Here's our dumb ass IRC conversation turned into some vomit draft rules. What do YOU THINK!
ADMIRALTY BLUE: THE BLUE PLANET GAME OF THEATER-LEVEL WAR!
You're in command! Build a fleet of customized warships. Assemble the strategic and political resources you need for your war effort. Choose your objectives carefully and deploy your forces to engage the enemy. As the battle shifts, consolidate your gains, repair your losses, and push towards final victory!
GAME COMPONENTS
You play the game with tokens and cards.
Tokens represent effects like damage, fatigue, or sabotage.
Cards represent the technologies, intrigues, and maneuvers of war. Some cards discard themselves when played, while other cards remain in play. Some cards are assets — ships and stations which exist permanently in the game area.
Each player's game area is divided into four zones: your deck, your hand, your discard, and your theater. There's a zone between each player's game area. This is the battlefield, where Engagements happen. There's a sixth zone, the Noosphere. This is where tokens and extra cards wait to enter the game, and where cards go when they're vanished (removed from the game).
Before the game begins, each player chooses a commander. Your commander lists a deck size (usually 30) and a starting battle group size (usually 5). Assemble a deck of cards no smaller than your commander's deck size, and a battle group of assets exactly equal to your commander's starting battle group size.
Choose three objectives. These will be your goals in the game. Place them next to your commander in your Theater.
You'll also need a supply of Scandal, Glitch, and Shortage cards. Place these in the Noosphere.
THE GOAL OF THE GAMEYou win the game when you complete one of your objectives. It's possible for both players to win, or for neither to win.
The game ends immediately after the first turn in which an objective is scored. Note that the game doesn't end immediately when an objective's scored!
WHAT'S A CARD OR A TOKEN LOOK LIKE?Here's a quick example of each type of card in Admiralty Blue.
A token has a name and a rules effect. For example,
FATIGUE: A card with Fatigue on it can't enter an Engagement.
STRESS: A card with Stress on it can't do anything that gives it a Stress.
A card has a name, a (Pull Cost), a set of Keywords, and game text.
UBUNTU ETHICS (1): Policy. White Ops.
Play this card in your Theater. At the beginning of each turn, your opponent shows you a secret card of your choice. If they do, you must show your opponent a secret card of your choice. If you cannot, draw a card.
Assets are a type of card. An asset is a card, so it has a name, a (Pull Cost), a set of Keywords, and game text. It also has an Attack and a Defense. For example.
EREBUS (8): 6/6
Asset. Destroyer. TEI.
EWAR 3. Shock 3. Threshold 2. Network. ETS. Sprint.
When Erebus enters the Theater, gain a Glitch and a Scandal.
Commanders are a type of card. Because they're a card, they have a name, a (Pull Cost), a set of Keywords, and game text. However, their Pull Costs are usually positive (+), meaning they grant rather than cost Pull.
You can't put commanders in your deck.
Many commanders have Abilities.
ADMIRAL ONYEKACHI TUWILE STEELE (+10)
Admiral. TEI. P-sensitive. 30 min/5 start
>(1) Search your deck for a Tactic card and add it to your hand.
>(1) Stress an asset. If you do, that asset gains Shock (x), where (x) is its Attack.
>(2) Vanish a card from your hand.
>(0): The next time an Engagement enters the Depart/Destroy step, return all Engaged assets to their owners' Theaters. Remove all tokens from these assets. Gain a Scandal or a Glitch. Use this
WHAT'S AN ABILITY?A line of game text that begins with > is an ability. Most abilities have a (cost), which is always listed inside parentheses. If you can't pay the cost, you can't use the ability.
An ability can be used whenever there's an ability window. Ability windows are described in GAME STRUCTURE Below.
IN SECRET versus ON THE PLOTWhen a card is IN SECRET, it's face-down. Only the card's owner can look at it at any time. When a card is ON THE PLOT, it's face-up. Anyone can look at it at any time.
A secret card can be put on the plot whenever it could use an ability.
Even when a card's in secret, it has to be clearly tracked. Your opponent can't ask 'what card is that', but they can ask 'is that the same card you played from your hand last turn?'
GAME SETUP
BEGINNING THE GAME
Determine the First Player by revealing Pull tokens in a closed fist. The high bid wins the right to choose First or Second Player. Both players must subtract their Bid from their starting Pull.
Place your commander and your three objectives in your theater. Add Pull Tokens to your Theater equal to your commander's starting Pull.
Shuffle your deck. Place it in your deck area.
Gather your battle group in your hand. Spend Pull Tokens from your Theater until you've played as many assets from your starting battlegroup as you wish.
Shuffle any unplayed assets from your battle group into your deck and draw five cards.
GAME STRUCTURE
Each turn consists of a few phases:
Admiralty
Battle Plan
Combat
Disengage
End
Remember, ABCDE.
There's an ability window at the start of each phase. Ability windows are a chance to use >abilities.
In each window, the first player activates as many abilities as they want. Then they pass to the second player to do the same. When both players pass in a row, the ability window closes.
ADMIRALTY
The first player conducts Admiralty, then the second player.
During the Admiralty phase, you play cards. Some cards will grant you (pull), such as
GENERAL ASSEMBLY APPROVES BUDGET (+3)
Event. Economic.
Gain +3. Discard this card.
Whenever you gain (pull), add (pull) tokens to your theater to keep track.
Spend (pull) to play cards from your hand. When you play a card on the plot (face up), pay its (pull) cost. When you play a card in secret, place any number of (pull) tokens on that card from your theater. When you later put that card on the plot (turn it face up), remove pull tokens from it until you've matched its cost. This is called PAYING UP. If there are pull tokens leftover after paying up, return them to your theater.
If you can't pay up, spend pull tokens from your theater until you've matched its cost.
If you can't, immediately discard the card.
There's no limit to how many cards you can play during Admiralty, as long as you have the Pull to pay for them.
Remember that there's an ability window before each phase.
BATTLE PLAN:
Beginning with the first player, players take turns declaring Engagements.
An engagement is a fight over an objective. In the Battle Plan phase, attacking ships are deployed to strike objectives, creating separate engagements in the Battlefield. These engagements don't resolve until the Combat phase.
To declare an engagement, execute the following steps:
Declare a target. You can target an enemy asset, the enemy's hand, the enemy's deck, or the enemy's discard.
Declare your attackers. Attackers must be ship assets. Attackers can be secret (face down) or on the plot (face up).
The engagement is now declared. Set aside the attackers to wait for the Combat phase. If the target's an enemy asset, set it aside too (even if it's not a ship). If the target's the enemy hand, deck, or discard pile, find a clear way to indicate this. These cards together form the Engagement.
The second player now has a chance to declare an Engagement.
After they're done, the first player can do so again.
There's no limit to the number of Engagements that can be declared, but no single target can be part of more than one Engagement.
If you commit all your ships to Engagements, be aware that you won't have any left to respond in the Combat phase!
Remember, there's another ability window before Combat!
COMBAT
The second player chooses which Engagement to resolve first.
As soon as an Engagement is chosen to resolve, the defending player may deploy ships from their Theater to join the Engagement. These are ships answering the reports of an attack. These ships are Responders.
All assets in the engagement MUST go on the plot (flip face up) if they have not already. Resolve this before proceeding.
In an engagement, engaged assets attack (A), suffer battle damage (B), check for destruction (C), and then depart (D) if still alive. Both sides of the engagement conduct each step simultaneously.
As in the larger turn structure, there is a chance to use abilities before each step of the engagement, obeying the usual first player->second player cycle.
Attack: Total up the Attack value of each side. Place Attack tokens into the engagement to keep count.
Battle Damage: The first player distributes the second player's Attack tokens across the first player's assets. Then the second player distributes the first player's Attack tokens across their assets. Each player is thematically maneuvering their ships to spread out damage and protect their vital assets.
Check for Destruction:: Assets whose Attack token count meets or exceeds their Defense are immediately discarded. Assets whose Attack token counts do not exceed their Defense retain those attack tokens as permanent damage.
Depart: Ships which remain return to the owner's Theater. If a ship returns to its owner's Theater, place a Fatigue token on it. This is very important! If you skip this step, your ships will be able to respond to the next engagement! Remember, a Fatigue token prevents an asset from entering an Engagement.
If any defending assets returned to the Theater, the defender wins the engagement. If no defending assets returned to the Theater, the attacker wins the engagement. Immediately resolve the following effects:
—If the target of the engagement was an asset, there is no further effect (although the asset has presumably been destroyed).
—If the target of the engagement was your opponent's hand, deck, or discard pile, resolve the related effect on your Objective cards, if any. This may include killing cards or gaining cards to your opponent's hand, deck, or discard pile.
Continue resolving Engagements until all Engagements are resolved. Ships in the Theater which participated in a previous engagement can be deployed as Responders unless a token or card prevents it. (Note that Fatigue tokens prevent ships from entering an engagement). No new engagements can be declared, so while it is possible for a ship that does not normally gain Fatigue (for example, the GTD Atreus) to participate in every declared engagement, it cannot then declare a new engagement.
Remember, there's another ability window before Disengage!
DISENGAGE
This phase proceeds exactly as Admiralty, except that Pull sources do not generate new pull. This phase is a chance to use abilities that repair or renew your forces, and to make preparations for next turn (in particular if your Objectives allowed you to draw more cards).
Remember, there's another ability window before End!
END
Remove all Fatigue tokens in play.
Remove all Pull tokens in play (you cannot bank money between turns).
Discard your entire hand.
Draw until you have five cards in hand.
Note that Attack tokens are not removed from damaged assets.
MISCELLANEOUS RULES
GAINING A CARDYou may gain cards during the course of a game. Gained cards are added to your deck (typically from the Noosphere). If a gained card does not specify 'gained to hand', 'gained to deck', or 'gained to discard', it is gained to your discard pile (and it will be shuffled back into your deck when your discard pile becomes your new deck).
Every card that you gain to your deck must be considered carefully. Since you will cycle through your deck many times over the course of the game, you want to draw your best cards as much as possible. For this reason, cards that can vanish other cards are very powerful — they can slim your deck down to the vital cards.
VANISHING CARDSVanished cards go to the Noosphere instead of the discard pile. Maintain a separate pile for each player's vanished cards.
NO MORE CARDS TO DRAWIf you ever attempt to draw a card, and cannot, immediately shuffle your entire discard pile into your deck.
CARDS YOU DON'T WANTGLITCHES
Glitch is a special card that can be gained to your deck, hand, or discard pile. Glitch reads,
GLITCH (0): >(0), [Engagement only]: Target ship you control gets -1/-1 and loses all keywords. If you discard this card from your hand during the End phase, gain a Glitch.
SCANDALS
Scandal is a special card that can be gained to your deck, hand, or discard pile. Scandal reads,
SCANDAL (0): >(0), [Admiralty or Disengage]: Spend a Pull token. If you discard this card from your hand during the End phase, gain a Scandal.
SHORTAGES
Shortage is a special card that can be gained to your deck, hand, or discard pile. Shortage reads,
SHORTAGE (0): >(0), [Disengage]: Attach this card to a ship. When you would remove a Fatigue token from this ship, instead discard a Shortage card attached to this ship. If you discard this card from your hand during the End phase, gain a Shortage.
KEYWORDS:These keywords appear on cards. If a keyword appears on a card, but isn't included in this list, it has no effect unless specified by a card.
EWAR X:
During the ability window before an engagement, add X EWAR tokens to your EWAR pool.
During the Attack phase of the engagement, EWAR tokens may be spent to cancel the enemy's EWAR tokens.
During the Battle Damage phase of the engagement, EWAR tokens may be spent on a one-for-one basis to cancel Attack tokens.
During the ability window before the Battle Damage phase of the engagement, EWAR tokens can be spent on your own Attack tokens to convert them into Point Attack tokens. Your opponent does not allocate Point Attack tokens to their assets. You allocate Point Attack tokens among the enemy's assets.
SHOCK X:
If any asset in an engagement possesses the SHOCK keyword, conduct an extra Attack, Battle Damage, and Check for Destruction step before the normal Attack Weapons step. These are called the Shock Attack, Shock Damage, and Shock Destruction steps. Only units with the Shock keyword may generate Attack Tokens during Shock steps. Only up to X Attack Tokens may be generated per asset, where X is in SHOCK X.
THRESHOLD X:
During the Battle Damage phase, the card vanishes the first X damage tokens assigned to it.
NETWORK:
I don't know what this does but it'll be cool.
ETS:
An asset with ETS may, as an ability, subtract N from any number or group of numbers on its card and add N to any other single number.
Read this as ETS: >(N points of Attack, Defense, and/or keyword abilities): Add N to this asset's Attack, Defense, or a single keyword ability.
This is probably ****ed up and game breaking.
SPRINT: An asset with Sprint does not gain a Fatigue token after departing an engagement.
OBJECTIVES
I'll make up some more objectives later. Here are a couple I pulled out of my ass:
THE WAR IN SOLWhen you win an engagement with your opponent's hand, they gain a Shortage to their hand.
When you win an engagement with your opponent's deck, they gain a Scandal to their deck.
When you win an engagement with your opponent's discard, they gain a Glitch to their discard.
When you win an engagement with your opponent's asset (and that asset is destroyed), gain a pull token and draw a card.
When your opponent resigns in irritation, this objective is complete (lol i'll make this better later lads)
CONTINGENCY HESTIAWhen you win an engagement with your opponent's hand, vanish a card from their hand. When you win an engagement with your opponent's deck or discard, vanish the top card of their deck or discard.
For each card you vanish in these ways, put a victory token on Contingency Hestia.
When you have ten victory tokens on Contingency Hestia, this objective is complete.
>(1 victory token): Draw a card or gain 1 pull.
NEGOTIATED TRUCEWhenever your opponent discards an asset during an engagement, place one victory token on Negotiated Truce.
Whenever your opponent gains a Scandal, place one victory token on Negotiated Truce.
Whenever you win an engagement as a defender, place a Pull token on Negotiated Truce.
When you have fifteen victory tokens on Negotiated Truce, this objective is complete.
>(1 victory token): Draw a card or gain 1 pull.
>(1 pull token from this card): Give your opponent a -1 pull token.
SOME MORE EXAMPLE CARDS SO IT'S LESS WTFA thirty-card Steele deck:
COMMANDER:
ADMIRAL ONYEKACHI TUWILE STEELE (+10)
Admiral. TEI. P-sensitive. 30 min/5 start
>(1) Search your deck for a Tactic card and add it to your hand.
>(1) Stress an asset. If you do, that asset gains Shock (x), where (x) is its Attack.
>(2) Vanish a card from your hand.
>(0): The next time an Engagement enters the Depart/Destroy step, return all Engaged assets to their owners' Theaters. Remove all tokens from these assets. Gain a Scandal or a Glitch. Use this
OBJECTIVES:
The War in Sol x1
Contingency Hestia x1
Screw the rules, I have beams x1
5 CARD BATTLE GROUP:
EREBUS (8): 6/6
Asset. Destroyer. TEI.
EWAR 3. Shock 3. Threshold 2. Network. ETS. Sprint.
When Erebus enters the Theater, gain a Glitch and a Scandal.
x2
PERSEUS SQUADRON (1): 1/1
Asset. Fighter. Capella.
Point Attack 1: This asset's attack is a point attack.
Screen 1: Fatigue this unit. If you do, cancel one attack token.
x2
NYX SQUADRON (3): 1/1
Asset. Fighter. TEI.
EWAR 1. ETS.
Point Attack 1: This asset's attack is a point attack.
Screen 2: Fatigue this unit. If you do, cancel two attack tokens.
DEIMOS BATTLETEAM (3): 2/3
Asset. Corvette. Capella.
Threshold 1.
When Deimos Battleteam would be discarded from an engagement, it returns to its owner's hand.
CHARYBDIS AWACS (1): 0/1
Asset. AWACS. Capella.
EWAR 4. Network.
After a defender Responds to an engagement, if you are the attacker, you may Respond.
30 CARD STARTING DECK:
6x
GENERAL ASSEMBLY APPROVES BUDGET (+3)
Event. Economic.
Gain +3. Discard this card.
4x
SECURITY COUNCIL PRESSURE (+2)
Event. Economic.
Gain +1. Draw a card. Discard this card.
4x
FORWARD DEPLOYED GANYMEDE (2)
Asset. Logistics.
>(1): Remove a stress token from a friendly asset. Use this ability only during the Disengage phase.
>(N): Remove N attack tokens from a friendly asset. Use this ability only during the Disengage phase.
>(Discard this card): Remove all tokens from a friendly asset.
6x
UNSUSTAINABLE OPERATIONS TEMPO (0)
Event. Strategy.
Choose one: Draw two cards, or gain +4, or draw a card and gain +2.
Gain a Glitch.
5x
SOC LOYALTY SWEEP (1)
Event. Black Ops.
Vanish a card from your hand.
Draw a card.
4x
CONTINGENCY PLAN (0)
Event. Tactics. TEI.
Pick one: Target unit gains EWAR 2, or target unit gains +1/+1, or target unit gets -1/-1, or target friendly unit returns to its owner's hand.
Play as an ability. Play only during an engagement.
1x
TIERED CONTINGENCY PLAN (5)
Event. Tactics. TEI.
Trash a card to play a Tactics event from your hand or discard pile (ignoring all costs).
Play as an ability. Play only during an engagement.
I forgot to do anything at all about ship customization which was supposed to be pretty central, lol. Whatever! Vomit draft!