Stellar Combat:

In Stellar Combat, you take command of one or more ships and fly them out into the stars. Depending
on the goal you select, you might set out to explore the planets or to destroy all those who would
oppose you.

Set Up:
Grab the 27 Space Tiles and arrange them to form the map you will be playing on. You will want at
least 4 planets and at least 1 star. The exact layout isn't that important, so long as all players are
satisfied with it. You do not need to use every tile. Make sure that you have at least 1 Compass Rose
tile on the map (if you have more than one, make sure they are pointing the same direction).

Give each player the Captain meeples for the ships they are controlling. Under each Captain, put 3
fuel chips. Make sure each Captain is standing upright. Have each player choose a planet to put their
ship on. If a player controls two ships, they must put them on different planets.

Sit the Speed Board off to the side with its Compass Rose aligned with the one in the map. Each
player must put the Speed Cube for their ships on the Compass Rose of the Speed Board. Select a
game mode and begin play with the Burn Step.

Celestial Bodies:
An moon, planet or star is called a celestial body. Each celestial body is surrounded by a circle
showing its gravity. A blue gravity circle marks a planet, grey is a moon and orange is a star.

Ship Damage and Fuel:

The position of a ship’s Captain shows its level of damage. To damage a ship, move the Captain to the
next pose.
• Undamaged: Standing upright.
• Lightly Damage: Laying on its side.
• Heavy Damage: Laying on its back.
◦ Further damage means the ship is destroyed and removed from the board.
The Fuel Chips under a ship’s Captain belong to that ship; it can spend that fuel to fly around.

Gameplay:
Stellar Combat takes place over a series of rounds. In each round, all players play at the same time,
choosing actions for the ship or ships they control. Each round progress through five steps, as follows:

Supply Step: Each ship which is on or next to a planet may gain 1 Fuel Chip, putting it under that
ship’s Captain; if a ship already has 5 Fuel Chips, it can not gain more.

Burn Step: Each ship may pay one fuel chip to use its Fusion Thrusters, moving its Speed Cube one
space in any direction on the Speed Board. If a ship has no fuel ships, it can make a Emergency Burn;
damage the ship instead of paying a chip.

Drift Step: Every ship drifts through space. For each ship, imagine its current location was the
Compass Rose on the Speed Board; move it to where its Speed Cube would be. It moves in a straight
line, passing though every space in the way. Make sure the Speed Board is oriented properly.

If a ship passes through the art of a celestial body or moon, damage it. If a ship stops exactly on the
planet or moon, it lands safely; move its Speed Cube to the Compass Rose. If a ship stops exactly on
a star, it is instantly destroyed.

If a ship would move off the map, it makes an Emergency Stop; stop it on the last space it passed
through, damage it and move its Speed Cube to the Compass Rose.
Gravity Step: If a ship passed near a celestial body, it is pulled by gravity. For each space next to a
celestial body each ship entered or passed through during the last Drift Step, move that ship's Speed
Cube one space in the direction marked on that space.

If a ship landed this round, gravity has no further effect on it; it skips this phase.

If gravity would somehow take a ship’s Speed Cube off the Speed Board, instead move the ship itself
one space in that direction.

Laser Step: Each ship can fire its Laser Cannon to attack any other ship. If a ship attacks, roll the die;
if the roll is at least the Target Lock, the attack hits and damages the target ship. The Target Lock of
an attack is the distance between the two ships plus the distance between their Speed Cubes; do not
count the spaces containing the ships or Speed Cubes.

A ship can not attack if it acted during the Burn Step of the current round. A ship that is on a planet or
moon can not attack or be attacked.

Game Modes:
There are several Game Modes you can play. The chosen Game Mode sets the victory condition for
each player. The game continues until someone wins. Players are encouraged to make up new Game
Modes as they wish. To visit a planet, a ship must land on the planet or finish a round in a space next
to the planet.

Explorers (1-4 players): Each player controls a single ship. The winner is the first player to enter the
visit every planet on the board, finishing by visiting the one they started on. In a one player game, your
goal is to finish in the fewest turns you can. The Laser Step is skipped in Explorers mode.

Hostile Explorers (2-4 players): Hostile Explorers is actually exactly the same as Explorers, but the
Laser Step is not skipped. A player wins by default if all other ships are destroyed.

Feud (2-4 players): In Feud, each player controls a single ship. To win, a player must destroy all
opposing ships; last player standing wins.

War (2 or 4 players): In 2 player War, each player controls 2 ships; in 4 player War, each player
controls one ship and are in teams of 2 players each. To win, a player or team must destroy all ships
controlled by the other player/team.

Runner (2 Players): In Runner, one player (the Runner) controls one ship while the other (the Seeker)
controls two ships. The Runner wins if they visit of every planet on the board, finishing by visiting the
one they started on; the Seeker wins if they can destroy the Runner before this happens.

Copyright:
Stellar Combat is copyright 2019 by Nicholas Fletcher. All rights reserved.