Okay, so this may have come up when it was first previewed I don't know, but I did a search for Dormitz and didn't see it anywhere.

I was tinkering with my squad builder when I noticed the exact wording on his card per the preview: "During setup, friendly ships may be placed anywhere in the play area at Range 1-2 of you."

Friendly ships, not OTHER friendly ships.

I thought that maybe "friendly ship" might mean specifically other ships in the squad other than yourself so I checked the rules reference under "Friendly" and it says ships may affect themself with abilities that apply to friendly ships unless it specifies "other friendly ships".

The FAQ specifically states in the last section that a ship is considered at range 1 of itself.

So based on the RAW, it seems pretty airtight to me that Lt. Dormitz can be deployed anywhere on the board and all of his allies can deploy either at the usual edge or anywhere at range 1-2 of him.

Now, I'm pretty confident that's not what was intended (and I would not personally attempt to play it this way) but unless there is another rule I've missed it seems pretty clear that is what is written. I expect it will get FAQ-ed into "other friendly ships" if the preview is accurate to the wording on the card but as it stands: SHENANIGANS!

Sadly his ability doesn't come into play until he is actually on the board. Before then he himself has to follow the normal rules for deployment. At least that's how I believe it works.

Yeah, it goes: "Okay, time to place Dormitz. Where can I place him? There's my normal deployment zone, obviously. And also anywhere at Range 1-2 of... nowhere. So, just the normal deployment zone, then."

Yeah, it goes: "Okay, time to place Dormitz. Where can I place him? There's my normal deployment zone, obviously. And also anywhere at Range 1-2 of... nowhere. So, just the normal deployment zone, then."

Ah, yeah that makes sense. Range 1-2 of himself doesn't exist until he's on the board so he has to go on the board in the usual area.

Still would have been better to throw the "other" in there but I agree this makes sense.

Just leave him on your opponent's side of the table before placing asteroids and such, then declare you'll place him in range 1-2 of himself!

For clarity sake, they should have added the "other"