Race for the Galaxy: Xeno Counterstrike

No. Add the Explore cards to your hand first, then discard the required number from anywhere in your hand. All Explores in this expansion work this way (p. 2).

You don’t draw a bonus card after a successful Frontier Settle—the world itself is your bonus. You also can’t choose Frontier Settle again next round, whether or not you placed a world (p. 4).

You can attempt a Xeno conquest if you have at least one Far Frontier world or a tableau of 16 or more cards. At 16 or more cards, you must attack a Xeno system when you play Frontier/Conquest Settle; you can’t attempt a Frontier settle (p. 6).

Your combined Military and Military vs. Xenos must be at least 9. Then add temporary Military and/or temporary Military vs. Xenos equal to or greater than the Hive world’s listed “#” value (p. 7).

No. If at least one Xeno system is conquered this round, flip the retaliation tile to its no-retaliation side. A failed Frontier settle or Xeno conquest instead increases retaliation attack strengths by +4 or +6 respectively, up to a maximum of +6 (p. 7).

No. The counterstrike game ends when the VP pool is exhausted, all Xeno system worlds are conquered, or Military vs. Xenos reaches the Xeno conquest value; failing to defend does not end it (p. 8).