then you're cheating. You're giving yourself an advantage that the rules don't allow you to have.

No you're not. If the defender skips a step it can be argued that he is giving implicit permission for the attacker to fix a 'missed opportunity' which includes information they may not otherwise have.

If for example I moved my ship, and the other person said 'oh I wanted to boost' if I allow them to do, after I had moved my ship they can perform that action with full knowledge of where I moved my ship to, and that would not be cheating.

Don't get me wrong, if I had to make the call I would most likely tell the defender to roll again. But there's nothing about doing it the other way that violates the rules as written.

If for example I moved my ship, and the other person said 'oh I wanted to boost' if I allow them to do, after I had moved my ship they can perform that action with full knowledge of where I moved my ship to, and that would not be cheating.

Again, that's a case where you can't re-hide the information. If you jump the gun on revealing your maneuver, then that information is out there. Defense dice are a random roll, and walking back the accidentally revealed information is as simple as picking them back up and rolling again later.

So yes, sometimes resolving a mistake requires making a decision with information you should not have, per the rules of the game. Rolling defense early is not a situation that requires that, so I don't see why you would apply the same solution as you would in situations where you have no choice.

And yes, I admit I should have just avoided the word "cheating" entirely.

Don't get me wrong, if I had to make the call I would most likely tell the defender to roll again. But there's nothing about doing it the other way that violates the rules as written.

I suppose the debate is just philosophical, then. Fair enough.

Again, that's a case where you can't re-hide the information.

How hard or easy it would be doesn't enter into it. It can't really. If there's ever a point in which I'm allowed to make a decision based on info I shouldn't have, either that's something I can do in other situations or it something you should never be allowed to do.

I would never let someone barrel roll or boost after I moved my ships, unless it was decided I didn't give that person a fair chance to perform that action in the first place. But that's a whole other discussion.

But if I did chose to do so, I do so knowing full well that they are now able to make a decision based on information they wouldn't otherwise have, which is all on me. I can't really accuse them of playing unfairly at that point. The same can be said of rolling dice. If you don't give me a fair chance to modify the dice, then it's not my fault I'm making choices based on info I shouldn't have.

I suppose the debate is just philosophical, then. Fair enough.

Yeah mostly. I'm just saying that rerolling the dice isn't the only answer here, it may be the better answer, but that doesn't make the only one. The most important thing IMO is being consistent. You can't make them reroll when they have a good roll and keep it when it's a bad roll.

So the defender rolls the dice before the attack dice are modified. Possible outcomes:

1. Attacker "missed his opportunity" and thus play continues as nothing has happened.

2. Defender gets disqualified for trying to Rush attacker.

3. Defender revealed information prematurely allowing attacker to act on that information.

4. Others....

It's best to stick with the tried and true method - the sequence in the rulebook.