I think if your opponent forgets to do something, it's on you to remind him. Generally, people play within the rules, but if you let them do something they shouldn't be doing, that's on you. When the game ends, it should end, no matter how it played out. If your opponent had 102 points, you should have checked before it started. If he broke a rule during play, shame on you for not knowing the rules during the game. If you allow vacating a win based on a squad point total error, it just allows people to try to win, and then if they don't call out the rule violation for a free win. Bad policy.

I do think this Swarm Tactic outcome should be FAQ'd somewhere though. It's not an expected result of the card's text to most people. I can see in some tournament somewhere a big argument happening because someone doesn't want to swarm in a detrimental way. If there was a FAQ, it would end the argument quickly.

Every card doesn't need a freaking FAQ because people want to interpret the card in a certain way.

Step 1:

Read the card

Step 2:

Apply the card as it's written

Step 3:

Don't try to make something up just because you think it should be there

Just like Enhanced Scope from above, you can't choose when you want or do not want to use the card ability. You must follow the card as it's written. Don't over think it.

Best way to think of Swarm Tactics is:

"So what IF you're a good Pilot!? I'm the Commander in the Field! I out Rank You. You Follow my Orders and Do as I say. You Fire when I tell you to Fire or be Court-Martialed."

-Squadron Commander to his Squadron's Top Ace

Sure it sucks firing at a lower PS when you don't want to but there's a lot of board space to maneuver the 2 ships away from each other. Sure thy might lose some synergy if there's other skills that requires 1-Range. But that's the trade off.

The wording is there. But it's not what people expect. Someone is going to lose there marbles when they need to move a PS9 to a PS4-. And they won't believe the correct interpretation of the card. They will throw a fit, and then it needs to be adjudicated by someone else. Huge waste of time, and will cause a ton of ill will.

If it's FAQ'd it solves a lot of, but not all of, those problems. How hard is it for FFG to just add it to the FAQ?

Q: If a higher PS ship is the only ship in range 1 of a lower PS ship with swarm tactics, does the higher PS ship have to take the lower PS during the combat phase?

A: Yes

Problem solved. I think the root of this is that it will be unexpected behavior to many players. I really like this discussion, I wouldn't have noticed that Swarm worked that way with reading this. I would have been blissfully ignorant because I saw what I expected to see, not what was actually there. Which is something we humans do far to often.

If you want to avoid it dragging down a friendly due to whatever reason, at the start of combat the pilot with Swarm selects themselves. There is precedence for that, it does not specify "another friendly ship", just "a friendly ship", then you treat "it's" PS as "your" PS, so no change.

A whole logic convolution to say: it's optional the way it's written, stop overthinking it.

If you want to avoid it dragging down a friendly due to whatever reason, at the start of combat the pilot with Swarm selects themselves. There is precedence for that, it does not specify "another friendly ship", just "a friendly ship", then you treat "it's" PS as "your" PS, so no change.

A whole logic convolution to say: it's optional the way it's written, stop overthinking it.

You can not select your own ship. That was the OP's original question, and I think the entire thread has shown that the card bearer's ship is not applicable.

Using the term "friendly ship" is meant to signify 1) not an opponent, and 2) not the card bearer's ship.

Is one not friendly to one's self?

Tricksy Hobbitses, what is a over-analysis precious? *gollum* *gollum*

Has anyone thought about why the cost of the card is so low? It's for a reason. If you can crank a PS2 up to PS 9 for just 2 points, it's phenomenally good value, but given the right circumstances, it can also bring a PS9 pilot down as well. There's the trade off.

If it was specific about ONLY taking pilot skills up, it would probably be more than 2 points.