc., that all happen after Movement Events. Pay close attention to the order of events in the Turn Events section. This is how you will know when each of your orders will happen when turns are processed. For example, changing Acceptance happens in First Events, so this will happen before any movement. Also, ownership change happens during Movement Events, so this is only after all First Events are done (Ownership change happens in phases, so the ownership of a sector can change more than one time during the turn). Resource revenues happen in Last Events, so this happens only after all movement and battles (in the Phases of Movement Events) are complete.

Movement Events happen in a number of "Phases". A Phase is about one Standard Galactic Month of time (a Phase could also be called an "impulse" if you are more familiar with that term in wargaming). Each phase, various events will occur, and they repeat a number of times until no units have any Move-points. For example, on Phase 1, all units move 1 location, and then battles happen, sector ownership changes, etc. Then, there is a Phase 2, and all units move 1 location, then battles happen, sector ownership changes, etc. These Phases continue until no units have any Move-points left. When there are no more units that can move, then there is 1 more extra Phase, and then Movement Events are complete. When that happens, the Last Events happen. For transferring, units will transfer only if they are in the same location at the same phase. If units never arrive at the same place at the same phase, then no transfer will happen! Also, remember phases for coordinating unit movement. For example, you give Starfleet#1 orders to invade enemy Sector A, and you give Starfleet#2 orders to move to friendly Sector B, and then invade Sector A. These starfleets won’t arrive at the same time! This is what will happen: Starfleet#1 will invade during Phase 1, while meanwhile, Starfleet#2 will move to Sector A during Phase 1. Starfleet#2 will invade during Phase 2 (although if Starfleet#1 succeeds, you will own the sector by the time Starfleet#2 gets there). A better plan would be to give Starfleet#1 orders to hold position and then invade, while Starfleet#2 has orders to move and then invade. This way, on Phase#1, Starfleet#1 will wait (remain in place) while Starfleet#2 moves to Sector A. Then, on Phase#2, both units will attack together.

Here is the list of all events that occur in each round, in order. Note that the movement events repeat until all possible ordered movements are completed. Each event is explained in the rest of the chapter, in order.

This is the first part of Turn Events. These steps are:

This happens first. This changes the diplomatic relations between Empires from Neutral to War. This is done by Declaring War. Only one Empire has to do this, and then war will be declared. However, you can’t declare war with a Empire that is your Ally. In this case, you can’t declare war this same turn. For an ally, you will need to cancel your alliance. It will take one turn to break the first relations, and then you can declare war the next turn. When war is declared, then all Passage Rights and Special Permission will be immediately cancelled between the two empires, and cannot be established while the two empires are enemies.

This step is to change the Acceptance between all Empires. You do this with the Change Acceptance action. This indicates whether you will accept gifts from another Empire (including sectors, transfers and resources sent). If you don’t want their gifts (for whatever reason), then change your Acceptance to No. This happens at this time. A empire could give you a sector it is about to lose to try and embroil you in a conflict you want nothing to do with.

This step is to change Passage Rights between all empires. This is not the only way to give permission for an empire to move through your territories. You do this with the Grant Passage Rights or Revoke Passage Rights actions. You can grant or revoke Passage Rights to another empire (but not an enemy empire). If you grant Passage Rights to an empire, then they can move through all of your sectors at will. This is potentially hazardous, for should they decide to attack you, they could send out small units through your sectors. Next turn, they could declare war, causing all manner of havoc. For a trusted ally, this is useful, as he will be able to retreat into your sectors, etc.

This is to change the Special Permission for any sectors you own. For each sector, you can indicate which empires will be granted permission to move through it. You do this with the Grant Special Permission, Revoke Special Permission actions. This is to give a empire permission to move through a single sector, which is safer than granting full Passage Rights.

This step is to form all new starfleets. This can only be done by starfleets and garrisons. For all new starfleets being formed, they are created now. Each Empire can have only 99 starfleets. Starfleets formed can have starships and admirals transferred into them, and can be given orders the same turn they are created.

At this time, a number of administrative orders are performed, which are:

• Change Retreat Level: This is the Rank that when empty of starships, will cause the unit to retreat in battle (see Ranks & Retreat Level section for more information about Retreat Level).
• Change Defend Sector defences Option: Whether the unit will enter into sector defences and defend them in battles or not.
• Change Unit Leader: This changes the admiral that is the leader of the unit.

This is to change whether starfleets are cloaked or decloaked. Cloaked units cannot be seen by foreign empires, and cannot fight in battles. A unit can only become cloaked if all starships have Cloaking ability. Starfleet cloaking changes also happen during Movement Events. The following happen at this time:

• Cloak Unit: Cloaking a unit is to become hidden so that foreign empires will not be able to see the unit or bring it to battle. A unit cannot cloak itself if the weight is more than 10 times the storage (so a unit can have some excess weight, but not too much to be cloaked).
• Decloak Unit: This decloaks a previously cloaked unit, so it can be seen by all other units (this will allow transfers to happen between the unit and other units also).

This step is to transfer starships and admirals between units. These are transfers that will happen because the recipient and giving unit are in the same location. These transfers will always succeed, and will happen at this time (prior to any movement happening). Transfers also happen during Movement Events.

This step is to get rid of starships that you do not want. If you don’t want to pay upkeep for admirals or starships, then you can disband or salvage them. Scuttling starships will remove the starship, so you won’t have to pay upkeep that same turn. Salvaging is the same thing, except that you may gain resources from doing this. Salvaging represents taking equipment, crew, etc. from the scuttled starships.

Okay, now that all of the first events are complete, the main part of the turn activities happen. These are called Movement Events. These steps are performed one at a time. After the last step, if there are any more starfleets or fleets that have orders to perform, then all of the steps in Movement Events will repeat in the same manner. Each time Movement Events happen, this is called a Phase (this is explained better previously in this chapter). This continues in a number of Phases (each phase, movement events happen). After all units have performed all their actions, there will be 1 extra phase, and then Movement Events are complete. For example, an starfleet has orders to Travel to sector A, then Travel to sector B. In the first Phase, all of the steps in Movement Events happen, and occur, and so during Phase 1, the starfleet will travel to sector A. On Phase 2, the starfleet will move to sector B. If more units have actions to perform, then there will be additional Phases. There may be a Phase 3, Phase 4, etc. The steps of Movement Events are:

This step is for each starfleet to travel one sector for the current Phase. This will only happen if the starfleet meets all conditions for movement (Traveling is explained better in Chapter 5). Each starfleet will only travel to one sector at this time (a starfleet can travel to additional sectors in other Phases, but a starfleet can only move 1 location per phase). After an starfleet travels, then the Move-point cost is taken from the starfleet’s Move-points. For traveling to succeed, there are the following conditions:

• Of course, starfleets can only travel between connected sectors - not sectors that are not connected. Barriers naturally will prevent movement.
• An starfleet can travel to an enemy or independent sector, and invade it. If a sector does not belong to an enemy, then you must have Permission. If you don’t have Permission, and the sector is not enemy-owned or independent, then you will be refused entry. However, if you have been granted Special Permission by an independent territory, you must withdraw that first before you can invade it.
• The starfleet must have enough Move-points to get to the sector. One Move-point is not enough to get you into an enemy sector. Nor is it enough to get starships into a sector you have conquered in the same turn (in an earlier phase).

This is for all starfleets to change their Defend Sector defence option, as they prepare for any battles. This option indicates if an starfleet will enter and defend a sector defence if there is a battle in the sector. If an starfleet does this, the starfleet will gain a defensive bonus from any sector defence. But, if there is a sector defence, the starfleet will not be able to retreat from the battle. If the unit is set to not defend sector defences, then it can retreat normally. If there is no sector defence, then this option has no effect (the unit will be able to retreat then).

This is to change whether starfleets are cloaked or decloaked. This is the exact same step that is described in First Events. This happens now as well, so a unit that cloaks itself now can avoid battle.

This step is to perform the Search action. Units with this order will scour the sector they are in, searching for cloaked foreign starfleets. Starfleets will only be uncovered if they are owned by neutral or enemy empires. This action has a chance of successfully uncovering a foreign starfleet (only neutral or enemy units will be decloaked). A unit that is uncovered will no longer be cloaked, and can be seen in scouting reports and engaged in battles. For each starship in a unit performing the Search action, there is a chance of successfully searching and finding each foreign starfleet. For example, starfleet#1 has 3 ships in it, each with a 10% chance of success when searching. Therefore, for each foreign starfleet in the same location as starfleet#1, there will be 3 searches. Each search has a 10% chance of success. If the search succeeds, then any cloaked foreign starfleet with relations of War or Neutral to Starfleet#1 will now be decloaked. As you can see, a unit could cloak itself in the previous step, but could now be decloaked by a searcher, and brought to battle this phase.

Now, all Cross-border battles happen. This is a battle that happens when 2 or more enemy starfleets attempt to move into each other’s locations on the same border. This is related to starfleets traveling, and only the units actually moving are involved (garrisons will never be involved in cross-border battles, and neither will sector defences). For example, Sector A connects to Sector B. Starfleet#1 moves from A to B. An enemy starfleet moves from B to A (this is all happening in the same Phase). These 2 enemy units are moving to each other’s location, so this will cause a cross-border battle to happen, at the border of Sectors A and B. If another starfleet was moving from C to A, that starfleet would not be involved in this battle (only units moving from A to B or from B to A will be involved). You can consider the border a completely separate sector for the purposes of this battle, and any unit not on the border will not be involved. So, no sector defences will be involved, and neither will units located in the sectors, or units that were unloaded into the sectors. Cross-border battles are resolved similarly to normal sector battles. However, if a unit retreats, it will go back to where it was before it attempted to move. So, in the above example, if Starfleet#1 retreated, it would just move back to Sector A. This may cause another battle to happen in the next step (sector battles).

Cross-border battles do not affect the immediate movement of the winning starfleet – that force will continue to move to their ordered destination, and may fight another battle when they get there. As for the loser, his starfleet will not be able to successfully complete its ordered move.

This step is to check for all Sector Battles to happen. A sector battle is a bloody combat between enemy starfleets (and any garrison, if there is one) in the same sector. In the previous steps, all starfleets have traveled one location and fought any cross-border battles. Now, sector battles will happen in all sectors where there are enemy units. Battles will be fought according to the method explained in Chapter 6. Some important notes about sector battles are:

1. Starfleets that are not at war will never fight each other. So, if your ally attacks a unit, but you are not at war with that unit, then you will simply watch, and won’t be involved.
2. Independent starfleets will always consider an intruder an enemy, and will always engage in battles against those who cross their borders. The exception is if you have Special Permission to move into an independent territory, in which case you will be ignored when your forces enter the sector.
3. At the end of each round of battle, each starfleet involved may retreat. If an starfleet retreats, then it flees into another sector. This will be the sector that the starfleet moved from, unless this sector has enemy starships in it. In this case, the starfleet will retreat to any available sector that it can move to. If there are no available sectors to retreat to, then the unit will not retreat, and will instead remain in the battle. When a unit retreats, all Move-points will be used up.
4. Units in cross-border battles will still arrive at normal sector battles. They will arrive at the same time as other units that were not in a cross-border battle. Units that retreat from a cross-border battle will return to the sector from where they started movement. These units will be involved in any battle in the sector they started from (unless they were destroyed in the cross-border battle).
5. You don’t have to destroy the sector defences of a industrial center to conquer the sector. You just need to kill off any starships defending it. If there aren’t any, then you conquer the industrial center without damaging it – the industrial center lowers its shields to you! But if there are defenders, it might be very beneficial for you to damage or destroy the defences first.
6. If two attackers in an independent sector are hostile towards each other, the battle will be a 3-way battle; each side will attack all the others. His starships may attack you or the other invader. The one he attacks is random, same with everyone else's forces. For example, you have 10 starships, the other invader has 15, then for each unit owned by the independent, there is a 10/25 chance the independent will attack one of your starships, 15/25 chance of attacking the other invader. The same thing for which starships you will attack, etc.

Battle only uses move points if fought on enemy territory.  Therefore, there is no move cost for a cross-border battle, or a battle that occurs on friendly or neutral territory.

This step is for the ownership of sectors to change. If a sector is invaded, and all friendly starfleets are destroyed or have retreated, then the invaders will now own the sector. If a sector is invaded by more than one Empire, then the Empire with the greatest number of starships/admirals in the sector at this time must have a total combat of at least 10 (which means a lone siege machine cannot conquer a sector). Starships with cloaking ability have combat divided by 10 for this purpose.  This is because these are smaller units (a spy represents a few individuals, while an infantry starship represents a battalion of starships). If ownership changes, the following happens:

• If the sector contains a Harbour, there is 25% chance that the harbour will be destroyed in the looting that follows.
• No empire will have Special Permission with that sector.
• If a sector changes ownership, then any garrison for that sector will now be owned by the new sector owner. No starships can change sides with a change of garrison – they will all have died or retreated in a previous phase.
• The Damage Level of the sector will be increased +1, but this happens during Final events (to a maximum of 1 level increase per turn).

If two or more empires have starships in a sector, and the sector is to change hands, then it will belong to the country which has the largest total of starships in the sector. Eg Vulcan and Federation are allies; both move to Ro’ Schala, and conquer it. Vulcan has eight powerful starships, Federation has nine weak destroyers. Federation will get ownership, simply because nine is more than eight. The quality of the starships is irrelevant in determining ownership – quantity rules!

If your sector is conquered by another player, and that player doesn’t annex the sector, you have only three turns to re-conquer it, before your annexation is automatically cancelled.

This step is to perform all Pillage orders for all starfleets and garrisons. The ownership/annexation of a sector does not matter for Pillaging. To Pillage is to seize resources from a sector, which can cause devastation to that sector (increasing the damage level). The conditions are:

• Each sector can only yield revenue 1 time per turn. If a sector has already been pillaged this turn (in a previous Phase), then nothing will happen, and no revenue will be gained.
• A unit can only Pillage if it unit has at least 1 Move-point. If a unit has 0 Move-points, it can’t Pillage.
• The unit must be at the location indicated for the action, or it won’t Pillage.
• The Total Combat of all starfleets pillaging should be checked. This must be at least 10, or an starfleet cannot Pillage (in that case, the starfleet doesn’t have enough strength to steal from the inhabitants).
• You can pillage sectors you own. For foreign sectors, if you have Passage Rights or Special Permission granted by the owner of the sector, then you can’t Pillage it. ie you must be at war to pillage another player’s sectors, and you can pillage your own sectors any time you wish.

If all conditions are met, then the sector will be pillaged. This results in:

• Revenue Gained: The revenue of the sector will be gained and shared by the Pillaging units (this is explained better in Chapter 5). Pillaging a sector will mean that no revenue is gained from taxing that turn.
• Pillaging uses up all Move-points for the unit for the rest of the turn (it takes all the turn to scour the sector’s planets for valuables).
• The Damage Level of the sector will be increased +1, but this happens during Final Events (to a maximum of 1 level increase per turn).

This step is to check to see if the Movement Events should be repeated. If any unit has Move-points, or can perform valid actions, then Movement Events will repeat. In this case, there will be another Phase (so if the previous Phase was 3, then there will be a Phase 4). After all units have performed all their actions, there will then be 1 extra Phase, and then Movement Events are complete, and then Final Events will happen.

After all the Movement Events are complete, then there are the Final Events. These happen now.

This step is to check to see if the Damage of any sector is increased. Damage will occur if:

• Pillage: If the pillage action was successfully performed in the sector.
• Ownership Changed: If the ownership of the sector changed during Movement Events.
• Sector Battles: For each battle that happened in the sector, there is a 10% chance that there will be damage (this is not for cross-border battles).

If any of the above events happened, then sector damage will be increased +1, to a maximum of 3. The damage can only be increased +1 each turn (if multiple events happened, sector damage is still only increased +1).

This step is to perform all Send Resources actions, where you send resources to another empire. There is a cost of 10% of the amount sent, which represent transportation expenses and merchant fees. The recipient garrison can be owned by a foreign empire, or the same empire. To send resources, the conditions are:

• The receiving empire must have Acceptance of Yes.

• Your empire must be able to draw a chain of connected locations from one of your garrisons to a foreign garrison. A sector can only be used if you have Permission for that sector. Any available route will be used to send the funds. However, if there is no such link between one of your garrisons to the foreign garrison, then the resources cannot be sent.

This step is to pay the upkeep costs for your admirals, starships and ships. Admirals gain upkeep first. Resources used for upkeep will be lost. If there is not enough upkeep, you don’t necessarily lose half your
troops, but each ship not receiving full upkeep has a 50% chance of being lost.  So, you could lose half, or less than half, based on the chance of each ship.

This is for all starships built to be placed onto their garrisons. If there are not enough funds to build a type of starship, then the number to be built will be reduced to what you can afford. If the sector you were building in is conquered by another nation, you will not be able to build there. If your sector is attacked, but you successfully defend it, then you will be able to build starships there.

Remember that your HQ is not always precise in determining exactly how much surplus resources you have. If you have a surplus of two resources when you send your turn on, you can be confident that all of your purchases will succeed.

This step is for garrisons to hire admirals (only garrisons can do this). The conditions for this action are:

• A garrison can do this only 1 time per turn.
• There must be an Industrial center in the sector with the garrison, and your empire must have the resources required to hire a admiral.
• Your empire must not have the maximum admirals. Royalty players can have 5 admirals, while commoners may have none.

If the garrison meets all conditions, then a new admiral will be hired. This individual will have ratings in different skills, some admirals have higher ratings than others (you may get a highly skilled individual, or you may get an amateur). Admirals will improve their skills from successful battles.

Remember that your HQ is not always precise in determining exactly how many surplus resources you have. If you have a surplus of two resources when you send your turn on, you can be confident that all of your purchases will succeed.

When a sector changes ownership, it will remain annexed to the empire that it was previously annexed to. However, if the ownership of a sector is different than the annexation, then the sector will not yield revenue. In addition, if this continues for 3 turns, then the sector will become annexed to independents. This represents the decline and wasting away of the officials and infrastructure previously organized there. So, if you lose an annexed sector, try to recapture it in a few turns, because after 3 turns it will no longer be annexed to you (if you recaptured it after a long period, you would have to annex it again).

This step is for building/upgrading/repairing sector defences. The conditions for construction are:

• The unit must have successfully performed the Construction Action during First Events. That uses up the Move-points for starfleets.

• There is a cost in materials for performing construction, a unit must have all of the resources available now (these can be gained by transfers). These will now be used up by the construction action. This is usually 14 resources.
• 3 starships are required to do nothing but build the sector defences for their turn.

• For a garrison, the sector must not have changed ownership.
• For a starfleet, the starfleet must not have retreated or moved from where it was during First Events.

• You must have permission for the sector (annexation and ownership doesn’t matter). But, if you build in someone else’s sector, they will own whatever you build there.

• For building/upgrading sector defences, each sector can have its Sector defence Level increased only once per turn. Also, you can’t build more than the maximum sector defence level (12).
• For building/upgrading sector defences there must be starships present (this is not necessary for repairing sector defences).
• Each sector defence can be repaired only one level per turn.

For a unit that meets all conditions, the unit will now perform construction.

A sector could have it’s sector defence level go up twice in one turn, but only if it has damaged sector defences that are left in peace for the turn, and you decide to build another level of sector defence at the same time. Eg Your Fort is level 2, but it has suffered a little damage and is currently on Level One. The damage will repair automatically because the sector is not attacked that turn, and because you’ve ordered 3 starships to build there that turn, it will be on Level Three at the start of the next turn.

This step is for any resources left in your treasury to decay. At this time, 7% of the resources in your treasury will now decay, which represents pilfering, and frivolous expenses by your ruler as he lives the high life.

This step is to raze a sector defence level in a sector. Only starfleets and garrisons can do this. Resources can be salvaged from razing, which is indicated for each structure. The conditions for razing are:

• There is a requirement of workers required to raze a sector defence level. A worker is a starship. If there are not enough workers, then the razing will fail.

• For a starfleet, it must not have retreated or moved from where it was during First Events (including being loaded or unloaded).

• For a garrison, the sector must not have changed ownership.

• You must own a sector to raze structures there (annexation doesn’t matter).
• For razing a sector defence level, you can raze more than 1 level, but a maximum of four levels can be razed each turn. More than 1 unit can raze fortification levels, but no more than this amount can be destroyed in a single turn, due to the intense labour required.

If a unit meets all conditions, then the structure will be razed. Any materials gained will be placed into the storage of the unit (these won’t decay, because of course decay happened previously).

This step is for all sectors to yield revenue to your main treasury. Sector income is explained better in Chapter 5. The conditions for producing revenue are:

• A sector will only yield income directly to your treasury if you own it and it is annexed to you. Sectors that are not annexed do not yield any revenue (also, a sector does not yield revenue the same turn it is annexed). If the sector is owned by one player, and annexed to another, nobody will receive the revenue.
• A sector will not yield revenue the same turn that it changes ownership (there is too much disorganization across that sector).
• A sector yields revenue only 1 time each turn. A sector will not deliver any revenue if it was pillaged that turn (this happens during Movement Events). This is because the revenue has already been seized by another force.

At this time, all sectors will deliver their revenues (which the inhabitants have worked hard all season long to produce).

This step is to transfer the ownership of sectors between Empires. On the Diploware, you can give another empire a sector you own. In order for this to happen, the following conditions must be met:

• The recipient empire (the empire to receive the sector) must have Acceptance of Yes with your empire.

• The recipient empire must have a starship in the sector, or in a connected sector. This represents a token force that is needed to accept the gift and install some basic infrastructure in the sector.
• You may not gift more than two sectors to others in a single turn.

When ownership is changed, this won’t change the annexation of the sector, and will also not affect any sector defences or harbour in the sector (which will become owned by the recipient empire). Any garrison owned by the old owner will have all starships transferred into new units. So, you can’t use this to give away starships to another empire.

This step is for the revenue to be gained from any Proclamation that you made. When you make a proclamation, this will increase your prestige, resulting in extra production by your followers. Accordingly, you will earn 7 resources, which is placed into your treasury. In order to gain the revenue, the proclamation must be suitable, as explained in Chapter 5. Your population does not want to hear vulgarities, and the GM is reading...

This step is to repair the damage level of sectors. Damage represents destruction that occurs to crops on agricultural planets, population centres, sattelite networks, etc. that reduces the revenue you can gain from a sector. Each sector has damage from none (undamaged) to 3 (heavily devastated). The damage level is increased at the beginning of Final Events (this happens from pillaging, battles, etc.) Damage is only repaired 1 level per turn. For damage to be repaired:

• The Sector must not have changed ownership during the turn.
• There must not have been a battle in the sector this turn (cross-border battles have no effect).

• The Sector must not have increased damage this turn (from pillaging, etc.)

For sectors that meet these conditions, damage will be repaired 1 level at this time (this happens automatically). This step happens after revenues are gained of course, so revenues will be based on the damage level before damage is repaired.

This step is to establish peace treaties between Empires. If 2 Empires are at war, they can attempt to establish a peace treaty. This will only succeed if both Empires offered peace to each other. If this happens, then they will now be neutral. Otherwise, they will remain enemies.

This step is to cancel alliances. If 2 Empires have an alliance, then either Empire can cancel it. Only 1 Empire needs to do this, and then the alliance will be cancelled. If this happens, then they will now be neutral.

This step is to form an alliance with another Empire. If 2 Empires are neutral, then they can establish an alliance. Both Empires will need to offer each other an alliance. If this happens, then an alliance will be formed between them. Otherwise, nothing will happen. You can’t offer an alliance if you're at war. So, you can’t move from enemies to allies in the same turn, because that would take 2 turns (the first is to gain peace, and then next is to form the alliance).

This step is used to give or revoke Info Sharing with another empire. Each turn, your units will perform scouting, to gain reports of different sectors and seas in the game, and what is located at each. You grant another empire Info Sharing to share all of your scouting info with him, or you can revoke Info Sharing, so that you will no longer send your info to him. Scouting info is shown the same way on your Diploware, no matter where you got it from. Info sharing agreements are a good way to widen your knowledge of the known world. However, your Suzerain will always have your info, and you cannot revoke it from him (he does not need to share info with his Henchmen, because after all, his word is law, and his Henchmen only need to know what he wants them to). You can also use the Diploware to send limited scouting reports to another empire, but of course only Royalty can do this (this is another one of the privileges of having royal blood).

This step is to perform espionage, which is for agents to gather vital statistics about another empire (such as number of starships owned by that empire, etc.) There is a cost of 35 resources to perform espionage. An espionage report will be available on the target empire in your new turn. There are different types of information that you may receive on the report, but you may not gain all of the information available. This is an excellent way to size up a neighbor, and keep tabs on him.

Each ruler has limited prestige. A ruler’s personal prestige is vital to retaining followers and maintaining authority over the populace. Commoner status represents an undistinguished individual, of unremarkable qualities and bloodline, who is less able to gather a large following in his pursuit of empire. Royalty status represents a battle-tested ruler of royal bloodline, with great charisma, leadership, and other traits that mark a distinguished warlord. One gains this eminent status by simply contributing his GM fee, which is a modest donation that helps the GM with running the game. A ruler with Royalty status can control a larger empire and retain the loyalty of a greater number of followers than a ruler that is a Commoner. The limits are the following:

• Admirals: If a empire has more admirals than are permitted, then 1 admiral will resign at this time. Commoners may not have any admirals, while Royalty may have 5.

• Annexed Sectors: If a empire has more annexed sectors than are permitted, then 1 will become annexed to local forces. This does not affect the number of sectors you own, only the sectors that are annexed to you. Rulers that are Royalty can have up to 60 sectors annexed. Rulers that are commoners can have only 7 sectors annexed.

This is the last step. If there is a Empire that does not own any sectors or starships, then it is defeated. A Empire needs to have at least 1 sector or 1 starship, or it will be removed from the game. In this case, all remaining forces revert to independent status.

This step is for all units to send in a report of surrounding locations. Scouting happens in the following ways:

• Each sector you own will scout adjacent locations (both sectors and seas).
• Each starship you own will scout adjacent locations. This depends on the scouting chance of the starship (this is different for each starship). If a starship scouts a location successfully, then there is a chance that it will gain a scouting report of connected sectors, and the same with ships, except they only scout connected seas. For example, a starship with scouting of 30, and bonus scouting of 10 has a 30% chance of successfully scouting connected locations. For each sector scouted, there is a 10% chance of gaining scouting reports of all sectors connected to the scouted sector.
• Info Sharing: If a empire has granted you info sharing, then you will gain all scouting reports from that empire. You may be able to establish agreements with other nations, where you each share your scouting reports, to widen your view of the game map. Henchmen automatically send scouting reports to their suzerain.

If you see sectors with a skull and cross-bones on the map, you will know that you did not receive a scouting report of the sector this turn. Rulers that are Royalty are able to share scouting reports with other empires in the game.

Here are a number of concepts that are useful to know about, as well as details about how things work.

This represents currency, precious metals, di-lithium crystals and other portable items of wealth. You can send resources to another empire for diplomatic purposes. Resources are used for building starships, paying upkeep, etc. You gain resources by owning annexed sectors, or pillaging a sector (you don’t need to own it to do that). You can also gain resources from making a proclamation.

For construction activities (like building a sector defence) you need resources and workers. A worker is a starship. So, if a structure needed 3 workers to build, your unit would need to have at least 3 starships to build it.

You can see the total combat of a unit on the Location Report or Unit Plan (click on the status button). You can also see the total combat on the location report. This is the total Combat of all starships and admirals in a unit, added together. Each starship has a combat rating. Most starships have just 1 attack, but some starships may have more than 1 attack (the Attack is the number of times it can cause damage each round of battle). The total combat of a starship is the attacks multiplied by the combat. The total combat of a unit is the total combat of all starships. For example, a starship with 2 attacks, and a combat of 35, would add (2+35) =70 to the total combat of the unit. In battle, this starship type would have 2 chances to cause 1 damage each round of combat, and each chance would have a 35% chance of success.

All types of units can also be involved in battles. A battle is a conflict between 2 or more enemy units in the same location (units owned by empires with relations of war). You don’t need to know all details about battles if you are just starting out, but some important notes are:

• When planning an invasion, compare the total combat and total hit points of your forces against the enemy’s (including allies of each side). This is shown on the Location Report. This will give you a rough idea of the fighting strength of each side. If you bring stronger forces to the field than your enemy, you will probably be triumphant.
• Concentrate your forces together when attacking. The more starships you have, the quicker you will wipe out the enemy. The fewer the rounds of battle, the less damage your forces will sustain.
• For sector Battles, be aware of the Defend Sector defences option. Note that sector defences will add strength to the defenders, but a defender of a sector defence cannot retreat. Also, siege weapons can cause damage to sector defences. The more damage a sector defence has the less benefit it gives to defenders.
• Put the starships you want to take as casualties in the lower ranks (like Rank #1) and the starships you don’t want to lose in your higher numbered ranks (like Rank#5). Starships fight the same no matter what rank they are in. Ranks allow you to determine which starships will be taken as casualties.

There are 2 types of units in the game: Starfleets and Garrisons. Each unit has a number of starships and/or admirals. Each empire controls a number of units, which can be issued different orders. A brief description of each unit type is:

1. Starfleets: These are mobile groups of starships, which can travel from one sector to another, and invade enemy sectors. In addition, an starfleet can be loaded onto a fleet, and transported across seas, and unloaded onto coastal sectors.
2. Garrisons: These are similar to starfleets, but cannot move. This represents a unit tied to a particular location, with orders to remain there and attempt to control the surrounding sectors. Any sector that has a Industrial center and/or sector defence will have a garrison. Garrisons will always defend their sector, and will never retreat in battle.

You can examine the statistics of any starship type from the Location Report, or the Unit Plan. A Starship represents a space-going man-of-war that can be placed into starfleets, such as a destroyer. Each type of starship has different ratings and statistics. Important notes about starships are:

• Combat: This is the percentage chance that the starship type will cause damage during each round of battle. Damage means severely mauling an enemy starship in battle. For example, a starship with a Combat of 50 would have a 50% chance of causing damage each round of battle. There are modifiers to combat (this is explained in Chapter 6). Most starships have only 1 attack (an attack can only cause 1 damage each round). However, some starships may have more than 1 attack. So, a starship with 2 attacks, and a combat of 80, would have 2 attempts to cause 1 damage each round of battle, and each attempt would have an 80% chance of success, so it could cause up to 2 hits of 2 damage; and one that had a combat of 25 would have 2 attempts to cause damage, and each attempt would have a 25% chance of success.

• Hit-points: This is the Constitution of a starship, and represents the damage it can take before it will be destroyed. For example, if a starship has 3 Hit-points, it will take 3 damage to destroy the starship. A starship defended by a sector defence may gain a bonus to its Hit-points (depending on the sector defence level). A starship that has taken damage in battle may be scuttled at the battle’s end.
• Cost: This is the cost in resources to build the starship type, and are different for each type of starship. Heavily armoured starships will usually require titanium and other metals, starships will also require trained crews, etc. You may also be able to gain resources by salvaging some types of starships.
• Upkeep: This is the cost in Resources needed to maintain the starship type each turn. For starships that do not receive their upkeep, If there is not enough upkeep, you dont necessarily lose half your ships, but each ship not receiving full upkeep has a 50% chance of being lost.  So, you could lose half, or less than half, based on the chance of each ship.
• Move-points: This is the number of Move-points that the starship has. The starships in an starfleet will determine how many Move-points the starfleet has to move into sectors (the starship with the least Move-points will be the Move-points of the starfleet).

• Siege power: This is only for starships, and is the ability of a starship to cause damage to Sector defences. The more damage a sector defence has the less defensive benefit it gives to defenders.

• Cloaking: A starfleet that only has starships with cloaking ability can cloak itself. This is usually done for a force of scouts, which you intend to travel through foreign space, gleaning scouting info. When cloaked, such a unit will not be visible to foreign empires. Also, cloaked starfleets won’t fight in battles. However, cloaked units can be decloaked if foreign units successfully search and find them. When that happens, a unit will no longer be cloaked, so it can be brought to battle (your forces will only decloak neutral or enemy units, not friendly or allied units).

To build starships, go to the map screen and click on a garrison unit in the bottom section. Then go to "available orders" (bottom right side of screen) and select "build starships". A box will appear, showing you the limit of the sector; it might say 0/13. This means you have builded none, and can build up to 13 this turn. If you build two units, it will change to 2/11 (built two, can build eleven more). Pay attention to the price of your units. Make sure you don’t try to build what you can’t afford. The maximum number of starships you are allowed to build is equal to the maximum resource value for the industrial center, as displayed on the map.

You are limited in your builds to what may be builded in each industrial center. Major industrial centers are more likely to give you more options. You can build whatever is available to you in a given industrial center. So a Ferengi starfleet might have difficulty replacing its really fast starships when they finally arrive in Cardassia. But they will be able to build Cardassian ships there. Over time, this allows your starfleet to take on some of the characteristics of the peoples you invade.

The starships you build will not be available to you immediately. You are simply ordering them to be built. If you can afford them, they will appear where you requested them in your next turnfile.

If you wish to build different kinds of starships than those currently available to you, then conquer industrial centers in different regions, and see what you can build there. A list is not available here of what can be built in each industrial center, as it has been left as a pleasant surprise for you to find out as you play.

When your starships are built, they will be in a garrison. To move them, you will have to put them into a starfleet. If there is no starfleet to transfer them into, click on the garrison, then go to "available orders" (bottom right of map screen) and select "form new fleet", then click on the garrison and transfer the starships across to the new unit.

For taking over ownership of sectors, you need to have a total combat of at least 10.  Starships with cloaking ability have combat divided by 10 for this purpose.  This is because these are smaller units.

A starfleet can only change its cloaking one time per turn (cloak or decloak).  So, you can cloak on turn 1, then move into an enemy sector.  Then, on turn 2, you can decloak your unit there.  Your scout could
cloak on turn 1, then on turn 2 move into the sector and un-cloak.  On turn 3, the scout could cloak again and move out.

The movement costs are the same for cloaked units (2 to move into an enemy sector).
The only way for another empire to find your cloaked unit is to Search.  If successful, your unit won’t be cloaked anymore.  It will be a regular unit, and it can be attacked, etc.

It’s difficult to keep out spies.  One way to do it is to position starships with search ability on your borders.  Have them search each turn.  This will uncover any enemy or neutral scouts, so they won’t be able to move
further into your territory.  However, if decloaked on 1 turn, they can cloak the next and then attempt to move, although starships that search will be able to prevent their further movement by decloaking them that same turn.
Spy ships will not be kicked out of a sector once discovered.  They can only be decloaked (by the search action), and if that happens, a battle will occur like normal (if they are at war).
The search ability is the ability to uncover hidden starfleets.  Each starship has a search chance, which if successful will decloak all enemy starfleets in the location. Hunters are starships with enhanced search ability. 

A scout cannot cloak itself, move into an empty enemy sector, then decloak itself and capture the sector all in one turn, because you can only cloak/decloak 1 time per turn.

Sharing recon info with another player (from the HQ screen) will not decloak your cloaked scouts to other players. There is only so much info that one is willing to share! J

A cloaked spy can enter independent sectors – there is an automatic war between all players and independents, so it will cost 2 movement. Independents never Search, so even if they have hunting ability, they will not use it.

Ships may not pillage while cloaked, and must have at least a combat factor of 10 to do so when uncloaked.

Cloaked units cannot move and uncloak themselves in the same turn, but if they uncloak while enemies are in the same sector, a battle will occur.

Admirals are skilled generals that can be assigned to lead units. A admiral will give valuable bonuses to starships in battle. Some important notes about admirals are:

• Siegecraft: Each admiral has a Siegecraft rating from 0 to 100. A leader’s Siegecraft will affect the performance of siege starships in the unit (this is explained better in Chapter 6). Siegecraft can be increased from battles where the leader has caused damage to enemy sector defences.

• Starship Tactics: Each admiral has a rating in Starship Tactics. A leader’s tactics rating will affect the performance of the starships under his command, giving a bonus to starships in battles. A admiral’s Tactics ratings can be increased by victory in battle.

• Assigned Unit: Each admiral is always assigned to a unit you own (a starfleet or garrison). You can transfer admirals to other units you own, but not to foreign units.
• Leader: Each unit can only have 1 leader (although multiple admirals can be in the same unit). Only the leader will give bonuses to the unit in battle. Other admirals in a unit that are not the leader do not give any tactics bonuses.
• Combat: Admirals have variable hit points and combat. This represents the the admiral’s personal corvette starship. In a battle, admirals will always retreat if they are still alive, and there are no more starships in the unit. However, admirals can be taken as casualties like any other starship, and will be lost if this happens. Admirals will always be in the last rank, so to be taken as a casualty all starships in the first four ranks must be destroyed.
• Hiring Admirals: Admirals can be hired by garrisons when there is a Industrial center in the same location as the garrison. The admiral you get is unpredictable; some may have the skills you desire, while others you hire may be lacklustre.

Different admirals will have different combat potential and very different abilities.

Sector defences are systems of space stations, sattelites, space minefields and immobile firing platforms which can be manned by defenders in time of war. Each sector may have a sector defence, which gives a defensive bonus to starships defending the sector. These structures can be built, upgraded, or razed. The statistics for each sector defence level can be seen by examining it from the map menu (go to the Location Report for any location, then click Study, and then select the sector defence there). Some important notes about sector defences are:

• Sector defence Level: There are a number of levels of sector defence. Higher level sector defences give greater defensive benefits to defending starships. A sector defence can be upgraded to a higher level, or razed to a lower level (or razed completely). The highest sector defence level is 12, and this can be achieved in any sector, if you’re prepared to keep building. You may upgrade only one level per turn, if you have the starships and resources available.
• Build Costs: Each sector defence has different costs to build, in resources and workers. Also, you can gain materials from razing a sector defence (salvaging some of the materials used to build it).
• Actual Defence Level: The actual defence level of a sector is the level of the sector defence, minus the sector defence damage. For example