RftG

We are moving at a belting pace. Here are some Round 6 orders.

Connie Neil: Phase III - Settle
Connie Neil: Phase IV ($) - Consume (Trade)
Ryan: Phase II - Develop
Ryan: Phase IV ($) - Consume (Trade)

Phase II (Develop). Connie passes. Ryan draws 2 cards, then plays R&D Crash Program. He can discard this in a later round for -3 cost on a development. While it's in his layout, in Phase IV, he can discard 1 card from his hand to draw 1 replacement.

RftG

Phase III (Settle):

Connie plays New Earth for 5 discards. This is a Brown production world, and lets her consume 1 good for 1 VP and 1 card. She then draws 1 card for choosing this phase.

Ryan plays Spice World for 2 discards. This is a Blue production world, and gives him +2 cards when trading a Blue good.

And now, both players have 4 production worlds, which lets them both lay claim to the "Most Production Worlds" goal. When two or more players hit the goal simultaneously, they both get 3 VPs for it instead of 5. If one takes an outright lead, they will get 5 VPs and the other player will get 0.

RftG

Phase IV (Consume). Both players chose Trade.

Connie trades 1 Green good for 4 cards, and consumes her other two goods on Galactic Studios and New Earth for 2 VPs and 2 cards. Total: 2 VPs and 6 cards.

Ryan trades 1 Blue good for 5 cards, thanks to bonuses from Galactic Advertisers and Spice World. He consumes his other two goods for 2 VPs. Finally, Galactic Advertisers gives him a bonus card draw. Total: 2 VPs and 6 cards, how about that.

That concludes Round 6. Everyone, please send me your orders for Round 7.

RftG

End-of-round summary:

Round 6
Goals
Production Leader - Most Production Worlds
Propaganda Edge - Most Rebel Military Worlds
Uplift Knowledge - First to 3 Uplift cards
Expansion Leader - First to 8 cards in layout
Galactic Status - First to play 6-cost development
Innovation Leader - First to have a power in each phase

Connie Neil
Layout
Imperium Warlord (Non-Military World)
Space Port (Non-Military Blue Production World)
Plague World (Non-Military Green Production World)
Galactic Studios (Non-Military Blue Production World)
New Earth (Non-Military Brown Production World)

Cards in Hand: 10
Military Strength: 1
Victory Points: 2
Layout Value: 9
6-Cost Developments: 0
Goals: 3

Ryan
Layout
Galactic Developers (Non-Military World)
Interstellar Bank (Development)
Artist Colony (Non-Military Blue Production World)
Galactic Advertisers (Development)
Prosperous World (Non-Military Blue Production World)
Consumer Markets (Development)
Volcanic World (Non-Military Brown Production World)
R&D Crash Program (Development)
Spice World (Non-Military Blue Production World)

Cards in Hand: 9
Military Strength: 0
Victory Points: 3
Layout Value: 12
6-Cost Developments: 0
Goals: 3

VP Pool: 19

RftG

Orders for Round 7, exactly the same as Round 5:

Connie Neil: Phase II - Develop
Connie Neil: Phase III - Settle
Ryan: Phase II - Develop
Ryan: Phase V - Produce

Phase II (Develop):

Connie plays Galactic Exchange for 5 discards. This status development lets her consume up to 1 good of each colour for 1 VP and 1 card each. Its value depends on the number of colours of production/windfall worlds one has. Connie has 3 colours - Blue, Brown and Green - and it's currently worth 6 VPs.

Ryan draws 2 cards, and then plays Merchant Guild by discarding 2 cards from his hand and R&D Crash Program from his layout. This status development gives him 2 cards in Phase V. At game end it's worth 2 VPs per production world, and is currently worth 8 VPs.

Phase III (Settle):

Ryan passes. Connie plays Smuggling Lair. This is a 1-defence military world (Imperium Warlord finally gets a workout!). It's a Brown windfall world that can consume 1 good for 2 cards. She then draws 1 card for choosing this phase.

Phase V (Produce):

Connie produces 2 Blue goods, 1 Brown good and 1 Green good. She then draws 1 card for producing on Galactic Studios.

Ryan produces 3 Blue goods and 1 Brown good. He then draws 5 cards - 3 from Consumer Markets, for the Blue goods, and 2 from Merchant Guild.

And that concludes Round 7, but now Ryan has 13 cards in hand, and must discard 3. Once we deal with that, everyone, please send your action cards for Round 8.

RftG

End-of-round summary:

Round 7
Goals
Production Leader - Most Production Worlds (Connie, Ryan)
Propaganda Edge - Most Rebel Military Worlds
Uplift Knowledge - First to 3 Uplift cards
Expansion Leader - First to 8 cards in layout (Ryan)
Galactic Status - First to play 6-cost development (Connie, Ryan)
Innovation Leader - First to have a power in each phase

Connie Neil
Layout
Imperium Warlord (Non-Military World)
Space Port (Non-Military Blue Production World) + good
Plague World (Non-Military Green Production World) + good
Galactic Studios (Non-Military Blue Production World) + good
New Earth (Non-Military Brown Production World) + good
Galactic Exchange (6-Cost Development)
Smuggling Lair (Non-Military Brown Windfall World) + good

Cards in Hand: 5
Military Strength: 1
Victory Points: 2
Layout Value: 10
6-Cost Developments: 6
Goals: 6

Ryan
Layout
Galactic Developers (Non-Military World)
Interstellar Bank (Development)
Artist Colony (Non-Military Blue Production World) + good
Galactic Advertisers (Development)
Prosperous World (Non-Military Blue Production World) + good
Consumer Markets (Development)
Volcanic World (Non-Military Brown Production World) + good
Merchant Guild (6-Cost Development)
Spice World (Non-Military Blue Production World) + good

Cards in Hand: 10
Military Strength: 0
Victory Points: 3
Layout Value: 12
6-Cost Developments: 8
Goals: 9

VP Pool: 19

RftG

We're in the endgame now, and here are the choices for Round 8:

Connie Neil: Phase II - Develop
Connie Neil: Phase IV (x2) - Consume (double VPs)
Ryan: Phase II - Develop
Ryan: Phase IV (x2) - Consume (double VPs)

The players are of one mind. Phase II (Develop) is first.

Connie plays Diversified Economy for 3 discards. This card lets her consume 3 goods of different colours for 3 VPs, and gives her 1 card draw per colour of good that she produces. (Presently that would give her 3 cards.) It also adds 3 VPs to the value of Galactic Exchange.

Ryan draws 2 cards, then plays Free Trade Association for 5 discards. This status development lets him consume up to 3 Blue goods for 1 VP and 1 card each, and lets him produce on 1 Blue windfall world. Its value at game end is 2 VPs per Blue production world plus 1 VP per Blue windfall world. Consumer Markets also adds 2 VPs. It's currently worth 8 VPs in his layout.

RftG

Both players also chose Phase IV (Consume), and chose to earn double points.

Connie has 5 goods in 3 colours. She consumes 3 of them on Galactic Exchange and the other two on Galactic Studios and New Earth, all for 1 VP and 1 card. Doubled, that gives her 10 VPs and 5 cards.

Ryan has 4 goods, 3 of them Blue. He consumes the Blue ones on Free Trade Association for 1 VP and 1 card each, and consumes the 1 Brown good on Galactic Developers for 1 VP. He then gets 1 card draw from Galactic Advertisers. Doubled, that's a total of 8 VPs and 4 cards.

That's some serious consuming from both Connie and Ryan. And after that, there's a grand total of 1 VP left in the VP pool. If either player manages any more consumption, the game will end that round.

And that concludes this round! Round 9 up next.

RftG

End-of-round summary:

Round 8
Goals
Production Leader - Most Production Worlds (Connie, Ryan)
Propaganda Edge - Most Rebel Military Worlds
Uplift Knowledge - First to 3 Uplift cards
Expansion Leader - First to 8 cards in layout (Ryan)
Galactic Status - First to play 6-cost development (Connie, Ryan)
Innovation Leader - First to have a power in each phase

Connie Neil
Layout
Imperium Warlord (Non-Military World)
Space Port (Non-Military Blue Production World)
Plague World (Non-Military Green Production World)
Galactic Studios (Non-Military Blue Production World)
New Earth (Non-Military Brown Production World)
Galactic Exchange (6-Cost Development)
Smuggling Lair (Non-Military Brown Windfall World)
Diversified Economy (Development)

Cards in Hand: 6
Military Strength: 1
Victory Points: 12
Layout Value: 12
6-Cost Developments: 9
Goals: 6

Ryan
Layout
Galactic Developers (Non-Military World)
Interstellar Bank (Development)
Artist Colony (Non-Military Blue Production World)
Galactic Advertisers (Development)
Prosperous World (Non-Military Blue Production World)
Consumer Markets (Development)
Volcanic World (Non-Military Brown Production World)
Merchant Guild (6-Cost Development)
Spice World (Non-Military Blue Production World)
Free Trade Association (6-Cost Development)

Cards in Hand: 10
Military Strength: 0
Victory Points: 11
Layout Value: 12
6-Cost Developments: 16
Goals: 9

VP Pool: 1

A word on goals, which I haven't been updating. Both players still have 4 production worlds, so they still get 3 VPs each from "Production Leader". Likewise, they both played a Status Development at the same time (Galactic Exchange and Merchant Guild), so they each get 3 VPs for Galactic Status. But Ryan was first to have 8 cards in his layout, so he gets the Expansion Leader tile to himself.

RftG

I have players' choices for Round 9.

Connie Neil: Phase III - Settle
Connie Neil: Phase V - Produce
Ryan: Phase I (+1/+1) - Explore (draw +1 card, keep +1 card)
Ryan: Phase II - Develop

Four phases! Furthermore, they include both Phase II and Phase III. If Ryan plays both a development and a world, the game will end this round!

We start with Phase I (Explore), where Connie draws 3 cards and keeps 1, while Ryan draws 3 cards and keeps 2. Cards are going out now.