A couple of questions

[JoniK]

I recently acquired this game and have come across a couple of questions that I didn't find the answer for in the manual. I'd appreciate it if anyone could clarify these for me. Forgive me if they've been asked before. Here goes:

1. In an encounter, can allies (by allies I mean players who have accepted attacking or defending player's invite) use their special power? For example, someone is attacking someone. The attacker has Anti-Matter as his ally. So now that Anti-Matter is the attacker's ally, does Anti-Matter's power (if both sides play attack cards, lower total wins) come into effect in this encounter? Also, if allies can use their special powers in encounters, in which order are the powers used?

2. This question was already asked and answered in an other thread, but it still left me uncertain. So I ask: I am the red player. I get orders to attack the blue planet system. However, the player whose home system is the blue planet system has no colonies left there. All the planets in his home system have colonies of other players. What will I do?

I realize the answers to these questions might seem obvious to seasoned CE players, but I would be glad to have answers to them.

[hooded_paladin]

1. Allies can use their alien powers if they apply to the situation. The last bullet point on the alien power card will tell you when the power applies, which is sometimes redundant but a good clarifier. The Zombie's power, immortality, applies whenever it would lose ships to the warp, so it applies when it allies, but since the oracle's power of foreseeing only occurs when it is a main player about to play encounter cards, this power is not used when oracle allies with someone.

2. When you draw a color, it orders you to attack that color system, and only that color's colony if there is one on the planet. If you point the mothership at a planet that has no ships on it, the owner of the system defends the planet with no ships - adding 0 to his/her card value. If you point the mothership at, say, a blue planet with no blue ships and some yellow ships on it, the yellow ships are ignored and blue defends the planet with no ships. You then land on the planet (if successful) and leave the yellow ships there.

[JoniK]

Thanks for the answers. I think pretty much everything about the game is now clear to me.

[Maj.Striker]

Just for clarification, if there are both blue and yellow ships on the planet and red (and green as an ally) attack the planet since it is in blue's sector. Yellow decides to ally with blue to defend...the forces on the planet, those are involved in the combat, right? Also, how many additional ships may Yellow bring in his little boat?

[Dean]

Just for clarification, if there are both blue and yellow ships on the planet and red (and green as an ally) attack the planet since it is in blue's sector. Yellow decides to ally with blue to defend...the forces on the planet, those are involved in the combat, right? Also, how many additional ships may Yellow bring in his little boat?

Almost right. The only forces that are being attacked on the planet are the blue forces. If blue looses, only the blue ships are forced to leave the planet. If yellow wishes to help defend blue (and why not...they certainly wouldn't gain anything if they helped the attacker!), they would have to place 1 to 4 ships on their defensive carrier. Ironically, if yellow removed their ships from the planet that blue is defending, yellow would loose that colony and would have to put their ships (if they won) elsewhere!