ISS Vanguard

How ISS Vanguard works

The campaign repeatedly alternates between two major game modes:

• Planetary Exploration — an Away Team lands on a world, completes Missions, resolves Points of Interest and gathers Discoveries.
• Ship Management — players operate ISS Vanguard, recruit crew, conduct Research, manufacture Equipment, fly between systems and deal with ship situations.

A campaign session can contain both modes or stop after one phase once the game’s save procedure is completed.

The four Sections

ISS Vanguard divides its crew into four specialist Sections:

Each Section has its own Crew board, Section cards, dice pool, Equipment options and crew progression.

How crewmembers work

Crewmembers are assigned to a Section and carry a rank.

A crewmember’s card provides abilities and determines how they interact with Section dice, while rank affects how many Section cards they can hold and which cards they may use.

Crew can be promoted and developed across the campaign, making experienced specialists more flexible on later missions.

Planetary Exploration

Planetary Exploration uses a board from the Planetopedia, along with a Mission, Global Condition, Points of Interest and planet-specific rules.

The base game includes a 44-page Planetopedia covering multiple alien worlds.

Crewmembers move between Sectors, perform Actions, resolve Dice Checks, discover new information and decide when to return to the Lander.

The objective is not always “explore everything.” Supplies, injuries, environmental dangers and mission timing can make a partial success safer than pushing for every optional discovery.

Common planetary actions

Planet-specific rules create many special Actions, but several core actions recur:

• Travel between Sectors under the current Global Condition.
• Rest to spend Lander Supplies and refresh dice.
• Prepare to draw a Section card and/or set up Dice Combination opportunities.
• Lift-Off from the Lander Sector to end exploration.
• Exertion as an emergency way to refresh dice at a permanent short-term cost.

How Dice Checks work

Dice Checks are the central resolution system during Planetary Exploration.

The broad procedure is:

1. Choose available Section dice to commit.
2. Other crewmembers in the same Sector may assist under the rules.
3. Add any Injury or Danger dice required by the situation.
4. Roll.
5. Modify results with Equipment and Section cards.
6. Trigger Dice Combinations when requirements are met.
7. Resolve Injury/Danger dice and special effects.
8. Check which Outcome requirements were achieved.
9. Move rolled dice to the Spent Pool.
10. Resolve the chosen Outcome.

Dice Checks therefore involve hand management and resource timing, not only raw probability.

What Section cards do

Section cards are one of the main ways to manipulate Dice Checks.

They usually have two distinct functions:

• A playable effect that modifies a roll or the current situation.
• A Dice Combination that can be triggered when the Roll Pool contains the required icons.

Each Section has its own deck and rank restrictions, so an experienced crew setup can approach the same planetary problem very differently.

How Rest works

Rest is the normal way to restore a crewmember’s active dice during exploration.

The standard Rest procedure consumes 1 Supply from the Lander, refreshes roughly half of the crewmember’s dice and draws a Section card.

Because Supplies are finite, repeatedly resting can shorten how long the entire Away Team can safely remain on the planet.

What is Exertion?

Exertion is an emergency recovery tool and is not a normal Action.

A crewmember sacrifices one Section die to refresh several spent dice. If the character is already down to a very small dice pool, Exertion can instead create an Exhausted Injury.

That makes Exertion powerful but costly: it solves today’s check by reducing the character’s total capacity for the rest of the mission.

How Injuries work

Injuries add both cards and Injury dice to a crewmember.

When the character makes later Dice Checks, Injury dice can trigger effects printed on the corresponding Injury card.

A crewmember who already has three Injuries and would receive a fourth triggers an Emergency Evac, ending the planetary mission under the failure procedure.

Injuries therefore create persistent mission pressure rather than merely removing hit points.

What Discoveries do

Planetary Exploration can generate Discoveries from several categories.

Discoveries can provide immediate field effects, but their larger value appears during Ship Management where they feed the Research system.

Some are Unique Discoveries tied to specific worlds or story paths; others are more general samples and data.

This is the main bridge between exploring a planet and upgrading the ship’s future technological options.

What are Leads?

Leads represent information pointing toward particular Discovery categories or research opportunities.

They are often gained during exploration and placed into the appropriate Discovery ecosystem rather than functioning like ordinary currency.

They help the Ship Phase convert planetary investigation into a broader scientific program.

How Landers affect missions

Before landing, the group chooses and prepares a Lander.

Lander statistics such as Armor, Sensors and Agility matter during descent and other mission procedures.

Mods can further specialize the Lander.

Choosing the wrong craft for a hostile world can increase danger before the Away Team has even begun exploring.

When should you Lift-Off?

A crewmember in the Lander Sector can call for Lift-Off when the other crewmembers agree.

Lifting off immediately ends Planetary Exploration.

Leaving crewmembers behind can kill them, while abandoning an incomplete Mission may trigger failure consequences.

The tactical lesson is simple: once the primary mission is secure, every extra point of interest must be judged against Supplies, injuries and the risk of failing the entire landing.

How Ship Management works

Ship Management is handled through the large Ship Book rather than the planetary rulebook.

It covers systems such as:

• Researching Discoveries.
• Starting and completing Projects.
• Manufacturing Equipment.
• Recruiting and managing crew.
• Dealing with Situations aboard the ship.
• Upgrading facilities.
• Preparing Away Teams.
• Scanning destinations and choosing where to travel next.

The Ship Phase is therefore a strategic planning game between planetary missions rather than simple bookkeeping.

Research and Production

Research converts scientific progress and Discoveries into new capabilities.

Production then allows the crew to manufacture Equipment, Lander modifications and other tools unlocked through Projects.

The campaign gradually widens your technology tree, so early discoveries can influence which kinds of later missions your crew handles efficiently.

What are Ship Situations?

Ship Situations are problems or events that require crew attention during Ship Management.

Ignoring them can create future penalties, while solving them uses crew capacity that could have been spent on Research, Production or other ship tasks.

This keeps the ship from feeling like a passive upgrade menu: the Vanguard itself can become a source of strategic pressure.

Do you need the ISS Vanguard app?

No.

The physical Logbook is sufficient to play the campaign.

The official companion app offers an electronic Logbook with voice-over, sound/music, automatic tracking of campaign choices and additional utilities.

Awaken Realms continues to host current app download links on the official ISS Vanguard resources page.

What are Operations?

Operations are stand-alone Planetary Exploration scenarios.

They can be played separately in a single session or encountered as optional content during the campaign.

The base Operations Book includes scenarios such as Lone Wolf and Eternal Sunrise.

Lost Fleet adds four more Operations: Cryptobiosis, Pilgrimage, Deeper Horizon and Tartarus.

How good is ISS Vanguard solo?

Solo is fully official and BGG community voting strongly supports one or two players.

One player can manage multiple Sections and crewmembers, while the hostile planet/event systems require no separate opponent player.

The main trade-off is administrative load: controlling all four Sections provides maximum flexibility but also means managing more decks, dice pools and Equipment.

What does Personnel Files add?

Personnel Files is a narrative/progression expansion for the base campaign.

It adds:

• 90 Veteran cards.
• A Personnel Files book with 180+ personal story entries.
• Individual objectives that can unlock Veteran versions of crewmembers.

This expansion deepens the existing crew rather than adding a separate new campaign.

Asmodee USA currently lists Personnel Files at $23.99.

What is The Lost Fleet?

ISS Vanguard: The Lost Fleet is a separate add-on campaign set after the original Vanguard journey.

The official Lost Fleet rules estimate the campaign at roughly 20–30 hours.

It adds:

• New System Maps.
• A new Planetopedia.
• A new Logbook.
• New Threats, Equipment and technology.
• Alien dice.
• Ship Book upgrades.
• Four stand-alone Operations.

This is substantial post-core campaign content rather than a small modular expansion.

What are Alien dice in Lost Fleet?

Lost Fleet introduces Alien dice connected to several alien civilizations discovered through the wider campaign.

They function broadly like Section dice but use new alien icons and can be placed into multiple colored slots during Away Team preparation.

Their flexibility changes Dice Check planning and is one of Lost Fleet’s major mechanical additions.

What is Deadly Frontier?

Deadly Frontier is another large campaign expansion centered on survivors attempting to build a new home in the distant galaxy.

Current product descriptions list hundreds of new cards, a new galactic map, new Planetopedia boards, a substantial Logbook and new crew/equipment systems.

Asmodee Canada continues to list the Deadly Frontier Campaign Expansion as a current ISS Vanguard product.

Because it is later campaign material with additional mechanical context, new players should begin with the core campaign before deciding whether they want another full campaign.

ISS Vanguard expansion guide

What should a new player buy first?

Start with the ISS Vanguard core box.

It already contains the full main campaign, Planetopedia, Ship Management system and one-off Operations.

If you want more depth inside the original campaign, Personnel Files is the most directly integrated expansion.

If you finish the campaign and want another long narrative, consider Lost Fleet or Deadly Frontier.

Asmodee USA currently lists the core game at $184.99, but its direct store shows it sold out as of the checked date. Regional stock differs.

ISS Vanguard vs Tainted Grail

ISS Vanguard vs The Elder Scrolls: Betrayal of the Second Era

The Elder Scrolls: Betrayal of the Second Era emphasizes tactical character builds and shorter three-session campaigns.

ISS Vanguard is the better fit for players who want a single long-form exploration campaign with a substantial strategic ship layer between missions.

Eight strategy principles for new captains

• Build Away Teams for the planet, not for general power. Match Section dice, Equipment and Lander strengths to the Mission’s likely risks.
• Do not overspend Supplies on routine Rest actions. Supply is shared expedition endurance.
• Use Exertion late, not casually. Sacrificing a die solves one immediate problem but permanently shrinks the crewmember’s mission pool.
• Keep Section cards for checks where their combinations matter. A mediocre modifier can become powerful when it completes an Outcome threshold.
• Know when to Lift-Off. Optional discoveries are not worth a failed primary mission or fourth Injury.
• Research with future destinations in mind. The best Project is often the one that fixes a known weakness before the next launch.
• Rotate crew. Developing several useful crewmembers reduces the risk that one injury or unavailable specialist stalls the campaign.
• In solo, simplify administration deliberately. More full Sections create flexibility but can slow decision-making enough to reduce enjoyment.

Eight things to know before buying

• This is a campaign management game as much as a planetary adventure.
• The Ship Phase is substantial. Players who only want tactical missions may find it slow.
• Dice are central, but Section cards and Equipment provide mitigation.
• Solo is one of the community’s preferred ways to play.
• The app is optional.
• Personnel Files enhances the core campaign rather than replacing it.
• Lost Fleet and Deadly Frontier are full additional campaign commitments.
• Regional availability varies considerably. Direct-store stock should be checked before relying on older prices.

ISS Vanguard FAQ

How many players?

1–4 players.

How long does a session take?

Awaken Realms and BGG list roughly 90–120 minutes, although longer campaign sessions are common.

Who designed ISS Vanguard?

Andrzej Betkiewicz, Krzysztof Piskorski, Paweł Samborski and Marcin Świerkot.

What are the four Sections?

Security, Recon, Science and Engineering.

What are the two main game modes?

Planetary Exploration and Ship Management.

Can it be played solo?

Yes. Solo is fully official, and BGG community voting favors 1–2 players.

Do you need the app?

No. The physical Logbook works without it.

What are Operations?

Stand-alone planetary missions that can be played separately or encountered as optional campaign content.

What does Personnel Files add?

90 Veteran cards and more than 180 personal story entries for the core crewmembers.

What is Lost Fleet?

A full follow-up campaign expansion estimated at 20–30 hours, with new planets, systems, alien dice and four Operations.

What is Deadly Frontier?

Another large campaign expansion with a new survivor-focused story, worlds and gameplay content.

How much is the core game?

Asmodee USA currently lists it at $184.99, but the direct store shows it sold out as of October 10, 2026.

Sources and scope

• Awaken Realms: official ISS Vanguard overview, player count, campaign structure and app
• Awaken Realms / ISS Vanguard: current rulebook, Logbook, Operations, Planetary Record Sheets, FAQ and app links
• RulesPal: Planetary Exploration, Rest, Prepare, Lift-Off, Exertion, Dice Checks and Section-card rules
• Awaken Realms: Lost Fleet campaign rules and 20–30 hour campaign estimate
• Awaken Realms: Lost Fleet Operations
• Asmodee Canada: Personnel Files contents
• Asmodee Canada: current ISS Vanguard product-line listings including Deadly Frontier
• Asmodee USA: current $184.99 core-game listing and stock status
• BoardGameGeek: current rank, ratings, player count, complexity and play time

Checked October 10, 2026. ISS Vanguard has several regional editions and a mixed retail/crowdfunding expansion history, so stock and pricing vary by market. This guide distinguishes the core campaign from one-off Operations and separate campaign expansions. Strategy and buying guidance are original editorial analysis; no firsthand campaign review is claimed. Editorial policy and corrections.