Gunner: Worth it?

By JFunk, in X-Wing

FYI Kath can't give stress if using the ion cannon. Ion cannon cancels all dice results if successful.

But opportunist and gunner seems like a decent combo. I used it in a 2 YT list once. I have since replaced it with different upgrades to make the 2 YT list more of a tank vs more damage output.

Actually this is incorrect. You roll your attack dice and modify said dice. Crits that result then need to be defended. Any hits/crits that are not defended are then negated, the defender receives 1 ion token and 1 damage.

So you can indeed stress a target and give him an ion token. :)

You are wrong. RTFM. I've cut and pasted directly from the FAQ below. Page 7, middle of the right column. Kath CAN NOT give stress when using an ion cannon.

kAth scArlet
If Kath Scarlet attacks with an Ion Cannon,
[ ] results that are canceled by the Ion
Cannon’s game effect do not cause the
defender to receive 1 stress token.

FYI Kath can't give stress if using the ion cannon. Ion cannon cancels all dice results if successful.

But opportunist and gunner seems like a decent combo. I used it in a 2 YT list once. I have since replaced it with different upgrades to make the 2 YT list more of a tank vs more damage output.

Actually this is incorrect. You roll your attack dice and modify said dice. Crits that result then need to be defended. Any hits/crits that are not defended are then negated, the defender receives 1 ion token and 1 damage.

So you can indeed stress a target and give him an ion token. :)

You are wrong. RTFM. I've cut and pasted directly from the FAQ below. Page 7, middle of the right column. Kath CAN NOT give stress when using an ion cannon.

kAth scArlet
If Kath Scarlet attacks with an Ion Cannon,
[ ] results that are canceled by the Ion
Cannon’s game effect do not cause the
defender to receive 1 stress token.

RTFM.

Emphasis mine.

Edit: That part of the FAQ does not apply to the original question.

Edited by dvor

You are wrong. RTFM. I've cut and pasted directly from the FAQ below. Page 7, middle of the right column. Kath CAN NOT give stress when using an ion cannon.

Pretty aggressive for someone who's so wrong...

If the defender cancels a [crit] with dice as part of the normal compare results step, then Kath does in fact give stress. What the FAQ is saying that any uncanceled [crits] don't cause stress because they're canceled by the Ion rules, and not defense dice.

So say Kath rolls [hit] [crit] [crit] and the defender has 2 evades, he cancels the [hit] then the [crit] causing stress. He's considered hit, and gets a ion token, and the remaining [crit] is canceled per the Ion rules, that [crit] does not cause stress.

FYI Kath can't give stress if using the ion cannon. Ion cannon cancels all dice results if successful.

But opportunist and gunner seems like a decent combo. I used it in a 2 YT list once. I have since replaced it with different upgrades to make the 2 YT list more of a tank vs more damage output.

Actually this is incorrect. You roll your attack dice and modify said dice. Crits that result then need to be defended. Any hits/crits that are not defended are then negated, the defender receives 1 ion token and 1 damage.

So you can indeed stress a target and give him an ion token. :)

You are wrong. RTFM. I've cut and pasted directly from the FAQ below. Page 7, middle of the right column. Kath CAN NOT give stress when using an ion cannon.

kAth scArlet
If Kath Scarlet attacks with an Ion Cannon,
[ ] results that are canceled by the Ion
Cannon’s game effect do not cause the
defender to receive 1 stress token.

First, settle down. I understand that puberty can be hard, with all those hormones rushing through your body, hair sprouting in weird places, and your armpits suddenly smelling like chicken soup. Go to reddit/nsfw, release some stress, grab a shower, put some deoderant on and marinate in some Axe body spray.

Now that we have expunged the 13 year old in us, read the FAQ again. Then read it a third time.

What the FAQ states:

Kath Scarlet's Crits cancled by the Ion Cannon's game effect do not cause the defender to receive 1 stress token.

What the FAQ does not state:

Kath Scarlet's Ion Cannon crits canceled by Defense dice do not cause the defender to receive 1 stress token.

How Ion Cannons work:

Attacker rolls 3 Attack Dice at RB1-3. Defender rolls Defense Dice and spends Evade Tokens. If the attack hits, the defender suffers 1 damage and receives 1 ion token. Then cancel all dice results.

Therefore, if Kath rolls a crit, or modifies a crit, say with Marksmanship, and the defender evades it, then Kath's stress effect takes place. If after all the evading, there are still crits unevaded, the defender receives 1 damage and 1 ion token, and all remaining crits are cancelled, and these canceled crits do not allocate any stress.

FYI Kath can't give stress if using the ion cannon. Ion cannon cancels all dice results if successful.

But opportunist and gunner seems like a decent combo. I used it in a 2 YT list once. I have since replaced it with different upgrades to make the 2 YT list more of a tank vs more damage output.

Actually this is incorrect. You roll your attack dice and modify said dice. Crits that result then need to be defended. Any hits/crits that are not defended are then negated, the defender receives 1 ion token and 1 damage.

So you can indeed stress a target and give him an ion token. :)

You are wrong. RTFM. I've cut and pasted directly from the FAQ below. Page 7, middle of the right column. Kath CAN NOT give stress when using an ion cannon.

kAth scArlet
If Kath Scarlet attacks with an Ion Cannon,
[ ] results that are canceled by the Ion
Cannon’s game effect do not cause the
defender to receive 1 stress token.

First, settle down. I understand that puberty can be hard, with all those hormones rushing through your body, hair sprouting in weird places, and your armpits suddenly smelling like chicken soup. Go to reddit/nsfw, release some stress, grab a shower, put some deoderant on and marinate in some Axe body spray.

Now that we have expunged the 13 year old in us, read the FAQ again. Then read it a third time.

What the FAQ states:

Kath Scarlet's Crits cancled by the Ion Cannon's game effect do not cause the defender to receive 1 stress token.

What the FAQ does not state:

Kath Scarlet's Ion Cannon crits canceled by Defense dice do not cause the defender to receive 1 stress token.

How Ion Cannons work:

Attacker rolls 3 Attack Dice at RB1-3. Defender rolls Defense Dice and spends Evade Tokens. If the attack hits, the defender suffers 1 damage and receives 1 ion token. Then cancel all dice results.

Therefore, if Kath rolls a crit, or modifies a crit, say with Marksmanship, and the defender evades it, then Kath's stress effect takes place. If after all the evading, there are still crits unevaded, the defender receives 1 damage and 1 ion token, and all remaining crits are cancelled, and these canceled crits do not allocate any stress.

I think the point of all this is that when you are firing an ion weapon, you aren't attacking in the same way as you would with a normal weapon. You aren't actually rolling dice to determine how much damage you are going to do, so hits/crits don't really matter in the same way, right? When you are rolling red/green dice with an ion weapon, you are really just trying to determine if your attack successfully hits. If it does successfully hit, the dice you have rolled no longer matter. On a successful hit, there is a set of things that happen, the defender takes an ion token and then takes one normal damage.

Ok, so then if Kath rolls C C C, and the defender rolls E B or something, we are saying the defender has evaded one crit and has to take a stress? I guess. So, only if a defender actually causes crits to be evaded with his evade dice or evade token could a stress be caused? Crits uncancelled by dice or tokens don't count for Kath's ability then?

Seems really an odd quirk in the rules, especially given how ion weapons tend to work. But if that's how it works, I guess Kath can give stress with an ion is some specific circumstances.

I think the point of all this is that when you are firing an ion weapon, you aren't attacking in the same way as you would with a normal weapon. You aren't actually rolling dice to determine how much damage you are going to do, so hits/crits don't really matter in the same way, right? When you are rolling red/green dice with an ion weapon, you are really just trying to determine if your attack successfully hits. If it does successfully hit, the dice you have rolled no longer matter. On a successful hit, there is a set of things that happen, the defender takes an ion token and then takes one normal damage.

Ok, so then if Kath rolls C C C, and the defender rolls E B or something, we are saying the defender has evaded one crit and has to take a stress? I guess. So, only if a defender actually causes crits to be evaded with his evade dice or evade token could a stress be caused? Crits uncancelled by dice or tokens don't count for Kath's ability then?

Seems really an odd quirk in the rules, especially given how ion weapons tend to work. But if that's how it works, I guess Kath can give stress with an ion is some specific circumstances.

Attacking with an ion weapon is just like attacking with any other weapon. You compare [hit] and [crit] results from attack against [evade] dice results and Evade tokens eliminating dice until you determine if an attack hits or misses. It's only if an attack actually hits (ie. has uncancelled [hit] or [crit] results) that the special effects from an Ion weapon come into play. It is when you are resolving a hit that an Ion acts differently.

When Kath makes an attack it will roll dice and any that show a [crit] result but are cancelled before determining if the attack actually hits will produce Stress tokens.

I'll point out that the upcoming Lt. Blount could deal damage with an Ion weapon even if he rolls all [blanks] because of his ability to always count as hitting. The Ion effects only care if an attack hits which in turn triggers damage, the ionize effect, and cancels all the remaining dice results.

So I did my first game ever tonight with a gunner. Sadly he never came into use, partly because the ship he was on was the first destroyed, so I only got like 2-3 shots in, and they all hit obviously. I need to play a few more games with it to see if it's worth having or not. Otherwise I'd do recon for 3 and have 2 points to spend somewhere as well.

I hunk you'll find gunner most valuable, when you're using your action for something other than modifying the attack... Expert handling, engine upgrade, sabateur....

Make it two games now and still haven't used gunner! I guess it's good I haven't had to need him, but at the same time then it's a waste of 5 points. I'll play few more games with it to see if it's worth keeping or not.

Make it two games now and still haven't used gunner! I guess it's good I haven't had to need him, but at the same time then it's a waste of 5 points. I'll play few more games with it to see if it's worth keeping or not.

What are you facing and using? Sometimes Gunner just isn't useful but other times it can be a lifesaver.

Also remember what missing includes more than rolling all [blanks] and [eyes] with the attack dice.

Edited by StevenO

Well the first game was mainly agility 1 ships so it's not too surprising it didn't get used. However the second game was mostly 3 agility ships so that was more surprising. I'm using it on a Bounty Hunter Firespray if that makes a difference.

Ok I'm sold now. After not having it come up at all my first two games with it, it came up many times in my next two.

Best gunner moment was also my first. Rolled 2 hits and a blank and my opponent rolled two focus. Decided to spend his focus so gunner kicked in. Rolled 2 hits and a crit and he rolled 2 blanks. Bazinga!

And that is why you use Gunner. I'm guessing it wasn't against one of those pesky TIEs so the three uncancelled dice could on-shot the target but I imagine it was still fun for you.

I got two games in yesterday with 2x BH W. Gunner, Gunner triggered for me four times in total, giving me 2-3 hits each time, instead of 0-1 (he evaded the one hit with one of his B-Wings and I rolled blanks the other three times).

Think of it as insurance, its very valuable if you field a low amount of ships.

Edited by Keffisch

Yes, Gunner is essentially an insurance policy for large ships. When you're paying 30+ points for a Bounty Hunter or 40+ for a Falcon, you want your attacks to hit.

If for whatever reason you miss with your first attack, then Gunner gives you a second chance3 - sometimes with the added bonus of having stripped your target's Focus/Evade tokens.

The game is heavily focused on attack - damage dealt is king, so the more attack dice you can roll, the better. Large ships often end up at a disadvantage vs swarms due to comparative numbers of attacks and dice rolls. If you can only attack three times a turn, and your opponent can attack six or seven, you need to make sure your shots count. Gunner helps mitigate this.

Edited by FTS Gecko