I've searched all over for an answer to no avail, so I'm hoping you wise people can help me...

Last tournament my friend was playing against Biggs. The opponent crashed Biggs into one of his ships and said because his other ships were range one and he had to shoot Biggs, but was in base to base contact, he couldn't shoot anyone.

Of course he and I both called baloney but the TO ruled that it was correct. My reading of the card "if the attacker could target you instead " means to me he couldn't attack Biggs so he could shoot the other ships.

Is this a legit tactic or did my buddy get hosed? Unfortunately, this occurred at a pretty pivotal point in the game.

Thanks!

My two cents is the if Biggs could not be targeted then the qualification isn't meet. No difference than if Biggs wasn't in range.

But that's me.

If I'm understanding the situation correctly, your buddy's ship is in base-to-base contact with the opponent's Biggs. Biggs is within range 1 of the other opponent's ships, so the opponent says your buddy cannot shoot his other, non-Biggs ships. Additionally, the opponent is saying your buddy cannot shoot Biggs either because he's in base-to-base contact. The TO ruled this was the correct interpretation.

The TO and the opponent are incorrect. Your buddy was not able to target Biggs due to base-to-base contact, therefore making the other ships viable targets.

Whom exactly did Biggs touch? An enemy or a friendly ship?

If you cannot target Biggs, you are free to taget anyone else.

Someone touching Biggs cannot target Biggs and is free to target anyone else.

If Biggs touches one of his own buddies, nothing stops the opponent from targeting Biggs.

I think he got hosed. If Biggs was an invalid target for the ship he crashed into because they were in base to base contact, that ship should have been free to fire at any other valid target. Your interpretation of Biggs' ability is correct. It's no different than if Biggs had been in range 1 of the opponent's other ships but out of the attacker's firing arc. If a ship is able to target Biggs they must, but otherwise he has no effect on target selection.

*Wow, ninja'd x3, the post is strong with these ones...

Agree with all the above. Biggs only makes you target him if you can. Anything that stops you from being able to hit Biggs - range, arc, touching - leaves you free to select another target.

So if you're in contact with Biggs, you can pick any target you want. This is probably why we see so little of Arvel - running into Biggs to free up your shot is useless with him, so nobody ever plays him

ElJeffe your summary is correct, sorry if I was a little confusing. Thank you everyone for the replies. Kind of a bummer since he was playing for a top 4 spot but at least we will never let it happen again!

The core rulebook explicitly states on pg. 10, "A ship cannot target a ship if their bases are touching." Therefore, Biggs's ability would not be triggered if the two ships are "touching".

And just to clarify, "touching" refers to a situation where a ship overlapped another ship and thus had to back up until the bases are in physical contact. It does not refer to a ship that just barely came into contact with another ship's base without having to back up.

I'm in agreement with everyone above who says the call made was incorrect. It sounds like the opponent was used to pulling off this tactic and getting away with it. TO may even have been a buddy of his, who knows.

Man, that's a sh--ty way to lose out on a Top 4 spot for AoIA, if I'm assuming correctly. I do concur with everyone above about your buddy getting hosed and it being called incorrectly.

Its a pretty clear cut rule, and wording, that you must target Biggs IF YOU CAN. Here, you clearly couldn't.

As this cost you in an official FFG tournament, with clear rules for TO's, can you write to them and explain/complain.

1) At worst, you've voiced your concerns and they will address it through a FAQ (shouldn't be needed), or tighten up the TO rules.

2) At best, they may send you a Pre-release ship.