RftG

I have everyone's choices. This round we have:

omnis: Phase III - Settle
askye: Phase I (+1/+1) - Explore (draw +1 card, keep +1 card)
Connie Neil: Phase II - Develop
chrismg: Phase II - Develop

This round we'll do Phases I, II and III. Interesting, we have a full complement of goods and no one opted for Phase IV (Consume).

Phase I (Explore) is first. omnis and chrismg both get to look at 2 cards and keep 1. That's the default exploration. askye chose this Phase, which gives her one of two bonuses. She went for +1/+1 - she will look at 3 cards and keep 2. Connie is the only player with an Explore power - Malevolent Lifeforms lets her look at an extra card. She looks at 3 cards and keeps 1.

Cards are going out now. Everyone, please send me your choice.

RftG

Interesting, we have a full complement of goods and no one opted for Phase IV (Consume).

Probably because we all assumed one of the others would do it, since we all have items to consume. I know I did! Ha.

How many times can we do things per turn?

RftG

There are five Phases that can be resolved in a round. Each player chooses one Phase, so if everyone chooses a different one, there can be four Phases. Each Phase gets resolved just once in a round, no matter how many people chose it.

There is a 2-player variant, where each player picks two Phases. A player can select Phase II or Phase III twice in this variant; if they do, that Phase gets resolved twice in a row. But that's not in effect here.

RftG

Everyone has made their choice from Exploring. Next is Phase II (Develop). omnis and chrismg each draw 1 card. Everyone, please send me your orders. You can send me orders for Phase III (Settle) as well.

RftG

Orders for Phase II. omnis and askye both pass on playing a development. The other two both chose this Phase, so they'll get -1 off the cost of their developments.

Connie plays Drop Ships for 3 discards. This card adds 3 to her military strength, for a total of 8. This is sufficient strength to conquer any military world in the game.

chrismg plays Merchants Guild. This is a 6-cost development, but he gets -1 off the cost for choosing Phase II, and another -2 from Galactic Federation. He discards 3 cards as well. Merchants Guild lets him draw 2 cards whenver we resolve Phase V. Its value at game end will be 2 VP for each production world in his layout.

On to Phase III (Settle), for some worldly action.

RftG

It's now askye and chrismg who pass on playing a world. omnis chose this Phase, and he plays Galactic Trendsetters. This world can consume 1 good in Phase IV for a whopping 2 VP; most consumption powers offer a straight one-for-one exchange rate. He discards 5 cards to play it. He then draws 2 new cards - one for choosing this phase, and one thanks to Terraforming Robots.

Finally, Connie takes advantage of her newfound Phenomenal Military Power, and plays the Rebel Homeworld. This card needs 7 strength, the highest defence on the base game, and is worth all of 7 VPs.

That concludes Round 8! Round 9 begins with the choice of action cards. Everyone, please send me your choice.

RftG

End-of-round summary:

Round 8
omnis_audis
Layout
Epsilon Eridani (Non-Military World)
Rebel Fuel Cache (Military Brown Windfall World) + good
Interstellar Bank (Development)
Terraforming Robots (Development)
Gem World (Non-Military Blue Production World) + good
New Survivalists (Military Blue Production World) + good
Consumer Markets (Development)
Galactic Trendsetters (Non-Military World)

Cards in Hand: 6
Victory Points: 4

askye
Layout
Alpha Centauri (Non-Military Brown Windfall World)
Investment Credits (Development)
Comet Zone (Non-Military Brown Production World) + good
Prosperous World (Non-Military Blue Production World) + good
Replicant Robots (Development)
Empath World (Non-Military Green Windfall World)

Cards in Hand: 8
Victory Points: 5

Connie Neil
Layout
New Sparta (Military World)
Former Penal Colony (Military Blue Windfall World)
Malevolent Lifeforms (Military Green Production World) + good
Lost Alien Warship (Military Yellow Windfall World)
Export Duties (Development)
Trade League (6-Cost Development)
Drop Ships (Development)
Rebel Homeworld (Military World)

Cards in Hand: 3
Victory Points: 0

chrismg
Layout
Earth's Lost Colony (Non-Military Blue Production World) + good
Interstellar Bank (Development)
Contact Specialist (Development)
Spice World (Non-Military Blue Production World) + good
Avian Uplift Race (Military Green Windfall World)
Galactic Federation (6-Cost Development)
Pirate World (Military Blue Windfall World)
Merchant Guild (6-Cost Development)

Cards in Hand: 7
Victory Points: 3

VP Pool: 36

Phenomenal Military Power! Itty bitty living space.

Spartan living space, even.