OBJECTIVE The objective of the game is to conquer the galaxy - either by occupying the most stars; or by capturing the opponent's home base star, or by destroying the opponent's forces. SET UP Each player should draw a 10 by 10 grid. Each set of adjacent 4 squares is grouped into a quadrant, and labeled from A to Y, starting from the top, left hand side quadrant. Each square in a quadrant is numbered from 1 to 4, starting from the top, left hand side square. One player is allocated the 6 quadrant in the top-left hand side of the board as his home sector, and the other takes the 6 quadrant in the bottom-right hand side of the board as his. The remaining 13 quadrants form the neutral sector. The corner quadrants in each player's home sector are their respective home quadrants. Each player receives 45 points to create stars in the galaxy. Quadrat Z is very much a game of cat-and-mouse. As in many wars, you have some idea of an opponent's strength and general location, but very little about the exact composition and location of his forces. Hence, the value of intelligence gathering should not be underrated. Strategy will vary from game to game, but a major focus should be on the capture of stars: without them your forces will not grow, and , in the long run their lack will certainly cause you to lose. Think carefully about the initial layout of stars, and place your ships to capture the maximum number of points as soon as possible. Try and maintain a balanced force of ship sizes. Movement is hidden, and fairly rapid shifts of forces from one quadrant to another are possible. Remember that in combat the aim is to have the largest combined force - not necessarily a single, high value ship. A single, large strike ship may penetrate enemy lines and take out the opponent's home base... but if he sees it coming he may have time to regroup and knock it out. Spreading your ships out too thinly in a quadrant could also be problematic in combat.