It’s space chess… with dice.
Rules
Cosmoclysm is played on a field of 37 hexagons. Each player will have a fleet of ships with which they can attack other players to destroy enemy ships. The last person left on the board is the winner of the game.
Overview
On each player’s turn, that player will move one of her ships up to its possible movement. If the ship enters a hex occupied by another player, it begins a fight. The player who entered the hex is the attacker, the player that was already occupying the hex is the defender. Each will roll a number of d20s corresponding to the attack of their ship if they are attacking, or the defense of their ship, if they are defending. The player who rolls the highest value among the rolled dice is the winner of the fight, with ties going to the defender. There are two outcomes:
• If the attacking player rolls the highest number on one of her dice, the defending ship is destroyed and removed from the board.
• If the defending player rolls the highest number on one of her dice (or ties with the attacker), she moves her defending ship 1 space to an adjacent hex, regardless of the typical movement of the ship. This can start another fight.
Once the fight(s) is completed, the turn of the player who first moved is over and play proceeds counterclockwise to the next player.
Setup
The playing field is set up by arranging the 37 space hexes. They may be arranged in any format as long as each hex touches at least one other hex along its side. The ship colors are distributed, and each player rolls a d20. The player who rolls the lowest number will begin. Any ties are broken by consecutive rolls from the tied players. The beginning player chooses a ship and places it on any edge of the board. Placement then progresses counterclockwise through each player selecting and placing a ship in an unoccupied corner. This continues around the table with each additional ship being placed in a hex adjacent to one of the previously placed ships. Each player places as many ships corresponding to the number of players as shown in the table below.
| Number of Players | Number of Ships |
| 2 | 7 |
| 3 | 7 |
| 4 | 6 |
| 5 | 5 |
| 6 | 5 |
Once all ships have been placed, placement progress to the wormholes. Each player selects one of the wormholes and places it on a hex, occupied or unoccupied. Each wormhole from a pair must be placed on different letters. After the wormholes are placed, Cosmoclysm begins.
Gameplay
The player who rolled the lowest to place ships first also takes the first turn. On each player’s turn, one ship is selected to move. If it requires a d4 to move, the player must declare to the other players which ship she is intending to move before rolling the d4. She then rolls the d4 if necessary and moves the ship up to its maximum movement. If the ship enters a hex with an enemy ship, a fight is started; if not, the player’s turn is over and play progresses to the next player. If a fight occurs, two outcomes are possible: the attacker wins or the defender wins. If the attacker wins, the defending ship is destroyed and removed from the game. If the defender wins, it may move out of its space to any adjacent hex, regardless of its typical movement. This movement may start another fight if the defending ship moves into a space occupied by an enemy ship. This fight takes place the same way as the first. This chain of events can continue as long as ships win defenses and move into occupied hexes with enemy ships. It can become quite long, especially in a game of 5 or more players. After all fights are exhausted, ownership of the Turn Rocket moves counterclockwise, and the next player takes their turn. When only one player remains on the battlefield, the game is over and the remaining player is the winner.
Fights
On each turn, players move, and they fight. Fights are simple and occur when one player’s ship enters the same hex as another player’s ship. The ship that moved to enter the hex is the attacking ship and the ship already occupying the hex is the defending ship. The attacking ship will roll a number of d20’s equal to its attack and take the highest value. The defending ship will roll a number of d20’s equal to its defense and take the highest value. Whoever has the highest value is the winner. If the attacker wins, the defending ship is destroyed and removed from the field. If the defender wins, it may move out one hex to an adjacent hex. If a wormhole exists within the hex of the fight, a successful defender my jump through the wormhole before using its one movement out to an adjacent hex. A defender may also move out one hex, then jump through a wormhole. A fight may not be started between two ships owned by the same player. If a ship enters a hex that is already occupied by an ally ship, the ship already occupying the hex is automatically destroyed.
Wormholes
Wormholes link two points in space and allow ships to pass between two hexes on the board. There are two pairs of wormholes, each with a different color scheme to show their correspondence. A ship may only travel one direction through a pair of wormholes when it moves and may only pass through each pair of wormholes a single time on its move. It is acceptable to put more than one wormhole in a single hex.
Ships
Cruiser
A:2 D:4 M:rows
Cruisers are hardy ships meant for enduring space and crossing great expanses. They move in straight lines across the board along one of the three “rows” of a hexagonal layout. Clever use of the wormholes allows cruisers to get to nearly any space on the board in a single turn.
Destroyer
A:5 D:2 M:diagonals
The destroyer moves through folded space. Instead of moving to an adjacent hex, it moves “diagonally” outward along the lines protruding radially from the corners of the hex. It may move in this line as far as it can go.
Exterminator
A:5 D:4 M: 1
While powerful, the Exterminator has limited movement.
Fighter
A:3 D:2 M:d4
Fighters are packed with enough fire power to go after any other ship. They are small but agile ships. Before moving a fighter, you must declare you are going to move it. Then, roll a d4 to see how many spaces the fighter can move.
Jumper
A:3 D:3 M:ring of 2
Jumpers move to hexes two spaces from where they begin. When you move a jumper, it is removed from the board, the jumper returns to the board to any hex of your choice in the ring of hexes two spaces away from the hex the jumper left. The jumper does not move through the spaces along its path but jumps in and out of pace, and so, is the only ship able to jump over other ships.
Taker
A:1 D:2 M:d4
Like the fighter, you must declare you are going to move your taker, roll a d4, and move up to the number rolled. While, seemingly under-powered, Takers can make or break a battle. Takers carry a crew of engineers that are able to convert an enemy ship to your own should you overcome the odds and defeat it. The captured ship then moves out of the hex one space to an adjacent hex.
Example Play
This section details an example game with a variety of situations that can arise during play. The example is partitioned into sections about each aspect of gameplay. It is most useful to read the particular section relating to the aspect in question as you play your own game versus reading through the example in its entirety.
Setup
There are three players battling for cosmic dominance in the game to the right. Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos. They take the 37 hex tiles and arrange them as shown. They divide the ship sets so that Clotho has the red tokens, Lachesis has the blue tokens, and Atropos has the purple tokens. They each roll a d20. Clotho gets a 5, Lachesis gets a 12, and Atropos gets a 2. Atropos begins by placing a Cruiser close to the edge of the board. Lachesis is sitting to the right of Atropos and goes next. She places a Destroyer on the board. Clotho goes last and places a Fighter. Atropos places a Fighter next to her cruiser. Lachesis places a Taker next to her Destroyer. Clotho places another fighter next to her first one. Since there are three of them, they continue to take turns until each has placed 7 ships. They then continue around and place the wormholes. Atropos choses one of them and puts it in the hex with Clotho’s exterminator. Lachesis choses the corresponding wormhole and places it in a hex in the middle of Atropos’s pieces. Clotho then takes a one of the remaining wormholes and places it near Atropos’s pieces. Atropos takes the last wormhole and places it away from all the other ships.
Round 1 – Atropos’s Turn – Moving a Destroyer
Atropos starts the game by moving her Destroyer two hexes diagonally up and right into the hex with Lachesis’s Fighter. This starts a fight.
Fighting – Winning an Attack/Losing a Defense
Atropos rolls five d20s since she is attacking with her Destroyer and Lachesis rolls two d20s since she is defending with her destroyer. Atropos gets a 20, 9, 5, 5, and 3. Lachesis rolls a 9 and a 1. Atropos wins the fight since her highest die was a 20 which is greater than Lachesis’s highest die of a 9. Lachesis’s Destroyer is destroyed and removed from the board. Atropos’s turn is over.
Round 1 – Lachesis’s Turn – Moving a Taker or Fighter with a d4
Lachesis goes next. She wants to move her Taker so she announces to everyone, “I am going to move my Taker.” She then rolls the d4. It results in a 3. Lachesis moves her taker only two spaces into the hex with Clotho’s Destroyer to start a fight.
Fighting – Losing and Attack/Winning a Defense
Since Lachesis is attacking with a Taker, she rolls only one d20. Clotho is defending with a Destroyer, so she rolls two d20s. Lachesis gets a 12 while Clotho gets a 7 and a 14. Clotho was defending and won the fight and so she moves her Destroyer one hex into an adjacent hex.
Round 1 – Clotho’s Turn – Moving a Taker or Fighter one space
It is now Clotho’s turn. She also wants to move her Taker, and so she declares, “I am going to move my Taker.” Since she only plans on moving the Taker one space, she does not need to roll the d4. She would always get at least a 1. She moves her Taker one space into the hex with Lachesis’s Taker.
Fighting – Chains of Fights
Takers have one attack and two defense so Clotho as the attacker rolls one d20 and Lachesis as the defender rolls two d20. Clotho gets a 3 while Lachesis gets a 6 and an 18. Lachesis wins her defense and must move her Taker out one hex. Since Clotho’s Destroyer is right next to Lachesis’s Taker, she can attack it even though it is Clotho’s turn. Lachesis does so and begins a chain of fights. Lachesis now rolls one d20 since she is attacking with a Taker, and Clotho rolls two d20 since she is defending with a Destroyer. Lachesis loses the fight with an 11 to Clotho’s 17. Clotho now moves her Destroyer out one hex into the same hex as Lachesis’s Jumper. With five attack, Clotho rolls five d20s and gets a 19 as the highest number. Lachesis is close, but only gets an 18. Her Jumper is destroyed and removed from the board. Only now is Clotho’s turn over.
Round 2 – Atropos’s Turn – Moving a Jumper
It is back to Atropos’s turn. She decides to move her jumper. It can jump to any hex two spaces away. Since it “jumps” through space instead of moving through it, Atropos can move her Jumper across the gap in the board. She moves the Jumper to the edge of the board, close enough to get to Clotho’s ships on another jump, but too far for Clotho’s Exterminator to attack it next turn.
Round 2 – Lachesis’s Turn – Moving an Exterminator
Lachesis goes next and moves her Exterminator one hex into the space with Atropos’s Destroyer.
Fighting – Ties
The highest die Lachesis rolls is a 14, but the highest die Atropos rolls is a 15. Atropos wins the defense and moves her Destroyer out one space into the hex with Lachesis’s Destroyer. Now Atropos is attacking, and Lachesis is defending. This time, the highest die each of them rolls is an 18. Since ties go to the defender, this means Lachesis moves her Destroyer one hex into an adjacent space.
Round 2 – Clotho’s Turn – Taking an Enemy Ship
Clotho declares that she is moving her Taker. Sher rolls a d4 and gets a 2. She moves two spaces into the hex with Lachesis’s Destroyer to start a fight. Clotho rolls on die and gets a 12. Lachesis rolls two dice and gets a 4 and a 6. Clotho wins the fight with her taker. Lachesis removes her Destroyer from the board, and Clotho replaces it with one of her Destroyers, in the same hex. Clotho then gets to move her new Destroyer one hex. She chooses to move it into the hex with Atropos’s Destroyer to start another fight. Clotho attacks with five d20s and gets a 20 as her highest. Lachesis defends with two d20s and gets a 13 as her highest. Lachesis loses her defense and so her Destroyer is destroyed and removed from the board.
Round 3 – Atropos’s Turn – Moving Through Wormholes
Back to Atropos. She decided to move her Exterminator through the wormhole. She moves it one space into the hex as the one move the exterminator gets. Because traveling through wormholes is not considered a move, she then jumps through the wormhole into the same hex as the other red and orange wormhole. Clotho’s Exterminator is already in the hex, and so this movement through the wormhole starts a fight. Atropos attacks with five dice and gets a 20 as her highest. Clotho defends with four dice and gets a 9 as her highest. Clotho losses her defense and her Exterminator is destroyed.
Special Circumstances
A few rare cases come about while playing that should be addressed.
Surrounded by Allies
In this example, Lachesis attacks Clotho with her Destroyer. Lachesis gets a 17, but Clotho gets an 18 and wins the fight. Since Clotho was defending, she is usually able to move her ship out into another hex. However, in this case she is surrounded by her own ships and there are no open hexes to move in to. Two ships are not allowed to occupy the same hex, so Clotho must choose which of her ships to destroy. She decides to sacrifice one of her Takers, and moves her Destroyer into the same hex. The Taker is destroyed and is removed from the board. Even though Lachesis lost the fight, she was still able to use Clotho’s position against her and destroy one of her ships anyway.
