We are in the middle of an epic league and we just got hit by a big one. So far, we are treating the Harpooned! condition the same way that the FAQ for huge ships treats assault missiles; it only affects the section where the hit occurred. So far, so good, but we failed to plan for something. What if a section of a huge ship, the one hit with the harpooned condition, is crippled. Does it go off or not?

RAW: the condition would not go off. It clearly marks that the ship must be destroyed and "crippled" is not destroyed.

RAI: a section of a ship cannot get any worse than crippled and from that point on, you can't even target it or suffer damage.

A case can be made that upgrade card wording were not designed with huge ships in mind. So where would you guys stand? If a section of a huge ship is crippled, do the harpoon blow up or not?

I think as much as it appears counter intuitive the RAW should be ruled her and that the "destroyed" trigger shouldn’t go off when the section becomes crippled.

Can you still shoot at the cripple section? Yes, which could potentially trigger the Harpooned condition anyway

Can you still bump into a crippled section? Yes

Can a crippled section still destroy other non-epic ships that it overlaps? Yes

I think that the crippled section still has a significant impact while still on the board so I would (Personally) rule that the destroyed trigger wouldn't happen till the entire epic ship is removed from the board. But honestly its probably up to the league players consensus as this is not like it’s a regional event etc.