More Rules Lawyering..

By stuuk, in Star Wars: Armada

In my continued reading to make sure I'm playing the game 'properly' I have found a few bits and bobs.

#1 is interesting, and 2-4 might alter fighters a little if they turn our to be true (particularly, obstacles become more effective)

# 1

Rule Book, Page 11, Ship Movement

Bullet 2: "A ship must be placed in its final position on the same side of the maneuver tool on which it started its maneuver"
Bullet 4: "If a ship would not overlap the maneuver tool regardless of which side of the ship the tool is placed on, the ship’s owner can choose which side to place the tool on."
So.. which is true. Both cannot be true.
#2
Am I correct in thinking that an obstructed fighter target is attacked with one less dice - even by other fighters?
(Page 8: Obstructed: "If an attack is obstructed by one or more ships or obstacles, the attacker must choose and remove one die from his attack pool before he rolls dice during the “Roll Attack Dice” step")
#3
Further, that a fighter is always an obstructed target when within a debris/asteroid token?
(Page 8: Obstructed: "If line of sight is drawn over an obstacle, the attack is obstructed even if the bases of the attacker and defender are touching")
#4
And lastly that an obstructed fighter is never 'engaged' ?
(Page 6: Engagement: "If line of sight between two squadrons is obstructed, those squadrons are not engaged even if at distance 1 of each other, though they can still attack each other.")

1: I think you misread the last point there it says, the owner may place the MANEUVER TOOL on either side of the ship. I believe you thought it said the opposite(the ship on either side of the tool)

2:yes

3:yes

4: and yes... Obstacles are pretty great:)

Also note that the space station heals your fighters.

Thanks, yes I did miss that it's the tool not the ship.

The other three are definitely points we haven't played correctly though.

Without looking up the rules reference do you know offhand if a fighter attacking a ship loses a die if the ship is an obstructed target

(So the same non-engaged Y-wing attacking from the asteroid field it's hiding in - does it lose an attack die against the ship?)

Without looking up the rules reference do you know offhand if a fighter attacking a ship loses a die if the ship is an obstructed target

(So the same non-engaged Y-wing attacking from the asteroid field it's hiding in - does it lose an attack die against the ship?)

Yes, it still loses a dice. Shots at the Y-Wing are obstructed and its shots out of the asteroid field are also obstructed.

Indeed... which means B-Wings are the only squadron capable of attacking from cover at present. But they're really good at it, as they still get a black die with Bomber.

Contested Outpost + B-Wings: win.

Indeed... which means B-Wings are the only squadron capable of attacking from cover at present. But they're really good at it, as they still get a black die with Bomber.

Contested Outpost + B-Wings: win.

Against ships, yes. Obviously squadrons can still attack each other, at a reduced rate.

The most important thing to note is the lack of engagement, meaning that the B-wings can move away or can attack a ship, despite having an enemy squadron at range 1.

Edited by scott80

* Accidental double post *

Edited by scott80

Yeah - the point is, you can park B-Wings in an obstacle and spam black dice at any ships in range, regardless of enemy fighters. You can still be attacked, of course, but with reduced firepower.

This is especially useful in Contested Outpost, where you can freely attack any ships in control range of the station without having to move (i.e. without Squadron commands). Add Yavaris to the mix and it's just painful to watch.

For future reference, there is a sub-forum dedicated to rules questions. :D

Remember that overlapping is the only time when a ship can overlap the maneuver tool.

Remember that overlapping is the only time when a ship can overlap the maneuver tool.

Yes I read that in the main rules earlier, but didn't appreciate what it meant - so if I would overlap an enemy ship or an obstacle, I can overlap the maneuver tool with my ship base (usually not allowed) ?

Remember that overlapping is the only time when a ship can overlap the maneuver tool.

Yes I read that in the main rules earlier, but didn't appreciate what it meant - so if I would overlap an enemy ship or an obstacle, I can overlap the maneuver tool with my ship base (usually not allowed) ?

Not voluntarily: if you had planned a maneuver, and that maneuver would cause you to overlap a ship, you then attempt to execute the same maneuver (i.e. without moving or reconfiguring the tool) at a lower speed. It's only during this attempt that your ship may legally end up overlapping the tool.

While your ruling might be correct DiabloAzul, I don't see where it actually says that in the rule book:

Page 8: Overlapping:

If a ship executes a maneuver and its final position would overlap another ship, it cannot finish its maneuver normally.

Instead, temporarily reduce its speed by one (without changing the speed dial) and move the ship at the new speed.

This process continues until the ship can finish its maneuver, even if that maneuver is to remain in place at speed “0.”

It doesn't seem to spell out exactly what you have to do in order to reduce speed, it simply says reduce speed temporarily.

Is it in the FAQ? I don't see it..

#2

Am I correct in thinking that an obstructed fighter target is attacked with one less dice - even by other fighters?


no because fighters are not ships or obstacles (debris/asteroid markers) in the game.

Edited by ouzel

#3 yes debris/asteroid markers are obstacles and obstruct shooting. even if the LoS hits the smallest bit of the marker.

Edited by ouzel

#4 yes and when a ship displaces a fur ball of fighters and bomber the bomber owner will want to place the fighters on the other side of the base so the bombers can attack the ship :D

While your ruling might be correct DiabloAzul, I don't see where it actually says that in the rule book:

Page 8: Overlapping:

If a ship executes a maneuver and its final position would overlap another ship, it cannot finish its maneuver normally.

Instead, temporarily reduce its speed by one (without changing the speed dial) and move the ship at the new speed.

This process continues until the ship can finish its maneuver, even if that maneuver is to remain in place at speed “0.”

It doesn't seem to spell out exactly what you have to do in order to reduce speed, it simply says reduce speed temporarily.

Is it in the FAQ? I don't see it..

What it tells you to do is reduce speed by 1 (temporarily, i.e. just for the duration of the maneuver) and try to perform the maneuver at that speed instead.

So let's say you want to perform a speed-4 maneuver. You then follow these steps:

1) You arrange the maneuver tool with whatever clicks you want, and then engage it with the ship base; at this point, you cannot move or adjust the tool anymore until the maneuver is complete.

2) You try to place the ship at the fourth set of notches - but you can't because it would overlap a ship. Temporarily reduce speed to 3.

3) You try to place the ship at the third set of notches - but you still can't because it would overlap a ship. Temporarily reduce speed to 2.

4) You try to place the ship at the second set of notches. There it would not overlap a ship, but it would overlap part of your maneuver tool - but that's legally allowed in this situation, so you place the ship there.

5) You restore your speed to 4 and remove the maneuver tool. All done!

#2
Am I correct in thinking that an obstructed fighter target is attacked with one less dice - even by other fighters?
no because fighters are not ships or obstacles (debris/asteroid markers) in the game.

I think you misread the question :)

A fighter attacking another fighter could have its line of sight obstructed by a ship or obstacle, in which case it would roll one less die.

Take a look at the Conested Outpost card. The special rule states that the station does not obstruct attacks in addition to not recovering a shield or hull while on it. So the B-wings would shoot and be shot at as if they were in open space.

what about if I have a squadron half on an obstacle and my opponent draws line of fire to the side not on the obstacle? It of my understanding that it would not be obstructed. Is that correct

what about if I have a squadron half on an obstacle and my opponent draws line of fire to the side not on the obstacle? It of my understanding that it would not be obstructed. Is that correct

That's correct. But line of sight must traced between the points of the bases closest to each other. It's not enough for the attacker to see a bit of the defender's base somewhere.

(i.e. O---O, not O__O)

what about if I have a squadron half on an obstacle and my opponent draws line of fire to the side not on the obstacle? It of my understanding that it would not be obstructed. Is that correct

Indeed... which means B-Wings are the only squadron capable of attacking from cover at present. But they're really good at it, as they still get a black die with Bomber.

Contested Outpost + B-Wings: win.

Remember that in Contested Outpost, "The station does not obstruct attacks and does not have the ability to discard damage cards or recover hull points".

Edited by Maturin

Oops. I remembered the second part, but not the first (though we did play it correctly last time). Thanks for that.

One of my favorite moves is to hide bomber squadrons in asteroid fields as fighter bait, then hit them with a squadron command and rocket them past the enemy fighters who've moved to engage toward their ship, while using a flight controller squadron command to drop a horde of TIEs on the enemy's interceptors, who've been left in the dust by my bomb wing.