Rule Question:

In my last game, a complex situation came up: Hoss Harbinger was standing in a circle on the same path with Heizinger. Heizinger had the Hermetica Occulta. Hoax was invisible with three invisible figures on the board. One of these figures was standing on a circle with a Mental bonus symbol. Hoss tried to swap places with Hoax, raising these questions...

1) Hoax cannot be "targeted" when she is invisible, but Hoss's Chronograph of Jan Ruze does not require a "target" to swap places with another character. Can he use the Chronograph to swap places with an invisible Hoax? (After all, he usually can't see the figures he swaps with anyway.) If so, and Hoss wins the mental duel, who decides which invisible Hoax figure he swaps with? Does she stay invisible?

2) How are invisible Hoax figures affected by bonuses / penalties in circles on the board? If they apply, do they only apply to the figure standing on them or to all the figures?

3) If Hoss is standing on a circle affected by Heizinger's Hermetica Occulta and he swaps with another character, does the other character have to win a mental duel against Heizinger to "enter" the circle affected by the Hermetica Occulta? What happens if she loses the mental duel?

4) In our case, we ended up with a visible Hoax on Heizinger's path. On her next activation, she went invisible. Can the new, invisible figures be placed on circles on Heizinger's path, or does the Hermetica Occulta require them to first win a mental duel? Is "placing" the same as "entering"?

Thanks, Don Frew

Andrew Meredith from Fantasy Flight provided these answers…

<< Nice set of questions Don,
Here's some answers:

1) When Hoss uses the Chronograph of Jan Ruze, you should declare which figure you will be replacing (which means you need to define which Hoax figure you are replacing) and then engage in the Mental Duel with Hoax.

2) Bonuses only apply to the figure standing in the circle. So, if one Hoax moves through a movement penalty circle, that figure must pay the additional movement point. If Hoax makes an attack while invisible, and she stands in a circle that gives her a Combat bonus she gets the bonus. Alternatively, if one Hoax stands in a Green Combat circle, another Hoax elsewhere does not benefit from it.

3) The character forced to move into the circle Hoss first occupied does not take a Mental test, just as their exchanging places does not cause a Shocktruppen nearby on overwatch to gain an immediate overwatch attack. The character has to then activate and make a move action or action for a Schocktruppen to use their Overwatch attack.

4) The Hoax models are placed first (Keep in mind that turning invisible is Hoax's action for the turn. So she will not be able to then attack.) After she turns invisible, if one of the models moves into a circle that is on Von Heïzinger's path, she must THEN take a mental test. If she fails, and Von Heïzinger has the Eye of Horus, she'll immediately become invisible again.

Thanks for the questions.
Andrew >>

I wrote back and asked…

Thank you, Andrew!
One thing was left unclear... If Hoss swaps with an invisible Hoax, does she become visible? If so, is it the one that was swapped?
Thanks,
Don

Andrew responded…

<< Unless Hoss was standing in a circle with Smoke, then when he switches with Hoax she does not become visible. If he WAS standing in Smoke, and the movement forces Hoax into Smoke, then she becomes visible. You only have a choice of which Hoax becomes visible when multiple Hoax's become visible at the same time. (i.e. if a Smoke Grenade is thrown onto the path of two invisible Hoax models.) Otherwise, the invisible model that was effected is always the model that becomes visible.

Thanks for the question!
Andrew Meredith >>

Thanks for clarifying those questions!

Thanks for posting them. That will help in my fure games.