Yesterday, I was playing in a tournament. There was a five dollar entry fee, and the prizes were going to be store credits, so some money was involved. I was flying Imperial aces and my opponent was flying two JumpMasters stocked to fhe gills (the theme of the tourney was "fully loaded"; you had to create a 100 pt squad using every available slot). Anyway, it wasn't going well for me, and I was playing to reduce the margin of my loss. I got one of his ships which was previously damages (down to one shield) with a hit and two crits from Vader. He rolls two focus and then says,

"Oh, I'm supposed to have a focus token from the other ship (some ability to pass a token; can't remember what exactly) you rolled so fast I didn't get the chance." I was reluctant to start a confrontation, but now I'm kicking myself for letting myself being taking advantage of. If what he says was true, he should have at least said something before he rolled his green dice, right? How should I have handled this?

Well, assuming he's talking about Manaroo, that happens at the start of the combat phase, which was long gone by time you rolled, so how fast you rolled really shouldn't have mattered.

Well, assuming he's talking about Manaroo, that happens at the start of the combat phase, which was long gone by time you rolled, so how fast you rolled really shouldn't have mattered.

It actually kinda does. There are people who will jump straight to shooting with their high PS ace and drag you along to the next phase with them.

That will sometimes make you forget about end of activation phase/beginning of combat effects as you start thinking about getting the best range advantage, looking into possible obstructions etc.

Don't be that guy.

If you're not and you give your opponent enough time then it's not your problem. It's their cards and effects that they should keep track off.

If you're not even sure about where the token was supposed to come from then his "you rushed me" might be legit. Best to just let it go in those circumstances.

If you're not even sure about where the token was supposed to come from then his "you rushed me" might be legit. Best to just let it go in those circumstances.

Maybe the solution was to let him transfer the token but then make him re-.roll his defense dice? A fair compromise?

I'm guilty of rushing through steps like previously mentioned, but when I do I'm at least nice enough to give them their opportunities when they bring it up, as long as it's close to when we start doing things. IF we're on the last ship, and he's just now thinking "oh, this has a thing," it's gonna be too late. He clearly didn't remember until now. But if I roll my first attack and he stops me to give his ship a token, then yes. That's my fault for rushing, and I would absolutely allow him to have it. I'm not deliberately rushing the steps to rob my opponent of their opportunities. Some people do, and then I'd call them out on it.

Just don't be a ****. I hate tournaments because it brings out the worst in people.

I really don't think I rushed. In fact, I'm a pretty slow player, one who narrates all he does. "Ok, Vader attacking Dengar, range one..." My issue is that he should have mentioned the token thing before he rolled his green dice. Rolling two focus then saying "oh, I should have a focus token from Manaroo" makes it look like he's backtracking. I forgot Juke twice and mentioned it after the roll, but I didn't ask for the clock to be wound back, nor did he offer to honor Juke after the dice were picked up... I'm not a super competitive player and I had plenty other instances of the benefit of the doubt given and taken in other matches that day. This felt different.

He could've stopped you once you rolled and said, "Hold on, I have an ability to use at the start of combat." Once he rolled, however, he's kinda passed up the opportunity.

Shouldn't he have said something at least before rolling?

Maybe the solution was to let him transfer the token but then make him re-.roll his defense dice? A fair compromise?

Yes and Yes to both of those.

I do understand the "This has rushed past something I wanted to do" argument - it happens all the time as people want to get the game going, but to me it becomes a case of:

1. You say "combat phase" and roll your dice

2. This is the time where he gets to go "wait up a minute, I need to do my Manaroo(or whatever it was) actions

3. Then you carry on with the rest of the phase.

Wheras this to me sounds like:

1. You start the combat phase, roll your dice.

2. You modify your attack dice (adding Vaders crit)

3. He rolls his defence dice.

4. He realises he didn't take an action because it specifically would've benefited him there and then.

To me that's a missed opportunity and it becomes entirely your decision if you let him go or not.

Now on to the Sportsmanship bit:

Unless he was an utter bellend of the highest order, I'd have let him take his action. I've personally got a strong sense of fair play and justice, and I tend to forgive people for their errors - I let people take missed actions, let them re-think barrel roll actions when they realise their chosen direction would put them right into the arc of something they don't want to be in arc of, etc. etc.

Because to me it's just a game, a casual hobby that I enjoy, and winning isn't as important as having fun.

How you play the game... That's up to you.

No reason he should have to reroll his defense dice unless you start the attack over completely and reroll attack dice too. Either you let him have the token and he can spend it, or you say it was a missed opportunity and deny it, but either way the dice have already been rolled and theres no reason to reroll them

If you're not even sure about where the token was supposed to come from then his "you rushed me" might be legit. Best to just let it go in those circumstances.

. I'm a newer player and don't know everything. Plus, the nature of the lists was so packed it was silly. But I hear you. I guess my issue was that if I did jump the gun, why did he first roll his green dice, get the two focus, then say he didn't transfer the focus token. Shouldn't he have said something at least before rolling?

Maybe the solution was to let him transfer the token but then make him re-.roll his defense dice? A fair compromise?

Missed Opportunities. In most settings in this day and age you are looked down upon as the rules lawyer if you adhere to the rules too much and the social implications of that cause many to be lenient so as to avoid confrontation.

There are some people with whom I am very strict, but only because I know that if I do not watch them closely they will cheat. Either that or they are unpleasant in some other way. Why play them? Because they aren't half bad at X-Wing and sometimes you need an exercise in mental fortitude as well as flying. These people must remember their actions and abilities because I don't let them use the Missed Opportunities rule.

Now others, I am all but happy to ignore the rules and let things slide. New players get a grace period where I'll try to be as helpful as possible, even if it means I will lose. Once they start kicking butt on their own however I like to start breaking them into the full tournament rules. So far it has resulted in a community that is very friendly and knowledgeable, though certainly I don't take credit for this, it's been a group effort! Everyone wants to learn how to play and fly well, and remembering all the rules and being aware of interactions and game effects is a big part of that. It takes a healthy mix of attitudes when it comes to the rules and how a group of people can use them to interact. For example, in a practice game we will probably allow most forgotten things to be re-done if it doesn't affect the boardstate. The reasoning is that at high level play most people will not forget to focus a contracted scout, or make a really bad barrel roll, so when practicing lists, it's better to actually be lenient with the rules so that you are practicing against the best possible outcomes. There is also a time when you have to stop doing that and practice remembering those things that you missed!

Either way. If you're a competitive player or a casual one, the rules are important. They form the basis of gameplay and the give us a fair and open way to interact with one another as people and as competitors. They aren't just mechanics for making ships fly, it is a social contract that people take up with each other in favour of a common interest. We are essentially fighters in an arena, will you fight fair and win on your own skill, or will you go for the low blow while the ref isn't looking?

Well, assuming he's talking about Manaroo, that happens at the start of the combat phase, which was long gone by time you rolled, so how fast you rolled really shouldn't have mattered.

It actually kinda does. There are people who will jump straight to shooting with their high PS ace and drag you along to the next phase with them.

That will sometimes make you forget about end of activation phase/beginning of combat effects as you start thinking about getting the best range advantage, looking into possible obstructions etc.

Don't be that guy.

If you're not and you give your opponent enough time then it's not your problem. It's their cards and effects that they should keep track off.

This. I make sure there's a distinction between the end of activation and start of combat, so Manaroo, GS, Mux, etc have a chance to be used. If you're the highest PS (guessing you were with Vader) and went straight from maneuver and action to rolling your attack you are partially in the wrong. That said if he rolled his defense dice he kind of missed his interrupt window, but then you rolling immediately can distract. i would have let him do it, it's kinda why he brought Manaroo.

It is funny. Maybe you WERE rushing him by rolling your attack but then he did roll his defense before claiming he was rushed.

Was the transfer a mandatory, or at the very least a no-downside, effect? If it is entirely optional and there would be a good reason NOT to use it (like the ship that had it was going to need it) I have a much harder time allowing it retroactively especially if it would instantly be a huge benefit if it had been used.

Given the context of the game, namely, a tournament with real valuable prizes on the line, the standard must be higher. Missed opportunities are just that, missed. He should take it as a lesson to remember going forward.

This is the main reason I don't like upgrades to the gills. Too much to remember. And not everyone's style.

That said. He could have phrased it: we jumped into combat so fast I didn't have time to use manaroo. Do you mind?

Also yes he really should have done that at least before rolling greens. As that at least waits for him.

I'd feel a little grouchy. But hey. It's 5 bucks or so. You can let it gooooo

The rush is real.

I played a tournament where I was using a Kanan Ghost.

We had called a TO over to check for arc on a particular shot. Then as soon as the TO cleared the arc, he immediately rolled all of his dice. Then I said "I would have used Kanan's ability, just like I previously have on every shot to reduce your dice, but I got rushed because we were doing something else." He really didn't want to reroll fewer dice because he had seen that he had a great roll.

The thing with the game now is there's so many different effects that take places at different times that I feel like you practically have to ask your opponent at each step if they're ready, where it used to be pretty straightforward what happened in what sequence.

He could've stopped you once you rolled and said, "Hold on, I have an ability to use at the start of combat." Once he rolled, however, he's kinda passed up the opportunity.

This.

It's one thing if someone just scoops up their dice and rolls them before someone even has the chance to declare Glitterstim or Manaroo or whatever.

It's another when the player then rolls dice himself. Even if he was rushed, he missed his chance to call his opponent out on it.

We had called a TO over to check for arc on a particular shot. Then as soon as the TO cleared the arc, he immediately rolled all of his dice. Then I said "I would have used Kanan's ability, just like I previously have on every shot to reduce your dice, but I got rushed because we were doing something else." He really didn't want to reroll fewer dice because he had seen that he had a great roll.

Which is when you immediately call the TO back over and have him help explain to your opponent that he has to allow you that opportunity, unless you otherwise stated explicitly that you weren't going to use Kanan. I don't understand what's with all the doormat attitudes.

It's one thing to let someone take an action they forgot to take right before flipping over their next ship's dial.

It's another to let someone roll the wrong number of dice or deny you opportunities just because you don't feel like speaking up.

If someone makes a glaring mistake in a tournament setting, I'll usually point it out once or twice, but if it's repeated, the prompts end and I'm going to stick with the missed opportunities rules. That said, if it's something as simple as a token pass, I'm just going to assume he didn't want to pass the token, and chalk it down to missed opportunities too.

It's one thing to say "oh hell, I forgot to give Fel his free focus token after PTL", and a very different thing to wait until the shooting phase to trigger Manaroo passing a token to someone in need. Both could be genuine mistakes, but the latter has far more game consequences. I'd let the former slide, but probably not the latter.

Well, assuming he's talking about Manaroo, that happens at the start of the combat phase, which was long gone by time you rolled, so how fast you rolled really shouldn't have mattered.

It actually kinda does. There are people who will jump straight to shooting with their high PS ace and drag you along to the next phase with them.

That will sometimes make you forget about end of activation phase/beginning of combat effects as you start thinking about getting the best range advantage, looking into possible obstructions etc.

Don't be that guy.

If you're not and you give your opponent enough time then it's not your problem. It's their cards and effects that they should keep track off.

This. I make sure there's a distinction between the end of activation and start of combat, so Manaroo, GS, Mux, etc have a chance to be used. If you're the highest PS (guessing you were with Vader) and went straight from maneuver and action to rolling your attack you are partially in the wrong. That said if he rolled his defense dice he kind of missed his interrupt window, but then you rolling immediately can distract. i would have let him do it, it's kinda why he brought Manaroo.

You still have to say who you're attacking, measure range, etc. So it's not like you just enter combat and roll immediately.

He really didn't want to reroll fewer dice because he had seen that he had a great roll.

It's another to let someone roll the wrong number of dice or deny you opportunities just because you don't feel like speaking up.

No, I did speak up. And then he got mad about it and seemed to think that if he just looked at me, I'd let up. So I was like, "No, I've used this ability every chance I've had in the game." And then he grumbled about it.

Missed opportunity really does seem to be down to personal preference and table arguments. It would be useful to see some kind of marked point that is easily recognised as the point of no return. Maybe after the player makes any play (takes and action, moves a ship, rolls or modifies any dice) then the opportunity is missed.

I feel that there are more and more abilities that let you do something that is in between your normal rounds that makes it easy to miss things.

I don't play with cloaked ships very often (don't get to play often at all these days) and have to actively be mindful of decloaking after dials are set.

There are so many modifications to each different step and'phase' that it has become cumbersome to play casual or not to tip the hat to another player. I try where I can to say comments like, "Beginning of combat phase" but how does that work with non-English speakers. I want you to forget your action or decloak. It is YOUR responsibility, but when can I do my actions? When are you done with yours. Very easy to disrupt someone with rule discussion/argument, TO, etc.

I know a player that tries to roll his dice after my attack BEFORE I chose a TL for FCS. Have not run into the activation guy yet but you hear then flipping thier dial so the opponent does not get an action

"How should I have handled this?"

My advice:

1 - Identify and be aware of enemy abilities, especially those that occur during wonky timing (start of activation, end of activation, start of combat, after an attack, etc).

2 - When said opportunities arise and the ability is optional, give the opposing player the time that he needs to think and act. Do not move towards your dial or dice (when applicable).

3 - After a reasonnable amount of time has passed and you could do somethig if your opponent does not activate and ability, you may ask "can I go?"

4 - If your opponent gives you permission to proceed, do so, do not remind him of his ability and if he realises it later, it's a missed opportunity.

The thing is that it is both players' responsability to maintain game integrity, but at the same time, you are not there to play the game for your opponent, reminding to decloak or any other such ability. Game awareness as described above will improve the level of your gaming while also giving your opponent a fair chance and most importantly, leave you guilt free if a missed opportunity occurs.

The clearer you keep the line, the easier it is to follow the rules, have fun and play guilt free