1. When rolling a loss, is there a window to use tech to shoot down enemies before your units are removed?

For example, can I use a Plasma gun after rolling a loss in order to finish off the alien?

2. If I have tech that could make a task a success without rolling, do I still have to roll and increase the threat?

Can I for example use a Plasma Rifle to shoot a Sectoid and go the next mission step without rolling dice and adding threat?

Excellent game by the way, started playing yesterday and completed on Expert today.

Cheers,

Christian

For one, no you're too late, they're already dead.

For two, go right ahead. Nothing says you HAVE to roll on any tasks ever, and of you don't roll, threat doesn't increase.

Hey, thanks for the reply. I found that there was a rules PDF.

1. Can I use a plasma cannon after rolling a loss?

The rules PDF states:

"Assets with the H symbol can be used any time during the resolution phase UNTIL cards are refreshed. Players can use an asset after rolling dice and before applying the results, but they cannot modify the number of dice being rolled.

This would seem to provide a time slot for using the Plasma Cannon to finish off the alien before my troops die - the dice have been rolled, but the results have not been applied yet, and I can use a tech at any time.

2. Can I skip Threat increase / Alien roll by solving a task through only automatic successes?

I could not find anything directly about this at all reading through the PDF.

Here's the problem, as I see it. The Plasma Cannon requires me to have a soldier assigned to a task in order to use it to get an automatic success. In order to assign a soldier to a task, I have to start the Mission or Base procedure (the first step is assigning soldiers to a task). I can't find anything that says that I can do an "early exit" and not roll the XCOM and Alien dice after this point, even if I get enough successes by using a Plasma Cannon before the dice are rolled.

So, as I read the rules, I am prevented from skipping the threat increase through auto-successes. But maybe this is wrong.

Does anyone know if there is offical answer to this?

You could be right about #1 after all then - I'll remember that myself for future playthroughs.

#2 I'm 99% sure I saw that in the FAQ in the app; I'll check again for it and see.

OK, #2 is 100%. It's in the FAQ in the app.

"Threat only increases if the player actually rolls".

OK, #2 is 100%. It's in the FAQ in the app.

"Threat only increases if the player actually rolls".

I agree to that. But, can I choose not to roll in this case?

This is what the rules say (removed irrelevant stuff):

RESOLVE BASE DEFENSE

[...] Follow these steps:

1. The Squad Leader attacks an enemy by assigning soldiers from the base defense space to the skill icons on any enemy card in the base. [...]

2. The Squad Leader rolls one XCOM die for each soldier assigned to an enemy card

I need to do step 1 in order to be able to use any of the techs that apply auto successes, and the rules say the steps must be followed. As far as I can tell there's nothing in the rules that says that I am free to skip the roll in step 2, even if I want to skip it. And if I do step 2, I have done a roll, and Threat is increased.

I didn't quote the question text, but it's literally for that exact scenario. It asks something like

"If I have [soldier specific weapon] and use it to kill an enemy without rolling the dice, does threat increase?"

And the answer is the one I quoted above. So you can kill things without rolling. Basically, if you kill the enemy with a tech card, your soldiers AREN'T assigned to it any more, because there's nothing to be assigned TO.

This bit from the rules may help answer your question, '...can I choose not to roll in this case?'

"A player can choose to not roll any dice on a task, even if there are units assigned to it. Any effects related to the task still resolve (e.g. enemies dealing damage to the base, UFOs causing panic)."