Attack [Target Lock]: Spend your target lock and discard this card to perform this attack. If the attack hits, the defender and each ship at Range 1 of it receives 1 ion token. Attack value: 4. Range: 2-3.

Couple of quick questions:

Does this inflict damage rolled on top of the Ion effect (it doesn't say to cancel results like the canon does)?

Are the ships within range one auto allocated the ion token or do they roll roll green dice in an attempt to avoid it?

Attack [Target Lock]: Spend your target lock and discard this card to perform this attack. If the attack hits, the defender and each ship at Range 1 of it receives 1 ion token. Attack value: 4. Range: 2-3.

Couple of quick questions:

Does this inflict damage rolled on top of the Ion effect (it doesn't say to cancel results like the canon does)?

Are the ships within range one auto allocated the ion token or do they roll roll green dice in an attempt to avoid it?

No more green dice will be rolled. The attack has already hit. Nobody else takes damage, though, just the ion token.

Thanks, I knew that to be the case, but the more I thought about it, the more I doubted myself.

Yep, any card that cancels the results says so explicitly.

Are you sure about this? There's nothing said about damage other than ion tokens.

Are you sure about this? There's nothing said about damage other than ion tokens.

Secondary weapons don't need any extra text to follow the normal rules for dealing damage. Since Ion Torpedoes don't tell you to cancel dice results on a hit, you apply damage from them exactly as you would from Proton Torpedoes or a primary attack when you reach step 7.

Ion and Flechette Torpedoes roll with the attack dice shown on the cards. (4-Ion/3-Flechette)

The Ion/Stress effects occur after you determine hits and damage.

Ion Torp - IF it hits, the defender and other ships in range 1 get and Ion token, including any friendlies.

Flechette Torp - After the attack, regardless of whether it hits, IF the defender has a hull value of 4 or lower, that ship gets a stress token.

I have used the Ion Torp on Wedge with Lt. Blount firing an Assault Missle to counter a group of ships close together.

High chance of Wedge hitting and Ionizing everybody then Blount hits and even if the targeted ship takes no damage, the ships in Range 1 of it get a damage.

Not as effective on 2-ship builds, but fun to see an opponent when they realize the Io Torp does full damage.

It is NOT the same as Ion Cannon, Turret, Or Pulse Missles.

Are you sure about this? There's nothing said about damage other than ion tokens.

There's no mention of cancelling the results, so they apply as normal.

Needless to say that I have been playing this WRONG! I took the card to mean if it hit the only effect was being ioned. This 'added' benefit makes the 5 point cost more bearable.

Thanks guys for answering a question that was unasked.

Needless to say that I have been playing this WRONG! I took the card to mean if it hit the only effect was being ioned. This 'added' benefit makes the 5 point cost more bearable.

Thanks guys for answering a question that was unasked.

I fell into the same trap at first. You get used to Ion results being cancelled and make the assumption that this is just another one. BUT... not this one.

I did the same at first, hence asking the question.
Strapped a few on Redline last night, along with the Extra Ordnance upgrade, That double target lock on a missile boat really made a mess of things. Most effective ordnance game I've ever played.

Needless to say that I have been playing this WRONG! I took the card to mean if it hit the only effect was being ioned. This 'added' benefit makes the 5 point cost more bearable.

Thanks guys for answering a question that was unasked.

I fell into the same trap at first. You get used to Ion results being cancelled and make the assumption that this is just another one. BUT... not this one.

Well I was following the adage "Do what the card says and don't do what it doesn't say". I think we may have the exception to that rule.

Well I was following the adage "Do what the card says and don't do what it doesn't say". I think we may have the exception to that rule.

Not at all. If anything, this is a case in point as to why that adage needs to be kept in mind.

Well I was following the adage "Do what the card says and don't do what it doesn't say". I think we may have the exception to that rule.

Not at all. If anything, this is a case in point as to why that adage needs to be kept in mind.

Maybe it's the way I'm reading the card in relation to the other torpedo cards. The other cards have a post roll modification listed whether stress from a flechette torp or an extra shield from the plasma torp. This one says if it hits the target and everyone in R1 of it get 1 ion token. I guess I'm still getting use to the way they phrase things.

The rules lay out what happens when you attack with X dice and have Y uncanceled hits and Z uncanceled crits, which is the defender suffers damage. The card would have to say that you should cancel your results to avoid that, which it doesn't, which is why this is a "don't do what the card doesn't say to do" situation. I get how the confusion arises, but there we are.

The rules lay out what happens when you attack with X dice and have Y uncanceled hits and Z uncanceled crits, which is the defender suffers damage. The card would have to say that you should cancel your results to avoid that, which it doesn't, which is why this is a "don't do what the card doesn't say to do" situation. I get how the confusion arises, but there we are.

This is where I disagree. The card reads, "Attack [Target Lock]: Spend your target lock and discard this card to perform this attack. If the attack hits, the defender and each ship at Range 1 of it receives 1 ion token. Attack value: 4. Range: 2-3." The part that says if the "attack hits" indicates an uncancelled hit or crit. The direct result of that uncancelled impact is that "the defender and and each ship at Range 1 of it receives an ion token". The card as written implies a direct cause and effect; IF-THEN. Nothing is mentioned about taking damage and true, there is no mention of cancelling dice. Maybe I'm just howling at the moon. I think the developers could do better when writing these effects. Has this ever been submitted for an official response?

The rules lay out what happens when you attack with X dice and have Y uncanceled hits and Z uncanceled crits, which is the defender suffers damage. The card would have to say that you should cancel your results to avoid that, which it doesn't, which is why this is a "don't do what the card doesn't say to do" situation. I get how the confusion arises, but there we are.

This is where I disagree. The card reads, "Attack [Target Lock]: Spend your target lock and discard this card to perform this attack. If the attack hits, the defender and each ship at Range 1 of it receives 1 ion token. Attack value: 4. Range: 2-3." The part that says if the "attack hits" indicates an uncancelled hit or crit. The direct result of that uncancelled impact is that "the defender and and each ship at Range 1 of it receives an ion token". The card as written implies a direct cause and effect; IF-THEN. Nothing is mentioned about taking damage and true, there is no mention of cancelling dice. Maybe I'm just howling at the moon. I think the developers could do better when writing these effects. Has this ever been submitted for an official response?

It caught me out too. But as stated, there's no mention of what happens to the uncancelled results. The big mistake is assuming the same as nearly every other ion weapon and cancelling them before moving on to applying ion tokens.

Could it have been worded better? Yes indeed. Something like: "If the attack hits, apply damage as normal then the defender and each ship at Range 1 of it receives 1 ion token."

It might have helped. Space on the card may have prevented this. I don't know. Some players will argue that it doesn't need to be there as you should be just doing what the card says, but as I've said on more than one occasion, there is a trap there if you make a small assumption that it's just another Ion weapon.

You're not howling at the moon on this one, as it's a legitimate question and has come up more than once. I'm not aware of an official response, as the forum gurus more than adequately pointed out each time where the issue was, and it's correct use. And as the card doesn't tell you to cancel anything, then the results are part of the damage equation. It's like one of those things that's staring you in the face, but you don't notice until someone says "Boo!"

Yep, wouldnt make sense for this wespon to cancel dice as every other weapon that does this tell you to do it.

"If the attack hits, apply damage as normal then the defender and each ship at Range 1 of it receives 1 ion token."

Actually, the fact that the missing text is "as normal" means that it doesn't need to be there at all.

Because that IS the normal gamestate and there is literally nothing on the card to cancel it, there doesn't need to be added text.

Text on cards should only be in reference to situations where the standard rules are changed/altered. Adding the ion tokens is just that -- an addition to the normal steps that follow a successful attack.

I'm not really sure what it is about X-Wing, but there are an unusual amount of players who struggle with this concept. It's NOT the writing on the cards, though I suspect it's people forgetting to keep in mind the actual base rules when reading cards (which is the purpose of a set of base rules).

"If the attack hits, apply damage as normal then the defender and each ship at Range 1 of it receives 1 ion token."

Actually, the fact that the missing text is "as normal" means that it doesn't need to be there at all.

Because that IS the normal gamestate and there is literally nothing on the card to cancel it, there doesn't need to be added text.

Text on cards should only be in reference to situations where the standard rules are changed/altered. Adding the ion tokens is just that -- an addition to the normal steps that follow a successful attack.

I'm not really sure what it is about X-Wing, but there are an unusual amount of players who struggle with this concept. It's NOT the writing on the cards, though I suspect it's people forgetting to keep in mind the actual base rules when reading cards (which is the purpose of a set of base rules).

Yeah, we've all established that. But as I said above, this one is an exception to the normal Ion weapons that all cancel their results. It's an easy assumption to make when you first see it. And there's been many, many players that have missed it as well. Some players are just too eager to get stuck into a game, that they can often miss the finer points.

And the text on some cards could be clearer, or we wouldn't have so many FAQ entries for them. Sometimes FFG's wording could be better the first time.

"If the attack hits, apply damage as normal then the defender and each ship at Range 1 of it receives 1 ion token."

Actually, the fact that the missing text is "as normal" means that it doesn't need to be there at all.

Because that IS the normal gamestate and there is literally nothing on the card to cancel it, there doesn't need to be added text.

Text on cards should only be in reference to situations where the standard rules are changed/altered. Adding the ion tokens is just that -- an addition to the normal steps that follow a successful attack.

I'm not really sure what it is about X-Wing, but there are an unusual amount of players who struggle with this concept. It's NOT the writing on the cards, though I suspect it's people forgetting to keep in mind the actual base rules when reading cards (which is the purpose of a set of base rules).

Yeah, we've all established that. But as I said above, this one is an exception to the normal Ion weapons that all cancel their results.

What's a normal ion weapon?