At a recent store tournament there was a disagreement over Free Actions. A player said that because the Expert Handling card has the "Action" header you have to spend your Action to use it, but the card says the barrel roll is a Free Action. The TFA Rules Reference states that Free Actions do not count against your usual limit of one Action per turn.

He also said that Expert Handling could not be used to barrel roll off an asteroid, but the Rules Reference and the FAQ both say that free actions can be performed if you've overlapped another ship or an obstacle. As far as I can see, Expert Handling can be used at any time (not just to break target locks), and a Free Action is just that - free. Am I missing something?

A ship can perform one action during the perform action step. Free actions are in addition to that action.

The header Action: requires you to spend one action. In order to use expert handling you need to spend one action which is probably the one action allowed during your perform action step. One part of expert handling is a free barrel roll action. So you perform a total of two actions. One of them is free.

Without the word free on that card you'd need to spend two actions to use expert handling. Which is not an easy thing to do unless your name is Darth Vader.

A barrel roll may start on top of an obstacle. Neither the end position nor the maneuver template may overlap one.

Expert handling cannot be used at any time. It requires an action to activate. You can use it when you have the option to perform an action.

OK.

Anything with the Action: header uses an action to perform. No ifs, no buts. It takes the same action to perform Expert Handling or Leebo or Marksmanship or Expose and so on and so forth.

If it has the Action: header and includes a free action, it still takes an action to trigger. It's phrased that way to avoid things like Expert Handling allowing you to do two barrel rolls in a round (which it would it it were not a free action to do the BR part) via Darth Vader or EI or various other ways of taking additional actions, or to avoid putting the action on your bar (as in the Scum Cloaking Device). The action: header means that doing everything after that header costs a single action to do, normally in your Perform Action Step following your manoeuvre.

Actions in general can be performed when on rocks - but when you land on a rock, you skip your Perform Action Step so you cannot take the action at all. If you can get an action at some other time (e.g. Ysanne Isard crew/Experimental Interface, Airen Cracken, etc), then you can BR off the rock as long as the template for the BR doesn't touch the rock.

This is one of the most common rules misunderstandings; the phrasing is not elegant.

The reason Expert Handling allows you to do a free barrel roll action, is because if it wasn't a free action, you would need to somehow be able to perform two actions - one for the Expert Handling action and one for the barrel roll action. You can perform a free action when you're on a rock, just not the one from your Perform Action step. So I see absolutely no reason why you couldn't perform an Expert Handling action to get off a rock if you were somehow granted an action outside your Perform Action step, other than being stressed beforehand. As long as the template doesn't touch the rock when you barrel roll, you'd be able to barrel roll off and shake off a target lock the opponent might have on you.

OK, that helps, although I wonder why they call it a free action when you have to use your action to perform it. Just one of life's little mysteries...

OK, that helps, although I wonder why they call it a free action when you have to use your action to perform it. Just one of life's little mysteries...

As noted, because if they didn't, you wouldn't have Done a Barrel Roll Action that turn, and if you were, e.g. Vader, had Experimental Interface, or were any ship with PTL and the Barrel Roll action, you could do a second barrel roll action which the game doesn't allow.

It does make for confusing wording though.

it's worded in such a way because o push the limit.

during a turn you are only able to perform each action one.

so if a card gives you a free barrel roll action it means you can't use push the limit to do a second barrel roll action because of the limit.

another examples of this would be:

engine upgrade

push the limit

R7-T1 (action: Choose an enemy ship at range 1-2. If you are inside that ship's firing arc. You may perform a target lock on that ship. Then, you may perform a free boost action)

you couldn use R7-T1 but after that you couldn't use push the limit to perform an additional boost action

OK, that helps, although I wonder why they call it a free action when you have to use your action to perform it.

Well in this case it's because the Action is Expert Handling. The Expert Handling action allows you to do two things, you may perform a free barrel roll action and you may remove one blue TL token from that ship.

The Barrel Roll action is a free one because any action you perform other than the one action you get during the perform action step has to be a free action. A free action is simply any action you perform other than the one you get during that step.

You're not using your action to perform a free action, you're not even really using your action to perform a barrel roll. You're using your action to perform the Expert Handling action.

OK, that helps, although I wonder why they call it a free action when you have to use your action to perform it. Just one of life's little mysteries...

You don't need to use your action to perform the free barrel roll action. You need to use your action to perform the expert handling action.

Some history might explain the current phrase. There were three versions of Expert Handling:

The first variant allowed a barrel roll. That barrel roll was not an action. Vader was able to barrel roll twice.

The second variant was online in the FAQ for about one hour. It read barrel roll action. Vader was the only pilot able to perform the entire expert handling action.

Then FFG created the current variant: Free barrel roll action.

Can you use Ysanne Issard whilst on/after having moved through a rock?

Yes.

Moving over/landing on a rock (or bumping) skips your perform action step. If you can perform actions at some other time than your perform action step, you can perform them just fine when on a rock, having crossed a rock, or having bumped.

OK, that helps, although I wonder why they call it a free action when you have to use your action to perform it. Just one of life's little mysteries...

There's a rule that you can only perform one of the same action per turn. Expert Handling, before they changed it, used to allow Darth Vader to barrel roll twice.

And because of the barrel roll action within Expert Handling, you cannot perform a barrel roll action and then later try to perform the Expert Handling action during the same round.

And because of the barrel roll action within Expert Handling, you cannot perform a barrel roll action and then later try to perform the Expert Handling action during the same round.

Can you not? I would expect that you could perform the EH action, but not the free barrel roll action it grants. The rest of it is not dependent on completing the BR after all.

And because of the barrel roll action within Expert Handling, you cannot perform a barrel roll action and then later try to perform the Expert Handling action during the same round.

Can you not? I would expect that you could perform the EH action, but not the free barrel roll action it grants. The rest of it is not dependent on completing the BR after all.

The free Barrel Roll actio from EH is mandatory. So it is mutually exclusive with the Barrel Roll action.

And because of the barrel roll action within Expert Handling, you cannot perform a barrel roll action and then later try to perform the Expert Handling action during the same round.

Can you not? I would expect that you could perform the EH action, but not the free barrel roll action it grants. The rest of it is not dependent on completing the BR after all.

The free Barrel Roll actio from EH is mandatory. So it is mutually exclusive with the Barrel Roll action.

OK, that helps, although I wonder why they call it a free action when you have to use your action to perform it. Just one of life's little mysteries...

You don't need to use your action to perform the free barrel roll action. You need to use your action to perform the expert handling action.

Some history might explain the current phrase. There were three versions of Expert Handling:

The first variant allowed a barrel roll. That barrel roll was not an action. Vader was able to barrel roll twice.

The second variant was online in the FAQ for about one hour. It read barrel roll action. Vader was the only pilot able to perform the entire expert handling action.

Then FFG created the current variant: Free barrel roll action.

This is the real reason why you get the wonky wording on Expert Handling. I recall people would BR twice with Vader, which was a really odd thing but the original game designers (now working on other things) didn't realize the implications of declaring something as an action versus performing something (sans "action"). They eventually iterated to what we have now as "Action: perform a free X action".

I still have these original copies and I like trotting them out to new players to help them understand FFG's wording (it takes a while to get used to but it is deliberate).

OK, that helps, although I wonder why they call it a free action when you have to use your action to perform it. Just one of life's little mysteries...

Free actions somehow violate the standard Action window during the Perform Action step. That step allows you to perform ONE action and there are things that prevent you from getting that window. This is where Free Actions come in. Free Actions may allow:

1. Actions to be performed outside of the Perform Action step.

2. Allow additional actions to be taken, EXCLUDING taking the same Action twice, while other Actions are being used.

Outside of timing and potential number free actions are just as restricted as normal actions. All have some trigger/window that allows them so there is still a timing requirement it's just not taken during the normal Perform Action step.

Can you use Ysanne Issard with damaged sensor array? As she isn't an action we weren't sure. We assumed not as you can't use her when stressed but confirmation would be welcome

Ysanne Isard is an action that is not on a damage card.

Which should answer your question.

It's a fair point, I suppose the conversation was around the fact she doesn't have the action header and merely having her gave the free action. Makes sense that she can't activate though.

It's a fair point, I suppose the conversation was around the fact she doesn't have the action header and merely having her gave the free action. Makes sense that she can't activate though.

A free action is still an action, it's just one that you perform without using your Perform Action step to trigger it. It may be triggered by the action you perform in that step (like EH's free Barrel Roll action) or by a pilot ability (Valen Rudor, for instance), by an upgrade card (Ysanne Isard, Stygium Particle Accelerator, Cloaking Device illicit) or by an esoteric rules interaction (thread tracers giving a TIE/v1 TAP a Target Lock during the combat phase which grants them a free evade action, for instance).

And none of these can be done if you're stressed (Tycho and Chopper crew excepted), or if you have the crit that blocks you from doing actions not on damage cards.

Can you use Ysanne Issard with damaged sensor array? As she isn't an action we weren't sure. We assumed not as you can't use her when stressed but confirmation would be welcome

The FAQ says you can, but with some restrictions.

That's for the old damage deck.

The new deck is worded differently.

Old Damaged Sensor Array is 'cannot perform actions from your action bar' which permits action header cards and actions not in the bar as noted.

New Damaged Sensor Array is 'cannot perform actions except actions listed on damage cards' which has the restrictions I noted above.

That's for the old damage deck.

The new deck is worded differently.

Old Damaged Sensor Array is 'cannot perform actions from your action bar' which permits action header cards and actions not in the bar as noted.

New Damaged Sensor Array is 'cannot perform actions except actions listed on damage cards' which has the restrictions I noted above.

I'm still running with the old set.