It's a rare chance (only 2 cards trigger this) but we've hit it last night and the debate was on... and this outted the sleeper cylon because it was a game changing check (it was on a super crisis card).

If both a red tape and an establish network are placed into a check (where blue is a given colour anyway) which takes precedence? Is it that the Red Tape cancels out all 5 and 6 value blue/engineering cards BEFORE the Establish Network doubles them (because of course we also had the 'Build Nuke' tossed in to make this a necessary question), or does the Establish Network double the card, and then the Red Tape kick out anything that's a 6 vale (ie any 3value engineering cards).

I personally feel that the object of the Red Tape is to remove all 5 or 6 value cards outright, regardless of the effects of other cards - and as such it should apply first. And to apply it to just 3 value engineering cards if an Establish Networks is in play reduces it's potency. It feels like the original intent of the game designers was to allow a (cylon?) player to kill the overcooking of a skill check outright and force the (human?) players to dump more cards from their hands - it's a perfect card to toss into a super cylon crisis check.

Establish Networks is very useful because it helps turn to rarely collected (at our table anyway) blue cards into useful tools. However it's a more general use application to me, and because it's specific to a skill set should be second to something that is generalised across all skill sets.

Your thoughts? Is there a game ruling? I've not been able to find anything out there bar a badly worded response on a non-affliated gaming forum (that supports *I think* my views).

I am not aware of this exact conflict having been ruled on, so take my analysis with a grain of salt:

It's clear that the two effects are simultaneous, in terms of them both triggering in the same timing window. Generally, the current player (the player whose turn it is) gets to decide the order that simultaneous effects resolve. I see no reason why this card would violate that precedent.

Correct as usual Outlaw!

Exodus Rules pg 5:

During a skill check, once all Skill Cards have been shuffled and divided into two piles, determine whether any of the cards have a Skill Check Ability icon. If so, the current player resolves each card with a Skill Check Ability icon in the order of his choosing.

Thanks guys.

There it is just down to how much you want to reveal at the time as to which side you are on. Which means unless you are going for what seems to be called a 'soft reveal' here on the forums (or in my crowd of paranoid gun toting nutjob mates is better known as "he's a frakkin' cylon brig him NEXT TURN OR YOU ARE BRIGGED TOO") you will choose the human best option, which sort of defeats the purpose of placing it in the skill test - although the chance of it coming up is reasonably slim, but we tend to hold the 'build a nuke' card when we see it - too valuable to play silly buggers with.

Possible house rule loometh: The Red Tape will apply first, followed by the Establish Network

double post dammit.

Yes, Snuck. That seems to be the long and short of it.

Thanks Skowza, for finding that reference in the rulebook.

I can't find the ruling, but I seem to have read on BGG somewhere, that the game designers intended for Red Tape to work on printed value.

So no matter the order, it always removes Build Nuke and the likes of it...

EDIT: here it is:

Q: If "Red Tape" and "Establish Network" are in the same check, what happens?
A: (Tim, FFG, to infocynic) Red Tape only checks the printed values of the cards.

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/wiki/page/Battlestar_Galactica_FAQ#toc11

Oh okay, good to know. Thanks, Daver!