screen will be shown to the player with information on the enemy strength, own strength and where the fight will take place. This screen also gives the player the option to command his ships to intercept the enemy fleet if one is active in the system, attack the enemy planet if the enemy holds one in the system, or defend the player's planets in the system. If neither of the forces are ordered to attack by the factions commanding them, combat will not occur, if one of the forces is ordered to attack, combat will occur in three phases: Space Combat, Planetary Bombardment, and Ground Combat. Space Combat is fought in open space or near one of the star system's planets, which is determined by the attacker and defender at the beginning of combat. If the attacker's goal is the conquest of a planet in the system then the space combat will be fought near a planet with that planet's defenses included in the battle. If the attacker's goal is merely the destruction of the enemy space fleet or occupation of the star system then the battle can be fought in open space between the fleets only. If the "defender" commands his fleet to defend a planet within the system, the "attacker" will be unable to intercept the enemy fleet in open space, and can only attack the defending fleet by attacking the planet it protects. The player can either manually control the fleet or allow the AI to take command. The player is not even required to watch the battle, but can let the game decide the outcome and display the resulting winner and the number of remaining ships. If the attacker is victorious in space with the goal of attacking one of the system's inhabited planets then the second phase of combat will follow. Planetary Bombardment is what it sounds like, the attacker throws as much explosives on the attacked planet as he wants, and may then decide to attack with ground forces if he brought any. The Planetary Bombardment screen is only shown to the player when he is the one attacking. The screen shows what is on the planet in terms of civilian population, military units and buildings, as well as what's left on the planet when the bombardment is over. If the attacker decided to attack with his ground forces, Ground Combat will follow. Ground