I have to say this is a difficult one, personally I would go with the not within range one rule just for consistencies sake. But the objective does give a new rule for placing the obsticals and as ard stated there is no reference to place obsticals normally within the context of this objective specific rule. This does need an FAQ me thinks.

May the rules gods have mercy.

Correction: DT also doesn't specify either distance 1 or "as normal."

Pretty sure it's just either an oversight or omitted for brevity. And since it doesn't explicitly say to disregard normal placement restrictions, I'd say the distance 1 limit still applies.

....

New one asked today.

What if the Jamming Barrier shot is also obstructed.

Do both portions of the rules in play have the same timing (Before rolling Dice / After Gathering, Before Rolling)?

Special Rule: While attacking, if line of sight is traced across the line between the two objective tokens, the attacker must choose and remove half of the dice from the attack pool rounded down, before rolling.

Obstruction:

If an attack is obstructed by one or more ships or obstacles, the attacker must choose and remove one die from his attack pool before he rolls dice during the “Roll Attack Dice” step.

Yes because both are seperate rules.

They have distinct qualifiers

1. Trace LOS between the tokens

2. Trace LOS through a ship/obstacle

And they have distinct effects

1. Remove dice rounded down

2. Remove 1 die

And since they have the same timing, before you roll dice, you can choose what order they occur in. This situation is similar to landing on 2+ obstacles, or using Vader and LS to reroll dice. I see the argument as "Well I already removed some dice so I shouldn't have to do it again." My counter would be "Well you already rerolled your dice with Vader, why should you get to reroll again with LS?" Because they are 2 different sources generating different effects.

Yes because both are seperate rules.

They have distinct qualifiers

1. Trace LOS between the tokens

2. Trace LOS through a ship/obstacle

And they have distinct effects

1. Remove dice rounded down

2. Remove 1 die

And since they have the same timing, before you roll dice, you can choose what order they occur in. This situation is similar to landing on 2+ obstacles, or using Vader and LS to reroll dice. I see the argument as "Well I already removed some dice so I shouldn't have to do it again." My counter would be "Well you already rerolled your dice with Vader, why should you get to reroll again with LS?" Because they are 2 different sources generating different effects.

I dobn't doubt they both apply... Its more, "Are they the same timing, or is there something I've missed?"

Because depending on your initial pool, having the choice of Halving-Rounding-Down then minus one, or Minus one then rounding down, can be advantageous... The "same timing choose order" flexibility is important.... Or wether there's something inherent there that states an order.

Yes because both are seperate rules.

They have distinct qualifiers

1. Trace LOS between the tokens

2. Trace LOS through a ship/obstacle

And they have distinct effects

1. Remove dice rounded down

2. Remove 1 die

And since they have the same timing, before you roll dice, you can choose what order they occur in. This situation is similar to landing on 2+ obstacles, or using Vader and LS to reroll dice. I see the argument as "Well I already removed some dice so I shouldn't have to do it again." My counter would be "Well you already rerolled your dice with Vader, why should you get to reroll again with LS?" Because they are 2 different sources generating different effects.

I dobn't doubt they both apply... Its more, "Are they the same timing, or is there something I've missed?"

Same timing. Both have "before" as their timing word in relation to rolling dice.