Can I measure range before choosing to not detonate a bomblet?

I'd be inclined to say no.

You are allowed to measure before deciding to trigger abilities that have a range limit. Kyle Katarn for instance can pass focus tokens out to range 3. You are allowed to check and see which ships are within range before deciding who to pass to. However, Nym's ability does not have a range limit, only the bomb does.

So I don't think anything in the rules would allow you to check the bomb before deciding whether to use Nym.

No.

Detonation precedes measuring, if you don't allow the detonation, there's nothing to tell you to measure, and you can't measure without a prompt in x-wing.

We have had this talk many times in our local group and have not been able to come to an agreement on how to rule it. Our debate started with when Seismic Torpedo came into play. For example, can you see whether or not a ship is in range 1 of the obstacle before declaring to use the torpedo? Obviously you have to check range on the obstacle, but the rules do not go beyond that on what the order of operations was.

The rule book lists several specific cases where you can make measurements before actually taking an action or using an ability. Barrel roll, target lock, target selection, pilot abilities etc. so there is a precedent on pre-measuring now that did not exist before, BUT that was always followed with the cost of, if you can do it, you must commit to it.

I can see both sides of the argument having valid points, but this is new territory for FFG and they need to clarify this for us.

35 minutes ago, shaunmerritt said:

We have had this talk many times in our local group and have not been able to come to an agreement on how to rule it. Our debate started with when Seismic Torpedo came into play. For example, can you see whether or not a ship is in range 1 of the obstacle before declaring to use the torpedo? Obviously you have to check range on the obstacle, but the rules do not go beyond that on what the order of operations was.

The rule book lists several specific cases where you can make measurements before actually taking an action or using an ability. Barrel roll, target lock, target selection, pilot abilities etc. so there is a precedent on pre-measuring now that did not exist before, BUT that was always followed with the cost of, if you can do it, you must commit to it.

I can see both sides of the argument having valid points, but this is new territory for FFG and they need to clarify this for us.

The difference is that for all of those you are allowed to measure to see if you can perform the action, and if you can then you must. For Rebel Nym and reveal bombs, there is no question as to whether or not you can use the ability -- his effect is global so he can cause the bomb to not detonate. Whether the bomb would hit anything or not is immaterial to whether or not his ability is allowed to trigger. The bomb can still detonate even if it would not hit any ships.

You are not allowed to measure to see if the bomb would hit anything before deciding if you want to use Nym or not. You are also not allowed to measure to see if seismic torpedoing a rock would hit any ships before deciding if you want to use it or not. Both of those measurements happen during the activation of the effect, not prior to it, so you must commit to activating the effect before you can measure them.

EDIT TO ADD:

The rules are clear on what "the order of operations" for Seismic Torpedo is.

Quote

ACTION: Discard this card to choose an obstacle at Range 1-2 and inside your primary firing arc. Each ship at Range 1 of the obstacle rolls 1 attack die and suffers any damage or critical damage rolled. Then remove the obstacle.

First you attempt to use the card. You declare an obstacle as the target and measure to it. If it is at Range 1-2 and in your primary firing arc the effect goes off. Otherwise it does not. After that, if the effect goes off, you measure to see which ships are at Range 1 of the obstacle. Then those ships roll 1 attack die each and suffer any damage or critical damage rolled. Then the obstacle is removed. The order of operations is the order the things are in on the card.

The FaQ are very clear about when you can measure distances:

Players may only measure range and/or use the range ruler to determine whether a ship is inside or outside of a firing arc at the following times:

• When a ship becomes the active ship during the combat phase, the active player can measure range from the active ship to any enemy ships before declaring one as its target. (Doesn't apply)

• When a player declares a ship’s ability that requires another ship (or ships) to be at a certain range, the player trying to resolve the ability can measure range from their ship to any valid ships before resolving the ability. (Nym's ability doesn't require another ship to be at any range)

• After declaring the intended target of a target lock action, the active player may measure range to the intended target, and only to the intended target. (Doesn't apply)

So no, you can't measure range between the token and the enemy ships.

And you can't measure from an obstacle to the ships while using Seismic Torpedoes, neither.