It's no secret that the Advanced Gunnery objective removes that limitation for the second player, but I did not notice until today that the limitation on player 1's objective ship differs from the limitation on a generic gunnery team:

I've checked the FAQs have not found any errata or clarifications on this objective, and have only found one mention of this on the general or rules forums, in a comment made in passing, here (which coincidentally reached the same conclusion as the one I reached, so that made me feel better). So... am I off-base here, way behind the curve, or just overlooked something blatantly obvious for eight months? (Gee, so many flattering options... ). And assuming the reading is correct, what effect (if any) does this have on gameplay? If you're first player, does this close the gap between you and the second player in a way that would make you want to take this mission? If you're second player, does this make you rethink including Advanced Gunnery in your list of objectives?

Any thoughts, as always, are appreciated.

Your reading of it is right.

However, as usual, your fleet composition and your enemy's matters. If your opponent is rocking an ISD II with XI7s, giving him or her the ability to attack the same hull zone twice is devastating. But you are also right that, as first player, there are some ships that could benefit, like Demolisher. It all depends on what you are taking.

Correct.

You can, as player one, shoot from the same arc twice as long as you target two different hullzones.

This is precisely why I dropped Advanced Gunnery unless I'm running a fully upgraded ISD II or MC80 Defiance around Objectives, Fire Lanes, Advanced Gunnery or Intel Sweep triangle.

I have used an MC30 scout with TRC, APT, and Ordnance Experts to pretty deadly effect as a Advanced Gunnery ships as the first player. You do have to set yourself up to hit two different arcs with black dice, but that isn't over complicated against an ISD. It does put a target on your MC30, and it isn't the world's toughest ship, but I will gladly trade twice the cost of my MC30 for twice the cost of your ISD 2.

So at the risk that I'm the only one that's missed this for the last 8 months, I'm just going to throw this out there...

While perusing objectives for a fleet list I was putting together, I noticed a variation in the language for the Advanced Gunnery objective that I hadn't noticed before. The language involves the "Gunnery Team" that the first player's objective ship obtains when the objective is played.

The limiting condition on a generic gunnery team is that you "cannot target the same ship or squadron more than once" if attacking from the same hull zone more than once per activation. Nothing groundbreaking here:

Gunnery Team: "You can attack from the same hull zone more than once per activation. That hull zone cannot target the same ship or squadron more than once during that activation."

It's no secret that the Advanced Gunnery objective removes that limitation for the second player, but I did not notice until today that the limitation on player 1's objective ship differs from the limitation on a generic gunnery team:

Advanced Gunnery - Special Rule: "The first player's objective ship may perform each of its attacks from the same hull zone. It cannot target the same hull zone or squadron more than once each round with that hull zone. The second player's objective ship may perform each of its attacks from the same hull zone, and it may do so against the same targets."

The "cannot target the same . . . squadron" limitation tracks the language on generic Gunnery Teams exactly, but the limitation on Player 1's objective ship--you "cannot target the same hull zone," versus "the same ship"--is different.

Assuming I read this correctly, it appears that attacks from the same hull-zone can be subject to four conditions, depending on the presence of an upgrade, objective, and initiative:

1. "Default" condition: a ship cannot attack multiple times in the same activation from the same hull zone, regardless of target.
2. "Gunnery Team" condition: a ship can attack multiple times in the same activation from the same hull zone, but only if shooting at different ships and/or squadrons.
3. "Advanced Gunnery Player 1" condition: Player 1's objective ship can attack multiple times in the same activation from the same hull zone; it can shoot at the same ship multiple times, but only if it can target a different hull zone with each attack, and cannot shoot at the same squadron multiple times.
4. "Advanced Gunnery Player 2" condition: Player 2's objective ship can attack multiple times in the same activation from the same hull zone, and can do so against the same target, whether hull zones, ships or squadrons.

If my reading is correct, it seems that at least against enemy ships, Advanced Gunnery offers a tangible upgrade for the first player, even if the objective ship already has Gunnery Teams. You can't shoot the same squadron or hull-zone twice, but if an opponent's ship is lined-up for a double-arc shot on your objective ship, you can attack both exposed hull zones in the same activation. If you have the right objective ship, that's nothing to sneeze at. You probably want Advanced Gunnery if you're first player with Defiance anyway, but if you can leverage your enormous side arc to hit two different arcs on the same ship, that's even better, right? Same with Demolisher for the Empire and its scoot-and-shoot ability (which makes it hilariously easy to hit two different hull zones), especially if you used your Weapons Team slot on Ordnance Experts instead of the more expensive Gunnery Team.

I've checked the FAQs have not found any errata or clarifications on this objective, and have only found one mention of this on the general or rules forums, in a comment made in passing, here (which coincidentally reached the same conclusion as the one I reached, so that made me feel better). So... am I off-base here, way behind the curve, or just overlooked something blatantly obvious for eight months? (Gee, so many flattering options... ). And assuming the reading is correct, what effect (if any) does this have on gameplay? If you're first player, does this close the gap between you and the second player in a way that would make you want to take this mission? If you're second player, does this make you rethink including Advanced Gunnery in your list of objectives?

Any thoughts, as always, are appreciated.

You're correct - you've overlooked something blatantly obvious for eight months

My problem with picking Adv Gunnery as 1st player is that I rarely have ship that can benefit much from this.

...or just overlooked something blatantly obvious for eight months? (Gee, so many flattering options... ).

Yeah, this. Don't feel too bad, though... It was like September before we caught this in our group, and made us all feel like jackasses.

We should have a pinned PSA post full of easily-overlooked stuff like this.

I always have at least one ship without gunnery teams that would benefit cause of this objective. Salvation loves second player. MC30/AF love first player

You're correct - you've overlooked something blatantly obvious for eight months

My problem with picking Adv Gunnery as 1st player is that I rarely have ship that can benefit much from this.

Yeah, I was afraid of that. But at least it was self-discovered while list building, instead of on the wrong end of a tournament match. Makes me wonder what else I've missed.

...or just overlooked something blatantly obvious for eight months? (Gee, so many flattering options... ).

Yeah, this. Don't feel too bad, though... It was like September before we caught this in our group, and made us all feel like jackasses.

We should have a pinned PSA post full of easily-overlooked stuff like this.

That'd be a good idea. I think someone started a post a while back about things one wished one knew at the outset, which I found quite helpful, so something in that vein for PSA things would be greatly useful, I think.

Thank for the input, all!