1
Check for encounter cards
If the offense has no encounter cards, discard entire hand and draw eight new cards, repeating until at least one encounter card is obtained
2
Note timing
Start of turn only occurs during the first encounter of each turn
3
Retrieve one ship
Take one of your ships from the warp and place it on any of your home or foreign colonies
4
Handle no colonies
If you have no home or foreign colonies, place the ship directly on the hyperspace gate
5
Mandatory retrieval
If you have a ship in the warp, you must retrieve it
6
Draw destiny
Draw the top card of the destiny deck to determine your opponent
7
Follow card instructions
The destiny card determines which player you encounter
8
Own color options
If you draw your own color, either target a foreign colony on your home planets or discard and draw again
9
Reclaim empty home planet
If you draw your own color and have an empty home planet, you may automatically re-establish a colony there with up to four ships
10
Redraw conditions
Discard and draw again if the indicated player has no home colonies or if you already have colonies on all their planets
11
Reshuffle destiny
If only one card remains in the destiny deck, shuffle it with the discard pile to form a new deck
12
Choose target planet
Point the hyperspace gate at any planet in the indicated player's home system
13
Commit ships
Place one to four of your ships from any of your colonies onto the hyperspace gate
14
Offense invites first
The offense states which players they invite as allies
15
Defense invites second
The defense then states which players they invite as allies
16
Accept invitations in order
Starting left of offense and proceeding clockwise, invited players choose to accept or decline
17
Commit ally ships
When accepting, immediately commit one to four ships from any colonies
18
Single alliance only
Players cannot accept invitations from both offense and defense in the same encounter
19
Decline freely
Players may refuse any invitations received
20
Select encounter cards
Both main players simultaneously select one encounter card from their hand and place it facedown
21
Defense redraw rule
If the defense has no encounter cards, reveal remaining cards, discard them, and draw eight new cards, repeating until an encounter card is obtained
22
Offense turn ends
If the offense has no encounter cards, the turn ends immediately and all ships return to colonies
23
Reveal simultaneously
Both main players flip their selected encounter cards face up at the same time
24
Attack versus attack
Both players calculate totals (attack card value + number of ships committed by player and allies); highest total wins, defense wins ties
25
Attack versus negotiate
Attack card wins; negotiate player collects compensation equal to ships lost to the warp
26
Negotiate versus negotiate
Allies return ships to colonies; main players have one minute to make a deal involving at least one card trade or one colony establishment
27
Morph card resolution
Morph copies the opponent's card type; two morphs result in both players losing
28
Offense wins outcome
Offense and offensive allies land ships on the target planet, forming or reinforcing colonies; defense and defensive allies send participating ships to the warp
29
Defense wins outcome
Defense colony survives; all ships on hyperspace gate go to the warp; defensive allies gain rewards (one per committed ship: draw from cosmic deck, draw from rewards deck, or retrieve ship from warp)
30
Play reinforcement cards
After reveal, any player in the encounter may play reinforcement cards to add to either side's total
31
Discard encounter cards
All played encounter cards are discarded after resolution
32
Earn second encounter
If you won or made a successful deal on your first encounter and have at least one encounter card, you may have a second encounter starting with Regroup Phase
33
No second encounter
If you have no encounter cards after resolution, your turn ends
