Venture

Once both players have finished Placing cards, they must each Venture a number of their Mission Cards on the outcome of the current battle. How many cards you wish to Venture depends on how successful you believe you will be with the Hand you are holding and the cards you have Placed, then take into account the cards you have seen your opponent Discard and Place. The player who is going first, must also Venture first. You may Venture up to as many Mission cards as you choose, but you must Venture at least one. Players do not have to Venture the same amount of Mission cards. Be aware, there is a penalty for Venturing more than two Mission cards on a specific battle. If you Venture three Mission cards, your opponent may draw one card from his Draw Pile and add it to his Hand. If you Venture four Mission cards, he may draw two cards from his Draw Pile. For Venturing Five Mission cards, your opponent may draw three cards from his Draw Pile. Upon Venturing six Mission cards, he may draw four cards. If you Venture all seven Mission cards, your opponent may draw five cards from his Draw Pile. There is a downside for your opponent though, as any new cards drawn as a result of a Venture must be discarded if they are duplicates, or Unusable. No cards drawn as a result of a Venture may be Placed.

To Venture a Mission card, simply take the card or cards you wish to Venture, and put them next to the Pile from which they are being Ventured. As mentioned earlier, in the beginning of the game, all of a player's Mission cards reside in the Reserve Missions Pile; however, later in the game, Mission cards may be divided into the Reserve Missions Pile, the Completed Missions Pile, and the Defeated Missions Pile. Mission cards may be Ventured from either the Reserve Missions Pile, the Completed Missions Pile, or both, but never from the Defeated Missions Pile. You may only Venture Mission cards from the completed Missions Pile if there are Mission cards in the Defeated Missions Pile.

After the battle Ventured Mission cards move up and down between the piles like a ladder, depending on whether the battle was won or lost.

Mission cards move as follows:

• Mission cards that were Ventured from the Reserve Missions Pile and lost, move down one Pile into the Defeated Missions Pile.
• Mission cards that were Ventured from the Reserve Missions Pile and won, move up one Pile into the Completed Missions Pile.
• Mission cards that were Ventured from the Completed Missions Pile and lost, move down one Pile into the Reserve Missions Pile.
• Mission cards that were Ventured from the Completed Missions Pile and won, enable the player to move a Mission card from the Defeated Missions Pile into the Reserve Missions Pile.
• Also, for every two Mission card Ventured from the Completed Missions Pile and won, a player may move one Mission card from the Defeated Missions Pile into the Completed Missions Pile.

Therefore, as you win battles, Mission cards move up and as you lose battles, Mission cards move down.

One of the two ways to win the game hinges on the Venture. If you can manage, after a series of battles, to Venture successfully enough so that you have all seven of your Mission cards in the Completed Missions Pile, then you win the game regardless of all other circumstances. Also, if you can force your opponent to abandon his Mission (in other words, force him to have all seven of his Mission cards in the Defeated Missions Pile) you win the game, regardless of all other circumstances.