When I first looked at the flechette cannon, my initial reaction was "oh, it's like the ion cannon, but with stress and it can't add more if the target is already stressed, fair enough."

Now, however, I am looking at the exact wording and something is bugging me:

Ion cannon: "If this attack hits, the defender suffers 1 damage and receives 1 ion token. Then cancel all dice results."

Flechette cannon: "If this attack hits, the defender suffers 1 damage and, if the defender is not stressed, it also receives 1 stress token. Then cancel all dice results."

The wording of the ion cannon leaves no room for ambiguity. If the attack hits, apply both effect (damage + ion). In the case of the flechette cannon, however, the "and, if" leaves me with 2 possible interpretations. I can read it as either:

- If both conditions are met (attack hits and the defender is not stressed), it also receives 1 stress token.

- If only the 2nd condition is met (the defender is not stressed), it also receives 1 stress token (regardless of being hit or not).

Which one is it?

Part of my mind cannot shake off that both interpretations are still possible (especially because in my area, english is not the default language of most players, so that could cause additional problems). The fact that it would make the flechette cannon so efficient compared to the flechette torpedoes also leaves me with a nagging doubt. It's not that I pretend to know the developpers' intentions; it just leaves me uneasy and I would hate to debate the point at the regional championship. I like clean and fun games

I submitted the question to FFG and hopefully I'll have an official answer soon.

I see the ambiguity, but I think the key word in this is "also". That indicates that the target is receiving a stress in addition to the damage. If the stress were meant to be a separate condition that ignored whether or not the attack actually hit, then "also" wouldn't make much sense, because no other effect is occurring when the attack misses.

So, read it as two sequential checks, with the second dependent on the first:

Did the attack hit?

If no, stop.

If yes, the defender suffers 1 damage, and continue.

Does the defender have no stress?

If no, stop.

If yes, the defender also receives 1 stress token.

The 'and' indicates that both effects are governed by an attack hitting. And the 'also', as noted above, puts the nail in the coffin on the idea that the defender receives a stress token regardless of whether the attack hits or not.

So I just recieved the answer by email, (that was amasingly fast):

Alex Davy:

"The flechette cannon must hit and the defender must be unstressed for the defender to receive a stress token."

Thank you Alex and FFG for the quick response