Nemo's War (Second Edition)

To set up Nemo's War (Second Edition), first, lay out the game board, which tracks various game elements like adventures, actions, oceans, ship status (crew, hull, Nemo's notoriety), combat, salvage, and victory points. Place the rulebook and epilogues book within easy reach. Select a Captain Nemo setup tile, which determines your starting motive and initial upgrades. Place the Nautilus miniature on the starting ocean indicated by your motive. Distribute various ship tokens (hidden ships, basic ships, blue and green ships) on the board according to the chosen difficulty level (Officer, Captain, or Sailor). Prepare the draw pile by stacking Act cards (Act One, Act Two, Act Three), Event cards, and a Final card in a specific order as detailed in the rulebook. Place treasure tokens and other miscellaneous markers in their designated areas on the board.

The main objective of Nemo's War (Second Edition) is to accumulate the highest possible Victory Points (VP) by the end of the game. Your specific strategy for earning VPs will be heavily influenced by the Captain Nemo motive you choose at the beginning of the game, such as 'Explore,' 'Fight,' 'Science,' or 'Anti-Imperialism.' VPs are primarily gained through sinking enemy ships, discovering and collecting treasure tokens, successfully completing Adventure cards, and managing your ship's resources and notoriety effectively throughout your journey across the oceans.

Each round in Nemo's War (Second Edition) is divided into three distinct phases: the Event Phase, the Placement Phase, and the Action Phase. The Event Phase begins by drawing the top card from the draw pile, which can be a Play Event (immediate effect), a Keep Event (ongoing effect or condition for VPs), or a Test Event (requires a dice roll to determine success). The Placement Phase involves rolling dice to determine which Major Oceans receive new Hidden Ship tokens and how many Action Points (AP) you gain for the round. The difference between the two dice rolls determines your AP, and rolling doubles triggers a 'Lull Turn' with specific effects. The Action Phase is where you spend your accumulated AP to perform various actions such as 'Adventure' (draw and resolve an Adventure card), 'Insight' (move Uprising Cubes), 'Move' (move the Nautilus), 'Rest' (recover Crew/Hull), 'Refit' (build upgrades), 'Search' (find treasures), or 'Attack' (engage enemy ships in combat). You can perform multiple actions, but only one unused AP can be carried over to the next round.

Scoring in Nemo's War (Second Edition) occurs at the end of the game, after the game-end condition has been met. Your final score is determined by summing VPs from various sources, adjusted by your Captain Nemo motive. You earn VPs for sinking enemy ships (based on their tonnage value), collecting treasure tokens, successfully completing Adventure cards (those in your 'Pass' pile), and for specific achievements related to your chosen motive (e.g., 'Explore' motive grants VPs for discovered wonders). Conversely, VPs can be lost due to damaged ship resources or negative notoriety. The total VP count is then compared to a 'Level of Victory' table to determine your overall success, ranging from 'Defeat' to 'Triumph.'

The game can end in several ways, leading to either a defeat or a victory condition. Immediate defeat occurs if any of your three resource tracks (Nemo, Crew, or Hull) reaches its lowest (red) position, if the Notoriety track reaches or exceeds a specific value (e.g., 44 for the Explorer motive), or if you are required to place a Warship token in an ocean that is already full of Warships. The game also ends when the 'Final' card is drawn from the Adventure Deck. If the game ends due to the 'Final' card, your total VPs are calculated, and your 'Level of Victory' is determined by comparing your score to the table in the rulebook. The epilogues book then provides a narrative conclusion based on your final outcome.