Master of Orion II

1. Give Your Orders

When a new turn begins, it’s almost as though you were playing alone — you make your decisions, give orders, and so on just as you would during any other game: adjusting colonies, moving fleets, allocating research, conducting diplomacy, and whatever else needs doing. Meanwhile, every other empire (human or AI) is doing the same, all at the same time. Nothing you decide takes effect yet — it’s only recorded as your orders for the turn.

2. End Your Turn Multiplayer-specific

You signal that you’re finished by clicking the Turn button. In a multiplayer game, this is where the Turn Monitor screen appears, tracking which players have and haven’t finished yet — until everyone is done, those who have finished can sit back or use the Chat window (messages are visible only to other players who have also finished their turn). [Multiplayer only: waiting for other players and the Turn Monitor/Chat screen don’t apply to a single-player game, where the turn advances as soon as you click Turn.]

3. Orders Resolve Simultaneously

As soon as everyone has clicked the Turn button (in single player, as soon as you do), all decisions and activities take effect at exactly the same time — nobody’s orders get priority over anybody else’s. Part of what happens at this point is fleet movement. If any two fleets end up occupying the same system, or a fleet of one empire is sitting in a system colonised by another, the potential for combat now exists, and that has to be dealt with before the more mundane aspects of the turn can proceed.

4. Combat, If Any

Every situation with combat potential is presented one at a time to the two empires involved — no combat in Master of Orion II can have more than two sides, offense and defense. If the result is a fight, it’s resolved immediately in the usual fashion (see the Combat section); empires not involved in that particular encounter simply wait. Once a fight is finished, the game moves on to the next combat situation. The turn cannot advance until every one of these empire-versus-empire encounters has been settled.

5. Automatic Turn-End Events

With movement and combat settled, the turn’s automatic events resolve — the manual doesn’t specify a strict internal order among these, only that they happen as part of wrapping up the turn: colony production completing, research breakthroughs, random galactic events, and so on. If you play with the default “End of Turn Wait” setting on, the game stops here and waits for you to click Turn again before the next turn begins. If you turn that setting off instead, turns keep flowing on their own until either you stop the clock yourself or one of the following happens:

Feudal

A feudal government structure rests on the inherited titles and holdings of an elite class, somewhat as in medieval Europe. An emperor keeps the throne of a feudal government by balancing and subtly encouraging the rivalries between the more powerful members of this class.

• The morale of each planet under a Feudal government incurs a penalty of 20% until a Marine Barracks or Armour Barracks is built there. (Local troops are necessary to keep the serfs in line.)
• It takes 8 turns for a Feudal government to assimilate a unit of population in a conquered colony.
• Feudal populations will instantly assimilate if their colony is conquered by an opponent. (There is little loyalty to the central government, and local barons are always on the lookout for personal gain.)
• Due to the generally warlike nature of feudal governments, ship production costs are 2/3 normal.
• For the same reason, research is half the standard.
• If the capital of a Feudal empire is captured, the entire empire is thrown into a state of anarchy as rival claimants to the throne battle for supremacy. This period of anarchy lasts until a new capital is built. Morale suffers a 50% penalty during this period.

→ Confederation advanced form

The advanced form of a Feudal government is Confederation. Confederated empires receive the following benefits in addition to the usual Feudal characteristics.

• Assimilation of conquered colonists takes only 4 turns.
• Ship production costs are reduced further below the Feudal baseline (the exact fraction printed here was lost to a scanning artifact in the source PDF).
• Confederation populations no longer instantly assimilate when captured.

Dictatorship

In a dictatorial government, one individual rules the entire empire without having to answer to anyone else. Orders and decisions are enforced through a ruthless and efficient organisation, by any means necessary.

• Due to the increased internal security needed to prevent revolts, defensive spies gain a 10% bonus to every mission.
• The morale of each planet under a Dictatorial government suffers by 20% until a Marine Barracks or Armour Barracks is built there. (The presence of local troops is necessary to exert control.)
• It takes 8 turns for a Dictatorship to assimilate a unit of conquered population.
• If the capital of a Dictatorship is captured, a morale penalty of 35% is applied to all colonies until a new capital is built.

→ Imperium advanced form

The advanced form of a Dictatorship is an Imperium. Imperium governments receive the following benefits in addition to the usual Dictatorial characteristics.

• Assimilation of conquered colonists takes only 4 turns.
• The Defensive Spy bonus is increased to 20%.
• Your command rating is increased by 50%.

Democracy

The “democracy” form of government is not a true democracy in the classical Greek style, but rather a “representative” democracy similar to that of the ancient United States of America. Control of the government is balanced between its multiple branches, and the population enjoys the most personal freedom allowed under any of the known forms of government.

• Because of the emphasis on personal freedom, privacy, and civil rights in a Democracy, defensive spies operate under a 10% penalty.
• On the other hand, greater personal liberty makes the people happier and more productive, giving a 50% bonus to both research and per capita (tax) income.
• It takes only 4 turns for a Democratic government to assimilate a unit of conquered population.
• Democracies are prohibited from eradicating conquered populations.
• If the capital of a Democratic government is captured, the entire citizenry suffers a period of uncertainty and chaos. This results in a 20% morale penalty until a new capital is built.

→ Federation advanced form

The advanced form of a Democracy is called a Federation. Federated governments receive the following benefits in addition to the usual Democratic characteristics.

• Assimilation of a unit of conquered population takes only 2 turns.
• The research and income bonus is increased to 75%.

Unification

The Unification form of government is available to those scant few races that can exist harmoniously together without jealousy, envy, or concern for individual advancement. Each individual works for the good of the community rather than the self. The analogy is often made between a Unified government and a colony of bees. Though correct in some ways, this is a misleading comparison. Unified populations are neither mindless nor uncreative; some unknown characteristic (many have suggested genetic uniformity) simply allows them to forego competition with one another.

• Since every individual works for the good of the whole, there can be no traitors. This gives Unification defensive spies a 15% bonus.
• Unification colonies do not have morale as such. They do, however, receive a 50% bonus to food and industry production due to the harmonious nature of their society. This functions like a morale bonus.
• All morale effects of buildings are ignored by Unification governments.
• The vast societal differences make it difficult for outsiders to join a Unified culture. It takes 20 turns for a Unified government to assimilate a unit of conquered population.
• The loss of the capital is irrelevant to a Unified race. Unified governments neither have nor need a capital.

→ Galactic Unification advanced form

The advanced form of Unification is Galactic Unification. Galactic Unification governments receive the following benefits in addition to the usual Unification characteristics.

• Assimilation time is reduced to 15 turns.
• The harmony production bonus (to food and industry) increases to 100%.

Getting to the Design Dock

The Construction Orders screen’s Design button changes the mouse pointer; move it over one of the existing ship design slots (the names of the military ships) and click. This removes the current design from that slot and opens the Design Dock so you can create your own template to put in its place. If you change your mind, the Cancel button restores the old design. Changing a design has no effect on any existing ships, or on ships already partway through a Build Queue — you simply won’t be able to build any more of that particular design afterward (unless you design one just like it).

When you first open the Design Dock, it’s filled in with the current design for the slot you chose, as a convenience — you can start from there instead of an empty hull if you like.

Name

At the top left is the name of the ship template. Every ship built from this design shares the name. Click anywhere in the box to change it: use Backspace to erase the current name, then type a new one (space is limited).

Icon & Hull Size

Below the name are the Icon and Hull Size boxes. Click any of the listed hull classes — Small, Medium, Large, Huge, Titan, Doom Star — to use it as the basis for your design (the current class is highlighted). The amount of equipment already selected can make smaller classes unavailable until you free up enough space. Selecting a class fills the Icon box with that hull size’s default icon and notes the total space available in that hull; click the arrows beside the icon to cycle through the available pictures for the ship’s final appearance.

Automatics

To the right of the Hull Size box, these two boxes list all the ship essentials — engines, shields, armour, fuel cells, and computer. The best of each you have available is automatically installed on every ship you build or refit (you can click the shield or computer to install a lesser system and save on build cost). Drives and fuel cells even get updated on existing ships without a refit. None of these essentials take up space that could go to optional systems. At the end of this listing, the ship’s base Beam Attack (Ship Attack plus bonuses), Beam Defense (Ship Defense plus bonuses), and Missile Evasion ratings are shown; these can change as you add optional systems.

Weapons Area

The large central area lists all the optional weapons systems slated for installation. Each listing includes: Number (how many emplacements of this weapon), Dmg (damage each emplacement inflicts per hit), Arc (the arc of effective fire — the portion of surrounding space in which the weapon can target an enemy), Cost (production cost each emplacement adds), Space (hull space each emplacement takes up), and Modifications (any modifications chosen for these emplacements).

Specials Area

Immediately below the Weapons Area, this lists all the optional special systems slated for installation, each with its name and a brief description of its effects.

Cost Counters & Buttons

At the bottom left are the two Cost Counters, tracking the total production Cost of the current design and the remaining Space Available in the hull — both update as you add and remove systems. To their right are three buttons: Clear removes all optional systems so you can start with a clean slate; Cancel discards your changes, restores the previous template to that design slot, and returns you to the Construction Orders screen; Build places the completed design into the chosen slot and returns you to that screen, ready to start building immediately.

Weapon Filters

• Beam — Adds “beam weapons” to the list (though not all of them are actually energy beams). These reach the target immediately and generally have a range of potential damage. Beam weapons’ chances of hitting depend on the Beam Attack of the firing ship and the Beam Defense of the target.
• Missile — Controls the inclusion of missiles and torpedoes. These projectile weapons take time to travel to the target but generally do a predictable, set amount of damage. Barring enemy action, missiles and torpedoes never miss — but both can be diverted by electronic countermeasures (ECM), and missiles can additionally be destroyed en route by beam weapon fire.
• Bomb — Includes unguided projectiles and biological weapons. Bombs installed in a ship are only useful against planetary targets (though the Bomber special weapon does use bombs against enemy ships) — you cannot bombard a colony unless at least one ship in the invading fleet has bombs installed. Bombs do not miss, but the target of their damage is chosen at random.
• Special — Determines whether weapons systems that don’t fit the other categories are included — fighter squadrons and other unusual weapons.

Firing Arcs

• Forward — Targeting in a 120-degree wedge centred on the front of the ship.
• Forward Ext — An extended version of Forward, covering a 240-degree wedge.
• Back — Targeting restricted to a 120-degree wedge centred on the rear of the ship.
• Back Ext — An extended version of Back, covering a 240-degree wedge.
• 360 — The weapon can target an enemy in any direction.

Getting Into a Fight

As you explore the galaxy and colonise the planets you find appealing, sooner or later you’re going to run into a space monster or one of the other races. No matter how nice a person you are or how benevolent an emperor, in a galaxy as competitive as this, combat is unavoidable.

If one of your fleets encounters a space monster or an Antaran fleet, battle begins right away; communication is impossible in these cases. Space monsters are not intelligent enough to negotiate with, and the Antarans consider you no more appealing than a cockroach in their salad. The situation is similar when a hostile fleet invades one of your systems. If the enemy fleet chooses to attack, your defending fleet (any and all of your ships in the system at the time of the attack) scramble to meet the challenge.

If you do not wish to engage in combat, click on the Close button. This orders your fleet not to attack anything in the system, but does not prevent other fleets from attacking you as if you were an unwelcome intruder (which you probably are). If you want to attack something in the system, click on your intended target. There’s one restriction on your possible choices: you cannot attack an enemy fleet directly if the empire that owns that fleet has a colony or outpost in the same system. Rather, you must select the ground target, and the fleet will rush to its defense — this assures that the planetary defenses are able to aid the defending fleet in combat. If the opposing empire does not have a ground installation in the system, you can attack its fleet directly. Remember, if any fleet that includes no military ships ends up engaged, there is no combat — the support fleet is defenseless, and the opposing fleet destroys it out of hand.

When one of your fleets enters a system occupied by a fleet, outpost, or colony of another race, the circumstances are different. In these cases, you have a choice of actions. A window similar to the System window appears — this is the Combat Selection window. Of the planets in the system, those which have a colony or outpost are noted. If you move the mouse pointer over each, an intelligence report of the defenses there (orbital bases and ground defenses) appears. At the bottom of the window, both your fleet and any other fleets in the system are represented; move the pointer over each of these to see a summary of the fleet’s composition.

Strategic Combat

The combat takes place without requiring your input or attention, and the result is announced immediately thereafter. The losing side suffers 100% casualties. The winning fleet might also be damaged, but at least one ship (or monster) always survives.

Tactical Combat

If, when you set up the game, you chose to play with the Tactical Combat option turned off, you needn’t worry about the rest of this section — once circumstances or your decision determines the players for a battle, the rest is automatic.

If you did not choose to turn off the Tactical Combat option, then you control every ship in your fleet throughout the battle. It would be extremely foolish (not to mention impossible) for the emperor to physically take part in every space combat in the galaxy. Thus, your control over a fleet in ship-to-ship combat takes the form of a two-dimensional representation of the fighting space called the Battle Map.

The Map

A visual representation of actual combat events, with certain extra information overlaid. You can control the appearance of many of these overlays via the Options console.

Ships, orbital bases, monsters, and planets are represented by fairly obvious icons. Your fleet always appears at the left. The icons are not sized to a real scale, but rather a relative scale — larger objects are pictured using larger icons than those of smaller objects, but not as much larger as the objects are themselves. A mouse pointer enables you to direct ship movement and weapons targeting. Missiles, torpedoes, fighter craft, and other projectiles far too small to spot visually are represented by tiny icons. Beam weapons’ fire and the effect vectors of special weapons, though totally invisible in vacuum, are represented as if they were travelling through an atmosphere.

The Active is surrounded by a modest halo — the Active is that vessel (ship, base, or planet) to which an emperor is currently giving orders. The range of potential movement of the Active is shown (if the option is enabled) by a shading of the space around it, and the shield arcs of the Active are displayed (if enabled) as green lines. The movement grid used to calculate ranges to targets and movement is shown (if enabled) by a lattice of thin lines. Damage done to any target is displayed briefly, at the time of the hit, as a number floating near the affected target.

Active

The leftmost readout on the Command Console shows a schematic scan of the Active. Its identity is listed at the top, the strength of each of the four shield facings (if the Active has shields) is represented graphically around the schematic, and its damage status (if applicable) is shown at the bottom. If you control the Active, you can right-click on this readout to view a detailed report on its design.

Damage status is represented as three stacked bars: armour appears as the upper, blue bar (normally it absorbs damage before internal systems and structure, but it’s possible for the lower bar to show damage while armour is still intact); the left-hand, red portion of the lower bar represents remaining structural hits; the right-hand, yellow portion of the lower bar represents remaining internal systems hits.

Note that planets have neither armor, nor shields, nor structure points — see Attacking a Planet.

Systems

To the right of the Active readout is a related listing, the Systems readout. You can click on either of the filter buttons at the top of this readout; what appears depends on which filter is active.

Weapons lists all of the weapons systems in or on the Active, along with the number of each type installed. Each listed weapon has its state of readiness denoted by its colour, and if the Active is under your control you can manually cycle a weapon’s status by clicking on it: Armed (bright green) — the weapon is ready and the target under the mouse pointer is in range and inside its firing arc; Ready (dimmer green) — you can fire this round if you find an appropriate target; Standby (yellow) — used already this round or deselected, becomes Ready next salvo; Out (red) — damaged beyond use, destroyed, or switched off. (Functioning Point Defense weapons which are Out still fire at missiles and fighter craft, but not enemy ships.)

Specials lists all of the non-weapon special systems installed on the Active. Working systems are highlighted, and those damaged beyond utility are dimmed. This readout is for information only — you cannot turn special systems on or off manually.

Buttons

In the centre of the Command Console are several buttons. Auto turns control of your entire fleet over to the captains on the scene — combat proceeds without your guidance unless you click the button again, and even then the captains respond as soon as they safely can, not necessarily immediately.

Scan activates the Active’s scanning equipment; the pointer changes so you can click any object on the map for expanded data, as many times as you like, until you switch scanning off again.

Board instructs the Marines on board an Active under your control to attempt a boarding action against an enemy ship or orbital base (Marines cannot board planets) — see Boarding Actions.

Retreat commands an Active ship under your control to leave combat at its next opportunity (the beginning of its next turn as Active). The ship shifts into hyperspace and sets course for the nearest system in which you have a colony or outpost. There is no way to rescind a retreat order, and for obvious reasons orbital bases and planets cannot retreat.

Options opens a miniature console of combat control toggles: Self Destruct orders an Active under your control to destroy itself, causing an explosion that damages everything close to it (planets cannot self destruct); Missile Warning sounds a brief impact siren whenever a missile or torpedo is about to strike a ship or orbital base under your control, giving you a chance at manual countermeasures; Fast Animations speeds up the display of ship, beam, and projectile movements; Show Legal Moves overlays the Active’s range of possible movement on the map; Show Shield Arcs overlays the Active’s shield facings on the map; Display Grid overlays the range/movement lattice on the map.

Done signals the Active that you have finished giving it orders for this combat round — any unused beam weapons (except Heavy Mount) and movement points are reserved for defensive use. When you send Done to the last thing under your control, the enemy’s combat round begins. Wait orders an Active under your control to await further orders until you have finished giving orders to the rest of the fleet; you can do this for any Active with unused weapons or movement points, for as many vessels as you like.

Info/Target

The readout immediately to the right of the centre buttons has two functions. When the mouse pointer is over empty space, it shows further information about the Active — the types of drive, shields, armour, fuel cell, and computer used in its construction. When the pointer is over any object, it displays targeting data for that object instead (essentially the same information as the Active readout would show if that object were the Active). Since enemy Actives flash through this readout quickly as you move the mouse, it’s a useful way to quick-scan the enemy fleet.

Tactical Map

The rightmost readout is a long-range overview of the entire Battle Map, with the area currently shown in the full map outlined. Click anywhere on this mini-map to centre the full Battle Map on the chosen spot.

Beams

Beam weapons are not necessarily high-powered, collimated, narrowly focused emissions from violent, subatomic reactions, but most of them are. A few are actually projectile weapons, but the bits of matter involved are accelerated to such incredible velocity that they’re delivered to the target at nearly beam speeds.

Beams target only objects within their defined firing arc, and shots reach the target immediately. The accuracy of a beam depends on the Beam Attack of the firing ship, the Beam Defense of the target, and the distance the beam must cover to reach its target — beams are more accurate at closer range. Most beams also lose coherence over distance, thereby losing potential to do damage: range lowers both the minimum and maximum possible damage a beam can inflict. Each beam does damage within a predetermined range; the actual damage done is based on the accuracy of each shot.

Missiles and Torpedoes

Missile weapons and Torpedoes are quite similar. Both are pre-targeted, guided projectiles that explode on impact, destroying themselves in the process of causing damage to a target.

Guided projectile weapons have an unlimited targeting range; range has no effect on either the accuracy or damage of missiles and torpedoes. They do take time to travel to the target — the speed of the missile or torpedo determines how far it moves each combat turn, and this speed also adds to the projectile’s defense rating. Barring interference, guided projectiles always hit their target. Possible interference includes jamming equipment; missiles also face the prospect of being shot down by beams or anti-missile rockets (it is not possible to destroy torpedoes this way). Ships protect their missiles with the best armour their empire has available — enemy weapons must destroy that armour before they can damage or destroy the missile itself.

Most missiles and torpedoes do a set amount of damage when they strike; neither range nor damage to the projectile alters this. Proton Torpedoes are an exception to most of these rules: these projectiles act more like beam weapons, hitting the target instantly (“direct fire”) when launched, though in other ways, including damage, they’re treated as normal torpedoes.

Bombs

Bombs are unguided projectiles designed for atmospheric penetration, including both explosive devices and biological weapons.

Ships equipped with bombs can only use those bombs against a planetary target; Bombers (a type of fighter craft) can use bombs against both ships and planets. Bombs never miss, but you cannot choose a specific target when causing damage to a planet. Ship bombs have a maximum range of 3 combat squares; Bombers always drop their payloads at a range of 1 square.

Fighter Craft

Single-pilot ships launched from a larger ship (the carrier) are all considered fighter craft. There are four types, each with its own weapon and specific use.

All fighter craft are installed in ships and launched to a target in squadrons of four — you cannot separate the fighters in a squadron to direct them at multiple targets. Fighter craft fly to their target, use whatever weapons they have at point-blank range, then attempt to return to their carrier. Once safely back, any surviving fighters rearm, refuel, get repairs, and return to the same target (if it still exists); once their primary target is no longer valid, fighters select a new target unless one is specified for them. Fighter craft always attack from the direction of their target’s weakest shield facing.

Like missiles, fighter craft are vulnerable to beam weapons (though not to jamming); their speed and armour (the best available, as with missiles) both contribute to their defense. With the exception of Interceptors, fighter craft cannot engage one another in dogfights — they only target enemy ships, bases, and planets. Interceptors can attack enemy fighter craft of all types.

Other Special Weapons

Each special weapon has its own particular effects and characteristics — refer to the Research and Development / Tech Tree section for the details on these systems.

1. Shields

Shields are the first line of defense against damage. If the target has shields, whichever shield facing is hit absorbs as much damage as possible; the current strength of that facing determines how much damage it can absorb before falling. Once a shield’s strength reaches zero, that facing falls (at least for the rest of that combat round) and the remaining damage continues on. Note that if combat takes place in a nebula, all shields become inoperative, except for those on ships equipped with Hard Shields.

2. Armour

Armour is the second line of defense — a layer of ultra-tough alloy coats the entire hull and absorbs damage that might otherwise breach the hull and destroy vital internal systems. Armour also strengthens the ship’s (or orbital base’s) structure. When damage penetrates the shields, the armour absorbs as much as it can (generally speaking, a ship’s armour can absorb an amount of damage equal to the structural strength of the ship). Armour, once damaged, does not regenerate on its own — Cybernetic races, some ship systems, and some leaders make it possible to repair armour during combat.

3. Structure

Structure is what holds ships and orbital bases together. Any damage that gets past both the shields and armour has a good chance of hurting the target’s structural integrity. Any such damage lessens the structural strength of the vessel; when this reaches zero, the target explodes.

4. Internal Systems

Internal Systems are the basic functional parts of the vessel: the drive, targeting computer, shield generator, weapons, and special devices. Any damage that passes the shields and armour and does not do structural injury hits the internal systems. Which system suffers the damage is somewhat random, but larger systems tend to get hit more often due to their size. When any system takes enough damage, it is destroyed and the remaining damage moves on to the next internal system, until all of the damage has been applied.

Losing the computer eliminates any targeting bonus that system provided. Destruction of the shield generator takes away the vessel’s shields. If the drive is damaged, the ship’s ability to move is compromised; when a drive is destroyed, the vessel undergoes an uncontrolled drive reaction, and the resulting explosion destroys that target and damages everything within the radius of the blast.

5. Crew

Crew on duty inside a ship take certain risks. One is the chance to be killed by the consequential effects of damage to the ship: in addition to damaging the ship, each point of damage that penetrates both the shields and armour has a 2% chance of killing a crew member (Marine).

Attacking a Planet

Although the distinction is blurred in places, attacking a planet is not the same thing as attempting to conquer a colony. There are three things an invader can do to a world and its colony: doing damage to the military installations on the surface during ship-to-ship combat (covered here), bombing an undefended planet, and conquering through ground combat (the latter two are covered under Invading a Colony).

Planets often have defensive installations in place — Missile Bases and Ground Batteries — which can target your ships, and your ships can target the planet. The differences between planets and ships, for the purposes of combat, are few: planets don’t move or retreat; planetary weapons never run out of ammunition and always have 360-degree firing arcs; Missile Bases can fire missiles throughout combat; planetary shields absorb a set amount of damage from every attack and can only be destroyed, never weakened or damaged; due to atmospheric reentry effects, all ship weapons except bombs and missiles do only half damage to planets; ships can bomb planets directly, but other ships only indirectly, via bombers.

Targeting a planet with most weapons is no different than targeting anything else, though a ship can only drop bombs on a planet from within a 4-square range. When enough damage has accrued against a planet, that damage is applied to and destroys one of the defensive installations. When all of these installations are gone (and the other defenders have been defeated or routed, too), combat ends — that’s when the other ways of hurting a planet become possible.

Boarding Actions

Shooting at enemy ships is not the only way to remove them from a battle. You can also damage or even capture enemy ships through boarding actions — the Marines at your disposal are as effective at attacking an enemy ship as they are at defending yours from boarders. There are two methods of boarding a ship.

Immobility: any ship that is no longer able to move — its drive has been damaged, or some special system holds it still and allows attacks on it — is a valid target for a boarding action. Once an opponent’s ship moves into a square immediately adjacent to the immobile ship, that attacker can send over a boarding party of ship’s Marines (using the Board button); the emperor in command decides how many to send and whether they’re attempting to capture or raid the ship.

Transporters: any ship equipped with Transporters can send Marines into any enemy ship within a 12-square range, if the shield facing the attacking ship has fallen. The emperor in command uses the Board button, sets the number of attackers, then instructs the Marines to either raid or capture the ship.

Shuttles: any ship equipped with Assault Shuttles can send them to attack a target ship and attempt a boarding action. Marines on Assault Shuttles always try to capture the target ship.

The Marines boarding the ship and those defending it fight it out the same way ground troops do when a colony is invaded. When Marines attempt to capture a ship, their object is to kill off the entire defending crew; if successful, ownership of that ship changes. If the race that gained ownership is Telepathic, that emperor can use the ship immediately, in the same combat — otherwise, the side that captured the ship must win the combat to retain the prize. After combat is finished, the new owner gets complete control of the captured ship.

When Marines raid a ship instead, their goal is to damage internal systems (Marines cannot do damage directly to the shields, armour, or structure of a target ship). Rather than killing defenders, any damage the attackers do destroys one internal system — smaller systems are more likely to be destroyed. For this reason, raids are often suicide missions.

Invading a Colony — Orbital Assault

If you win the combat that results from attacking an enemy’s colony world, your fleet gains control of the orbital space around the planet, giving you the opportunity to assault the colony itself. (This is also true if you attack a colonised planet that has no defending fleet.)

The first decision that comes your way is expressed in the Orbital Combat Selection window. From the safety of space, you can attack the colony without fear of retaliation. The complement of ground forces and number of buildings on the planet’s surface are noted on the left; the number of bomb hits your fleet is expected to inflict and the invasion troops you have available are noted on the right. Depending on the make-up of your fleet and the weapons installed on its ships, a few different options might appear:

Bombard begins the orbital bombardment of the planet — once bombing begins, the Bombard and Invade options are replaced by Drop All (let loose with all bombs at once, skipping the bomb-by-bomb report and going straight to the wrap-up) and Halt (stop the bombardment and return to the Bombard/Invade options; you cannot undo bomb damage already done). If your orbital attacks eliminate the entire population of the colony, the planet returns to uninhabited status and must be recolonised the usual way — but as long as at least one unit of colonial population remains, you can still invade.

Invade orders all the ground troops transported by this fleet to make planetfall and attempt to conquer the colony; once you click it, you give up the chance for any further orbital assault on this planet this turn.

Mind Control is available if your race is Telepathic and there is at least one ship of size Large or bigger in the attacking fleet — it guarantees a bloodless conquest without the necessity for an invasion (you don’t even need Transports). You cannot mind control another Telepathic race.

Destroy is available if one or more of the ships in your fleet are equipped with a Stellar Converter, giving you the option to destroy the planet outright.

Close ends your attack on this planet and closes the window — use this first if you do not wish to attack the colony at all.

Invading a Colony — Ground Combat

Once you click Invade, there’s nothing more you can do: the Marines drop to the planet’s surface and assault the colony. As emperor, your action now is limited to watching the invasion on the Ground Combat screen.

Near the top of this screen, your advisors note the important statistics on both the defensive (right) and offensive (left) forces, each coloured to match the banner of the corresponding empire. Any advanced weapons technology, armour, and equipment gives ground forces a better chance of winning the battle, and thus is listed here. Next to the icon for each type of ground force are two bits of information: the number denotes how many of that type of troop is taking part in this fight, and the heart icons represent the number of times each unit of this type must be hit to be killed.

At the bottom, the actual firefight is shown. You cannot give orders to ground troops during an invasion — this is a win-or-lose situation, and retreat is not an option.

When the fighting is over, the outcome is noted at the top of the screen. If the invasion failed, the planet remains in the hands of its current emperor. A successful invasion transfers control of the world, the colony, and the remaining population to the attacking empire.

Assimilate or Be Destroyed

Having conquered one of the colonies of an enemy empire, you have a choice to make. (Note that some forms of government don’t allow you this choice.) You can begin having the existing colonists — the captured population — exterminated, or you can attempt to incorporate them into your empire. If you choose the former, your troops will comply, though your relations with all other races in the galaxy will suffer. If you decide on the latter, it takes time for the conquered colonists to fit themselves into your culture — how long depends on a few factors. Until they become assimilated, the conquered units of population produce at half their normal rate.

In addition to being less than productive, unassimilated populations remain a threat to your hold on the colony. Unless there is an Alien Control Center in the colony, there is a chance each turn that the conquered aliens will attempt to revolt (the more unassimilated aliens, the larger the chance). If they do so, they fight it out with your ground troops for control of the planet — a loss for you is a gain for the world’s old ruler, and the colony reverts back.

Command Rating

Enormous fleets can be devastating in their power, but they’re also an immense drain on the resources of all but the largest interstellar empires. Maintenance on the ships themselves, salaries for their crews, and the support infrastructure necessary to keep a fleet operational are all vital. An emperor, of course, should not be required to deal with the day to day, minute details of running the military arm of the empire. Rather, all of these minutiae are summarised for you in one overarching statistic: the Command Rating.

To see the breakdown on your Command Rating, click on the Command box on the Galaxy Map. Your rating is a number of points. Every orbital base (Star Base, Battle Station, and Star Fortress) you control adds to it. Those leaders you hire as ship officers also add to the rating. Every ship you build (except Freighter Fleets) uses points from this rating as a maintenance cost. The number of points a ship requires is the same as that ship’s size class (Small = 1, Medium = 2, and so on). Support ships count as small ships for the purposes of maintenance.

If you have enough Command Rating points to maintain your fleets, then everything runs smoothly. If you do not, everything still runs smoothly, but it costs you. For each rating point required by a ship that is not covered, 10 BCs come out of your income every turn. This makes building and managing efficient fleets nearly as vital as keeping your colonies on track.

Morale

Though morale is in some senses a colony by colony issue, its effects are felt throughout your empire. The colonists in every colony share an overall mood, which is expressed for your imperial review on the Colony screen for each colony. The morale of the colony as a whole is represented by a number of smiling or frowning face icons. No colony will have both at once, so you can quickly judge the status of that planet’s morale.

Why should you, as emperor, care whether your subjects approve of your method of rule? You hold the power of both the military and economic underpinnings of their livelihood, and any uprising would certainly bring instant starvation and doom. Thus, no colony (except captured ones) ever revolts. Yet there are less blatant ways for them to express their dissatisfaction — and their happiness. Every morale icon on the Colony screen represents a change of 10% in the total production output of the colony. Populations with high morale work harder, adding to the food, industry, science, and income of a world. Unhappy colonists get careless or slack off, and production drops drastically.

There are ways to intentionally change colonial morale. You can’t do much about your form of government, but many buildings and some leaders raise morale for a single colony or a whole system.

Note that both android populations and those under a Unification government do not experience high or low morale; in a sense, they are always merely content.

Contrary to what you might think, taxes have no effect on Morale.

Espionage

In this ultra-civilized, highly advanced galaxy, espionage is universally recognised as the natural and vital part of the art of diplomacy that it has always been. That doesn’t mean, however, that your attempts at spying and sabotage are appreciated by your opponents.

Every Spy you train and use can fulfil one of two functions. As an Agent, your spy goes off into the colonies of another race (of your choice, naturally). Undercover as one of them, the agent gathers information, tries to steal technologies you have yet to gain, or attempts to destroy some valuable piece of enemy property. As a Counter-agent, your operative roams inside your empire, ferreting out enemy agents and eliminating them. All your opponents have the same two types of spy.

The invisible wars that go on between your agents and enemy counter-agents and between your counter-agents and enemy agents are both deadly and silent. Every agent dutifully attempts to fulfil the assigned mission every turn. Most of the time, they simply fail. Sometimes, they are killed by counter-agents. In unusual instances, an agent might be killed and fulfil its mission. There is also a chance every turn that an agent will kill a counter-agent or succeed in doing the job. Whatever the case, the results appear quietly on your end of turn summary.

The rate of attrition for spies is high, and you should replace the eliminated ones regularly if you expect to have any success in the espionage game. Any agent’s success is noticed by the target race, and this invariably has an adverse effect on relations between the two empires.

Trade Goods

Trade Goods instructs the colonists to make items for sale to other colonies. The taxes on these transactions add to the income generated by this colony. Every 2 industry converts to 1 BC.

Freighters

Not every habitable planet is capable of producing food. That doesn’t mean you won’t put a colony there, of course, just that you must find an alternate way of feeding the population. There are buildings that add food production capabilities to even the most hostile worlds, but a well managed empire has ways of sharing the bounty of the more fertile planets.

Freighter Fleets are the most efficient method. Every time you build one of these, you get 5 support ships, each of which is capable of transporting enough food each turn to feed an entire unit of population. This transfer, like the freighters themselves, is practically invisible. (Freighters never engage in combat or show up on scanners.) It’s entirely automatic. As long as you have freighters available, these ships are assigned to transport whatever food is needed from colonies with a surplus to those with a deficit.

You can also use freighters to move units of population from one colony to another. In this case, each unit moved requires the exclusive services of an entire fleet — 5 freighters. These ships are unavailable for other use during the transfer period; before you transport colonists, make sure you still have enough spare freighters to carry the necessary foodstuffs. If you decide you have too many freighters, you can click on the Freighters indicator to scrap some or all of them — you get a few BCs out of it.

The key is to have enough freighters. Both the Freighters indicator (on the Galaxy Map) and the Empire Summary (on the Colonial Overview) show how many freighters you have and how many of those are still available. Freighters do not use Command Rating points or BCs for maintenance — they’re worry-free in that respect. A blockaded system, though, neither sends nor receives goods via Freighter, and all production in that system is halved.

Taxes

Income is crucial to the success of your empire. The production of Trade Goods and sale of excess food help, and treaties with other races can contribute, but your primary source of funding is taxation. To set your imperial tax rate, click on the Treasury box (on the Galaxy Map), then click on the rate you want.

Here’s the downside: every rise in the tax rate causes a corresponding drop in production at every one of your colonies. If your tax rate is an astronomical 50%, fully half your production potential goes toward taxes. It’s exactly analogous to having that percentage of your colonies producing Trade Goods — taxes just spread the loss across the whole empire instead of concentrating it on one colony. Contrary to what you might think, taxes have no effect on Morale.

Propose Treaty

Select this to offer your hand, claw, or whatever in one of several forms of friendship — see Treaties.

Break Treaty

This terminates one of the treaties you currently hold with this emperor. Keep in mind that breaking a treaty is not the same as a declaration of war, though it often leads to one.

Demand

If you want to make a demand or ask a favour of the other emperor, use this option — see the demand types below.

Offer Gift

Choose this if you want to try buttering up the other emperor. You can give away money, technology, or even one of your systems. If your goal is to demonstrate lasting subservience, you can also sign up to pay 5 or 10% of your income every turn.

Declare War

Once you enter a state of war with another empire, all treaties between you are cancelled. Fleets, outposts, and colonies are fair game for attack. Any fleet of one warring empire that sits unchallenged in a system colonised by the other combatant blockades that system — a blockaded system neither sends nor receives goods via Freighter, and all production in the system is halved. A war ends when a peace treaty is signed or when one side is defeated utterly or surrenders.

Surrender

At the end of your current turn, you surrender everything you have to this opponent: colonies, ships, money, and all. Your reign (and your participation in the game) ends then and there. Since this is such a momentous decision, you must confirm it.

Good Bye

This brings the audience to an end.

Trade Treaty

An agreement to allow commerce to pass over the borders between the two empires. This results in a short-term loss of income points for both sides as trade routes are financed, but a long-term benefit. Normally, it takes about 5 turns to reach the break-even point of a trade treaty. After that, both empires profit every turn as long as the treaty holds.

Research Treaty

Science knows no borders, except when they’re enforced. As soon as you allow them to, your researchers gladly share basic information, techniques, and data (though not full-fledged technologies) with those of another empire. This results in a short-term loss of income as you pay for lines of communication to be established, but a long-term benefit. It takes approximately 5 turns to reach the break-even point of a research treaty; after that, both empires get extra research points each turn as long as the treaty holds.

Peace Treaty

An agreement to end the current state of war between your two empires. One of the terms is that neither race will attack the other for a set number of turns — violating this has a severe negative effect on further relations. A peace treaty also negates those two empires’ ability to blockade each other’s colonies.

Non-Aggression

The pact of non-aggression is more than a peace treaty, but less than an alliance. Both sides agree not to attack one another, and relations between the two empires slowly grow more positive as long as the pact stands.

Alliance

The strongest treaty between two empires, and the one that causes the most diplomatic damage if it is broken violently. In essence, this is a non-aggression pact with a greater positive effect on relations — the longer the alliance holds, the warmer the friendship grows. Empires with alliances can use each other’s colonies and outposts for refuelling, significantly increasing the range of their fleets.

Conquest

Obviously, if yours is the only surviving race, as its emperor you rule the galaxy. Thus, you could win by conquering or destroying every colony of every other race — perhaps accepting an abject surrender or two.

Defeat the Antarans

An alternate method is to seek out and defeat the Antaran home fleet. This involves travelling to the Antaran home world, which is not possible until you have the right technology and build a Dimensional Gate. Once you defeat the awe-inspiring Antarans, all the other races in the galaxy recognise your overwhelming superiority and quickly capitulate. (This strategy is not available if you disabled Antaran Attacks when setting up your game.)

Galactic Council Election

The last and possibly most complicated method is to win an election of the Galactic Council. When nearly the entire galaxy has been settled, the threat of war over competition for the habitable planets becomes too great. The extant races gather and form the Galactic Council to prevent future war. The Council’s only order of business is to select a leader to rule the entire galaxy. Based on the size of each empire, the leader of every race is assigned a number of votes. Two contenders are chosen — those whose empires wield the most votes. How each race votes is determined on the basis of current diplomatic relations. If one of the nominees receives a full two-thirds majority of the votes, that leader becomes ruler of the galaxy and the game is over. Clearly, your intention is to prevent others from being elected until you can yourself be elected to hold sway over all of known space. Of course, there’s no way the council can force you to accept a decision you don’t agree with.