Forbidden Stars: setup guide

Setup 01

Prepare three distinct factions

Set out Ultramarines, World Eaters and Evil Sunz with their own units, structures, decks, order tokens and resource dials. Each starts with six materiel. Matching colours preserve ownership as units leave reserves and orders accumulate on systems.

Setup 02

Choose first player and build the cluster

The recorded marker draw makes Ultramarines first, followed clockwise by World Eaters and Evil Sunz. Construct the map using the standard board-building procedure and the recorded system faces. It is not the Learn to Play introductory diagram.

Setup 03

Locate objectives and starting forces

Follow the alternating placements shown in the tutorial. A faction’s objective tokens may lie away from its initial troops, so compare each token with the transport route needed to reach it. Do not replace a recorded starting force with a generic equal army.

Setup 04

Prepare orders and combat components

Keep order tokens distinct from combat cards, dice and reinforcement tokens. The order stacks determine when actions can be reached, while the combat materials resolve the battles those orders create. Separate event cards and upgrades from the starting combat decks.

Setup 05

Inspect access before Planning

Check Warp Storms, system borders and the worlds made friendly by units or controlled structures. An empty abandoned world is not automatically friendly. Once every faction’s objectives, units and supplies match the lesson, begin placing the first round’s hidden orders.

Before your first move

Planning creates stacks of hidden orders; Operations resolves them from the top down. Deploy, Strategize, Dominate and Advance offer different ways to develop or fight. Refresh then handles objectives and other end-of-round changes, including the position of Warp Storms.

This is a setup companion for the scenarios below, not a replacement for the publisher’s complete setup diagrams. Open the guided table to inspect the exact locations and the recorded deal.