RftG

Phase III (Settle). omnis and Laga pass.

Connie plays Alien Robot Scot Ship. This is a 4-defence military Yellow windfall world, that gives +1 strength. She then draws 1 card for choosing this phase.

Ryan plays Trading Outpost for 1 discard. This card lets him take his Explore draw into his hand before discarding, and gives him +2 cards when trading.

chrismg plays Rebel Base. This is a 6-defence military world.

Now I need to clarify one thing before we do Phase IV.

RftG

Connie plays Alien Robot Scot Ship

Those Robot Scots are dangerous, you know. I think it's the kilts.

RftG

You know, normally I fix my typos, but I think I'm going to leave that one there.

RftG

Ok, got the Phase IV orders.

Connie has many goods, but only one usable Consume power. She consumes the good from Runaway Robots, on Galactic Developers for 1 VP.

Ryan just played Diversified Economy, which lets him consume 3 goods of different colours for 3 VPs. He does so with Blue, Green and Yellow. He then consumes his Brown good on Imperium Blaster Gem Consortium for 1 VP and 2 cards, and consumes the remaining Blue good on New Vinland for 2 cards. Total: 5 goods for 4 VPs and 4 cards.

omnis has 3 Blue goods and 3 Consume powers. He gets 3 VPs and 1 card.

Laga chose this phase, and trades her Brown good for 3 cards. She then consumes her Green good on Plague World for 1 VP and 1 card.

chrismg also chose this phase, and trades his Green good for 5 cards (Genetics Lab gives him +1 card). He then consumes his Blue good on Outlaw World for 1 VP and 1 card.

And that concludes Round 8! Game end-watch: both Connie and chrismg have 9 cards in their layout, 3 away from ending the game. There are still 44 VPs in the pool after this round's consumption. Everyone, please send me your orders for Round 9.

RftG

End-of-round summary:

Round 8
Goals
Research Leader - Most Explore Powers (Laga)
Largest Industry - Most Blue/Brown Worlds (Connie, omnis, Ryan)
Galactic Standard of Living - First to 5 VPs (omnis)
Expansion Leader - First to 8 cards in layout (Connie)
System Diversity - First to have a world of each colour (Ryan)
Budget Surplus - First to discard at round end (Ryan)

Connie Neil
Layout
Rebel Cantina (Non-Military World)
Space Mercenaries (Development)
Runaway Robots (Military Brown Windfall World)
Drop Ships (Development)
Primitive Rebel World (Military Blue Windfall World) + good
Devolved Uplift Race (Military Blue Production World) + good
Galactic Developers (Non-Military World)
Galactic Survey: Seti (6-Cost Development)
Alien Robot Scout Ship (Military Yellow Windfall World) + good

Cards in Hand: 4
Military Strength: 5
Victory Points: 2
Layout Value: 8
6-Cost Developments: 7
Goals: 8

Ryan
Layout
Ancient Race (Non-Military Green Windfall World)
Distant World (Non-Military Green Production World)
Gem World (Non-Military Blue Production World)
New Vinland (Non-Military Blue Production World)
Deserted Alien Outpost (Non-Military Yellow Windfall World)
Imperium Blaster Gem Consortium (Non-Military Brown Production World)
Diversified Economy (Development)
Trading Outpost (Non-Military World)

Cards in Hand: 5
Military Strength: 1
Victory Points: 4
Layout Value: 15
6-Cost Developments: 0
Goals: 9

omnis
Layout
Earth's Lost Colony (Non-Military Blue Production World)
Public Works (Development)
Space Port (Non-Military Blue Production World)
Galactic Studios (Non-Military Blue Production World)
Pan-Galactic Research (Development)

Cards in Hand: 3
Military Strength: 0
Victory Points: 8
Layout Value: 10
6-Cost Developments: 0
Goals: 6

Laga
Layout
Separatist Colony (Non-Military World)
Rebel Pact (Development)
Plague World (Non-Military Green Production World)
Abandoned Alien Uplift Camp (Non-Military World)
Mercenary Fleet (Development)
Rebel Miners (Military Brown Production World)

Cards in Hand: 10
Military Strength: 3
Victory Points: 2
Layout Value: 6
6-Cost Developments: 0
Goals: 5

chrismg
Layout
New Sparta (Military World)
Star Nomad Lair (Military Blue Windfall World)
Space Marines (Development)
Outlaw World (Military World)
Genetics Lab (Development)
Pre-Sentient Race (Non-Military Green Windfall World)
Imperium Troops (Development)
Rebel Outpost (Military World)
Rebel Base (Military World)

Cards in Hand: 8
Military Strength: 6
Victory Points: 2
Layout Value: 18
6-Cost Developments: 0
Goals: 0

VP Pool: 44

RftG

Orders are in, more or less.

Connie Neil: Phase IV ($) - Consume (Trade)
Ryan: Phase V - Produce
omnis: Phase II - Develop
Laga: Phase II - Develop
chrismg: Phase III - Settle

Four phases again! We start with Phase II.

Connie draws one card from Galactic Developers, but passes on playing a development.

Ryan plays Investment Credits for 1 discard. This gives him -1 cost on future developments.

omnis plays Galactic Salon for 2 discards - tghat's -2 cost, for choosing this phase and Pan-Galactic Research. This card gives him 1 VP every Round 4, without having to consume a good for it. He then draws 1 card from Public Works.

Laga plays Mining Conglomerate for 2 discards. This development gives her +1 card when trading a Brown good, lets her consume up to 2 Brown goods for 1 VP each, and gives her 2 cards in Phase V if she produces more Brown goods than anyone else. (At present she has one Brown produc tion world, equal with Ryan. Connie has a Brown windfall world.)

chrismg plays Investment Credits for 1 discard, same as Ryan.

RftG

Phase III (Settle) is easy this round. Everyone passes except chrismg, who plays Rebel Homeworld. This is a 7-defence military world. chrismg has 6 strength; but Imperium Troops gives him an extra +1 against Rebel worlds, just enough to take the Homeworld. He then draws 1 card for choosing this phase.

Phase IV (Consume) will likewise be a simple affair. Connie chose this phase, and trades a Yellow good for 5 cards. She also consumes a Blue good on Galactic Developers for 1 VP. omnis gets 1 VP from his new Galactic Salon. No one else has any goods or powers that don't need goods, so they pass.

RftG

We finish the round with Phase V (Produce).

Connie produces 1 Blue good. She then draws 2 cards from Rebel Cantina, as she has 2 Rebel worlds.

Ryan chose this phase, so he can produce on one windfall world, namely Deserted Alien Outpost. He produces 2 Blue goods, 1 Brown good, 1 Green good and 1 Yellow good. He then draws 4 cards from Diversified Economy, as he produced 4 colours of good, and 1 card for producing on Gem World.

omnis produces 3 Blue goods. He then draws 3 cards from Galactic Studios and Pan-Galactic Research.

Laga produces 1 Brown good and 1 Green good.

chrismg produces 1 Green good on Pre-Sentient Race. This is a windfall world, but Genetics Lab lets him produce on one Green windfall world.

Cards are going out now. Everyone, please send me your choice of action card for Round 10. While you make your choice, please bear in mind that chrismg has 11 cards in his layout. One more card will end the game.

RftG

End-of-round summary:

Round 9
Goals
Research Leader - Most Explore Powers (Laga)
Largest Industry - Most Blue/Brown Worlds (Connie, omnis, Ryan)
Galactic Standard of Living - First to 5 VPs (omnis)
Expansion Leader - First to 8 cards in layout (Connie)
System Diversity - First to have a world of each colour (Ryan)
Budget Surplus - First to discard at round end (Ryan)

Connie Neil
Layout
Rebel Cantina (Non-Military World)
Space Mercenaries (Development)
Runaway Robots (Military Brown Windfall World)
Drop Ships (Development)
Primitive Rebel World (Military Blue Windfall World) + good
Devolved Uplift Race (Military Blue Production World) + good
Galactic Developers (Non-Military World)
Galactic Survey: Seti (6-Cost Development)
Alien Robot Scout Ship (Military Yellow Windfall World)

Cards in Hand: 10
Military Strength: 5
Victory Points: 3
Layout Value: 8
6-Cost Developments: 7
Goals: 8

Ryan
Layout
Ancient Race (Non-Military Green Windfall World)
Distant World (Non-Military Green Production World) + good
Gem World (Non-Military Blue Production World) + good
New Vinland (Non-Military Blue Production World) + good
Deserted Alien Outpost (Non-Military Yellow Windfall World) + good
Imperium Blaster Gem Consortium (Non-Military Brown Production World) + good
Diversified Economy (Development)
Trading Outpost (Non-Military World)
Investment Credits (Development)

Cards in Hand: 7
Military Strength: 1
Victory Points: 4
Layout Value: 16
6-Cost Developments: 0
Goals: 9

omnis
Layout
Earth's Lost Colony (Non-Military Blue Production World) + good
Public Works (Development)
Space Port (Non-Military Blue Production World) + good
Galactic Studios (Non-Military Blue Production World) + good
Pan-Galactic Research (Development)
Galactic Salon (Development)

Cards in Hand: 4
Military Strength: 0
Victory Points: 9
Layout Value: 12
6-Cost Developments: 0
Goals: 6

Laga
Layout
Separatist Colony (Non-Military World)
Rebel Pact (Development)
Plague World (Non-Military Green Production World) + good
Abandoned Alien Uplift Camp (Non-Military World)
Mercenary Fleet (Development)
Rebel Miners (Military Brown Production World) + good
Mining Conglomerate (Development)

Cards in Hand: 7
Military Strength: 3
Victory Points: 2
Layout Value: 8
6-Cost Developments: 0
Goals: 5

chrismg
Layout
New Sparta (Military World)
Star Nomad Lair (Military Blue Windfall World)
Space Marines (Development)
Outlaw World (Military World)
Genetics Lab (Development)
Pre-Sentient Race (Non-Military Green Windfall World) + good
Imperium Troops (Development)
Rebel Outpost (Military World)
Rebel Base (Military World)
Investment Credits (Development)
Rebel Homeworld (Military World)

Cards in Hand: 6
Military Strength: 6
Victory Points: 2
Layout Value: 26
6-Cost Developments: 0
Goals: 0

VP Pool: 42

Looking at current scores: Connie, omnis, chrismg and Ryan have 26, 27, 28 and 29 points respectively. We have a nailbiter of a finish here.

RftG

Orders are in for Round 10, and on the face of it, it looks like this will be the final round.

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

We hve three phases, including both Phase II and III. If chrismg plays at least one card, it's game over. (And he picked Phase II, so you have to think he's planning on it.) Phase II (Develop):

Connie draws 1 card from Galactic Developers, then plays Galactic bankers for 5 discards. This card gives her 1 card draw at the start of Phase II, and in Phase IV, she can discard up to 2 cards from her hand for 1 VP each. Its value at game end is 1 VP per development, but there are three cards worth 2 VPs instead. (She has none of them.) It's currently worth 4 VPs in her layout.

Ryan plays Galactic Exchange for 4 discards. This card lets him consume up to 1 good of each colour for 1 VP and 1 card. Its point value depends on the number of colours of worlds in one's layout - with one colour it's worth 1 VP, with two it's worth 3 VPs, three colours gives 6 VPs and all four colours is worth 10 VPs. There's also a 3 point bonus for one card, Diversified Economy. Ryan has all four colours and Diversified Economy. This card adds a monster 13 points to his score.

omnis passes, as does Laga.

chrismg plays Rebel Alliance for 4 discards. This card lets him play Rebel Military worlds as if they were non-military, with a cost equal to their defence -2 (not hugely necessary with his military). Its value at game end is 2 VPs per Rebel card (including itself) plus 1 VP per other military world. That's a perfect fit for chrismg's military strategy, and it's currently worth 11 VPs in his layout.