A two-player card and board game based on the Ender’s War Book.
Play is undertaken on an 8 x 8 grid. The Humans have 2 starships and 8 fighter squads. The Formics have 8 starships and 32 fighter swarms. Fleets start in opposite corners of the play area. Each starship is stacked with 4 fighter units.
Both sides have their own unique deck of cards. Cards are of 4 types: move, attack, defence and special.
Players take turns with each turn having two phases:
1. Strategy Phase
Draw X cards and put them in your hand. For Humans X = 6, for Formics X = 3
2. Action Phase
Use cards to make your units move and attack. The numbers on attack cards indicate the exact range of the attack. The numbers on move cards indicate the exact distance the Unit Moves. Defence cards are used in response to an attack to negate it.
If 2 or more units occupy the same space then a single move card can be used to move them all, however, they must all be moved together to the same destination. Movement is orthogonal or diagonal.
A fighter can move twice but attack only once in a turn.
A starship can move only once, but may attack twice in a turn.
When an attack by a Human unit hits, all enemy units in the space are hit. Any Formic unit hit is destroyed unless a defence card is played.
When a Formic attack hits, only one unit is hit. A Human unit that is hit takes 1 point of damage. Starships or fighter squads with 4 or more damage are destroyed.
Victory is achieved by destroying your opponent’s fleet.