A ship with concussion bombs has previously spent 1 charge, and has its rear pointed at the board edge such that a dropped bomb would be partially (or fully) out of bounds. Screenshot for reference.

Rules reference page 10:

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• A device cannot be placed so that a portion of the device would be outside the play area. If this would happen, play is reversed to before the device was placed—the device is not placed, any charges spent and other costs paid are recovered, and the player can choose to not place that device.

Concussion bombs:

Quote

During the System Phase, if any of this card's Charge are inactive, you must spend 1 Charge to drop 1 concussion bomb, if able.

Rules reference page 2:

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If the ability of a card conflicts with the rules in this guide, the card ability takes precedence.

With this in mind, does the ship in question drop a concussion bomb, or no? I'm mostly leaning towards it does not drop.

It does not drop. The key falls in the simple phrases, "if able." You're unable to drop a bomb outside of the play area, so you are unable to drop that bomb.

The question becomes a little grayer, if you have alternate ways of placing a bomb in play, such as Trajectory Simulator, or variant ways of placing it (such as that Resistance Bomber that can put bombs in base contact).

27 minutes ago, emeraldbeacon said:

It does not drop. The key falls in the simple phrases, "if able." You're unable to drop a bomb outside of the play area, so you are unable to drop that bomb.

The question becomes a little grayer, if you have alternate ways of placing a bomb in play, such as Trajectory Simulator, or variant ways of placing it (such as that Resistance Bomber that can put bombs in base contact).

launching is a replacement effect and so is finch dallow, so you're not forced to launch or otherwise place a concussion bomb by any other means than dropping.

What if he is further away but use Skilled Bombardier to intentionally fail?

1 hour ago, JBFancourt said:

What if he is further away but use Skilled Bombardier to intentionally fail?

I imagine this would fall under a similar ruling as a barrel roll. You don't fail just because one position is blocked. You must complete it if ANY end positions are legal.

2 hours ago, Squirl808 said:

I imagine this would fall under a similar ruling as a barrel roll. You don't fail just because one position is blocked. You must complete it if ANY end positions are legal.

I don't think that'd be relevant in this case.

I view using Skilled Bombardier like choosing which template to use for a barrel roll or boost. Once you've selected that template, if that template fails, you don't get to switch to a different template.

It'd be relevant for Starviper bendy barrel rolls. Likewise, if a ship was doing a speed-2 barrel roll, but had the option to do a speed-1 roll, chose to do a speed-2, and had all the speed-2s of that direction blocked, the barrel roll would fail, and things would be over, even if speed-1 would fit.

In my opinion, these three points are the fundamental issue at the heart of "creative ways to avoid dropping a Concussion Bomb"...

• A mandatory (if able) ability can be resolved using a replacement effect, and it fulfills the requirements of that mandatory (if able) ability.
  • This simply means that you don't have to drop a Concussion Bomb using a 1-straight if you have an ability to use a different template, or can launch it.
• If a mandatory (if able) ability can be resolved in the standard way, it must be resolved, even if you choose to resolve it in a non-standard way (via a replacement effect).
  • This means that you can't "fail" a Concussion Bomb placement using a replacement effect, if you are able to use the standard drop. You can still choose a replacement effect to place it, but if the 1-straight fits, then you have to choose something.
• But, if a mandatory (if able) ability cannot be resolved in the standard way, but can be resolved using a replacement effect, is a player required to use that replacement effect to resolve said mandatory (if able) ability?
  • This is where special pilot, ship, or upgrade rules (Finch Dallow, Emon Azzameen, Sol Sixxa, TIE Bombers, Trajectory Simulator, etc) come into play. If the 1-straight DOESN'T work, are you REQUIRED to use your other abilities?

50 minutes ago, emeraldbeacon said:

This is where special pilot, ship, or upgrade rules (Finch Dallow, Emon Azzameen, Sol Sixxa, TIE Bombers, Trajectory Simulator, etc) come into play. If the 1-straight DOESN'T work, are you REQUIRED to use your other abilities?

I dont think so, personally. Given this listing of Replacement Effects on pg 2

" Some abilities are substitutive in nature—they replace how an effect would normally resolve. "
" When a replacement effect resolves, the replaced effect is treated as having not occurred"

The normal effect does not resolve at all. Thus you dont even have the opportunity to try an place it. When you have the opportunity to drop the bomb, and you have an alternative way to do so, you decide which template/method to use in order to drop it. Once you decide, that is the method you are committed to because you are replacing the normal effect with the new one. That new effect is now 'how that ability resolves in that moment'.

So, if you decide to use the normal dropping method, and attempt, you cannot then go back and change to another method, regardless if you succeed or fail. So i agree with @meffo

9 hours ago, Squirl808 said:

I imagine this would fall under a similar ruling as a barrel roll. You don't fail just because one position is blocked. You must complete it if ANY end positions are legal.

Barrel rolling is not quite the same. When you barrel roll, you are choosing which side to roll from. In the same manner with bombs, you are choosing how to deploy it. With barrel rolling, once you choose the template, there are 3 legal positions, at all times. With bombs, there is 1 legal position, at all times. When you choose which side to roll from, you are locked to that side of the ship. You can't be forced to roll to the other-side if the one side fails on placement. You just outright fail.

As for your example, dropping a bomb is actually closer to Boosting. When boosting, once you choose a template and direction, thats it, you are locked into attempting that specific position. If it fails, you dont go back and try another template or direction.

30 minutes ago, Lyianx said:

As for your example, dropping a bomb is actually closer to Boosting. When boosting, once you choose a template and direction, thats it, you are locked into attempting that specific position. If it fails, you dont go back and try another template or direction.

Even then, it's not quite the same... when you "fail" a bomb drop (which, I know "fail" isn't quite the right word, but it's close enough for this purpose), you don't lose that bomb drop slot... you simply roll back to the point before you chose to drop, and you have the option of choosing a different method of dropping, if you wish. That's where the complication comes in... I believe that, to fulfill the requirements of Concussion Bomb, you can't move on without a drop/launch, until you've at least tried the 1-straight drop. If the 1-straight drop "fails," you roll back to the point before you attempted the drop... but that Replacement Effects are not subsequently required to be used.

alright, i started working on a huge and complete post covering this topic this morning, but felt i couldn't be bothered.

anyway, there are several abilities that let you use a different template to drop a payload. they are all replacement effects. even if they just replace the y the template being used, the drop still occurs. you can also launch a payload, fulfilling the must drop effect using a replacement effect.



please note all the "may" in the replacement effects, the "can" in the rules text and so on. these are game terms that govern this interaction. since you must spend a charge to drop a device, the extended capacity granted the player by the "can choose not to place that device" has no consequence. card text overrules rules text and so on.

you are not required to launch a concussion bomb if you cannot drop it and you are not required to use a different template than the 1 straight, players can always decline to resolve abilities that use "may".

dropping another payload before dropping a concussion bomb also makes you unable to drop a concussion bomb.