Collecting questions for new FAQ

By GMO, in Twilight Imperium 3rd Edition

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Feel free to add your own! :)

Arborec
A1. Arborec's Ground Forces have a "build capacity" of 1. Is there any difference between "build capacity" and the "production capacity" of Space Docks?
A2. Can 2 Arborec Ground Forces produce 2 more Ground Forces for the cost of 1, thereby pooling their build capacity?
A3. Can Arborec Ground Forces build ships?
A4. Can Arborec Ground Forces be used with the Production Strategy Card? If so, must they be in systems containing Space Docks in order to do so?
Creuss
C1. Where are the starting units placed? Can they split between the two Home Systems at the player's discretion? If they may be placed at the empty/"D" Wormhole end, may Ground Forces, PDS, and Leaders be placed on the ships there, or must they only be placed on a planet when starting the game?
Flagships
F1. Can the Arborec's Duha Menaimon produce Ground Forces?
F2. How, exactly, does the Creuss' Hil Colish work? Does Hil Colish move 1 space and then there is a "D" wormhole there? Or does the "D" wormhole appear when the system is activated, allowing Hil Colish to also use it? In other words, can the Hil Colish effectively move to any system on the board because there is always a "D" wormhole where the ship is?
F3. Since the combat value of Jol Nar's J.N.S. Hylarim is 2, does this mean that it actually hits only when a 3 is rolled, due to Jol Nar's -1 penalty to all combat rolls?
F4. Are PDS-related technologies researched by the controlling player (such as Magen Defense Grid or Graviton Laser System) applicable to Xxcha's Loncara Ssodu?
F5. With regard to Ground Forces in a system containing Yin's Van Hauge, are they affected by abilities and cards that normally affect Fighters, such as PDS fire, Anti-Fighter Barrage, and Friendly Fire AC? Can they perform Sabotage Runs? What are their combat values -- those of Ground Forces or those of Fighters? May all Ground Forces in the system act as Fighters, including those originally on planets?
F6. Since Saar is not required to retain their Home System for other purposes, can they build their Flagship elsewhere, too?
F7. If Mentak has purchased Salvage Operations, then wins a battle against a fleet that contained an enemy Flagship, may Mentak build Fourth Moon in that system, even if it isn't their Home System?
F8. Does Type IV Drive work for Flagships?
Mechanized Units
MU1. If Local Unrest AC is played on a planet with 1 Ground Force and 1 Mechanized Unit, thereby destroying the Ground Force, does the planet revert to neutral?
MU2. Are Mechanized Units immune or subject to the Domain Counters Biohazard and Radiation?
Mercenaries
M1. If a Mercenary is part of a defending force on a planet and the Ground Forces belonging to units on both sides are destroyed, leaving only the Mercenary, does that player's planet now revert to neutral? (Note: I know the answer to this is "yes." I don't think it should be, as under those situations if the Mercenary was not present, the planet would remain friendly, with a Control Marker.)
M2. Are Mercenaries considered units? If so, could a single Mercenary in an otherwise empty system keep enemy fleets from passing through that system, as if it were a non-Fighter ship?
M3. With regard to the Mercenary Rhlat, the card text says, "This Mercenary can be used as a PDS unit when on a planet." Does this mean in addition to being used as a Ground Force or instead of? Would Rhlat be subject to Equipment Sabotage AC? Would Rhlat benefit from PDS technologies researched by the controlling player, such as Magen Defense Grid or Graviton Laser System?
Nekro Virus
N1. When gaining Command Counters instead of a Technology Advance with the primary or secondary of Technology, may Nekro use technology specialties? May they use Action Cards such as Corporate Sponsorship?
Objectives
O1. If Creuss is in the game and another player has Keeper of Gates SO, does he need to occupy both portions of the Creuss Home System in order to claim it?
O2. With Archived Secret PC, a player will be elected to draw 2 Secret Objectives. May that player claim both Secret Objectives? May he claim them both in the same Status Phase?
O3. If an ability affects one of a player's Secret Objective Cards, does this ability target cards that have already been fulfilled and scored, causing the player to lose those points?
Political Cards
PC1. Corrupt Empire states that a player gains a Victory Point when he "attacks the elected player." What constitutes an attack? Is PDS fire considered an attack? Simple activation of a system with no movement? Claiming a planet that only has a Control Marker belonging to the elected player?
PC2. If Necessary Bureaucracy is voted "for", do players vote on which card will be the next card of the Political deck, or do they draw the next card of the Political deck and then vote on that?
PC3. Sanctuary Shield states that "players may activate and travel into and through [any Special System] as if it were an empty system." Is this always true? For example, if an enemy fleet is in a Supernova system, can the player still 'travel through' the system as if it were empty?
Promissory Note Cards
PNC1. Can one player acquire multiple Support of the Throne cards, from different players?
PNC2. When enforcing Territorial Concession, is the retreat performed a "normal" retreat or a "Naalu-like" retreat? May it be a Tactical Retreat?
PNC3. May Territorial Concession be played when attacking the player's Home System?
PNC4. Can a player offer to another player a Promissory Note Card that he received from a third player? For example, if Hacan gives Winnu a PNC, can Winnu then give Yin Hacan's PNC?
Race-Specific Technologies
RST1. When using Creuss' Slave Wormhole Generator, what qualifies as a "friendly" system? Does this simply mean a system containing no enemy units or enemy-controlled planets?
RST2. Should Hacan's Quantum Datahub Node actually read, "at the end of the Strategy Phase" (rather than "Status") or should it read "trade one of your Action Cards with an Action Card belonging to one of your trade partners" (rather than "Strategy")?
RST3. Should L1z1x' Inheritance Systems actually read, "researching Technology with the Technology Strategy Card", rather than "Trade"?
RST4. Could L1z1x, after acquiring Inheritance Systems in Round 1, do the following: Select the Technology Strategy Card in Round 2, activate the primary, spend 2 resources, acquire Fleet Logistics (or any other technology)?
RST5. Letnev's Non-Euclidean Shielding refers to the fact that units with "sustain damage" may now prevent 2 casualties instead of 1. Do you sustain damage if you take only 1 hit? Or do you take only partial damage when you take 1 hit, awaiting another hit to become fully damaged? If the latter, how is this marked to show that 1 of 3 possible hits has been assigned?
RST6. If Letnev has researched Non-Euclidean Shielding and takes 1 hit to a Dreadnought (for example), will Direct Hit AC destroy that ship or simply cause 1 more hit to be assigned?
RST7. When Muaat activates Nova Seed, what happens to ships belonging to Muaat that were in the system?
RST8. Specifically, which technologies cannot be copied with Nekro's Valefar Assimilator?
RST9. When Saar is able to station a fleet in an Asteroid Field with Chaos-Mapping, does this make the system impassable to other players, even if they have Antimass Deflectors?
RST10. Xxcha's Instinct Training says that it can be used "once per game turn." Does this actually mean "once per game round"? Or does it mean "once per turn" in the sense of each player receiving one turn before Xxcha can use it again? Or does it mean "once per turn" in the sense of once per each player's turn (i.e., Xxcha uses it once on his turn, then once on Yssaril's turn, then once on Hacan's turn, etc.)?
Representatives
R1. Is there a difference between "assassinate" and "kill"? Multiple Spies may assassinate other Representatives (through Bodyguards are immune, according to the rules). But L1z1x' Spy A6AH3 has the following ability: "Choose an outcome. If the result of this vote does not match your choice, kill any 1 Councilor that did not vote the outcome you chose." Does this mean that he may target a Bodyguard?
R2. Arborec's Dirzuga Mantasa's ability is, "Other Councilors do not receive bonus votes during this voting." Does this apply only to the number in the upper lefthand corner and abilities such as Muaat's Flaim Haash ("If you have a War Sun in or adjacent to Mecatol Rex, gain +4 Bonus Votes.")? Or does it apply also to abilities that grant extra votes but not extra "bonus" votes, such as Naalu's S'sruuk G'ella ("+2 votes if you are voting 'For') or Jol Nar's Ta Zern ("+1 vote for each Technology")?
R3. Letnev's Captain Lassir's ability begins with, "If you do not like the result of this vote ..." Does this mean that the player may decide to enforce this ability even if the result of the vote is the way he voted?
R4. N'orr's An'grag upon being killed forces the opponent to place 1 Command Counter from his "supply" onto the board. Is the "supply" referred to here the player's "reinforcements"?
R5. Four races don't have a Bodyguard. Arborec's Dirzuga Ohao is returned to your hand if killed, so never permanently gone; Winnu's Menda Mendala cannot be killed by enemy Spies. But neither Yin nor Yssaril has a Representative that has such an ability. Is one of them meant to have a Bodyguard?
Technology
T1. Gravity Drive states, "If your ships begin their activation in a system adjacent to a Gravity Rift or Wormhole, you receive +1 movement." Does this mean adjacent to a Gravity Rift system or Wormhole system, or must one's ships actually be in the system with the Gravity Rift or Wormhole?
Miscellaneous
Misc1. If a Scientist is on a planet that has two technology specialties, how much of a discount does the Scientist provide?
Feel free to add your own and I'll insert them into the above.

Posted at

Apparently I can't edit my preceding post. serio.gif

Ignore questions F3 (about Jol Nar's Flagship) and T1 (about Gravity Drive).

Here are some more:


A5. Can Arborec Ground Forces produce while in a fleet, i.e. being carried by a ship?


C2. Is Mallice (the Wormhole Nexus) considered to have "D" Wormhole by default?

F3. Are PDS-related technologies researched by the controlling player (such as Magen Defense Grid or Graviton Laser System) applicable to Xxcha's Loncara Ssodu? Does the ship still act as 2 PDS with Deep Space Cannon even if the player has not researched the Deep Space Cannon technology?

F4. With regard to Ground Forces in a system containing Yin's Van Hauge, are they affected by abilities and cards that normally affect Fighters, such as PDS fire, Anti-Fighter Barrage, and Friendly Fire AC? Can they perform Sabotage Runs? What are their combat values -- those of Ground Forces or those of Fighters? May all Ground Forces in the system act as Fighters, including those originally on planets? What about Shock Troops? What would their combat values be? Would they still have to be taken as casualties first? Do they still need to be accompanied by Ground Forces, or may they be accompanied by Fighters?

M3. Are Mercenaries immune or subject to the Domain Counters Biohazard and Radiation?

M4. How does a Mercenary's Evasion ability work outside of normal Space Battle combat rounds, such as the PDS fire step, pre-combat activities like Mentak's, or Bombardment?

M5. May a Mercenary participate in a Space Battle and an Invasion Combat in the same Tactical Action?

M6. If you use the Mercenary Daffren's ability to trade him for a Strategy Card belonging to another player, does the player with whom you are trading need to agree to this exchange?

N2. When the Nekro Virus reveals a Technological Society Domain Counter, does it receive a Technology of its choice or 3 Command Counters?

O4. May a player upon completing his Preliminary Objective and drawing a Secret Objective immediately claim that Secret Objective in the same Status Phase?

PC1. If Closing the Wormholes is voted "For", does the Creuss Home System become completely inaccessible to players other than Creuss?

RST10. If Winnu use Lazax Gate Folding to place 1 Ground Force on Mecatol Rex when it is uncontrolled, does the player gain control of the planet? What happens to the Custodians, if present?

T1. How does Neural Computing work with the Nekro Virus?

T2. Can Transfabrication be used to scuttle any units or only those present in the activated system at the time of the Production step? If the latter, what about during Transfer Actions?
Posted at

Can i post in here? is it okay?

well, here goes.

for the Ghosts of Creuss, do both of their 'homeworld' systems have to be occupied by hostile forces to prevent the Creuss player from gaining VPs? or just one? (can someone drop a unit into my empty space wormhole to slow down my objective VP acquisition?)

I'm also very eager to hear an explanation as to the second sentence of the Creuss flagship, since without the second sentence, it makes perfect sense.the second sentence? less so.

Edit: Also, for the racial tech for Creuss, can the necro-tek virus steal/copy "Slave Wormhole Generator"?
my reason for the question is that the Creuss player starts with their own A and B wormholes, the tokens belong to the player, so the necro-tek doesn't have any "extra A or B wormholes" in their possession, ever.

so IF they can copy it, do they

1,waste their attempt? because they have no "extra tokens" that they can control? and are stuck with a tech they cannot use.

2, copy it and get their own set of tokens (perhaps use the distant suns or empty space wormhole tokens)

3, piggyback off the Creuss player's tokens, and basically have joint control over them? (if thats the case, who takes priority? does the necro player place a wormhole first? allowing the creuss player to move it back, and have the final say on where it goes? or does the necro player move a wormhole after the creuss player? essentially allowing the necro player to shut down the creuss players' racial tech for good.)

Finally, when the political law card is played "Closing the wormhole gates" how does that affect the Creuss player for A and B gates? are they also locked out of the wormholes?

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kommissar_kai said:

for the Ghosts of Creuss, do both of their 'homeworld' systems have to be occupied by hostile forces to prevent the Creuss player from gaining VPs? or just one? (can someone drop a unit into my empty space wormhole to slow down my objective VP acquisition?)

I also had the question about the Creuss HS problem, but then I remembered the rule on page 14 of the base game rulebook, where it states that one must "control all the planets" in one's Home System. I don't have the game, but I believe the system attached to the board is just a "D" Wormhole. Therefore, if this system is controlled by an opponent, Creuss could still claim objectives; in fact, just as with other players, if the space above their planet was controlled by an enemy, they're okay as long as they still control the planet.

I believe the remainder of your questions have already been posed. Thanks for posting, though. :)

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Hmmm i thought i read all the questions carefully before i posted, sorry.
i do feel that some of the questions you've got on the list 'could' answer my questions, but they might also not..for example, the necro virus question, they could just list it as "stealable" but not explain HOW it would work, and who would take priority when placing worm holes.
i'm eager to hear exact and specific answers to my questions, and put forward potential follow ups, rather than risk an indirect answer that still leaves me with further questions.

i meant no disrespect by essentially re-listing them (of a sorts) i just wanted to be sure that they get in-depth explanations in all the points that my gaming group and i were unsure upon.

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I'm glad to see other people posing questions, so no problems there.

But I'm not seeing significant differences with my more general question that wouldn't also answer your more specific questions. I have a feeling that Slave Wormhole Generator is one of those techs they can't copy, so that would obviate the need for additional questions.

But, hey; your question is on the official forum, so it's probably more visible than those from BGG and ti3wiki.org. :) Plus, remember you can submit specific rule questions yourself. Go to the More... tab at the top of the page, click on Customer Service, then the Information tab, and finally the Rules Question link.

I will add it to the lists at BGG and ti3wiki

Posted at

I Just have a couple of questions

Can you choose not to roll combat dice? For example flee from the nekro virus flagship and not roll dice for the first round of combat preventing its destruction.

Would the destruction of a mercenary by the nekro virus count as an instance in which the racial ability to copy techs could be used?

Can a mercenary move from the ground of a planet, and participate in space/ground combat in an adjacent system with a single activation or must there be an activation of the system the merc is in just to move him/her into space?

Does/Should the Nekro virus recieve any reward for finding the lazax survivors?

Could the mercenary that is treated as a pds be used at such on a planet that already contains 2 PDSs?

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Yehoshua said:

I Just have a couple of questions

Can you choose not to roll combat dice?

No.

Would the destruction of a mercenary by the nekro virus count as an instance in which the racial ability to copy techs could be used?

Yes. It's an enemy unit.

Can a mercenary move from the ground of a planet, and participate in space/ground combat in an adjacent system with a single activation or must there be an activation of the system the merc is in just to move him/her into space?

Moving from the ground to the air does not cost a movement point. Moving from one system to another does. If the system the merc is currently in isn't already activated, then it can move into the new system. Flip the merc over as it is now in space.

Does/Should the Nekro virus recieve any reward for finding the lazax survivors?

Does the Nekro Virus receive rewards for finding the lazax survivors? Yes.

Should they? No

Could the mercenary that is treated as a pds be used at such on a planet that already contains 2 PDSs?

It says it can be used as a PDS unit, when on a planet. I think it can not be used if there are already two on the planet.

My thoughts in bold.

Posted at

Replace T1 with this

Will Ghost Flagship always be adjacent to another wormhole when moving, so will it always gets the +1 movement with Gravity Drive Tech?

Straight out of the FAQ:

Q: When are systems containing matching Wormholes
considered adjacent?
A: These systems are considered adjacent for movement
purposes only (including Transfer Actions). This means that
you cannot fire PDS cannons through, annex planets through,
or use the Integrated Economy technology through.

Posted at

That's a good one; I'll add it.

I haven't kept the above one up-to-date since it seems like some days I can edit it and some days I can't. Maybe it's just my imagination.

But here's how I replaced it on the comprehensive list at BGG:

"T1. Does a ship in the Wormhole Nexus gain +1 movement from Gravity Drive due to being adjacent to the other wormhole systems on the board?

T2. Does a ship in a wormhole system or the Gravity Rift receive the +1 movement bonus from Gravity Drive?"

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GMO said:

That's a good one; I'll add it.

I haven't kept the above one up-to-date since it seems like some days I can edit it and some days I can't. Maybe it's just my imagination.

But here's how I replaced it on the comprehensive list at BGG:

"T1. Does a ship in the Wormhole Nexus gain +1 movement from Gravity Drive due to being adjacent to the other wormhole systems on the board?

T2. Does a ship in a wormhole system or the Gravity Rift receive the +1 movement bonus from Gravity Drive?"

It was already ruled somewhere (I think it was posted in the stickied FAQ thread) that systems are not adjacent to themselves, so T2 is unnecessary - the answer is no for Gravity Rift, and the wormhole part of it is answered by T1.

Not that it matters, since you've already sent them in.

Posted at

Here are a few questions that came up for our group while playing with the new Shattered Thrones.

Mercenaries

Do they gain the benefits of your technology?

Do mercenaries have to spend one of their movement points to move from the ground to the "space" section? or does it happen automaticlly

Promissory Note Cards

When can you give someone a promissory note? is it only during the Assembly 2 Strategy card or can you do it at any time?

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I was also wondering after a recent game. Can the Arborec racial tech "bioplasmosis" take over Mecatol Rex (with Guardians and without). I'm assuming that we would just use the same rules that Diplomacy II has that keeps Mecatol Rex safe from Dip II.

Can the Winnu racial tech take over Mecatol when there are Guardian tokens on the planet?

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My thoughts are that both the arborec and the winnu would be able to take over mecatal rex with or without guardians. both abilities read discard domain counters.

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kommissar_kai said:

for the Ghosts of Creuss, do both of their 'homeworld' systems have to be occupied by hostile forces to prevent the Creuss player from gaining VPs? or just one? (can someone drop a unit into my empty space wormhole to slow down my objective VP acquisition?)

You only need to control the planets in you home system to collect victory points. The space above your planets may belong to anyone. Since the home system tile on the galaxy side has no planets this should resolve the question.

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Yehoshua said:

My thoughts are that both the arborec and the winnu would be able to take over mecatal rex with or without guardians. both abilities read discard domain counters.

The reason I brought it up is because in the rulebook, the Custodian counters are never referred to as Domain counters. They are actually their own kind of counter and specifically say that you don't put domain counters on Mecatol Rex when you choose to use the Guardians. They do look a lot and behave a lot like Domain counters, so I can easily see them acting like that. Just wanted a confirmation.

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yea...I'm gonna rule that the custodians of Mecatol Rex would always fight if invaded. that fight shouldn't be able to be bipassed

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solitear said:

yea...I'm gonna rule that the custodians of Mecatol Rex would always fight if invaded. that fight shouldn't be able to be bipassed

The Voluntary Annexation card lets you take Mecatol without fighting them; these abilities wouldn't be the first to allow you to bypass them.

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hmm. good point whats the wording on those two abilities? I don't have the stuff in front of me.

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The Custodians and Distant Suns are two independent optional rules. You are allowed to play with one and not the other. For that reason alone I'd say the custodians are not domain counters.

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yes, but mecatol rex have not domain counters in distant suns rule, so I think the custodians must be discard.

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We still need to have explanation on these flaws though. Let's go FFG, you badly playtested this expansion, we need clarification.

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Does the Hil Colish "wormhole" count towards purposes needing a wormhole, or is it just for movement? The wording suggests it's not an actual wormhole.

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Interesting question was asked when we played our first game in Shards of the throne. If fleet has light/wave deflectors may this fleet use The Ghosts of Creuss flag ship as a wormhole and travel to "D" The Creus Gate? or even to the home planet of the ghosts of Creuss? That would be cool.