Hi everybody,

I have a quick question and do not know whether it was answered elsewhere.

If a figure uses its first action to perform a regular attack can the figure still use a special action that contains attack and skip the attack and perform the rest of the special action. Or is the figure not allowed to pick that special action since it contains the word attack. Examples are

• Jarrod Kelvin ( Leaping Slash: Move up to 2 spaces, then perform an attack)
• Shyla Varad ( Mandalorian Whip: Choose a small, hostile figure within 3 spaces and line of sight. Push that figure up to 3 spaces to a space adjacent to you. Then, perform an attack targeting that figure)
• Nexu ( Pounce : Place your figure in an empty space within 3 spaces. Then, you may perform an attack)...okay this is only theoretical since you can always perform a move instead.

My interpretation of the rules is that I can do the parts of the special action except the attack part. Any other thoughts?

Thanks and regards

Campaign or skirmish?

Heroes can use both of their actions for attacks.

Non-heroes (everyone in skirmish) can only perform one action (whether special or normal) that contains at least one attack, unless the figure has Assault . Additional attacks can be performed from abilities that are not actions.

Note that Pounce is a placement within 3 spaces. It can get the Nexu 4 effective spaces of movement, and can sometimes take the Nexu further than 6 movement points (with Mobile) take him. Large figures cannot move diagonally, but Counting Spaces can use diagonals.

Thanks a1bert for picking this up.

I am talking about campaign and skirmish (as long as non-heroes are considered). I see what you are saying and I agree if you are referring to special actions like Verena's Close Quarters ( Perform an attack targeting an adjacent hostile figure using that figure's attack type and attack pool). Here it's obvious.

For the Nexu - as far as I interpret the rules - he can pounce and skip the attack which is slightly different to the special action of Verena which defines an attack as such. For the Nexu it is basically a movement with the option to perform an attack (same as Gaarkhan's Charge). So therefore my question was whether you can pick the special ability and skip the part that contains the attack. For Verena this means I have to skip the entire special action as it is solely an attack. For Nexu and Gaarkhan I could perform the move (which might provide an advantage since it ignores additional movement points) and are then obliged to skip the attack part.

After reading the rules I have to agree with you:

Unlike heroes, a figure that has a Deployment card can use only one of its actions to attack per activation. This includes using special actions that involve performing one or more attacks (such as the Nexu’s “Pounce” or Darth Vader’s “Brutality”).

Still feels wrong somehow.

I never thought about this but if Gaarkhan or the Nexu perform with their first action their special actions and skip the attack part does this action count towards their attack limit , i.e. can they still attack with their second action? (I know it is very constructed as there is no reason for doing so...but just to get things clear for me). To me it shouldn't count due to the fact that you haven't performed an attack. If it does count it is consistent to the what you are saying above...at least

If the Nexu has already attacked with his first action, evoking Pounce feels dirty - even if the attack is optional, the action contains an attack. Sometimes though, you would like to use Attack, then Pounce to get away.

However, if you Pounce first without performing an attack, it may not count as an attack action. (I don't think we have a ruling about that though.) Nexu could use the other action for a special action that contains attack(s). (No sense using a regular attack action because Pounce would've provided it anyway.)

I am quite surprised to hear such a vague statement from your end a1bert

I’m interpreting your expression ‘feels dirty’ and ‘it may not count’ rather as gut feeling than a strict application of rules.

The more I think about it the more I believe that this could be a situation that can come up in a skirmish. And I mean both ways:

• As you said, a nexu attacks with his first action and then wants to pounce away (diagonal to have an advantage compared to a normal move) or Gaarkhan is adjacent to his target so he attacks with is first action and then charges away over difficult terrain or Shyla is adjacent and attacks with her first action and then pushes a second figure to block line of sight or to push the figure away from an objective etc.
• Vice versa Gaarkhan or Nexu could move (charge over difficult terrain or pounce diagonally) or Shyla could push a figure with their first actions and then play a special action command card (Hit and Run, Face to Face, Cruel Strike, Set for Stun, Improvised Weapons) to perform a non-standard attack with their second (special) action

From the RRG I would argue that the first bullet point is not allowed as they explicitly refer to ‘pounce’ (see my post above). However I'm afraid they did not have in mind that somebody could skip the attack part. For the second part I agree with you that the first special action shouldn’t count as an attack action. But what I also think is that the two things should go together: either both are working or none of them. So at this stage we have a contradiction.

Do you think this is something I can ask the developers? I know that you’ve been in contact with them for several requests and questions. Do you have a contact person that I can forward the issue to?

Thanks and regards

The attack on Shyla's Mandalorian Whip is not optional. It needs to happen if it can, and barring mission rules like trapdoors to make it invalid, she can only whip when the target figure ends up adjacent to her.

My opinion is that is an action did not actually perform an attack, it is not considered an attack action. I'm not aware that there would be an actual ruling about that, just the opinions of myself and Clipper, the tech editor of IA. (Google the relevant keywords from BGG and you may find the discussion.)

I think we also agreed that once a non-hero has performed an action that had at least one attack, invoking an action that contains the word attack (whether optional or not) is against the RAW. It would be just fine in the campaign though if agreed with all the players, in skirmish it would fall onto the opponent or Judge/TO.

You can send a rules inquiry using the regular channels if you like. Just be sure to ask a very precise question to get an applicable answer.

For the sake of completeness: here the post you are referring to

https://boardgamegeek.com/article/24774847#24774847

https://boardgamegeek.com/article/23641965#23641965

I decided not to approach the developers. Seems like the interpretation is clear and since I am not playing competitive I can go with the rules as suggested above

I think, specifically "involve performing attacks" is interpreted both as "did a previous action actually perform an attack", and "does the potential action have the possibility of performing an attack". Because, due to abilities (like Disengage) triggering, it is possible that an action containing an attack you started doesn't actually get to perform the attack, because there are no longer valid targets, and this is not that much different than optional attacks.