General information:

The game as a whole is turn based. Each player makes his or her moves and once all players have posted or two realtime days have passed (whichever comes first) I, the GM, will calculate all necessary checks. Battles and other actions will all be mathematically calculated to ensure a fair game.
Factions are pre-built and will come with their own advantages and disadvantages as well as a unique special ability which can be used under specific circumstances. Players are free to choose one of 4 major factions or one of 2 minor factions (warning: playing as a minor faction provides quite a significant challenge.)

The rules of fleet and army movement:

The Galaxy is divided into various sectors. These each consist of a number of civilian systems, two or more gateway systems and a single hub system. Gateway systems allow movement to and from it and another gateway system in an adjacent sector. The hub system allows for movement between it and any other hub system controlled by the same faction. Each transition requires 1 turn to make.
Each player may move all or some of his or her fleets and armies one time during a turn. A player may also produce new fleets and armies at hub systems. An order is placed at the hub and after 5 turns a new force will appear with a default strength of 1.000. Each hub can only produce one force at a time.

The rules of combat.

Each fleet, army and system have their own strength rating. Fleets and armies have a base strength of 1.000 and a maximum strength of 2.000. System strength varies depending on the system’s importance and its maximum will be fixed at the start of the game. An army can be placed in a system as a garrison however which combines the army’s strength with that of the system’s.
Homeworlds start with a strength of 6.000, hub worlds with 4.000, gateways with 2.000 and civilian systems with 1.000. If civilian systems are also garden worlds, their defensive stregth is doubled. (2.000 instead of 1.000)

Armies and fleets that have been reduced to a strength under 1.000 will receive 50 strength for free at the end of each turn until their strength reaches 1.000 again. Systems that have been reduced under their maximum will receive 100 strength until the maximum has been reached again. Armies and fleets that are at 1.000 strength can still increase further at a rate of 50 per turn on the condition that they stay at a hub system.

Combat itself is very straightforward. The attacker’s total strength must overpower the defender’s. The victor will always sustain 50% of the loser’s strength in losses unless the loser’s strength is eclipsed in 2/1 odds or higher, in which case the victor will only lose 10% of the loser’s strength. It is possible to achieve such odds by using multiple fleets or armies simultaneously.
(For example a force with 1.200 strength fighting one of 1.000 will lose 500 strength. A force of 2.000 strength fighting one with 1.000 strength will only lose 100)

Fleets can only engage other fleets and armies can only perform invasions by fighting a system’s strength. If an army captures a system that originally belonged to another player, that system will become occupied. In the case of the recapture of an originally owned system, it will be liberated. (occupation and liberation are explained below.)
There are some special rules regarding retreating fleets, entrenched forces, liberating forces and planetary annihilations.

It is possible for a defeated fleet to retreat in order to avoid total destruction. For this to happen, the defeated fleet’s owner must be in control of the sector’s hub or the fleet must have been defeated in a gateway system adjacent to a friendly gateway. If these conditions are not met, the fleet is destroyed. If they are, the fleet will automatically move to the hub or the friendly gateway with 80% losses.

Entrenched forces are fleets or armies that have not made any moves during the previous turn. Any attacker will automatically lose 10% of the defenders strength before the battle is joined. Any army attacking a system will automatically suffer such a penalty seeing as systems are always ‘entrenched’. Take this into account before you commit your forces!

Garden worlds (life bearing planets) will always provide a liberation bonus to any force of its original (start of game) owners attempting to recapture it from alien occupiers. In this case the attackers will always receive a temporary 100 strength bonus from resistance movements rising up throughout the world.
Fleets can choose to annihilate an enemy system once they have entered it and dealt with all space-based opposition. If this action is taken, the ships will open fire on the world with their main weaponry, destroying all settlements and rendering any garden world uninhabitable. Annihilation negates any strength the system may have and therefore does not require an army to wrest control from the enemy. However, annihilations weigh heavily on Public Opinion. (which will be explained below.) If a hub world is annihilated, it will lose its ability to produce armies and VIPs but will retain its transportation hub capacities.

Public Opinion.

Public opinion is a special ‘resource’ all players (except the one playing the surge) have. At the start of the game, all factions have 750 PO. The PO minimum is -1.000 and the maximum is 1.000. Players can gain PO by winning space battles and capturing or liberating systems. A victory in space earns 10 PO, capturing a system earns 20 and liberating one gains 50.

Conversely, PO is lost for losing battles and systems. Losing a battle costs 10 PO, a system 20 and losing a hub costs 50 PO.
PO can also be lost when a fleet annihilates a system. Common systems will cost 50 PO to annihilate, garden worlds 100 PO and occupied common worlds 250 PO(as this means you will be annihilating your own people). Occupied garden worlds will cost a massive 500 PO.
Once PO drops to or below 0, a system in the player’s empire will rebel. One in each turn the PO total remains at or below 0. Any system without a fleet or army presence (excluding the player’s home system) can potentially rebel. Some are more likely than others to do so but this is stated in their system description unless they are occupied worlds, which are always likely to rebel when PO reaches 0 or lower.

When a system rebels it will overthrow its current owner and in the case of occupied worlds, return to its original owner or in the case of starting systems, form its own little NPC faction. For its defence, the system in question will retain the strength it had prior to rebelling.
Important: If PO remains at or below 0 for 10 consecutive turns, the player’s government will be overthrown by the people and he or she will lose.

VIPs and their actions.

There are three types of VIPs: Agents, Diplomats and Commanders. Each type has its unique uses.
All VIPs can progress through a ranking system, starting at 1 and ending at 10. Each successful action gains them 1 rank. These ranks make the VIP better at his or her job. Rank 5 and 10 however, offer the possibility to specialise the VIP by choosing a unique talent to better suit certain needs. These specific awards are detailed below.

Commanders are the individuals in charge of fleets and armies. Each fleet and army has one and they come freely with every new force that is created. Commanders provide a +10 strength bonus for every rank they have above the enemy commander. Systems do not have commanders but instead have a permanent rank of 1 unless an army is garrisoned there, which will cause the army’s commander to provide the rank. In the case of multiple armies or fleets taking part, only the highest ranking commander on either side will count since he or she will act as supreme commander. For each victory, the commander gains 1 rank. There can be as many commanders in play as there are armies and fleets.

Diplomats are public speakers who form a faction’s foreign policy as well as affect Public Order. They are instrumental in founding new alliances. No diplomat=no new alliance. Founding an alliance also counts as a successful action. Additionally, diplomats can attempt to either increase friendly public order or decrease that of the enemy. If they attempt to increase friendly PO, all diplomats regardless of rank have a 50% chance of success to increase PO by 10. If they attempt to decrease the enemy’s PO, they have a default 1/20 chance to do so with each rank above 1 adding to the odds. (for example a rank 8 diplomat would have 8/20 odds.) If they are successful, enemy PO will decrease by 20. There can be a maximum of 5 diplomats in play with any one faction.

Agents can perform discreet acts of espionage, sabotage and even assassinations. Espionage is the easiest to achieve and always has a 50% chance of success regardless of the agent’s rank. If successful, the agent will temporarily decrease the rank of any enemy VIP by 1 for the duration of the coming turn. Sabotage will allow the agent to damage enemy fleets, armies and system defences in preparation for an attack. It has a default 1/20 chance of success with every rank adding to the odds in the same way as it applies for diplomats. If successful, this action will damage any fleet, army or system for 200 strength. Lastly, the agent can also assassinate other VIPs. If successful, the enemy VIP is killed and in the case of a commander, his or her position is filled by a rank 1 replacement. Assassinations have an identical success chance as those of sabotage attempts but unlike sabotage, if the agent fails an assassination, the agent itself is killed. There can be a maximum of 5 agents in play for any one faction.

Diplomats and agents can be recruited in a manner similar to the production of fleets and armies. An order can be placed at a hub system and after 2 turns the diplomat or agent will join the faction.

Achieving Victory

Victory is achieved when peace returns to the galaxy, either through conquest or a grand alliance. This is no easy feat as it would no doubt mean the elimination of some, if not all opposing factions. Eliminating a faction and by extension a player from the game can be done in three different ways. (with the exception of the Surge who can only be eliminated through the destruction of their processor ship)
- The capture or annihilation of the faction’s home system
- The capture or annihilation of all the faction’s hub systems
- The overthrowing of the factions government through PO.

The Evonn union:

Start with (4 sectors +1 shared with Meirin Confederacy)
Allied with: none
At war with: The Accarian Republic, The Meirin confederacy
Faction traits:
- ‘Focussed Military’: The Evonn Union has developed a very streamlined system for resupplying, repairing and rearming their fleets and armies in the field. At the end of each turn Union fleets and Armies will recover 100 strength (to a max. of 1.000) instead of 50. Their focussed military however means that Union PDFs (Planetary Defense Forces, the baseline strength for systems) are often neglected in favour of the mobile forces. They only recover 50 strength per turn instead of 100.
- ‘the common enemy’ the union receives a 10-point PO bonus above the normal reward for every victory against an alien faction.
- ‘A house divided’: the union’s many worlds are often radically different from one another on a cultural level. Many worlds only grudgingly accept the dominion of the union for as long as they can be kept safe. Whenever PO drops below 500, there is a 1/20 chance that a system will rebel at the start of the turn. If it drops below 250 there is a 1/10 chance. If it reaches 0, two systems will rebel instead of one.
Special ability: ‘Order 221’ after losing an entire sector of its original holdings, the Union gears itself for massive military deployments and the recapturing of lost ground. They will receive 2 new fleets, 2 armies or 1 fleet and 1 army, each with 1.000 initial strength. (this ability is only applicable once per sector)

The Accarian republic:

Start with (3 sectors + minor systems in sector shared with the Alliance of nations) 8 fleets, 2 armies, 1 diplomat, 1 agent
Allied with: The Meïrin Confederacy, The Alliance of Nations.
At war with: The Evonn Union
Faction traits:
- ‘Meritocracy.’ Accarians do not value family lines or personal wealth and only promote their people based on their skill. Accarian commanders, agents and diplomats all start at skill level 2
- ‘Masters of technology’ The Accarians have always been a very curious race, driving themselves to excel in all fields of science and discovery. All of their fleets and armies can therefore rely on the most technologically advanced tools available. This means every new fleet or army created has 1.100 initial strength. However they take 6 turns to produce instead of 5.
- ‘Sacred Sentience’ Accarians hold all sentient life sacred and not just their own kind. Wiping out a colony reduces public opinion by x4 (for example 200 instead of 50 with common colonies)
Special Ability: ‘Vas-Tahm protocol’ after losing over 50% of any one galactic sector previously controlled by the republic, the Accarian government can greenlight emergency military production, granting +100 strength to every fleet and army already in play or alternatively: instantly found a new fleet or army with 1.000 strength. (this ability can only be used after at least 75% of the sector has been part of the Accarian republic for 10 turns or more)

The Meirin confederacy:

Start with (3 sectors+ minor systems shared in Evonn Union sector) 8 fleets, 2 armies, 1 diplomat, 1 agent
Allied with: The Accarian Republic
At war with: The Evonn Union
Faction traits:
- ‘Trader spirit’ Due to their extensive knowledge of trade routes, Meirin fleets and armies can make two moves in one turn provided that the first one is to or from a hub system.
- ‘Retooled fleets’ Being traders by nature, the Meirin have an abundance of trade ships available, many of which can be easily converted to warships in order to resupply the Meirin fleets in the field. Damaged fleets will recover 150 strength each turn instead of 50 until 1.000 strength is reached. (additional strengthening proceeds normally)
- ‘Brittle faith’ the Meirin were never prepared for a galactic war, let alone one they could lose. Every battle and system lost costs x2 PO
Special ability: ‘Executive command C-31’ after a Meirin hub system is attacked, the Meirin requisition emergency resources to quickly assemble a rag-tag group of retooled merchant ships, mercenaries and volunteers. A fleet of 800 initial strength is formed instantly.

The Zox Empire:
Start with (1 sector, - one dead system (starting location of The surge)) 6 fleets, 2 armies, 2 agents
Allied with: none
At war with: none
Faction traits:
- ‘The power of the clutch’ Zox will always be able to recover from any catastrophe that doesn’t wipe them out entirely. Advanced breeding programmes and streamlined production facilities ensure that fleet and army strength can never drop below 500. Sadly, Zox sense of honour and duty also keeps fleets from retreating even if they would have been able to.
- ‘Xenophobia’ Zox are extremely distrustful of aliens, especially the squid like Accarians. They cannot enter into an alliance with the Accarian republic. They are also quite prepared to defend their territory against the alien menace however and have a +200 strength bonus to all system defences. Their liberation bonus is also higher 200 instead of 100.
-‘Isolated development’ The Zox never had the chance or the willingness to exchange scientific ideas with other races. Sadly, this leaves their technology inferior to those of others. Fleets and armies are capped at 800 basic strength and at 1.600 maximum.
Special ability: ‘Call of the Monarchs’ The Zox civilian population rallies behind their leaders when their homeworld is threatened. If an enemy enters the Zox sector, two fleets and four armies are formed. (this ability is only usable once)

The Alliance of Nations

Start with: (1 sector largely shared with Accarian republic) 2 fleets, 1 army, 2 diplomats, 1 agent
Allied with: The Accarian republic
At war with: none
Faction traits:
-‘Explosive growth’ The Alliance of nations enjoys great support on their homeworld as long as the great news from the new colonies keeps coming in. As long as PO is positive, fleets and armies are produced in 4 turns instead of 5 and with 1.100 strength instead of 1.000.
-‘Fragile power base’ The alliance of nations cannot afford any setbacks lest the nation states of Ictar withdraw their support. All events which cause PO to drop count x2.
-‘Value of Allies’ On their homeworld, the Oyda quickly learned that it pays to have friends. Gain a +50 strength bonus on all forces for every alliance made. Unfortunately, the termination of an alliance will be a great blow to morale and cause the Alliance of nations to lose 100 PO.
Special ability: ‘Nations Unite!’ the various nation states of Ictar will band together if their world is in danger. For every one of the Alliance’s two original non-home systems that have been captured, an army of 2.000 initial strength will be formed on Ictar. (usable only once per system)

The Surge

Start with: 1 system (in Zox sector) (starting location for processor ship) 4 Swarms
Allied with: none
At war with: none
-‘collective consciousness’ all surge are one and all follow the central directive. The Surge also cannot use VIPs and instead have their swarm command skill locked at 5 as a standard. This also applies to new swarms. As a consequence of their lack of diplomats, the surge cannot join in any alliances. The surge also have no PO they can lose or gain.
-‘Multipurpose Units’ The surge do not have separate fleets and armies, all ships carry land platforms as a standard. Instead the surge can use their forces, called ‘swarms’ as both a fleet and an army. Unfortunately, the Surge are also unable to garrison any world against attack by armies. Then again they don’t really have to as any Surge invasion automatically annihilates the system, bypassing system strength.
-‘Garden preservation programming’ Basic surge programming does not allow them to destroy life bearing worlds. They must be conquered. The swarm will have to face the system’s strength as if it was an army. If the Surge are victorious any organic populations will still be slaughtered and the world will still be considered ‘annihilated’ for the duration of the game.
Special ability. ‘Processor ship’ The surge all gather around a single massive vessel that forms the foundation of their existence. If it is lost, they are lost. Technically speaking, it is a moving homeworld. The Surge can move the processor ship around like any fleet and even attack with it if they wish. It has a space strength of 5.000 but can only freely be healed back up to 2.000. However, sacrificing a swarm will deposit its strength into the processor ship, to a maximum of 5.000. The processor can also produce new swarms in 5 turns. Additionally, one turn is deducted from this to a minimum of 1 for every hub world annihilated by the surge. (in order to produce, the processor ship must be stationary for the duration of production)

The Evonn Union

The Evonn are a race of bipedal humanoids with a generally strong build. They have a skin colour ranging from pink to red and four, usually black eyes. Though completely lacking in body hair they can still adapt to a wide range of conditions. With current medical advancements the average lifespan is 140 years.

The Evonn Union is the largest single empire in the know galaxy. Internally they enjoy an immense prosperity brought on by the wealth of their core worlds. Trade is booming, education is on a generally high level and medical and technological progress is vast. The Evonn have a wide range of cultures within their domain though outwardly, they prefer to show a more standardised ‘state culture’, overseen by the central government on their homeworld of Idoa.
Despite their wealth and knowledge the Evonn don't like sharing with other races. In Fear of being divided by internal struggles, the Union focuses its attention outward, claiming the safety and security of the Union depends on destroying all external threats. This leads them to fight every space faring race they encounter and subduing them or wiping them out.

Their military is well suited for this task, fielding both the strongest land armies and space fleets in existence with formidable forces like the ‘Hell Birds’ jump troops and the ‘fury’ class battleships (the largest ships in the galaxy)

The Accarian Republic

The Accarians are a race of aquatic creatures originally from Acca. They have a very soft skeletal structure and seven tentacles, five for movement and two for manipulating objects. their body colour varies depending on the region of their homeworld they inhabit and can range from bright blue to dark purple and anything in between. Accarians that spend most of their lives on ships however, are usually pale pink. Their average age is 120 years.

Culturally, the Accarians are very diverse, having known almost all forms of government imaginable. All Accarians share one thing though, their thirst for knowledge and their desire to explore. Being aquatic creature’s, they know full well the meaning of environmental protection and clean technology. It took them hundreds of years before they could figure out ways to transport their frail bodies into space and colonize other worlds. To this end they build massive ships with intricate life support systems and large individual exo-suits for smaller tasks.

While the dominant Accarian philosophy is that of peace, their encounter with the Evonn Union forced the Accarians into war. They have accepted that they cannot defend their delicate worlds and water domes on the ground so the Accarians focus heavily on spacecraft. They can boast one of the largest and strongest fleets in the galaxy, fielding the massive ‘wraithshield’ dreadnoughts (the second largest class of ship in the know galaxy) and the impressive ‘murky water’ stealth frigates.
The war has also led the Accarians to look for allies in other races like the Meirin or the recently uplifted Oyda.

The Meirin Confederacy

The Meirin are large, strong, four armed creatures. Coming from the high gravity world of Uthun, the Meïrin have developed a very strong bone structure and an extra set of limbs. While they can walk on two legs their long upper arms act as supports and extra legs if need be. Their lower arms are much smaller but have more thoroughly developed hands. Their skin is hard and leathery, ranging in colour from dark brown to beige. A Meirin can reach the average age of 95 years.

The Meirin are traders by nature, always bartering for goods and even people. They seldom went to war throughout their long history preferring to pay tributes or merge with stronger nations voluntarily.
This tradition of trading continues to this day and the Meirin boast the largest trade fleets in the galaxy with ships of all shapes and sizes flying the intricate trade routes between their worlds.

Like the Accarians, the Meirin were forced into war by the Evonn Union. The Meirin managed to hold them off despite heavy casualties, spamming the Union fleets with freighters, hastily converted to warships. After contact with the Accarians their tactics changed and with the help of Accarian scientists they began building sturdy and well-armed, dedicated warships that continue to hold the line against the Evonn Military. ‘Boazac enforcer’ cruisers and ‘Nuthula Ranger’ artillery ships form the mainstay of their fleets.

The Alliance of Nations

The Alliance of Nations is the broad term for the governing body of interstellar affairs of the Oyda species. The Oyda are a race of bipedal reptilians. They have a scaly skin ranging in colour from brown to green with stiff spines on their heads and backs. Their average age used to be 70 but since the encounter with the Accarians, technology has boomed and Oyda are routinely reaching ages of 100.

On their homeworld of Ictar the Oyda are still divided in dozens of nation states with several different cultures and beliefs. The Alliance of Nations is a large organisation to promote the cause of peace between the nations, a result of a devastating world war. Before contact with the Accarians, the Oyda were in a period of significant development with the emergence of their first primitive space programs and the launch of their first satellite. After ‘first contact’, as the Oyda came to call it, progress exploded and the Alliance of Nations assumed control of all further space development. Only two decades have passed since then and two other systems have already been settled, the construction of their own ships is beginning and volunteers from all nations come forward to head the colonisation program.

As a voluntary measure to aid their first interstellar allies. The Alliance of Nations has formed volunteer military brigades to assist in the fight against the Evonn Union.

The Zox Empire.

The Zox are slender amphibians from planet Zoa. They have long slim legs and thin arms, while these are very suited to the swampy conditions of their homeworld they won’t do in the vast expanse of the universe. Therefore all zox that venture out of the comfort zones of their ships wear mechanical enhancements to strengthen their physique.

As a culture, the Zox developed in large isolated pockets on their homeworld. When these pockets eventually met it resulted in a series of devastating global conflicts, nearly ending their entire race. The culture that eventually came out on top was that of the Tokari monarchs, a constitutional monarchy where the lords were elected for life by an assembly of nobles. While the monarchs have now disappeared, their political and juridical system remains largely the same, with leaders elected by an assembly of officials.

In the age of space travel. The Zox keep an open mind to the dangers the galaxy harbours and have worked on building large fleets of warships and a dedicated professional army to defend their domain. On land they use lightning strike tactics with fast moving vehicles and highly mobile infantry constantly supported by air units and in space they field a large variety of battleships with a more clustered approach.
While all Zox hope these assets will never have to be used they still value their independence highly and are willing to defend it vigorously.

The surge.
The surge are a machine race first sighted near the edges of Zox Empire space. Their true origins and motivations are unknown but they have proven to be extremely aggressive in nature. They refuse all forms of diplomatic communication and will attack any ship or world they encounter. Cursory observations show that the Surge are a hive mind of sorts incorporating both organic and synthetic components into their ships and land-platforms.