Since your opponent already threw his dice, he definitely forefitted his opportunity to transfer tokens. It's a bummer that he only realized he had forgotten to transfer focuses before he saw two eyes staring up at him, but it's more his responsibility to remember to do that and not yours.

I strongly fall in favor of playing in a more deliberate manner, asking the opponent if they're ready to start flipping dials, rolling, etc (I typically ask if they want to make any modifications every opportunity they have to do so, it's quick, easy, and unobtrusive - sometimes even cooperative) - but if you run ahead of them and they've still got actions they should have access to, the reasonable thing to say is that they can still trigger/activate whatever so long as they don't take any steps themselves to progress the game past a point that would deny their own window - and even that exists in a very situational place as it's a concession open to abuse.

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

Specifying a trigger condition is in no way "tipping your hat" to your opponent. If your opponent can do something I strongly suggest you just make sure he isn't going to do anything before moving on. If one player just jumps to the next step before another has decided to do something, or not, then play should back up. If jumping the gun happens to reveal any "secret" information that could be acted on them I'm really sorry for you but you should have made sure you could go.

If someone starts rolling Defense before the modification steps with the Attack dice are done they should just pick up those dice like they were never put down. At the very least the attacker whose turn is being interrupted should be the one making the call on picking the dice up so if someone drops dice early and they aren't good then that is an added penalty for jumping the gun.

If you have someone who wants to reveal dials before Actions can be taken or other things get resolved then you should back up to allow those actions to resolve unless they were specifically passed on at the time. If they can take advantage of the extra information just call that extra incentive to make sure they aren't doing something before you assume that is the case and go ahead.

Trying to disrupt your opponent is against the rules.

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.

I have a habit of sort of announcing phases. For example, I'll say "ok, on to activation" after confirming all the dials are set, or "right, time for shooting?" once all ships have moved. I'll even comment on end phase in case there's any follow up abilities. If anyone misses their opportunities when I'm doing this, I'm considerably less willing to allow it. I've literally told them the phase is ending.

I've had one player be very salty about that. He was playing Corran and barrel rolled into a R1 shot on my ailing Echo. His attack whiffed, but he picked up the TL from FCS and still had his focus left. We finished the rest of the combat and I said "Ok, I've got nothing more to do with Vader so... dials? Unless you have anything?".

I had a PS11 Vader and Epsilon Ace undamaged, so in firing with those two ships, I'd forgotten about Corran. Apparently, so had he, and we went to dials. It wasn't until I decloaked Echo that he realised he hadn't fired, and insisted he should be allowed to take his shot. Considering I literally asked him if he had anything left to do before the new phase started, I had zero inclination to allow the shot. He decided I was being a rules lawyer, and proceeded to finish the game in near silence (not that it lasted much longer. Echo cleared Corran that turn, and Vader polished off what was left of the list, much to his further annoyance).

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?

I think it's important to give people a chance to do things. Like, if you know your target has sensor jammer, don't ******* start rerolling **** immediately and muddying the game state. If they have zuckuss, stop to give them a chance to decide whether to use it.

On the flipside, I also warn my opponent ahead of time when I'm rolling and anticipate activating something like 4LOM crew. In general, it's pretty easy to make a habit of communicating these things both ways, since you'll always be more familiar with what triggers to be on the look for regarding your own list than your opponent will.

its quite often people will jump in combat and roll before i do my combat phase stuff, but i always do them anyway before i roll anything. Once you start doing things in the combat phase, you forfeit anything you had at the start of the phase. He started, so he should have just taken his feth-up like a man. Quite often i'll forget and be shootin' myself in the foot for it but i wont renig it.