Nexus ops game

I gave the Components a 5 because the art on the hexes, tokens, and cards is beautiful and because the units are probably the most detailed I have ever seen in a boardgame. I gave the Easy to Learn a 4 as well, as it took us about five minutes to learn how to play the game. Nexus Ops easily tops my list of board games to play with friends. In Nexus Ops you play as competing factions on an alien planet rich in rubium , the currency of the game.

Players compete to control rubium refineries to collect money to train units for their disposal. The competition can be fierce as the map is limited in size. The unit you can buy vary from the cheap lowly Human Miners to the costly ferocious Rubium Dragons!

The models for the units are beautifully detailed and really add to the experience as per the reprint. The object of the game is to collect 12 or more victory points. Victory points are awarded when you win battles by completely wiping out the opposing army in a contested hex. I really like this game mechanic because it encourages aggression and quick kills. You only get victory points if you win battles during YOUR turn. You can also get victory points by completing Secret Mission cards which you pick up at the end of your turn.

Secret Missions award you victory points based on risk and difficulty. The harder the mission, the greater the reward! As long as you successfully fulfill the conditions described on the Secret Mission card during your turn, you get the victory points. This element introduces some luck with drawing random mission cards, but it also balances it out with varying difficulties to the missions. You are more likely to collect easier missions than the difficult, high reward ones.

I still get very excited whenever we play! Definitely has a lot of replay value! The mechanics are very well balanced and the rule book is easy to read thanks to its diagrams and clear descriptions. If you want to see pictures and learn more, check out my other reviews for Nexus Ops! You must be logged in to add a review. Log in Register. Skip to content. Search for: Games News Stores. Reviews 2 Game Tips 4 Discussion.

Publisher Overview. Secret Mission cards contain various objectives and, when fulfilled, provide the player between one and three victory points.

All Battle Victory cards are identical and provide the player one victory point. The backside of this card type is used with the "King of the Hill" optional rule. These standard six-sided dice are used to determine hits in battle and other random game elements. Determine First Player: Randomly determine who plays first and give this player the first player marker.

That player keeps the first player marker for the duration of the game. Choose Factions: Starting with the first player, each player chooses a faction and takes the plastic unit pieces and reference sheet for that faction. Place the sheet with the red and black striped side faceup. Place the Terrain: Place the Monolith hex tile in the middle of the play area.

Shuffle the six single-hex tiles facedown, then place them facedown in a circle around the Monolith. Shuffle the six double-hex tiles facedown, then place them facedown in a circle around the single- hex tiles see diagram on page Build Bases: Place a home base tile next to the board for each player, in the position indicated by the "Game Board Setup" diagram on page 12 positions will vary depending on the number of players.

Then flip all terrain tiles faceup. Prepare the Decks: Shuffle the Secret Mission cards to create a deck and place it facedown near the board. Shuffle the Energize cards to create a deck and place it facedown near the Secret Mission deck. Place all the Battle Victory cards faceup in a deck.

Place Exploration Tokens: Unless using the "Extra Exploration Tokens" optional rule see page 10 , return the exploration tokens with green borders to the game box. Shuffle the remaining exploration tokens facedown, then randomly place one token facedown on all hexes except home base hexes and the Monolith. Prepare Rubium Tokens and Dice: Place the rubium tokens in a pile next to the board to create a supply. Place the dice near the board. Receive Starting Rubium: Each player receives starting rubium tokens.

The first player starts with 8 rubium, and each subsequent player in clockwise order receives 3 additional rubium e. Starting with the first player, each player takes a turn being the active player. During his turn, only the active player performs the following phases in order:. During the Deployment phase, the active player may purchase new units and play "Deployment Phase" Energize cards. Each unit costs a certain amount of rubium, as shown on each player's reference sheet.

The active player may spend his rubium to purchase as many units as he would like, provided he has sufficient resources to purchase them. He returns spent rubium tokens to the supply. When purchasing units, he takes the corresponding figures from his supply and places them on any of his home base hexes.

The active player may always place these units on any of his home base hexes, even if another player's units currently occupy that hex. The number and type of units that the active player can purchase is limited by the number of figures available in his supply. It is possible to run out of a particular unit type. However, as units are destroyed during the game, they return to the player's supply and may be purchased again later.

The Deployment phase is also the only time that the active player may play "Deployment Phase" Energize cards. To play an Energize card, the active player must state that he is playing it and follow the instructions on the card. After resolving the card text, he places it faceup in a discard pile next to the Energize deck. Each player's collected rubium, unit supply, Battle Victory cards, and fulfilled Secret Mission cards are open information and cannot be hidden. During the Movement phase, the active player may move each of his units once.

Most units only move one hex, although some units have abilities that allow them to move more than one hex. When the active player moves one of his units into a hex that contains enemy units, it must immediately stop in that hex unless its ability says otherwise.

Some units cannot enter certain hexes, as noted on the reference sheet and indicated by the images in the hex's border. The active player cannot move his units from one contested hex to or through another enemy-controlled or contested hex.

In other words, he cannot move a unit from one battle to a different battle. However, he may move a unit from a battle to one of his controlled hexes or an unoccupied hex. Some units have special attacks that occur at the end of the Movement phase. These special attacks do not initiate a battle, so the active player does not take a Battle Victory card if one of these attacks is successful. A hex is considered controlled if only one player has units in the hex.

Alternatively, a hex is considered contested if more than one player has units in the hex. A hex is considered unoccupied if no player has units in the hex. The blue player may move his Rock Strider from the contested hex. However, it cannot move to or through another contested hex, which prevents it from moving to or through the adjacent Rock Plains controlled by the red player. Because of the Rock Strider's ability, it may continue moving through the Rock Plains to the Liquifungus Forest containing a 2-rubium refinery.

During the Exploration phase, the active player reveals all facedown exploration tokens in hexes where his units are present. The active player may find the following rewards:. If the token only shows a unit, he takes one unit of that type from his supply and places it in that hex. During his next turn, he can move the unit and use it in battle like his other units.

After placing the unit, return this token to the game box. If the token only shows a refinery, he leaves the exploration token faceup on that hex to mark the location of the refinery. If the token shows both a unit and a refinery, he receives both rewards. He takes one unit of that type from his supply and places it in that hex.

He also leaves the exploration token faceup on that hex to mark the location of the refinery. During the Battle phase, the active player conducts one battle in each contested hex where his units are present see "Battle".

If his units are present in multiple contested hexes, he chooses the order in which each battle is resolved. At the end of the Movement phase, the red player has one Rubium Dragon in a controlled Crystal Spires hex.

He uses its special attack to target the adjacent Rock Plains hex. The red player rolls a "5", which scores a hit. The blue player removes the Fungoid as a casualty. If the red player also had a Rubium Dragon in the Rock Plains, it would now be in a controlled hex and could perform its special attack against the lone Crystalline in the Magma Pool.

In case of a conflict, follow the text on that card or the text on the reference sheet that explains the ability. During the Mining phase, the active player collects rubium from refineries in each controlled hex where at least one of his miner units is present. He takes rubium tokens from the supply equal to the refinery's number and places them in his play area. Note: Only units marked with the claw icon on the reference sheet are considered miner units. The red player proceeds to the Mining phase.

He has one Human on each of his home base hexes. He also has one Crystalline in a controlled hex that contains a 1-rubium refinery. He does control a hex with a 2-rubium refinery, but he does not have any miner units there.

As such, he cannot collect rubium from that hex. So, in total, the red player collects 8 rubium. During the Draw phase, the active player draws one Secret Mission card and keeps it hidden in his hand.