Hi all, being that TI:3e is a HUGE game with lots of fun stuff that can happen during a game but the rules, although written very well, leave quite a number of openings to the rules lawyers in my game group. Most of the questions were found in the v2.3 FAQ but still found their way through to the rules lawyers. I submitted most of them to customer service and I haven't gotten a response yet. I'm not sure if it's the sheer number of questions or if it got lost or the worst, customer service took one look at it and said "no thanks, it's too long to read." The first 19 (yes 19 :*( ) were submitted to customer service, the additional 3 at the end came up while waiting on a response to customer service. If anyone has a reference to an official ruling (FAQ, rulebook page, e-mail response copy, etc) please say which question you're answering and where you got the answer. All help is appreciated, thanks in advance.

1) Am I able to invade 2 separate planets in the same system on the same activation (ex: I activate a system with 2 planets, and my carrier has 2 ground troops. Can I send one to each planet to invade?)
2) If I am indeed allowed to invade multiple planets in a system on one activation, how are domain tokens resolved? Do we resolve them one at a time or handle all domain tokens simultaneously?
3) Also, if I am allowed to invade multiple planets in one activation, can my War Suns and/or Dreadnoughts bombard both planets? (i.e. are they separate invasion combats or can War Suns/Dreadnoughts only bombard once per activation?)
4) When exactly does a domain counter get removed? When the planet is successfully captured or when the token itself is dealt with? (ex: If I plan on invading a planet that happens to have a fighter ambush, does the token get removed if I defeat the fighters but somehow fail to successfully invade the planet?)
5) In order to build at a space dock, does the space dock have to have been under my control since the beginning of the round? (ex: I build a Space Dock on my (1)Leadership turn or obtained one by finding an Industrious Society Domain counter. Can I build at that same space dock when activating the secondary ability of (4)Production or (8)Imperial?)
6) If I am defending a system with multiple planets, can all of my PDS units fire at invading ground forces? (ex: I have a PDS on Jol and another on Nar. If Jol is being invaded, may my PDS on Nar fire at the invading ground forces?)
7) If I have Deep Space Cannon technology, and an opponent does a transfer action where both systems are in range of the same PDS, can that PDS fire one shot at each system?
8) If I participate in a ground invasion, and all of my ground force units happen to roll a natural 10 on one round of attacks, do they all become shock troops then immediately revert to normal ground force units, or do all but one become a shock troop permanently?
9) Is there a specific ruling towards player information? (i.e. am I allowed to know what technologies my opponents have learned, how many action/political cards they have in their hand, etc.?)
10) With the settlers domain counter, if I end up rolling a 1-5 and give an opponent free ground troops at the planet, does that opponent immediately gain control of that planet or must he/she activate the system and “invade” the planet?
11) With (2)Diplomacy II, am I able to peacefully annex a planet with a domain counter on it? If so, are there any restrictions as to which domain counters treat the planet as “empty?” (ex: May I annex a planet with a fighter ambush token on it, or one with resistance forces on it, or one with a biohazard counter on it?)
12) Can Cruisers and Dreadnoughts with Stasis Capsules technology transfer a PDS the same way a Carrier can?
13) During the status phase, if multiple players can qualify for enough objectives to “cross the finish line,” is there an order for claiming objectives or do all players claim at the same time? (ex: an opponent and myself are playing with (8)Bureaucracy (goal: 9 points) and we’re tied at 8. During the status phase we can both qualify for a 1 point objective. Do we tie or does one person get to claim first and actually win?)
14) Do the Mecatol Rex Custodians refresh if an invasion fails? (ex: I win against the fighters but my invading troops fail to control the planet. If I move my fleet out do the fighters come back to defend once more?)
15) Do Fighters count as “Ships” when a card (objective/action/political) references ships or for controlling a system? (ex: I won 2 space battles each against at least 3 ships. Would a carrier with 2 fighters count towards fulfilling that objective? Is my one space dock holding a fighter considered a system controlled by me?)
16) Do Shock Troops gain the benefit of Gen Synthesis technology when they are killed?
17) Is there a priority order to when players play action cards? (i.e. does the attacker have to use pre-combat action cards THEN the defender? Should “play during the strategy/status phase” start from the speaker then go around clockwise?)
18) Are planets with domain counters on them considered “empty” for the purpose of things like Diplomacy II or the action card Voluntary Annexation?
19) If a player has all 16 command counters in use in his race sheet and/or on the board is he immune from effects like Diplomacy II or Signal Jamming?

1) Holy planet of ixth: does this law mean that the planet may not produce units even at a space dock to build a fleet?
2) Does the political card Core Stability, when voted against, mean that no action cards may be drawn at all this round or no action cards are drawn during the status phase? What about players that would normally draw an extra action card through racial abilities or technology?
3) What happens if a Clan of Saar player tries to produce ground force units in a system where he does not control any planets? Must he have a carrier or war sun in the system to carry them as soon as they’re built or can he NOT build ground force units without having a friendly planet in the system?

Here's my interpretations, mostly based on the rulebook and FAQ, if anyone spots any problems please feel free to correct.

1. Yes, you can.

2. We play it as you resolve both at the same time, player chosing which one to resolve first. Note that you must declare, which forces are going to which planet prior to revealing the counters, you can't suddenly just decide not to land because a radiation or hostage token comes up.

3. You can bombard both if you have at least 2 capable vessels in the system. You cannot split fire from one warsun between 2 planets.

4. For this, look at the rules for the specific token. Some require you to resolve the token (example, fighter ambush) before landing, others it goes away with a successful landing, others they give you something different.

5. You may never build at a spacedock that was built this same turn.

6. Both PDS may fire at the ships as they enter the system. However, as far as landing forces go, you may only fire at invaders with the PDS on that planet.

7. Yes, I believe so.

8. All but 1 becomes a shock troop.

9. A player must make it known which technologies they have researched. They must also indicate how many political and action cards they have (hand limit), but they do not have to reveal what those are.

10. They immediately gain posession of that planet.

11. Yes, you may annex a planet with a domain counter on it, the counter is discarded and does not give any effect. Enemy forces, IE those of opposing players are the only thing that gets in the way of annexation. Note that you cannot annex Mecatol Rex.

12. No. They can only carry ground forces. They cannot carry mech units or fighters either.

13. If more than one player will win that turn due to reaching 10 or 14 points, the winner is the player with the best (lowest) strategy card. In the case of the "game over" objective where two players are tied, there is a box in the core rulebook explaining the process for breaking a tie.

14. Yes, they return to full strength unless fully defeated.

15. They count as ships. The only time they don't count is if the rule or card specifically says "non-fighter ships"

16. Yes, but they return as normal ground troops

17. In the event of conflicting action cards, go by strategy card initiative order.

18. Yes, they are considered empty.

19. No, he is not. He must take one of his counters from his supply, but he may choose which of the 3 areas to take one from.

1. Correct, cannot do anything

2. They are not drawn during the status phase, when they are normally drawn. Any other effects (strategy cards, racials) will be unaffected.

3. Not sure on this one, but I would rule that if you're in a system without a planet, you must have a ship with carrying capacity in order to build them.

Sorry, just realized my response to 3 wasn't very clear.

Invasions happen simultaneously, so you can't have one ship in two places at once. Thus, you must have at least one ship for every planet that you want to bombard. If you have extras, you must declare which ship is targetting which planet.

I have taken the liberty of looking up where in the rule books and/or FAQ some of the questions are answered and leaving my own interpretations on the other questions.

Bowoodstock said:

Base rulebook page 12 under 5) Planetary Landings second paragraph "If a system contains multiple planets, the active player may split any landing forces between them in any way he sees fit, but may not change his mind once the Invasion Combat step begins."

Bowoodstock said:

Base rulebook page 33 under Game option: Distant Suns fourth and fifth paragraphs. "A planet’s Domain Counter is revealed (and its effects resolved) immediately after a player has landed all his desired Ground Forces there during the 'Planetary Landings' step of a Tactical Action." "After a Domain Counter has been revealed, the active player may not land additional Ground Force units on the planet during the same activation."

Bowoodstock said:

I believe they can bombard once per ship per activation.

Bowoodstock said:

Correct.

Bowoodstock said:

FAQ v2.3 Section Units 8th question:
"Q: Can I build units with a Space Dock just built this round, if the Activation Counter in its system is removed for some reason?
A: No, you can never build new units from a Space Dock created during the same round."

Bowoodstock said:

Base rulebook page 11 under THE ACTIVATION SEQUENCE IN DETAIL section 3) PDS Fire : "After the active player has finished moving his ships into the activated system, enemy PDS in range may fire at the active player's fleet." Base rulebook page 17 under Invasion Combat section PDS Fire: "After the attacking player has finished his bombardment, the defending player may fire a single shot with each PDS unit on the contested planet."

Bowoodstock said:

This is wrong. Base rulebook page 14 The Transfer Action (continued from page 12) section 3) PDS Fire "After the active player has finished moving, enemy PDS in range may fire at the active player's fleets in the activated systems. PDS units that are in range of both activated systems may fire at only one of the systems, not both."

Bowoodstock said:

Correct since you resolve one Shock Troop at a time.

Bowoodstock said:

Base rulebook page 24 Technology Advances first paragraph: " ...When a player has successfully acquired (or received at the start of the game) a Technology advance, he takes the respective Technology Card and places it face up before him in his play area..." It would be difficult, if not impossible, to keep face-up cards secret.
Base rulebook page 22 section The Action Cards state that "...Action Cards should be kept hidden from other players." I would assume this also goes for Political Cards. It does not explicitly forbid you to show and/or tell others which Action Cards you have but doing so would most likely come back to bite you at the most inopportune moment (Murphy's Law).
Note, however, that base rulebook page 26 section The Secret Objective Card states that "...A player is not allowed to show other players his Secret Objective Card until he is able to meet its objectives during the first step of the Status Phase ...."

Bowoodstock said:

Correct

Bowoodstock said:

FAQ v3.2 page 4 Section The Distant Suns Option 1st question:
"Q: What happens if I use the 'Voluntary Annexation' Action Card on a planet with a Distant Suns token on it?
A: The token is immediately removed, without taking effect."
FAQ v3.2 page 9 Section The New Strategy Cards 3rd question:
"Q: Can a player use the Diplomacy II Strategy to annex a planet with an exposed Distant Suns counter? Can it be used on a planet with an Artifact?
A: Yes. If a planet containing a Distant Suns counter is annexed, then the token is removed without effect. If a planet with an Artifact is annexed, the Artifact is revealed after the player takes control of the planet."

Bowoodstock said:

Correct. In general, when cards and rules mention a specific type of unit, the card or rule apllies to that type of unit only. Thus Ground Forces are Ground Forces and not PDSs.

Bowoodstock said:

Base rulebook page 14 and 15.

Bowoodstock said:

I myself believe that if you defeat the "Fighter Ambush" but not the "Hostile Locals" then the "Fighter Ambush" stays defeated and the "Hostile Locals" return to full indicated strength.

Bowoodstock said:

Correct.

Bowoodstock said:

Correct.

Bowoodstock said:

Correct.

Bowoodstock said:

Correct. See question 11.

Bowoodstock said:

Incorrect. FAQ v2.3 page 8 section Miscellaneous 4th question:
"Q: If a player has all 16 Command Counters in use on the board or on his Race Sheet, can any effects or actions that require additional Command Counters for that player take place or be resolved?
A: No."

Bowoodstock said:

Too tired to rummage around for the specific card at the moment but it sounds good to me.

Bowoodstock said:

See comment above.

Bowoodstock said:

I know I have read about this one somewhere but i just can't find it. I do believe, however, that the ruling was that you CAN build Ground Forces, Fighters, Mechanized Units and/or PDSs even if you don't control any planets in the system as long as you have enough capacity in a Carrier / War Sun / Space Dock etc.

Many thanks for your neutral input guys Bowoodstock for making the answers short and sweet and Fnoffen for citing the actual rulings. We may have missed those. Everyone in my group trusts the rulings of my pdf copies of the rules/faq and the ctrl+f to look for some of the answers yet some argue my word without looking at the rules/faq themselves so that's more why we needed specifics from neutral parties. A couple of problems though: my first #2 and #3 questions might not have been specific enough. I'm assuming you guys misinterpreted my intention with the questions. So let me try again.

Althought I know you commit forces for invasion before revealing domain counters, but do you reveal all the counters at the same time and then resolve all of them at the same time? For now what we do is resolve them one at a time as if the invasion forces are "deep striking" (warhammer 40k term) or "paratroopers" so if the first planet we choose to resolve gives a bonus of some sort we give the bonus, then resolve any other planets. So an example of what we do would be something like: Invade planet 1 of 2, 4 free trade goods, 4 free trade goods awarded. Then he invades planet 2 of 2, fighter ambush and loses everything including his carrier to the fighter ambush but keeps the 4 trade goods. For this type of situation, would we reveal both domain counters then resolve the fighters first? Then if the carrier survives after the fighter ambush, continue on to both invasions (4 free trade goods/a now empty planet)?

If I have 1 War Sun or Dreadnought and I'm invading a multi-planet system. May I bombard each planet during each invasion? I think I asked this question in a vague way. What I meant was when invading planet 1 of 2 I use my War Sun to bombard. Then when resolving invasion of planet 2, can my same War Sun bombard again?

Also, I'm not sure if I asked this already, but can I bombard a planet with hostile locals? Currently I say no, but we play it that you can. My argument is because in the 2.3 faq, it says that the Yin Brotherhood ability may not be used on hostile locals, so why should we be able to bombard them?

Okay, gonna answer this a little backwards because I think it makes it easier.

As far as number 3 goes...the rules state that you cannot have a ship bombard more than one planet in a system per activation. If there is more than one planet you want to bombard, you must have more than one ship (at least one per planet), and you cannot split fire from warsuns.

As a result of this rule, I believe invasions happen simultaneously. If a ship can't bombard more than one planet per turn, that implies it can't be in more than one place at once, so the bombardments must happen simultaneously, and thus the invasions must happen simultaneously.

The way my group plays, as a result:

1. Declare invasion, and which troops are going where.

2. Reveal all domain counters that will be turned.

3. Resolve via player choice.

I believe that its as if the carrier is in system, and it sends out the landing parties via shuttlecraft, which is why you can land in multiple places at the same time. Bombardment however, the warship in question has to be in position above that specific planet, which is why you can't bombard in multiple places at the same time. We allow players to resolve in the prefered order because that's the closest approximation to "simultaneously" we can. It makes sense that a shuttlecraft could land on a planet, find a 4 trade good token, and claim it, then radio back and find out that their carrier has been destroyed due to a fighter ambush. They still claimed the planet, they still claimed the resources...they're just in lack of a ride.

I forget where in the rules (either under domain counters or the rules for the respective ability), but you can't bombard hostile locals, nor can you use destroyer AFB versus fighter ambush. It would make these domain counters pretty trivial if you could.

So here's the CSR's response to my questions about a month ago. They finally got back to me on the 1st.

Rule Question:
I apologize for the amount of questions in advance, but the group I play TI:3E with has too many "rules lawyers" and some of the rules questions are more for clarification from the core rulebook, shattered empire rulebook, and the v2.3 faq.

1) Am I able to invade 2 separate planets in the same system on the same activation (ex: I activate a system with 2 planets, and my carrier has 2 ground troops. Can I send one to each planet to invade?)
Yes.

2) If I am indeed allowed to invade multiple planets in a system on one activation, how are domain tokens resolved? Do we resolve them one at a time or handle all domain tokens simultaneously?
You resolve each planetary invasion one at a time. Once you have finished one planet, you proceed to the next.

3) Also, if I am allowed to invade multiple planets in one activation, can my War Suns and/or Dreadnoughts bombard both planets? (i.e. are they separate invasion combats or can War Suns/ Dreadnoughts only bombard once per activation?)
Yes.

4) When exactly does a domain counter get removed? When the planet is successfully captured or when the token itself is dealt with? (ex: If I plan on invading a planet that happens to have a fighter ambush, does the token get removed if I defeat the fighters but somehow fail to successfully invade the planet?)
After the token is resolved.

5) In order to build at a space dock, does the space dock have to have been under my control since the beginning of the round? (ex: I build a Space Dock on my (1)Leadership turn or obtained one by finding an Industrious Society Domain counter. Can I build at that same space dock when activating the secondary ability of (4)Production or (8)Imperial?)

6) If I am defending a system with multiple planets, can all of my PDS units fire at invading ground forces? (ex: I have a PDS on Jol and another on Nar. If Jol is being invaded, may my PDS on Nar fire at the invading ground forces?)
A PDS can only fire at ground forces that are landing on its own planet.

7) If I have Deep Space Cannon technology, and an opponent does a transfer action where both systems are in range of the same PDS, can that PDS fire one shot at each system?
Yes, the PDS can fire once into each system.

8) If I participate in a ground invasion, and all of my ground force units happen to roll a natural 10 on one round of attacks, do they all become shock troops then immediately revert to normal ground force units, or do all but one become a shock troop permanently?
Only one of them would revert back to a ground force.

9) Is there a specific ruling towards player information? (i.e. am I allowed to know what technologies my opponents have learned, how many action/political cards they have in their hand, etc.?)
Learned technologies are open information. The number of cards and tokens a player possesses is also information (though the abilities on the cards is not).

10) With the settlers domain counter, if I end up rolling a 1-5 and give an opponent free ground troops at the planet, does that opponent immediately gain control of that planet or must he/she activate the system and â?oinvadeâ?? the planet?
He immediately gains control of the planet.

11) With (2)Diplomacy II, am I able to peacefully annex a planet with a domain counter on it? If so, are there any restrictions as t o which domain counters treat the planet as â?oempty?â?? (ex: May I annex a planet with a fighter ambush token on it, or one with resistance forces on it, or one with a biohazard counter on it?)
Yes, you may do this. The domain counter would be discarded.

12) Can Cruisers and Dreadnoughts with Stasis Capsules technology transfer a PDS the same way a Carrier can?
No. Stasis Capsules can only transport ground forces.

13) During the status phase, if multiple players can qualify for enough objectives to â?ocross the finish line,â?? is there an order for claiming objectives or do all players claim at the same time? (ex: an opponent and myself are playing with (8)Bureaucracy (goal: 9 points) and weâ?Tre tied at 8. During the status phase we can both qualify for a 1 point objective. Do we tie or does one person get to claim first and actually win?)
Players qualify for objectives following standard order of play. If players do not have strategy cards, this is performed clockwise from the speaker.

14) Do the Mecatol Rex Custodians refresh if an invasion fails? (ex: I win against the fighters but my invading troops fail to control the planet. If I move my fleet out do the fighters come back to defend once more?)
If the token is destroyed it will not return to the planet.

15) Do Fighters coun t as â?oShipsâ?? when a card (objective/action/political) references ships or for controlling a system? (ex: I won 2 space battles each against at least 3 ships. Would a carrier with 2 fighters count towards fulfilling that objective? Is my one space dock holding a fighter considered a system controlled by me?)
Fighters cannot control systems (though the carrirer can). For the objective that requires you to destroy 3 ships, fighters DO count for this.

16) Do Shock Troops gain the benefit of Gen Synthesis technology when they are killed?
Yes. Shock Troops are treated as ground forces for all cards and abilities.

17) Is there a priority order to when players play action cards? (i.e. does the attacker have to use pre-combat action cards THEN the defender? Should â?oplay during the strategy/status phaseâ?? start from the speaker then go around clockwise?)
Any timing issues are resolved in order of play.

18) Are planets with domain counters on them considered â?oemptyâ?? for the purpose of things like Diplomacy II or the action card Voluntary Annexation?
Yes.

19) If a player has all 16 command counters in use in his race sheet and/or on the board is he immune from effects like Diplomacy II or Signal Jamming?
Yes.

So I guess we've been doing some things wrong after the forums help, although we may have been doing things correctly previously.

#2 So instead of simultaneous invasion, we're supposed to resolve invasions one at a time.

#3 This one needed clarification on my part, so the answer seems a bit iffy.

#5 CSR failed to respond, unless I'm blind or have suddenly become illiterate.

#7 During a transfer action, each PDS may fire at both systems involved in the transfer action (provided the transfer is within range of the PDS firing)

#14 Mecatol Custodians do NOT return to full strength on a failed invasion. Once the fighters are dealt with, they don't come back if the ground invasion fails.

#16 Shock troops benefit from everything but the CSR didn't clarify if they come home as Shock Troops or normal troops.

#19 (My personal most hated ruling) If you have a "full plate" of command counters on your race sheet, you ARE immune to things like Diplomacy II or signal jamming. Feels like it defeats the purpose of the Diplomacy II card if everyone keeps 16 counters on their sheet and only uses 2 or less counters per game round doesn't it?