RftG

Choices have been made. Here they are:

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

We'll be exploring, developing and settling this round. Phase I is up first. chrismg gets an extra draw, so he looks at 3 cards and keeps 1. omnis and Laga both chose the +1/+1 bonus and also get an extra draw from their layout; they both look at 4 cards and keep 2. Connie gets the bog standard draw 2, keep 1.

Everyone, please let me know which card(s) you keep. You can then send me COs for Phases II and III, which will be up next.

RftG

Everyone has made their choice. Phase II is a sedate affair. Everyone passes except chrismg. Interstellar Bank gives him a card draw at the start of this phase; Public Works gives him a draw afterwards. In between, he plays Colony Ship for 1 discard. In a later Phase III, he may discard this to play a non-military, non-Alien world for free.

RftG

There's more activity in Phase III. chrismg discards the Colony Ship he just played, to settle Terraformed world. This has a consumption power; consume 1 good for 1 VP. Aside from that, it's worth 5 VPs itself.

omnis plays Alien Robotic Factory. This Yellow production world costs him 6 discards; this not be cheap. (It is also worth 5 VPs.)

Laga plays Rebel Miners. This is a military world with 2 defence, which she easily overcomes. It's also a Brown production world. After playing it, Terraforming Robots gives her a card draw.

Connie plays The Last of the Uplift Gnarssh. This is a 1-defence military world; Contact Specialist means she can play it as a non-military world at a 1-card discount (i.e. for free). Just as well, as her military strength is -2. It's a Green windfall world, and has a good on it. Connie now has three Green windfall worlds, all with goods on them. She chose this phase, so she draws a card.

That concludes Round 8. Everyone, please send me your choice of Action card for Round 9.

RftG

End-of-round summary:

Round 8
chrismg
Layout
Epsilon Eridani (Non-Military World)
Public Works (Development)
Rebel Fuel Cache (Military Brown Windfall World)
Galactic Trendsetters (Non-Military World)
Galactic Engineers (Non-Military World)
Expedition Force (Development)
Gem World (Non-Military Blue Production World)
Interstellar Bank (Development)
Terraformed World (Non-Military World)

Cards in Hand: 3
Victory Points: 6
Layout Value: 15
6-Cost Developments: 0

omnis
Layout
Alpha Centauri (Non-Military Brown Windfall World)
Expedition Force (Development)
Comet Zone (Non-Military Brown Production World)
Diversified Economy (Development)
Plague World (Non-Military Green Production World)
Mining Conglomerate (Development)
Alien Robotic Factory (Non-Military Yellow Production World)

Cards in Hand: 1
Victory Points: 2
Layout Value: 12
6-Cost Developments: 0

Laga
Layout
New Sparta (Military World)
New Military Tactics (Development)
Former Penal Colony (Military Blue Windfall World)
Export Duties (Development)
Star Nomad Lair (Military Blue Windfall World) + good
Terraforming Robots (Development)
New Survivalists (Military Blue Production World)
Alien Robot Sentry (Military Yellow Windfall World) + good
Space Marines (Development)
Rebel Miners (Military Brown Production World)

Cards in Hand: 6
Victory Points: 0
Layout Value: 12
6-Cost Developments: 0

Connie Neil
Layout
Earth's Lost Colony (Non-Military Blue Production World)
Spice World (Non-Military Blue Production World)
Contact Specialist (Development)
Empath World (Non-Military Green Windfall World) + good
Reptilian Uplift Race (Military Green Windfall World) + good
Free Trade Association (6-Cost Development)
The Last Of The Uplift Gnarssh (Military Green Windfall World) + good

Cards in Hand: 4
Victory Points: 3
Layout Value: 6
6-Cost Developments: 4

VP Pool: 37

RftG

The menu for Round 9 is all set. We have:

chrismg: Phase I (+1/+1) - Explore (draw +1 card, keep +1 card)
omnis: Phase V - Produce
Laga: Phase V - Produce
Connie Neil: Phase IV ($) - Consume (Trade)

No one's interested in adding to their layout this turn. It's all about getting more - more cards, more goods. Phase I is first. Everyone except Connie has a card in their layout giving them a bonus peek. Since chrismg chose this phase, he gets both a (second) bonus peek and keeps one extra card. Cards are going out now. Everyone, when you're ready, let me know which card(s) you keep.

RftG

Everyone has made their choice. Phase IV (Consume) is next. chrismg and omnis have no goods, so they stay out of it.

Laga has a Blue and a Yellow good. She has no Consume powers that can do Yellow, so it remains untouched. She consumes the Blue good on New Survivalists for 1 card.

Connie chose this phase. She has three Green goods, all on windfalls. She chose to trade one, for 4 cards; she consumes another on Earth's Lost Colony for 1 VP, and then runs out of Consume powers that can do Green.

RftG

Phase V (Produce) is last.

chrismg produces a Blue good on Gem World, and then draws 1 card. He also produces a Brown good on Rebel Fuel Cache, even though it's a windfall world, thanks to Galactic Engineers.

omnis chose this phase and produces on 1 windfall world. He produces 2 Brown, 1 Green and 1 Yellow. Then he draws 1 card from Comet Zone. He produced more Brown than anyone else, so he gets 2 cards from Mining Conglomerate. He also produced 3 different colours, so he draws 3 cards from Diversified Economy. That makes a total draw of 6 cards.

Laga also chose this phase, and produces 1 Blue good on a windfall world with 1 Brown good on Rebel Miners.

And that concludes the round. (Administrative note: we exhausted the deck in the process. I've reshuffled the discards.) Everyone, please send me your choice of Action card for Round 10.

RftG

End-of-round summary:

Round 9
chrismg
Layout
Epsilon Eridani (Non-Military World)
Public Works (Development)
Rebel Fuel Cache (Military Brown Windfall World) + good
Galactic Trendsetters (Non-Military World)
Galactic Engineers (Non-Military World)
Expedition Force (Development)
Gem World (Non-Military Blue Production World) + good
Interstellar Bank (Development)
Terraformed World (Non-Military World)

Cards in Hand: 6
Victory Points: 6
Layout Value: 15
6-Cost Developments: 0

omnis
Layout
Alpha Centauri (Non-Military Brown Windfall World) + good
Expedition Force (Development)
Comet Zone (Non-Military Brown Production World) + good
Diversified Economy (Development)
Plague World (Non-Military Green Production World) + good
Mining Conglomerate (Development)
Alien Robotic Factory (Non-Military Yellow Production World) + good

Cards in Hand: 8
Victory Points: 2
Layout Value: 12
6-Cost Developments: 0

Laga
Layout
New Sparta (Military World)
New Military Tactics (Development)
Former Penal Colony (Military Blue Windfall World) + good
Export Duties (Development)
Star Nomad Lair (Military Blue Windfall World)
Terraforming Robots (Development)
New Survivalists (Military Blue Production World) + good
Alien Robot Sentry (Military Yellow Windfall World) + good
Space Marines (Development)
Rebel Miners (Military Brown Production World) + good

Cards in Hand: 8
Victory Points: 0
Layout Value: 12
6-Cost Developments: 0

Connie Neil
Layout
Earth's Lost Colony (Non-Military Blue Production World) + good
Spice World (Non-Military Blue Production World) + good
Contact Specialist (Development)
Empath World (Non-Military Green Windfall World)
Reptilian Uplift Race (Military Green Windfall World)
Free Trade Association (6-Cost Development)
The Last Of The Uplift Gnarssh (Military Green Windfall World) + good

Cards in Hand: 9
Victory Points: 4
Layout Value: 6
6-Cost Developments: 4

VP Pool: 36

Not much change from last round; just more goods and 1 more VP consumed.

RftG

Here are the Action cards for Round 10:

chrismg: Phase IV (x2) - Consume (double VPs)
omnis: Phase IV (x2) - Consume (double VPs)
Laga: Phase II - Develop
Connie Neil: Phase III - Settle

Everyone, if you haven't put in COs for Phases II and III, please do so now.

RftG

We have some orders. Now, Laga chose Phase II. After she plays her development, she'll have 11 cards in her layout. If she plays a world in Phase III as well, she will reach 12 cards and trigger the game end after we resolve this round.

chrismg passes on Phase II. It earns his disdain. Well, not quite. Interstellar Bank still means he gets a card draw from it.

omnis, on the other hand, is diving right in, playing Merchant Guild. This is a 6-cost development, so he tosses 6 cards to play it. This card lats him draw 2 cards each Phase V. At game end, it will give him 2 VPs for each production world in his layout. He has three such worlds, so it's worth 6 VPs at the moment.

Laga also has her eye on the sixers. She plays Galactic Imperium for Evil Empire status. As she chose this phase, she only pays 5 discards. This card gives her +4 military strength, but only when playing Rebel military worlds. At game end, it'll be worth 2 VPs per Rebel military world and 1 VP for each other military world.

Connie plays Replicant Robots for 4 discards. She now gets -2 cost to play any non-military world.

At this point, player scores range from 16 (the lowest) to 21 (the highest). Phase III is next.