Sorry if this is a topic that has been beaten to death, but I am seeking clarification on when a range ruler can be used.

My belief is it can only be used after the announcement of a target lock attempt at a particular vehicle, use of an ability that has range limits,or announcement of an attack in determining arc and distance. So it cannot be used at all while in the process of moving in conjunction with boost/barrel roll to get out of arcs.

You can try to target lock someone a obviously out of range, but you need to do a straight line right, not a sweep around the ship to see who all is within range before choosing a new action (target lock attempt to see if a barrel roll will get you in range of another guy)

Is that correct or am I missing something?

Oh, and does anyone know how to topic search from an Android device?

The basic rule of thumb is, if there is a need to measure for something, you are allowed to measure for that - and only for that. If you want to use an ability that requires a friendly ship to be at range 1-2, you can pick a friendly ship, measure if it's within range 2. You cannot measure to any enemy ships. If that ship is out of range you can pick another friendly ship and measure range to it.

Can you game that? Sure. But if you're trying to measure to a ship halfway across the map, clearly for the sole purpose of checking range to an enemy ship that just happens to be along that same path, it's going to be pretty obvious you're abusing the rules and you'll most likely get called out on it. Don't be that guy.

If you're doing a barrel roll, you can check to see if the roll is legal (can be executed) before doing it, but there is no reason that should involve a range ruler, so you're not allowed to check and see what the range is before deciding whether to boost/roll/etc.

So it cannot be used at all while in the process of moving in conjunction with boost/barrel roll to get out of arcs.

That's true, you can only measure when you're checking the range between you and a target because something you are doing requires you to check to see if the target is in range or not.

Such as a TL or other ability that mentions range. You can't check ranges or arc when doing things like boost or barrel roll.

You can try to target lock someone a obviously out of range...

That's a bit fuzzy. The rules on page 9 say you may measure to see if any ship is in range before committing to this action. It also says you may measure 360 deg around the active ship.

However the CPA in the FAQ says that if you're going to acquire a TL you must declare the intended target first, and if the target is in range, you must acquire a TL against that target.

So if you go by page 9, yes it does seem that you can sweep 360 deg's around your ship, or at least can check the range to each and every enemy ship on the board before deciding if you will TL or not. But if you use the CPA rules then no you can't.

And whichever way you're playing it, "Legality, Illegality, is Grey Area," it's fairly cheesy to try and abuse the rules within an inch of their life by taking an action that clearly won't work (target locking someone at range 14 or whatever) when you're obviously using it as an excuse to see if that enemy ship is at range 2 or 3).

Don't be that guy.

Don't be that guy.

I agree, I wasn't quite as clear as I should of been.

There's nothing wrong with checking the range to every enemy ship that seems likely to be in range, before checking for a TL, unless you're playing by the CPA. But you shouldn't IMO check for ships that you know are out of range.

Thank you for the swift responses! On the flip side, I don't want to rules nazi either. Maybe the best thing is to make a hand - out with the rules and post on the wall?

Maybe the best thing is to make a hand - out with the rules and post on the wall?

If it's an issue, or people are still learning, something like that could be very handy. A lot of miniatures games offer a quick reference sheet. Typically that's for games with more complex rules, but such thing could be handy for X-Wing.