Hello

I have a pretty easy question (I think) and the rules seem kinda vague (as well as the FAQ), so I thought I would post here and get a consensus from the board members.

Pg 11 of the Rulebook states pretty clearly, that one can pick up units as they move through systems, but is explicit that you can only "drop off" PDS and Ground Forces as part of the Planetary Landing step on a Tactical/Transfer action.

Suppose I had two carriers in different systems, and different numbers of Fighter units on each. The FAQ made a clarification (pg 5) that Carriers moving past each other can NOT unload PDS or Ground Forces, but COULD pick up fighters from another carrier.

What is vague, is what is the proper methodology for Unloading/Dropping Off Fighters to a carrier or resident Space Dock? I can't find anything specific on that.

My thinking is that since is is specific about PDS/GF units only, and a clarification was made that Fighters can be picked up, that they can also be dropped off on the move, as part of the movement.

The reason I want to do this, is I have 3 Fighter units on my carrier, and I want to drop off one of them to the Space Dock, and pick up the 4 Ground Forces units on a planet in that system.

Legal?

Your thoughts and rules clarifications are greatly appreciated.

Thanks

The way this works is as follows:

Carriers (and other units capable of transporting other units) may "pick up" transportable units during the movement step, but may only "drop off" in the Planetary landings step. (Fighters are not "dropped off" so much as they exist and move with the carrier's support.)

But, everything the Carrier is "carrying" must accompany it to the destination system. It can grab other things along the way, as capacity allows, (and as long as it isn't pulling units from a previously activated system), but it can't leave anything behind in any system other than the one it was moving to in this action.

Spyder said:

This is legal as long as the system where you pick up the GF is also the system you activated with your Action. The Carrier moves into the system, dragging 3 FT with it. The carrier picks up the 4 GF and the odd FT is supported automatically by the SD when the time comes to evaluate Fighter Support (without the SD, one FT would explode at this point.)

It's also legal if the system where you want to pick up the GF is the system the Carrier started in. One FT gets left behind when the Carrier begins moving, and is supported by the SD so it doesn't explode.

However, this is not legal if the system where you want to pick up the GFs is in the middle of the move. The rules for movement clearly state that units may only move if they are moving to the activated system. If a single fighter gets left behind in the middle of this move, then it has begun moving and did not end in the activated system. Illegal. Units that cannot reach the activated system are not allowed to begin moving at all.

Makes sense.

Thanks for the clarifications, Steve-O

As always, we all benefit from your sage advice.