Title.

No you are not required to attack.

Great example is I don't want to take a 2 dice no mod pot shot against QD so that I can take a shield and he can shoot me back. So I just won't shoot

Interesting side note... Does the act of measuring to potential targets force you to follow through with the attack? As an example: I'm hoping that I can shoot at one of Quickdraw's wingmates, but it turns out she's the only target I have in arc. Am I therefore required to attack her, since I started the process by measuring to targets when engaging? Can I decline to declare a defender if I have a valid target, or am I permitted to abort out of the attack sequence?

For reference, see the heading under "Attack" on page 4 of the Rules Reference .

13 minutes ago, emeraldbeacon said:

Does the act of measuring to potential targets force you to follow through with the attack?

Only with extreme pedantry.

If you're super-picky, then by Rules As Written, once you begin measuring potential targets, you are forced to choose a weapon, then declare a legal target for it (if there are any), then pay any cost of firing it (if you can). I don't know anyone who insists on that, though.

32 minutes ago, Quarrel said:

If you're super-picky, then by Rules As Written, once you begin measuring potential targets, you are forced to choose a weapon, then declare a legal target for it (if there are any), then pay any cost of firing it (if you can). I don't know anyone who insists on that, though.

But in a high-stakes tournament, is this something that could be enforced? Yes, it's rules lawyering at its finest (or is that worst?), but it could mean a very significant swing in momentum, if my opponent is REQUIRED to shoot at a target that's detrimental for them to attack this round. There are ways to "force an error message" and break out of the attack sequence, by choosing a weapon that can't attack the defender (i.e. a missile without a corresponding lock, or a cannon that's out of range)... but if all you have is a primary front arc, and QD is your only target in arc/range, and you DO measure, I'd argue that under an ultra-strict reading of the rules, you're required to continue with the attack.

(Please note that I'm only trying to break the rules here, in theory-crafting, so that we know how to adjudicate it on the tables. I think that step 1c of performing an attack (selecting defender) should be optional... I'm just not 100% sure it is.)

Going strictly by RAW, you cannot abort an attack by declining to select a defender after you start measuring. You can abort by choosing a defender and/or weapon you can't actually shoot for some reason ("forcing an error message", as @emeraldbeacon puts it), but you can't just say no.

However, it is extremely rare for this to matter. This was actually discovered pretty soon after release, because the question was asked with Dengar, and I haven't seen it actually come up in a game since. You'd need to be shooting at exactly QD or Dengar, be in a position where their abilities are going to punish you, and have everything positioned it so it's not immediately obvious that they're the only targets in range.

37 minutes ago, DR4CO said:

Going strictly by RAW, you cannot abort an attack by declining to select a defender after you start measuring. You can get abort by choosing a defender and/or weapon you can't actually shoot for some reason ("forcing an error message", as @emeraldbeacon puts it), but you can't just say no.

However, it is extremely rare for this to matter. This was actually discovered pretty soon after release, because the question was asked with Dengar, and I haven't seen it actually come up in a game since. You'd need to be shooting at exactly QD or Dengar, be in a position where their abilities are going to punish you, and have everything positioned it so it's not immediately obvious that they're the only targets in range.

It seems like there is a lot of stuff where they are lazy about the rules and clarifications because, "why do you want to do that?"

On 9/23/2019 at 7:53 AM, DR4CO said:

Going strictly by RAW, you cannot abort an attack by declining to select a defender after you start measuring. You can get abort by choosing a defender and/or weapon you can't actually shoot for some reason ("forcing an error message", as @emeraldbeacon puts it), but you can't just say no.

However, it is extremely rare for this to matter. This was actually discovered pretty soon after release, because the question was asked with Dengar, and I haven't seen it actually come up in a game since. You'd need to be shooting at exactly QD or Dengar, be in a position where their abilities are going to punish you, and have everything positioned it so it's not immediately obvious that they're the only targets in range.

It can also happen with a ship like Lt Tavson. I know I've declined to shoot him with my 3 die unmoded shot into a reinforced tavson so he didn't get to take additional actions.

On 9/24/2019 at 10:21 AM, SirToastsalot said:

It can also happen with a ship like Lt Tavson. I know I've declined to shoot him with my 3 die unmoded shot into a reinforced tavson so he didn't get to take additional actions.

This was the exact situation I was in. Wedge could only shoot Tavson, who would have coordinated a barrel roll to a 1-Hull Blackout who was bumped into two different Intimidate carriers.

If Wedge shoots it’s a game. If he doesn’t have to shoot then the game is over.

RR P4. "Each ship may perform one attack when it engages during the engagement phase" and again on p10 "When a ship engages, it may perform an attack.

So, no, each ship must not attack. So completely declining your attack. Sure.

But measuring and then deciding not to shoot. I don't think so. The measuring is part of the attack. RR p4 Attack 1.a

And then on step (c)

"c. Declare Defender: The attacking player chooses an enemy ship to be the defender. The defender must meet the requirements defined by the weapon."

So basically once you start measuring you have already taken your choice to attack. And then you must choose a legal target (if possible) for the chosen weapon.

At least, that's how I would argue the point. Technically as others have pointed out, if you have different weapon options you can choose one of them if it could exclude the ship you don't want to shoot at.

It's not a matter of being "súper picky", y ou cannot measure unless you're attacking.

If you decide To attack and you only have QD, Dengar, Seevor, Kylo, Luke.... inside your arc there's no way back.