Ascendancy - a light game of strategy and cunning

I read through your rules, and I have some thoughts:

-As a reader, I just want confirmation that I can, as an action on my turn, replace two numbered tiles, even if one of those tiles is face-up due to an attack
-your tiles need a clearer indication of color. A thick, colored circle in the middle of a tile would likely be easier to see than the ringed hexagon
-I feel that the last player being able to attack without retaliation on the last round of a given game is quite powerful, especially since they could attack, then claim the last spot without retaliation. Alternately, they could claim three spots, and instantly end the game. Do playtests reveal that the last player has any advantage?
-Have you done any blind playtesting with people in your community?

Finally, regarding theme, have you considered a "Hacking" theme, where the players are erecting claiming servers for a corporation or government entity?

Also, have you considered that the competition for large areas might make people feel frustrated if constantly countered? Could you possibly reduce the size of these "regions" and include some independent hexes which are independently worth 1 or 2 points?

Hope that helps!
-ruy343

If you haven't been having trouble with first or last-player dominance, you might be OK. But bear in mind that sometimes, the middle-players might feel like they get the short end of the stick too (like in Settlers of Catan during Setup). I don't know yet how you'd fix it, but it's worth watching for.

A thought I had when reading it, but didn't know how to express it before - does space matter? Does owning a bunch of areas on one side of the table affect your gameplay? Can I think tactically (I'll target here, then use my positioning advantage to hit here next) while I play? I think that you might toy with the idea that your "attack" or "defense" value might get a +1 for each adjacent owned hex, creating a battle line that still allows for daring attacks into enemy territory with a strong marker.

Also, another thought I had about your game, tying in with your "districts" with distinct colors, but how they don't necessarily need to be adjacent - have you considered that the final setup doesn't need to be in a perfect hexagonal shape? What if you instead allowed the players to set it up as they saw fit, but ensure that it stays a given size by creating a few simple set-up rules (e.g. "all hexes must touch at least two more hexes", or "all hexes must be within 8 hexes of each other"). Thus, during setup, you might create gaps in territory that players work around. Maybe you could even include situations where hexes move around, and areas that a player had thought were safe are suddenly open to attack

Just some thoughts you might consider