The question was brought up last night regarding cards and mission rules that gain threat and the timing of the Deploy/Reinforce step and the End of Round mission step. In particular, the card Imperial Informants triggered the discussion.

The Status Phase section of the Rules reference guide lists step 3 as Deploy and Reinforce and step 4 as End of Round Effects.

Imperial Informants reads "Keep this card secret. Play it at the end of a round during any mission. Increase threat by the threat level."

So, in keeping with the Status Phase order of operations, Imperial Informants should only be playable in step 4, at which point the additional threat cannot be used to deploy or reinforce until the following round (barring other special optional deployments as allowed by mission text). However, our Imperial player felt (and I agreed) that it goes against the "intent" of the card, which would seem to be a surprise reinforcement boost as it gives the Rebels a full round of warning that the threat is available.

We opted to play it in line with the RRG, but I wanted to throw this question to the forums and see if we missed something. In particular I'm interested in this interaction's greater reach, as it would also apply to any missions with end of round threat increases. In particular "Under Seige" comes to mind as it has lots of triggers for increasing threat at the end of a round.

I think you played it correctly. The status phase steps are pretty specific that the optional deployment happens before end of round effects, so if you gain threat from end of round effects, you can't use it until the next optional deployment at the end of the next round. A lot of missions also have built-in end of round threat boosts, and these also cannot be used until the next round.

Thematically, you can think of it like the Rebels spotting an incoming dropship. They don't have *much* warning, and they don't know who's on the dropship, but they at least have a few minutes to set up before it arrives.

You played it correctly. There is a delay between getting the information and actually putting it to good use.

A great example would be the kubaz informant in Star Wars (IV). The informant gave the troopers vital information ( gain threat ) about where the rebels are ("Which way? Alright men, load your weapons") , but it took some time for the troopers to reach (deploy) the Falcon. ("Stop that ship! Blast 'em!")

Yes, any threat gained can't be used before it is gained.

In addition to Imperial Informants a lot of mission events give extra threat during the end of round step, so the rebels have one round to adapt. All of that is intended.

Thematically the delay comes from the delay of the troops responding to the intel data.

(A tip: High-Value Target is the best agenda card in the deck.)