Question; Twilight Imperium, PDS/space battles, first fire.

By waltero, in Twilight Imperium 3rd Edition

Posted at
Hello, I am new to this Forum and new to the game (Twilight imperium).
Great game!
Forgive me, I have a question and have no rule book (game) to post correct references.
I am going from memory, played a game yesterday 12 hr.
OK, The rule looks clear to me. I will make it as simple as possible then I will expound on our full game play to see if we are doing it right.
Place command counter in system to active; Move space ships into activated system;
Fire PDS; Space battles...end
(1)Now let us say that the ships that are in involved in the space battle have first fire (pre-fire before all other ships get a chance to fire).
Do PDS's fire first (before the ships that have pre-fire) or do the ships and the PDS's fire at the same time...Governed by the defender on simultaneous fire.
(2)I read it as the PDS fires first. If there happens to be another PDS in the same system it would be simultaneous fire...but both PDS's would fire first having a chance to eliminate a ship (pr-fire ship) before it can fire at all.
If two PDS's are in the same system and wish to fire, the defender would have choose who fires first.
If in Fact the PDS simultaneous fire with space ships (first fire space ships)...does that hold true for ground units (battles) as well (ground units that have first fire)?
Another question: If I have (5) PDS (with extended range) in a system that is one hex (system) away from the
target (system), all's I need to do is activate that system in order to fire on the ships that are sitting their...no ships entered, built or leaving...just as long as the system is activated PDS has firing capability?
Waltero

Posted at

The rule book is available on this site - just click Support instead of Message Board when you are on the TI3 site. You'll find everything you need there.

Posted at

PDS fire occurs on Step 3 while space combat comes a step after on step 4. Pre-combat abilities (assault cannons, action cards, anti-fighter barrage..etc..) occur on step 4 but before the regular combat occurs. The PDS fire is simultaneous and all PDS in range can fire(including deep space cannons),including 3rd party PDS .

The only requirements for PDS fire is that a. they are in range and b. the system has been activated. Note this is activation by anyone including 3rd parties. No ship movement is even required. Note that other means of activation are usually ignored because they don't trigger the normal activation of the system. For example using a strategy card or action card may cause a system to activate but you don't get to PDS fire because it is not a normal activation that make up a tactical action even if it allows say movement of ships into the system.