Please FFG, change the rule about free actions...

By Shinren, in X-Wing

no regular actions when i'm stressed... ok...

but if an action is given by an ability or an upgrade, these are not regular actions: I've paid game points for them !!

Night Beast for example, costs 3 point more than a regular academy pilot!

A free action is like a present: you take it! You do not need to check anything!

Why do I have to check if I'm stressed?

FREE ACTIONS REVOLUTION !!!

:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

The FFG rules are correct in my opinion. Maybe it's better change the Night beast's ability text from "after" to "immediately". So i'ts more clear that the focus cannot be taken if he has stress.

I've paid game points for my missiles, too! Why do I have to do a target lock before I fire them?

In fairness, in Night Beast's case, his ability relies on Green Manouvres, so he should rarely be stressed. Plus he's also higher pilot skill than an academy pilot (or even the Pilot Skill 4 of 'top gun' generic squadrons), which accounts for most of his cost increase.

This is one of the fundamental game mechanics ... chancing this would probably lead to odd situations.

Night Beast on the other hand should get his free action after he cleared his stress ... k-turning with him means no ability for 2 turns ...

I agree with OP, Night Beast got hosed.

Manage your stress better? Maybe the upcoming Wingman card will be your new best friend.

Not going to happen. This is why some abilities give free "tokens," which can be received while stressed and even after you've already performed the related action. IE, Focusing and then Kyle passing a Focus, or Soontir focusing with Push the Limit and getting a free focus from the stress.

The wording is very specific on most cards for this reason. There has to be a limiting factor.

Yeah, gonna have to agree with most responses. It should stay, as stress only has a limited role in the game as is. I do find the ruling a bit of tough luck for Night Beast, but it is the proper sequence.

Edited by R2ShihTzu

Man, this ruling relegated Night Beast into Winged Gundark levels of "Don't Play This" for me.

Is his pilot ability really that much better than a Black Squadron Pilot with a 1 point EPT anymore?

Man, this ruling relegated Night Beast into Winged Gundark levels of "Don't Play This" for me.

Is his pilot ability really that much better than a Black Squadron Pilot with a 1 point EPT anymore?

Man, this ruling relegated Night Beast into Winged Gundark levels of "Don't Play This" for me.

Is his pilot ability really that much better than a Black Squadron Pilot with a 1 point EPT anymore?

You can still get the free focus after a collision. Yes, nightbeast can chase targets trying to do slow movements (eg. Forward 1) by ramming into them with a green maneuver. You will find this particularly useful against higher PS Xwings, Bwings and falcons

Yes you paid the points for them, but it's up to you to fly well to get the most out of them. Try not to k-turn so much with NB and you'll use his ability more. There is nothing at all wrong with the rules on this.

Night Beast for example, costs 3 point more than a regular academy pilot!

And is 4 PS higher in a game where 1 PS usually costs 1 point.

Meh. Night Beast has been hurt by the timing of events for a long time. No need to change the stress rules for one ok ship.

I too think that Night Beast's ability is oddly written, as it says " after performing a green manoeuvre", therefore why souldn't stress be cleared before the free action?

Otherwise the rule doesn't need a change imho.

Edited by Francesco Lamas

NB is wonderful. He's one of my favorite TIE/ln pilots to play as. And he doesn't actually pay anything for his skill, it's free. Now, that said, you could make the case for a Black w/ VI costing the same and being 1 PS higher, and as such you're actually paying 1 point for his ability. And I would probably agree with you then.

So his ability costs 1 point. But considering that it's a PTL-lite, its freakin great! Consider the following two scenarios... Night Beast is strolling along doing greens, getting a free focus, and then taking a BR or E (BR if he can get out of arc, E if he can't) as a free second action. After combat, you start planning your next maneuver, and realize he needs to K turn. You lose his ability that turn. You also lose his ability the following turn when you do a 2 straight to clear the stress and gets 1 action. That sucks! On the other hand...

A BSP has PTL. He costs 17 points. Each turn, he focuses and then does either an evade or BR (BR if he can get out of arc, Evade if he stays in to stack with F and not die). Before he takes his actions, he realizes that he will have to K turn next turn... so he decides to NOT PTL that turn (so he's not stressed and therefore can K turn). He gets 1 action. He then K turns the next turn, but since he's stressed, he still can't use PTL, and loses it for a SECOND turn. He then does a 2 forward and clears stress and then can continue as normal.

Huh... Whadder ya know... you lose the ability to PTL for two turns just like NB does! The only difference is with NB you don't have to plan it out in advanced, where as with PTL you do. In that regard, NB > BSP w/ PTL. Oh, and he's 1 PS higher too... Oh, and he's 2 points cheaper too!

But wait a second... PTL allows you to do any two actions you want! NB requires F to be one of them... While this is true, the TIE only has 3 actions total, and focus is the most commonly used action (on non-interceptors) especially if you get 2 actions total. Yes, there will be the time that you would have liked to have BR + E... and now with NB you're stuck BR + F, but it's not that big of a deal (.25 evades less rolled with a F than with an E at R1+2... At R3 (or through an asteroid or both) F >= E anyways).

Oh yeah, then there's the little caveat... PTL is susceptible to action denial... NB still at least gets 1 action when he's blocked.

Seems to me that NB >>>>> BSP w/ PTL, and nothing needs to change to make him even better.

Edited by Khyros

NB is my 2nd favorite tie pilot after backstabber. He's probably the veristile and cost effective of the named ties. His ability is PTL lite and costs him -1. Yep. Hes's just that point efficient, like many of the named ties.

The best part abou NB is the chase. You can freely chase and bump and still get a focus or if you are beig chased,turtle up. I don't know how many times he's escaped an engagement with 1hp and my opponent chases the "easy" points only to have him survive a round or 2.

Nice sum up Khyros. I love the NB too, he's pretty much a no brainer for any list I make with Ties. I hand't quite thought out his abilities as well as you have, though. Now I'm thoroughly convinced of his value.

Yes you paid the points for them, but it's up to you to fly well to get the most out of them. Try not to k-turn so much with NB and you'll use his ability more. There is nothing at all wrong with the rules on this.

Night Beast's ability in necessary after a k-turn and a green maneuver... it's not my ability to fly it... When you most want his ability, you cannot use it !!

With a k-turn he cannot use his ability for 2 rounds !! what the hell !!

I do not agree with the FAQ, but I'm just a player...

I don't understand why we need a mid-step between 2 phases...

Maybe Night Beast's ability is just written in a wrong way, but, hey, take the "Gunner" upgrade... in the explanation there is the word "immediately" and this explain everything: not in the following phase, not just "after", but immediately after...

I believe that with free actions allowed... there will be a lot of tricks !!! But this is not the case, so, let's play!!

:P :P :P :P

Who Kturns anymore? well...except defenders... defenders should but who else does?

Who Kturns anymore? well...except defenders... defenders should but who else does?

They can be decidely handy. Especially with some clever flying so that your opponent can't shoot you andd then you block their K-turn.

I know they're useful... just some fun poking. I play a lot of NB, Interceptors, and Firesprays. I almost never kturn with those ships.

Who Kturns anymore? well...except defenders... defenders should but who else does?

I use to !! With a lot of different ships !!

Maybe it is difficult...

maybe it can help you to correct a previously wrong maneuver...

And can be also useful when your enemy doesn't think you are so crazy to try it !!!

The word 'free' is used here to distinguish between the one action that a ship normally takes during the activation phase and any others granted by special abilities or upgrades. It does not infer that an extra action may be taken without consequence. Sorry OP, but there's no reason to change the game rules because of a misconstrued semantic distinction.

Also: !!

Edited by WonderWAAAGH

Well ... i find it somewhat hard to explain a new player why he can't have a free focus with night beast after he cleared stress using a green move.... "But the card reads: After executing a green manoeuvre, you may perform a free focus action ." ......

Stress tokens are removed in a step after a maneuver is executed, which is also after a point you could have triggered Night Beast.

Easy