I just picked up CE, and my friends and I were playing within an hour of its arrival at the store. A big fan of the game since EON days, I want to thank all involved for putting together a great revision. We had a blast.

Now for a few questions to kick off the inevitable FAQ

We divine from the rules text, that being "offense" or "defense" means you are a main player even if the term "as a main player" isn't specifically used. However there are some powers/cards (Warrior for example) that say "win an encounter". Do you still have to be a main player to "win an encounter", or would winning as an ally satisfy that?

What happens to the Warrior's tokens, Miser's hoard, and Citadels...if the Power is lost for lack of home bases? Would they stay "inactive" in case the power use returns, or be discarded and start over if the Power reactivates?

In the case of the Void; Is there any case where ships lost would return to the game? Such as the Void losing the use of its power, or leaving the game entirely (ie reincarnated).

Thanks in advance. Looking forward to more CE expansions.

I had a nice little multi-quote post set up, but this forum system doesn't seem to be as advanced as most other ones and completely muffed it up. So here're your answers in a list format:

1. "Winning an encounter" does imply that you are a main player.
2. Things that you've collected through your power are not lost when you lose the power, just "frozen". If you completely lose the power (such as reincarnating), then I think they get tossed out.
3. Voided ships cannot re-enter the game; removing Void just makes sure no new ships are eradicated.

Toomai said:

That was our call as well, barring official clarification.

Just wanted to put those questions out there for the FFG game, rather than assume the same from previous incarnations of CE.

It should also be noted that Healer can heal ships as they are being whacked by the Void. But once the ships are out of the game, they are pretty much out of the game for good.

He can? Does FFG clarify this? I always assumed Healer and Void activated at the same time and used the timing conflict resolution rules.

And, while I know this is means nothing in relation to the FFG game, I think Void precedes Healer in the online game, but I'm not completely sure. I personally like it that way so Void isn't so crippled.

In CEO, Healer's power is activated at the very end of an encounter, so Void gets the initiative. However, in the physical game, Healer heals instantly. So he can heal people just before they get eradicated.

I"m old school, and the original Eon version has "you can heal from the Void" right in the power description and that's always how we've played it. The FFG version says "heal ships removed from game" which I believe is meant to account for Void (but any other things coming down the road that could remove ships from the game). I suppose one could invoke timing rules to make for a more succinct interpretation (I for one try to stay away from the timing rules as much as I can, but it's certainly a valid point). As for making Void weaker... he is a tiny bit weaker in that he can't remove anyone from the game... and the Healer's involvement is certainly a factor (but sometimes it's in his best interest to see people having ships kicked out- especially when Tech is being used and ship resources are that much more important).

An encounter is between the offensive player and the defensive player. Allies help, but to win an encounter you need to be the offensive or defensive player.

Ah, thanks for the explanation. I had a complete Eon set once upon a time that only got played on a handful of occasions, but poor grad students can't be collectors. Had to dump it to pay for the new set, which looks to be well worth it, especially if expansions are of the same quality.