Hello

I have a question regarding the technology "X-89 Bacterial Weapon". Does using this "ability", bacterial bombing that is, constitute an act of bombardment. As in, if "bombardment" is prohibited by an action or political card, may one use the ability of this tech?

The tech reads "Your Dreadnough or War Sun units may now use this option before bombarding. Immediately destroy all enemy Ground Forces on the planet. Then discard all of your Action Cards." and while I don't remember the political/action card exactly, it clearly prohibited "bombardment by dreadnoughts or war suns".

Thoughts?

I would say no, you can't use this tech if bombardment is prohibited. If something needs to be done immediately "before" a given action, and said action cannot be legally initiated, then you can't really be said to be "doing" it in order to do something else "before" that. Another example would be an AC that must be used "before moving a ship" and then trying to use that AC on a ship that can't reach the hex you just activated (with or without the benefit of the AC.)

A twinky player might claim that his intention is to bombard and use this card "before" that, and oh darn, the actual bombardment is prohibited so it doesn't happen. That doesn't sit right with me. When an action is prohibited, that doesn't mean you try to do it and it automatically fails, it means you aren't allowed to try. Nothing about the bombardment action can be initiated, and so anything that depends on bombardment, whether it is itself a bombardment or not, shouldn't be allowed to trigger.

Based on the FAQ question related to X-89, I would say that you could use X-89, because it is not considered a bombardment:

Q: Can a Dreadnought, without the Graviton Negator technology, use the X-89 Bacterial Weapon technology against a planet that contains a PDS?

A: Yes, using the X-89 technology is not considered a bombardment.

I would agree as well that you can use this even if bombardment is prevented. The tech doesn't say it requires a bombardment. It only gives us a timing of when it actually takes place, which is immediately before a bombardment. If bombardment were not prohibited, and you used this on a homeworld that had genetic synthesis, you could then proceed to actually bombard and then land your troops to mop up the remaining defenders.

If X-89 Bacterial Weapon is allowed for a Dreadnought without Graviton Negator when there are PDS present (which prevent Dreadnoughts from bombarding), then obviously they would be allowed to use it when bombardment is restricted for some other reason.