Official rule text
7 SETUP VARIATIONS When playing at certain player counts or with the “Minor Factions” galactic event, the “Create Game Board” step (step 6) of setup is modified as described below. FOUR-PLAYER SETUP This setup is used only when also playing with Prophecy of Kings. During the “Deal System Tiles” substep, each player is dealt three blue tiles and two red tiles. Before the “Place System Tiles” substep, the players place the hyperlane tiles exactly as shown in the “Game Board Setup” diagram below. FIVE-PLAYER SETUP During the “Deal System Tiles” substep, each player is dealt three blue tiles and two red tiles. Before the “Place System Tiles” substep, the players place the hyperlane tiles exactly as shown in the “Game Board Setup” diagram below. Extra trade in five-player games based on starting position are not given to players during setup when playing with hyperlanes. MINOR FACTIONS SETUP If playing with the “Minor Factions” galactic event, the “Game Board Setup” diagram below provides an example setup that depicts valid placement for the Minor Faction systems. HYPERLANE SETUP For the game board setups described on this page, hyperlane tiles are always set up in the formation shown below using hyperlane tiles 119A, 120A, 121A, 122A, 123A, and 124A. The rules for hyperlanes are described on page 12.