The wing rules are really cool, but they're full of little intricacies, so I have a couple questions.

1) This should be obvious, but it's not clearly stated, so here it goes. When a ship has split from a wing, and wants to join the wing again, 3 requirements must be met:

- it must be range 0-1 of its previous wing leader

- it must not be stressed, ionized, tractored or cloaked

- it can't join a different wing than the one it split from

It doesn't say that the ship must fit in formation again. Can it rejoin the wing if it can't be placed in the wing without overlapping? I think the answer is obviously "no", but it's odd that it's not a written requirement.

2) This one is about etiquete and the technicalities of timing. If a ship wants to split from or join its wing voluntarily, this is declared at the end of the End Phase. So what happens if we pick up our dials to plan and I realize one of my ships needs to leave the wing? Am I crazy to think that it's not a big deal to do so in the planning okay so long as you alert your opponent that the ship is splitting as soon as you've made your decision? I mean, it would be in poor taste to wait until everybody is done planning and then announce that a ship is splitting, because your opponent(s) may have to change their dials, and that just wastes time. But I wouldn't go so far as to say that it's a missed opportunity if you don't declare it before the first dial is set for the next round. Did that seem reasonable?

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Can it rejoin the wing if it can't be placed in the wing without overlapping?

The rules don't specify. If it were my call, I'd say they can join, but are not moved into formation until after the wing leader activates (and if they still don't fit, would execute the maneuver on the wing leader's dial as usual).

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So what happens if we pick up our dials to plan and I realize one of my ships needs to leave the wing?

Technically , it's a missed opportunity. If it's immediately after picking up dials, though, I'd expect that most people would be fine with splitting/joining a wing, especially on game night or a store tournament. At high-level competition, once planning has started, even if no dials are down, splitting/joining would still disrupt planning. You can always ask your opponent, but they might say "no".

12 minutes ago, asterborn said:

The rules don't specify. If it were my call, I'd say they can join, but are not moved into formation until after the wing leader activates (and if they still don't fit, would execute the maneuver on the wing leader's dial as usual).

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Technically , it's a missed opportunity. If it's immediately after picking up dials, though, I'd expect that most people would be fine with splitting/joining a wing, especially on game night or a store tournament. At high-level competition, once planning has started, even if no dials are down, splitting/joining would still disrupt planning. You can always ask your opponent, but they might say "no".

Disagree on question 1, agree on question 2. Joining requires you to move into your position in the wing. While the rules don't specify what happens if this is impossible in the case of joining, in the two other times a ship can't be placed (when moving, during setup), the rules are clear that this is forced splitting. I would rule that, to be in a wing, you have to be in the wing. If you try to join and can't fit, you haven't joined.

For question 2, I'm with Aster. Technically game state hasn't changed, so while it would be a missed opportunity, no harm = no foul. It does give your opponent implicit permission to fuss over their dials some more. In a tournament, your opponent has the option to protest and be vindicated.

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in the two other times a ship can't be placed (when moving, during setup), the rules are clear that this is forced splitting. I would rule that, to be in a wing, you have to be in the wing. If you try to join and can't fit, you haven't joined.

Ah, that makes sense. It'd be nice for them to specifically address this in the document, as they have with the other examples.