Leebo's activation would cause the ship to be Ionized, Leebo's actions would never have occurred. Advanced Sensors lets you perform an action immediately revealing your dial. If you use Advanced Sensors to trigger Leebo's action you become Ionized, which prevents you from revealing a dial. Since you don't reveal a dial that turn, Advanced Sensors can't trigger to activate Leebo.

Though according to some theories, using Advanced Senors to activate Leebo creates an alternate reality in which the ship moves forward with as if doing a white one and gets to remove the token, and another reality where it does the maneuver set on the dial and resolves the Ionization the following turn.

Leebo's activation would cause the ship to be Ionized, Leebo's actions would never have occurred. Advanced Sensors lets you perform an action immediately revealing your dial. If you use Advanced Sensors to trigger Leebo's action you become Ionized, which prevents you from revealing a dial. Since you don't reveal a dial that turn, Advanced Sensors can't trigger to activate Leebo.

Though according to some theories, using Advanced Senors to activate Leebo creates an alternate reality in which the ship moves forward with as if doing a white one and gets to remove the token, and another reality where it does the maneuver set on the dial and resolves the Ionization the following turn.

Dammit. It's happening already.

The Ion effect is telling you to treat your dial as if it was set to 1 forward. That means it's overwriting what ever is there currently. Which in most cases is nothing because you don't set one.

No it isn't. It does not even remotely actually say that. That is how we generally think of it but that is not what the rules card says. It says

"Don't set a dial in the planning phase". Well and good. If there is no dial then there will be no planned maneuver in the activation phase.

"Perform a white 1 straight maneuver" in the activation phase. Ok. Nowhere does it say that effect replaces something, it is just telling you to perform an additional effect. So you follow the regular rules for the game, reveal dial and execute maneuver, because there is nothing telling you to not do so.

Actually that is exactly what the ion card says. Yoy move the ship as if it was assigned a 1 white maneuver.

So when activating the ship you 1. Reveal Dial. 2 Set Template. Here you set the 1 straight as instructed by the ion card. Ans then you move and clean up and skip the perform action because AS instructs you to.

Remember that revealing a dial and executing the maneuver are two different steps in the phase. There's no reason you can't reveal a dial, and then do nothing with it.

If the rules for the ion token said "perform a white 1straight maneuver instead" then an argument might be made that it was a replacement effect, but it doesn't say "instead" or "replace" or anything like that, it simply says "do X in the activation phase" and says absolutely nothing about ignoring the normal procedures for that phase.

Sticking to the normal ion rules, let's get super-strict, shall we?

This means I can execute the maneuver whenever I want. If the only guidance is "during the Activation Phase", then I should be able to execute that white ahead 1 after I do my action, right? Because there's nothing in there that says "instead of" anything, there's also nothing in there that specifies the timing on it.

You're right, the ion rules don't explicitly tell you "Do this by replacing Step 3", but that's the only thing that makes any sense, and the only thing that works even for the normal ion rules. Yet there's no doubt in anyone's mind - or at least there never has been - when you're supposed to do it, is there?

I'm also not exactly sure what your point is here. You're making an argument that Advanced Leebo should actually allow both the ion maneuver and the revealed maneuver. I think we can all agree that's not likely to be right, but even if we grant that I get the feeling your next step is "So it doesn't go until the next phase" which is pretty much unfounded.

...you become Ionized, which prevents you from revealing a dial.

No, it does not. Gaining an ion token says nothing to affect a dial which has been placed.

I sent it in to Frank this morning as I saw this sticky wicket coming...

Without the planning phase step of no dial you will get the situation as Forgottenlore has described. The "move as if you assigned a 1 white straight" tells you how the ion move is done. That's all. It tells you to move just like you did a one straight.

Could I not reveal the dial and do the maneuver after this white on?. It doesn't replace my maneuver, only tells me to do some other maneuver as well.. That is why I think Leebo will kick in starting the next round.

The phrase "as if assigned a white 1 forward" is along the lines of the whole target lock working without the action added on as it is easier to fit "target lock" than all the steps involved.

Activation Phase covers a reveal dial, move, somethign witht the template, and a perform action step, covered in the rulebook. (I don't have the list as I'm going from memory) but that is why you can't take an action before you do the ion move. You have to move "as if you were assigned a white 1 forward", which happens a few steps before the perform action step. Then you do your action.

I don't think the rules cover two possible movements happening in the same part of the activation phase. It hasn't happened before.

I'll see if I have an e-mail response when I get home.

I sent it in to Frank this morning as I saw this sticky wicket coming...

Thanks

The "move as if you assigned a 1 white straight" tells you how the ion move is done. That's all. It tells you to move just like you did a one straight.

That seems to be the crux of the difference here.

To me it's not just telling you how you should move the ship. It's telling you what maneuver to make. Keep in mind not all ships can even do a 1 forward maneuver of any color and all the ones that can do a 1 forward have it as green.

So it's not the same as the 1 forward from a Boost, it's a full maneuver. One that you perform, in lieu of any other maneuver that you could make.

But the only thing we really have going here is two different versions of RAI, because there really isn't any way to truly apply RAW to this, because the rules don't cover this situation. So we'll have to wait for FFG's answer.

While this is no official FAQ entry, this is the best we have so far:

I realize I goofed up about thinking this was for a large ship, but Frank covers the actual question for a b-wing with a crew slot:

Hello (Cptnhalfbeard),

In response to your rules question:

Rule Question:

Question about Leebo + Advanved Sensors:

So let's say you've chosen your maneuver, and before revealing it, you trigger advanced sensors to use Leebo's ability to boost and take an ion token. This happens to be the second ion token on the ship.

Does the ion effect interrupt the current Activation phase and override your chosen maneuver since it has not been revealed yet, or does the ion effect happen on the following turn?

Thanks so much for your help!

-(Cptnhalfbeard),

There is no way for a ship that already has an ion token to be able to use Advanced Sensors to use “Leebo” since there are no Rebel large ships with a crew and a system slot. A small ship cannot use Advanced Sensors while ionized.

But if a B-wing is equipped with Advanced Sensors and “Leebo”, and uses them together, the ship executes its chosen maneuver like normal, but will suffer the effects of the ion token the next round.

Thanks for playing!

Frank Brooks

Associate Creative Content Developer

Fantasy Flight Games

[email protected]

So barring any change when FAQ time runs around:

*swish*! 2 points!

Sticking to the normal ion rules, let's get super-strict, shall we?

That is what I was doing, pointing out the super strict, RAW interpretation. Hence why I said

A strict RAW interpretation has the ioned ship both moving 1straight AND whatever the planned maneuver is.

and also

That obviously isn't what is intended or how it will be ruled,

This means I can execute the maneuver whenever I want. ...then I should be able to execute that white ahead 1 after I do my action, right? Because there's nothing in there that says "instead of" anything, there's also nothing in there that specifies the timing on it.

Yes. I thought about bringing that up but decided the argument was already too involved to bother.

You're right, the ion rules don't explicitly tell you "Do this by replacing Step 3", but that's the only thing that makes any sense, and the only thing that works even for the normal ion rules. Yet there's no doubt in anyone's mind - or at least there never has been - when you're supposed to do it, is there?

Correct, there is no doubt in anyone's mind how your supposed to do a normal ion move, even though technically the rules don't specify the timing. That is why it is important to be aware of the Rules as Intended, because sometimes the RAW are written badly and lead to stupid loopholes like this.

I'm also not exactly sure what your point is here.

I think I have 2 points here. The first was that, since the strict RAW interpretation led to a result that made no sense, that the situation (before the ruling from Frank just above) was not so cut and dried as you made it out to be in your posts. There was room for the argument to go both ways.

My other point is that this is why it is important to discuss, and sometimes judge, rules based on Rules As Intended instead of Rules As Written. If a rule is written badly it can result in monumentally broken, stupid and ridiculous results unless the players utilize some common sense and realize that it was MEANT to work "this way", in spite of what it actually says. For all but the most simple or utterly amazingly written games players need to find a balance between the Rules as Written and the Rules As Intended when there is an apparent conflict.

Of course, now we have an answer from Frank so we can go back to RAW. (or should it be RAWWA-Rules As Written with Amendments?)

Works for me, ion goes into effect next turn.

So from that I think it could be implied that the ion rules are in a way only in effect in the planing phase and everything else comes about as an extension of that.

No dial set, so use this maneuver instead. Rather then No dial set. Perform this Maneuver.

Then again, maybe he just ruled that way because that's RAI, and Frank actually knows what the intention is.

So the RAI side prevailed on this one.

I agree with Vanor, FFG should clarify that the 1WF is a consequence of not having a dial, then.

I have the response from Frank:

Hello Sergovan,

In response to your rules question:

Rule Question:

Leebo as crew on a B-wing with advanced sensors.

What happens during the activation phase, when you use Leebo before you reveal your dial, and gain an ion token?

Does the ion effect change for the activation phase kick in immediately, resulting in a 1 white forward even though a player has a dial set but not revealed?

Or does the whole ion effect come into play next turn?

The B-wing would perform a free boost action (receiving an ion token) and then still reveal its maneuver like normal. The effects of the ion token would occur during the next planning and activation phases.

Glad to see Frank is being consistent today

I see it as an "all-or-nothing" sort of deal. I also think the intent of the ionisation is a penalty and bonus for the players. As soon as a ship is ionised, the opponent gains the bonus of knowing exactly where the ship is going to be next round, while the ionised ship is penalised by not being able to plan a maneuver and use any ability that triggers off the reveal.

If you played it where Leebo's Ion token immediately interrupts the normal flow and the dial is replaced with a white-1, then the opponent gains nothing from it, as he's already planned, and Leebo's player isn't really penalised as he knew what he was going to be in for anyway. It goes from a penalty to a planned inconvenience.

Fair enough. Not the first time we've been off the letters

I'm glad I stimulated so much discussion. I got the same email from Frank, confirming that the ion effects go into play next turn. Thank you all for the interesting debate. Both sides had lots of good arguments.

I can now continue writing a B-Wing article that generated this whole question.

Fair enough. Not the first time we've been off the letters

Especially if the answer clearly contradicts the printed rules.