Recently picked up this game and it is quickly becoming one of my favorite games but I have a few questions.

1)Combat is a little bit confusing to me, specifically when you can play tactics cards. The way I interpret it is the attacker rolls dice, then plays one tactics card, then the defender can play a card to block damage then the defender rolls dice. Is that correct? When the defender rolls dice(essentially becoming the attacker) does he get to play a tactics card as the attacker or is the card to block damage the one card per combat round he is allowed to play?

2)When and how do you play an action card during the assignment phase? Do you place it face down like you do a mission with the leader on the card or do you just play the card at any time during the assignment phase so long as the leader is in the system you are playing it in?

3)Do you keep tactics cards after the battle? I have run into a few situations where one player hoards the cards and there aren't any left to draw in later battles.

Thanks in advance!

Hi.

1. First of all, you said "plays one tactic card" and to be clear and avoid confusion I clarify here that you can play more than one. The tactic cards can be played at the appropriate time regardless of who attacked. For example, you moved your troops to a system that has my troops, so you attack first. You roll your dice and while applying the damage you can play your tactic cards that do more damage. Then I can play the tactic cards to block that damage. Then I attack and after rolling my dice I can play my tactic cards to assign more damage and you can play yours to block damage.

2. During your assignment phase, you can at any time reveal you action card and do that action. The only one I can remember right now for an example is Ozzel's. During the assignment phase of the Empire, you can activate it at the start, or assign some leaders to missions and then use the action card to send Ozzel to a system and activate it right away.

3. You don't keep the tactic cards after the combat. When the combat ends, all tactic cards are shuffled together so all 15 space and 15 ground are available for the next combat.

Hope this can be of help to you.

That helps quite a bit. Thanks!

One important thing to remember is that for the defender, defensive tactics cards can be played after they have rolled their attack roll. Its not just limited to after the attacker rolls their attack roll. So, as the defender, if in your roll you get the symbols that allow you to draw tactics cards and you draw a defensive card, you can still use it to block damage from the opponent's attack.

One important thing to remember is that for the defender, defensive tactics cards can be played after they have rolled their attack roll. Its not just limited to after the attacker rolls their attack roll. So, as the defender, if in your roll you get the symbols that allow you to draw tactics cards and you draw a defensive card, you can still use it to block damage from the opponent's attack.

I don't think that is correct. Is there something that backs up that statement?

One important thing to remember is that for the defender, defensive tactics cards can be played after they have rolled their attack roll. Its not just limited to after the attacker rolls their attack roll. So, as the defender, if in your roll you get the symbols that allow you to draw tactics cards and you draw a defensive card, you can still use it to block damage from the opponent's attack.

What you say is that your opponent assign the damage to your units, and then you attack and you say if you draw a tactic card that blocks damage you can play it to "erase" that damage assigned previously, so for example you can save a unit that was destroyed?

I don't know if what I understood from your comment is correct, but if that's so I can tell you that you can't do that.

For reference, RRG page 5:

"Destroy Units: Each unit that has damage assigned to it equal to or exceeding its health is placed on the player’s faction sheet and is destroyed at the end of this combat step (either space battle or ground battle). Units on a player’s faction sheet still attack (roll dice) this combat round."

So after an attack, any damage not blocked right away is assigned to units and the ones that have equal or more than it's health are destroyed (if they didn't attack yet they are placed in the faction sheet to remember that they can still attack). But as it says, they are destroyed at the end of the combat round, there is no way at that point to block the damage and prevent that. That is an "advantage" that this game gives to the one who initiated the combat