Hey guys, this came up in a game recently..

Can Dash Boost or Barrel Roll onto and Asteroid?

Dash: "You may ignore obstacles during the Activation phase and when performing actions."

We eventually assumed he could but I just wanted to check with the rules guru's.

Thanks

Yep. As far as I can think of there's no way to get a Boost or Barrel Roll that isn't part of an action, so Dash's out-of-jail-free card would always be active while performing one. It's like it's not even there.

Worth noting that the asteroid magically reappears after he finishes the action though, so if you do use one to move yourself on top of it Dash still couldn't fire during the combat phase.

In fact, if you play by competitive rules, this could make Dash's ability a bit of a double-edged sword. Whereas another ship could do a different action if a roll or boost would put it on an asteroid, with Dash you'd be forced to land on the asteroid if you called a boost or roll and couldn't avoid it (and thus lose your attack for that round).

In fact, if you play by competitive rules, this could make Dash's ability a bit of a double-edged sword. Whereas another ship could do a different action if a roll or boost would put it on an asteroid, with Dash you'd be forced to land on the asteroid if you called a boost or roll and couldn't avoid it (and thus lose your attack for that round).

Well his ability says he may ignore obstacles. not that he must. So if his boost/barrel role would make him overlag an obstacle, he could choose not to ignore it, and thus get to choose another action.

Great replies - Thanks all for your time and help.

Actualy, it's during the "activation phase" he ignores obstacles, not during "Actions". So any action granted to him outside the activation phase he can not use to boost/barrel role onto an asteroid.

Forget it, it helps reading the whole card, not just the first few words

In fact, if you play by competitive rules, this could make Dash's ability a bit of a double-edged sword. Whereas another ship could do a different action if a roll or boost would put it on an asteroid, with Dash you'd be forced to land on the asteroid if you called a boost or roll and couldn't avoid it (and thus lose your attack for that round).

Well his ability says he may ignore obstacles. not that he must. So if his boost/barrel role would make him overlag an obstacle, he could choose not to ignore it, and thus get to choose another action.

Yes. 'May' is the key word here. It'll be interesting to see if they FAQ it otherwise, but as of right now, each time your Boost/Barrel Roll would cause you to overlap, you can choose whether or not to complete the movement by invoking 'may'. There is a bit of greyness around the 'may' however, so they could rule that you have to choose whether you are ignoring obstacles or not for the whole Activation phase. Unlikely, but possible.

Ok.. I have a clarification Question. It may sound noobish, but here goes. WTF is the difference between Action Phase and Activation Phase?

I Have always thought of things going like this - Maneuver, Action, Combat, End Phase. Where does the activation Phase fit in, and really, what is the difference? I know that certain things fall outside of these different phases (like Decloaking for instance happens prior to maneuvers), but I'm just getting WAY confused.

There is no action phase,

The activation phase consists of dial reveal, perform maneuver, check stress, clean up template and dial and taking an action.

Ok.. I have a clarification Question. It may sound noobish, but here goes. WTF is the difference between Action Phase and Activation Phase?

I Have always thought of things going like this - Maneuver, Action, Combat, End Phase. Where does the activation Phase fit in, and really, what is the difference? I know that certain things fall outside of these different phases (like Decloaking for instance happens prior to maneuvers), but I'm just getting WAY confused.

I think you're probably getting the Perform Action step confused with the Activation Phase.

There are 4 phases to each game round: Planning, Activation, Combat, and End.

Each phase has a number of steps. The Activation Phase has: Reveal Dial, Place Template, Execute Maneuver, Clean Up, Check Stress, Perform Action.

There's a nice reference for this on the back page of the rule book.