I played a game of Twilight Imperium (base) yesterday and we encountered a situation where the rules aren't exactly clear. When the secondary ability of Warfare is used, may a Cruiser with Stasis Pods take a Ground Force into an adjacent system with them? My friends and I decided that if the system the Cruiser was moving from WAS NOT activated, then a Ground Force could be taken. However, in this case the system was activated, so we deemed that the Cruiser could not take the activated Ground Force.

Opinions?

Gidday Zen.

My understanding of this situation is that you can only take the GF if it is on the Cruiser, and not on the planet. It is akin to the rules for retreating - you can't pick up any GF from planets before you retreat.

The Warfare secondary only allows for ship movement and not GF pick up. If the GF is already on the ship then it will move with it but otherwise the Cruiser goes alone.

I agree with the above 2 posters. You cannot pick up GFs that aren't already on the ship.

In fact, this is in the FAQ. Page 7 of the most recent FAQ, left side, near the bottom:

Q: Does the Stasis Capsules technology allow a player to load or land a Ground Force as part of the Warfare Strategy's secondary ability?

A: No.

The reason why is that the secondary ability of Warfare I is just straightforward movement, nothing else. It's not a tactical action so you can't be picking up troops too.