by Vanish
Ages ago, they were imprisoned in a Pocket Galaxy. The Warp Portals of our galaxy have become unstable, creating a link to the worlds of Antar. Do you dare approach the Ancients who have been brooding for so long?Explanation
I created "The Lost Worlds of Antar" (and at a similar time, Ted Clark created a very similar idea ... thanks for sharing with me Ted!) for games of Eclipse with 5, 6, 8 or 9 players, though I am sure it could be used wherever. The Ancient Homeworld hexes are great, I love the unique cruisers. However, in a large game, the only way to use them is to shuffle them into the II stack, which can create some bad positions for players, or some really good positions if you are, say Orion. In a 9 player game, we had one non-warlike player get trapped behind two Homeworlds, and it pretty much ruined him, not being able to explore / conquer toward the center.
The "Lost Worlds of Antar" adds a small pocket of hexes outside the central galaxy. These hexes can be accessed only via a Warp Portal. Ancient Homeworlds surround this warp portal. This creates a place to really rack up some good Reputation, but leaves one very exposed to attack.
Additional Pieces
Print this hex, and mount on something that resembles an Eclipse hex. Cut out appropriately. It does NOT need to perfectly match an Eclipse hex, as this tile is always revealed, much like the GCD tile.
Setup
Place the 404 hex off to the side of the main galaxy so it does not interfere. Place a random ancient cruiser FACE DOWN on 404. Place three Ancient Homeworlds face down next to the wormholes of 404. If you're playing with a setup that uses some of the Ancient Homeworlds already, you could add in the random II hexes, since there are extras (this will reduce the overall number of hexes available for the II stack).
Ensure that all the warp portal tiles are included in the II and III stacks. It would be sad to only have one person able to access 404.
I recommend using Supernova Swap hexes to have even more portals available.
Gameplay
Antar is only reachable via a warp portal. Only when a player moves a ship into 404, the guardian Ancient Cruiser is revealed. Once the guardian is destroyed, the connecting tiles can be explored. No futher exploring out from these hexes is allowed (as per our rules ... but feel free to make up your own on this one!).
Why we like this
It gives an alternate path besides the center. It encourages more placement of warp portals. It makes the warp portal development more useful. The opportunity exists for late game exploring. High risk VS reward makes for fun times!