Hi guys,

I was wondering about if Dutch's special rule that reads:

After aqcuiring a target lock [...]

What exactly does aqcuiring a target lock mean?

Does that mean the action "Target Lock" or does that mean when Dutch for whatever reason (e.g. R5-K6 uses the same terminology) gets a blue target lock token?

It is important for example for the friendly target that he chooses to affect with his special rule in case they have stress.

Do they get to lock something or don't they since they can't use actions when having stress.

Is it more like Kyle Katarn dishing out Focus tokens just with blue and red target lock tokens?

Is there some official statement on this or how would you guys say this works out.

Thank you very much for your time and answers.

There is a distinct difference with being able to do something to gain a token as opposed to performing an action to gain a token. It gets even more confusing when they sound like the same thing. The key word in an ability like this is: action.

When an ability instructs you to acquire a target lock, this is different than performing an ‘acquire a target lock’ action. It is possible to acquire a target lock while stressed, and a ship can acquire a target lock multiple times during the same round. A ship can only perform one ‘acquire a target lock’ action per round.
Each ship is able to maintain one target lock, unless stated otherwise by a game effect, such as Weapon Engineer.

So with Dutch, he can perform an 'acquire a target lock' action if he's not stressed, or he may have some other pilot or outside ability allow him to acquire a target lock without the action. In both cases, you would place a blue token on Dutch and a red token on an enemy ship within Range 3.

Once he's acquired his target lock, his ability kicks in and he can basically give another friendly pilot a chance to acquire a target lock also. That other ship is not considered to be performing the action, so it doesn't matter if it is stressed or not.

It is a little like Kyle's ability with the focus tokens, in that once Dutch has acquired a target lock, a friendly gets one too. Garven Dreis has a very similar ability to Dutch's with focus tokens.

Note that the other ship doesn't need the icon in its action bar to acquire a target lock from an outside source, but it does need it to perform it as one of it's actions, unless it's stated as a free action.

If you haven't downloaded the FAQ, do it and have a read as it explains some of the more common things that crop up.

http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_minisite_sec.asp?eidm=174&esem=4

Thanks your very much for answering my very first FFG forum question Parravon. :-)

This question came up because I was playing Dutch, Kyle and Garven in a game the other day and was thinking about whether I was doing it right or not.

Thanks also for the link, I think it will prove to be very usefull.

Also note that you may still acquire a target lock on a ship even if you already have a target lock. For instance, if Dutch has R7-T1 and he uses its action to acquire a target lock and boost his ability would kick in allowing another ship to acquire a lock. Then, for instance, Lando performs a green and gives an action to Dutch who decides to use his target lock action. This triggers his pilot ability again, allowing a third ship to gain a target lock.

But you may only maintain one target lock per ship, unless you have a Weapons Engineer on board.

This is great Dagonet! Thanks, I hadn't tought about this.

But, you cannot TL the same ship twice. If Dutch has an existing TL on Tie Fighter 1, in order for his ability to trigger he must take a TL on a different ship. You cannot take a TL on Tie Fighter 1 if you already have a TL on that ship.

So, if you are using Dutch, and you expect to shoot at the same target the next round and want to be able to take another TL on that ship to pass a TL to a friendly ship, make sure Dutch spends his TL. If he doesn't, he will have to TL a ship you don't want to shoot at the next round just to pass the TL. I've played games with Dutch where he takes a TL on the ship he is attempting to kill, and when he attacks rolls 3 hits. I've spent the TL to reroll 0 dice, just so that I could get a TL on that ship the next round to pass a TL to a friendly. My opponents have looked at me like I'm crazy, but it was still the best way to maintain the action economy of Dutch.

But, you cannot TL the same ship twice. If Dutch has an existing TL on Tie Fighter 1, in order for his ability to trigger he must take a TL on a different ship. You cannot take a TL on Tie Fighter 1 if you already have a TL on that ship.

So, if you are using Dutch, and you expect to shoot at the same target the next round and want to be able to take another TL on that ship to pass a TL to a friendly ship, make sure Dutch spends his TL. If he doesn't, he will have to TL a ship you don't want to shoot at the next round just to pass the TL. I've played games with Dutch where he takes a TL on the ship he is attempting to kill, and when he attacks rolls 3 hits. I've spent the TL to reroll 0 dice, just so that I could get a TL on that ship the next round to pass a TL to a friendly. My opponents have looked at me like I'm crazy, but it was still the best way to maintain the action economy of Dutch.

where did you get the rule that a ship cannot TL the same ship twice in a single round from?

I may have missed something but I'm pretty sure you can - and a rule like that would render FCS pretty useless

for example - Dutch takes R5 K6 - takes a TL action and passes a TL to one of his buddies

during combat Dutch spends his TL triggering R5K6 and rolls an evade - he may now acquire a TL - at this point there's nothing in the rules to say he cannot acquire a TL on the same ship.

Also worth noting that his pilot ability triggers a second time allowing him to hand a TL to a different friendly ship, or allow the ship he gave a TL to originally to change its TL (or even reacquire a TL on the same ship it previously had a TL - not sure why you would do that tho)

You can not acquire a target lock on a ship that you are currently target locked onto. If you spend/use the TL, then you can re-acquire it on the same ship as many times as you can spend it and re-acquire it.

Does that mean the action "Target Lock" or does that mean when Dutch for whatever reason (e.g. R5-K6 uses the same terminology) gets a blue target lock token?

Neither! He needs to "acquire a target lock". That refers to the process described on page 9 of the rulebook. You need to measure range from your ship and place two tokens.

Others explained the difference between "acquire a target lock" and "perform a target lock action". No need to add to that.

"Getting a blue target lock token" is not sufficient to trigger his ability. You need to measure range from your ship and place two tokens. If Dutch receives a blue TL token from Colonel Jendon (1) or Targeting Coordinator, his ability does not trigger!

(1) No comments regarding factions, please.

You can not acquire a target lock on a ship that you are currently target locked onto. If you spend/use the TL, then you can re-acquire it on the same ship as many times as you can spend it and re-acquire it.

Have you got a rules reference for that because I'm pretty sure that's not correct

My understanding is that there is no rule that I'm aware of that sets a requirement for you to spend an existing TL (even by rolling zero dice) in order to enable you to target lock a ship you already have a target lock on.

for example, Dutch has a TL left over from a previous round, and wishes to give a TL to a friendly ship.

The only ship he is in range to TL is the ship he already has a TL on

Can he perform a target lock action and "re-target lock" the same ship in order to trigger his pilot ability?

Of course he can - the only stipulation in the rules for performing the acquire target lock action, or for acquiring a target lock through any other means, is that you can't have more than one TL active at a time, and you must be within range 3 of the target - whether or not you already have a TL on the target is irrelevant

You can not acquire a target lock on a ship that you are currently target locked onto. If you spend/use the TL, then you can re-acquire it on the same ship as many times as you can spend it and re-acquire it.

Have you got a rules reference for that because I'm pretty sure that's not correct

My understanding is that there is no rule that I'm aware of that sets a requirement for you to spend an existing TL (even by rolling zero dice) in order to enable you to target lock a ship you already have a target lock on.

for example, Dutch has a TL left over from a previous round, and wishes to give a TL to a friendly ship.

The only ship he is in range to TL is the ship he already has a TL on

Can he perform a target lock action and "re-target lock" the same ship in order to trigger his pilot ability?

of course he can - the only stipulation is that he can't have more than one TL active at a time

From the FAQ, page 17:

Q: If a ship already has a target lock on an enemy ship, can the locking ship acquire a target lock again on the same enemy ship in order to trigger a game effect (such as “Dutch” Vander)?

A: No.

No ship can take a Target Lock on a ship that they already have a Target lock on.

You can not acquire a target lock on a ship that you are currently target locked onto. If you spend/use the TL, then you can re-acquire it on the same ship as many times as you can spend it and re-acquire it.

Have you got a rules reference for that because I'm pretty sure that's not correct

My understanding is that there is no rule that I'm aware of that sets a requirement for you to spend an existing TL (even by rolling zero dice) in order to enable you to target lock a ship you already have a target lock on.

for example, Dutch has a TL left over from a previous round, and wishes to give a TL to a friendly ship.

The only ship he is in range to TL is the ship he already has a TL on

Can he perform a target lock action and "re-target lock" the same ship in order to trigger his pilot ability?

of course he can - the only stipulation is that he can't have more than one TL active at a time

From the FAQ, page 17:

Q: If a ship already has a target lock on an enemy ship, can the locking ship acquire a target lock again on the same enemy ship in order to trigger a game effect (such as “Dutch” Vander)?

A: No.

No ship can take a Target Lock on a ship that they already have a Target lock on.

I stand corrected ...... looks like I've been misplaying that one for a while

Seems unfair in comparison to Graven and Keyan

Seems unfair in comparison to Graven and Keyan

Why? Dutch/he/you may spend the TL and choose to re-roll 0 (zero) dice. Then in the next round Dutch can re-lock on the same ship and trigger the ability

Dutch vs 1 ship range 3 target locked not in arc

Dutch cant relock to pass on a lock or shoot to use TL

If it's his turn during the Combat phase, there's nothing to stop him from shooting, and if he can shoot, he can spend his target lock. If he wants to use a turret weapon, then he's restricted by the range of that weapon, but it's pretty rare that he won't get a chance unless you've got him skirting the edge of the play area.

I tend to throw any turret armed ships into the middle of the fray, just to make sure they've got a target rich environment. It all depends on how you use them.