BLACK ANGEL

Welcome to the Black Angel project – our last hope for a surviving humanity. We humans have pushed the Earth to the brink of destruction, rendering it nearly uninhabitable. Now, it is up to a diverse assembly of robots, each representing a different country and driven by their own motivations, to find a habitable planet and embark on the grand mission of reawakening our species. The ultimate goal is to accumulate the most VP, which will grant the chosen robot the authority to lead the birth of a new civilization on a fresh world.

SETUP

Let’s get started by setting up the game. First, put the board in the middle of the playing area. Sort the dice by color and put them in the supply area on the board. Arrange the space strips in a way that forms a chevron shape, pointing towards the Black Angel. Finally, place the Spes token on the farthest strip.

To set up the supply, place the ships, damage cubes, and resources near the gameboard. Sort the technology cards by color and place them in face-up stacks next to the board. Take one card of each color and randomly place them in the three spaces on the display. Shuffle the advanced technology cards and put them face down next to the board. Then, take the top four cards and place them on the advanced technology spaces.

First, I’ll set up the game board by forming three stacks of shuffled mission cards, each stack divided by color. These stacks will be placed next to the board. I’ll also shuffle the Ravager cards and place them face down to the side of the board. Next, I’ll draw a card from the deck and place it on the corresponding action, placing a damage cube on the damage space. I’ll repeat this step with another card.

Now it’s time for each player to choose a color to represent themselves in the game. Each player will collect two discs, eight robots, three starting technology cards, one mission card of each color, one Ravager card, one resource, one damage cube, and one ship. One of the discs will be placed on the five VP space, and five robots will be placed in the break room. Three robots will be placed in each workstation.

So here’s how the game begins. The group randomly selects the first player, who will be in charge of kicking things off. This lucky player gets to collect the starter player token. To make sure everyone is on the same page, each player gets a player aid to refer to throughout the game. Now, it’s time to roll the dice!

Each player takes turns rolling three dice, one of each color, and places them in their own compartment. But here’s where it gets interesting – everyone except the first player receives a special advantage based on their position in the group. Talk about a neat perk! Once everyone’s set, we’re ready to jump into the game.

GAMEPLAY

Now, let’s talk about how the actual game is played. It’s pretty straightforward – each player gets one turn during each round. When it’s your turn, you have a choice to make. You can either follow Sequence A or Sequence B. If you’re unable to complete one sequence, don’t worry – you’ll have to complete the other one.

Sequence A

In Sequence A, I’ll be playing a card, using a die, and drawing a card of the same color as the die. When I play a card, I can choose between a Mission card and a Ravager card. If I play a Mission card, all the technology tiles of the same color in that row or column become active. But if I play a Ravager card, all the technology cards in the row or column activate, regardless of their color.

So, here’s the deal. When you want to do something with a die in this game, you’ve gotta pick one first. It can come from anyone’s stash, but if you want one from another player, you gotta buy it. Not too complicated, right? Oh, but there’s a catch. You can only buy a die if it’s not reserved, and you gotta pay one resource to the owner of the die. Got it?

Once you’ve got your hands on a die, you can use it to do stuff on the game boards. That’s right, it’s like a little worker bee that lets you activate actions. And here’s the cool part: the number on the die tells you how many times you can activate that action. Pretty neat, huh?

After you’ve finished using your dice (don’t worry, you’ll get the hang of it), you can draw a card that matches the color of the die you used. It’s like a little bonus for your hard work. And that’s it for your turn. The next player in line will then get their chance to shine. Make sense? Great!

Now, About Sequence B…

When you reach Sequence B, you go through a process where you reset everything and make the Black Angel move closer to Spes. But there’s a catch – you lose victory points equal to the number on the dice in your compartment. Each robot you have in a workstation lets you roll a dice of the same color as that workstation. Then, you collect the dice, roll them, and put them in your compartment.

Once the dice are rerolled, you need to get rid of all the cards you placed on your board. Remember, don’t discard the ejected cards just yet. And any damage cubes you have should be moved to the storage area.

To complete this sequence, I move the Black Angel one space on the Space board, eject all mission cards on the first space strip, and shift all of the space strips towards the Black Angel board. We keep playing like this until the end of the game is triggered.

END OF GAME

The game ends when either the Black Angel arrives on Spes or the Ravager deck is empty. We finish the current round and then play one more round. After the final round, we tally our scores. Robots, resources, and ships only count for points if the Black Angel reaches the planet Spes. Otherwise, they don’t count towards determining the winner.

Hey there! I’m Ellie, and I live in Northeast Tennessee. I’m all about animals, fantasy fiction, and the great outdoors. Plus, I have an amazing husband who adores me, just like my two furry friends. Being part of this fantastic community makes me so happy!

Ever wonder what it’s like to be the ultimate winner? Well, let me tell you all about it. The champion, the one with the most points, gets to wake up the humans and decide the future of mankind.

Picture this: you’ve been playing hard, strategizing, and giving it your all. And finally, you’ve done it. You’ve racked up the most points and emerged victorious. Not only do you get bragging rights, but you also hold humanity’s destiny in your hands. It’s a pretty amazing feeling!