Spectrum Cosmos - The Basics Concluded

Okay, you didn't read all of that. I didn't read all of that. It's not as bad as it looks, I swear. Here's the cheat sheet.

The Turn

1. Beginning Phase – Effects that begin, end, or trigger at the beginning of the turn do so.
2. Activation Phase – Players activate their units one at a time. During a unit's activation, it may move its speed and then do one of the following:

• Perform a Simple action on the unit's profile. If the modified Skill on the Simple action is at least 1, it is successful. One Command Card of the appropriate suit may be played, adding its value to the unit's Skill. If successful, resolve the action's effects immediately.
• Perform a contested action on the unit's profile, declaring an enemy unit as the target. The target must immediately declare a reaction. It can use a Default reaction, or play a Command Card to use the corresponding reaction with a bonus. The acting unit cannot improve its Skill with a Command Card. Assuming both action and reaction are valid, compare the Skill values of the action and the reaction. Only the ability with the higher Skill takes effect. The acting player wins ties. The successful ability is resolved immediately.
• Play a Command Card face down, declaring an enemy unit as the target. The target may play a Command Card in response or declare a Default reaction.
• Take no action.

3. Resolution Phase – Once all the active player's units have activated, the Resolution Phase begins. One at a time, the active player chooses a face-down Command Card to reveal. Actions are resolved in the same fashion as in the Activation Phase. This time, Command Card values are added to acting units' Skill ratings.
4. End Phase – Effects that begin, end, or trigger at the end of the turn do so.

Of course, those are just the basics. Spectrum Cosmos includes all the exceptions, contradictions, rulebreaking, and ambiguity we expect from a miniatures game.

Next Time: Meet the factions, and actual unit stats!