Barrel Roll Tournament Rule Question

By Ribann, in X-Wing Rules Questions

Posted at

I was playing with a local group tonight and one guy said if you declare a barrel roll action and cannot execute it successfully (due to hitting an asteroid or wingman), you MUST barrel roll in the OPPOSITE direction.

Can someone please clarify this please?

Posted at

He is incorrect, though some old wording once upon a time could make it seem like that.

The current wording in the FAQ/tourney rules is very clear though, you declare a BR(or boost) and the direction you intend to go and if you can't make it you are free to choose a different action.

Posted at

Wrong. If you cannot complete a barrel roll in the direction you initially chose, you are free to choose any other action. From the core rulebook:

"A ship cannot perform a barrel roll if this would cause
its base to overlap another ship or obstacle token. The
player may measure to see if his ship can perform
a barrel roll before committing to this action."
This allows checking before committing to the barrel roll action without regard to the side.
Also, from the FAQ:
"When performing a barrel roll, a player must first declare from which side
of the ship’s base the action will be performed. Then, he measures to see
if the ship is able to perform a barrel roll action from any legal area on the
declared side. If the ship can perform the barrel roll action, it must do so.
If the ship cannot perform the barrel roll action, the player may declare a
barrel roll in the other direction, or he may declare a different action."

Emphasis is mine.

Hope this helps.

Posted at

Incidentally, the bit ziggy is quoting is from page 5 of the FAQ.