Drawing a New Hand

Players do not get to draw a new card at the end of an encounter, the end of the turn, or even when they run out of cards.

A player only draws a new hand of eight cards when he or she next needs to use an encounter card and has none. This is either at the start of the player’s  turn  (offense) or when the player is the defense during the Planning Phase.

If the offense has no encounter cards (attacks, negotiates, or morphs) at the start of his or her turn, the offense must play (if possible) or discard any non-encounter cards, draw eight new cards, and continue his or her turn.

If the offense runs out of encounter cards later during his or her turn and needs to play one, the offense’s turn ends immediately. (This might happen for several reasons, including paying compensation after an encounter, an alien power, or a card effect.) If this happens, the offense returns any of his or her ships on the hyperspace gate to his or her colonies. Allies also return their ships to any of their colonies.

If the defense has no encounter cards when he or she is required to play a card in an encounter (normally during the Planning Phase), the defense must play (if possible) or discard any non-encounter cards, draw eight new cards, and play one of them in the encounter. If the defense doesn’t draw any encounter cards in the new hand, this process is repeated as many times as necessary.