We had a situation occur during our game today that led to an interesting discussion.

The L1N1X player moved some dreadnoughts into a system belonging to Mentak and took a hit from the Mentak PDS. He used Sustain Damage to cancel the hit. He then invaded the planet and began ground combat. At the end of the first round of ground combat, he attempted to use Duranium Armor to repair his dreadnought. We objected, but he maintained that the wording of the card did not specify that it must be used at the end of a round of *space* combat, and that his dreadnought had indeed not used Sustain Damage during that round of combat.

Reading closely, we conceded that the text indeed did not stipulate that the repaired unit must be participating in the current combat. But then, we reasoned, by that interpretation you could repair a unit anywhere on the board using Duranium Armor, not just in the active system. That didn't pass the common-sense test, so eventually he acquiesced.

After the game, I began pouring over the rules and trying to find something to justify our decision, and have been unable to find one. Every other technology or faction ability that I find specifies "in that system" or a similar proviso. I noticed that the Yin Devotion ability has a similar ambiguity in the original text, which was corrected in the errata. Duranium Armor is not addressed in the errata or FAQ.

Given that Duranium Armor does not have an equivalent entry in the errata, and the fact that the designers are usually so careful about the wording of abilities, was the L1N1X player correct? Can Duranium Armor really be used on ships outside the current combat (or indeed, even outside the active system)?

It doesn't really make thematic (or common) sense, but I would also be surprised if something against the designer's intent had not yet been corrected in the errata. On the other hand, I always thought Duranium Armor was an underwhelming technology, and this literal reading would make it more useful.

Duranium Armor only applies to units that are participating in that combat round.

Take the wording of Magen Defense Grid for example....

" At the start of ground combat on a planet that contains 1 or more of your structures, you may produce 1 hit and assign it to 1 of your opponent's ground forces. "

Magen Defense Grid does not explicitly state where that ground force needs to be, right? So what prevents Magen Defense Grid from assigning a hit to an opponent's ground forces on a completely different planet? The game effect would have been followed to the letter, right?

Game effects like this only apply to units involved in that particular round of combat.

Related question.

If the combat ends before the ship has a chance to repair, does it then have to wait until the end of the round anyway? So if the combat had gone on longer the ship would be less damaged?

12 minutes ago, Forgottenlore said:

Related question.

If the combat ends before the ship has a chance to repair, does it then have to wait until the end of the round anyway? So if the combat had gone on longer the ship would be less damaged?

Duranium Armor:

During each combat round, after you assign hits to your units, repair 1 of your damaged units that did not use Sustain Damage during this combat round.

Rules Reference v1.1 (old):

67.9 Space combat ends immediately when only one player—or neither player—has a ship in the active system.

• “End of combat” and “end of combat round” effects still occur.

Rules Reference v1.3 (current):

67.9 Space combat ends when only one player—or neither player— has a ship in the space area of the active system.

• During the last round of a combat, “end of combat” and “end of combat round” effects occur during the same timing window.

First all, Duranium Armor does not trigger "at the end of the round"; it triggers "after you assign hits to your units." And assigning hits to units happens simultaneously for both players.

Second, notice that v1.3 of the rules reference does not have the word "immediately" like v1.1 does. I interpret that to mean that effects such as Duranium Armor will still trigger during the last round of combat even if you defeat your opponent before you would have assigned hits to your units. However, I'm trying to think of a scenario where you could defeat your opponent before having an opportunity to use Duranium Armor that round. Could you provide more details for this hypothetical scenario?

14 hours ago, Wh0isTh3D0ct0r said:

First all, Duranium Armor does not trigger "at the end of the round";

Wrong “round”. I was referring to when regular repair happens, at the end of the game round, during the status phase.

Fleet attacks, gets enough hits to destroy all defenders. Defenders get one hit back. Put hit on Dreadnought. Can’t use Duranium armor now because Dread used sustain damage this turn. Combat ends because no defenders left. Does the Dread really have to wait till the Status Phase at the end of the round to repair, making Duranium Armor useless in that situation (very useful in other situations, but not now)?

21 hours ago, Forgottenlore said:

Wrong “round”. I was referring to when regular repair happens, at the end of the game round, during the status phase.

Fleet attacks, gets enough hits to destroy all defenders. Defenders get one hit back. Put hit on Dreadnought. Can’t use Duranium armor now because Dread used sustain damage this turn. Combat ends because no defenders left. Does the Dread really have to wait till the Status Phase at the end of the round to repair, making Duranium Armor useless in that situation (very useful in other situations, but not now)?

In that case, yes, if a Dreadnought used its Sustain Damage ability in the last round of a space combat, then the Dreadnought will have to wait until the Status Phase to repair unless some other ability repairs it before then, such as that same Dreadnought being in another space combat that same game round, wherein you could use Duranium Armor to repair the Dreadnought in the first round of combat because it was already damaged in the previous space combat (assuming that it doesn't get destroyed, of course).