"This unit gains UNIT DAMAGE x2 BLAST DAMAGE x2 while it is attacking a damaged objective."

when he attacks an undamaged objective that becomes damaged during the conflict (e.g. Heat of Battle, another unit strikes before Starck, etc.), does he gain his bonus damage text even though there was no damage when he entered the conflict? I believe he does, but want to ask.

That's what I was thinking… Thanks!

Here's a follow-up question to that:

Let's say Starck is solo-attacking an undamaged objective. Let's also say there's an Orbital Bombardment in play, so he has a blast damage. Can he choose to resolve his blast damage first, thus damaging the objective and gaining his 2 unit damage to be used on that very strike? (He'd gain 2 blast damage as well, but I'm assuming he couldn't use them because he wouldn't have gained them until after he'd already resolved his other blast damage.)

I know there's been a lot of talk about Starck gaining his icons after an engagement has already started, but I'm not sure anyone has discussed what happens if he gains icons in the middle of his own strike.

Considering you resolve icons separately and in order of your choosing I don't see why it couldn't work.

Toqtamish said:

Well, according to the rulebook on pg 20-21, you don't resolve icons separately, you resolve icon types separately. All icons of that type resolve immediately and simultaneously.

So in the example, where The Colonel strikes at an undamged objective while Orbital Bombardment is in play, you would focus The Colonel, count up all his blast damage icons at that moment (which is 1, from Orbital) and apply that damage to the objective. Now it's damaged and his trait has kicked in, but he's already focused. At that point the DS player would have to find a way to remove The Colonel's focus token in order benefit from his trait.

Micah

chiller087 said:

By this reasoning, it sounds like you're saying Starck can't even use his standard Tactics icon unless he somehow finds a way to clear his focus token after dealing the blast damage . . .

Alazzar said:

That wasn't the point I was trying to make. You resolve all existing damage icons by type, and you can resolve each type group in whatever order you want (i.e. resolve all tactics icons first, followed by all blast icons, or the other way around). My point was when you focus a unit to strike, you count only the icons that where there at the time of focusing. If the objective is undamaged, then he doesn't have the extra icons from his trait at that moment, so he can't use them. His printed tactics icon was already present at the time of focusing, so of course he'd be able to use it.

Micah

I get your point now; thanks. Unfortunately, I'm not sure that what you're saying is backed by anything in the rules or FAQ: I don't recall seeing anything that says, "a unit's combat icons are determined when it's focused to strike, and those icons cannot be changed until after the strike has been fully resolved." (Which, I think, seems to be what you're saying here.)

Do we have an official answer on this? Or did I just miss it somewhere?

Alazzar said:

The rules text describing all 3 types of icons is pretty clear that you don't activate the icons individually, you deal unit damage/place focus tokens/place objective damage "equal to" the number of icons of that type you have. (rulebook p 21)

So if Starck gets a blast damage (say, through Heavy Fire), when he strikes and deals the 1 point of blast damage, he is at that moment dealing damage equal to his blast icons. Once he's done so, it's too late to go back and add his new blast icons.

However, it seems to me that if you do strike with him for 1 blast damage in this fashion, you *could* then activate his newly acquired unit damage icons.

BD Flory said:

Yeah, I didn't think there was ever any question about the additional blast icons; it was the unit damage I was concerned about. Personally, I think he should be able to use the unit damage in this scenario, but I feel it's something we may need an official ruling on.

Alazzar said:

Looks like I lose points for not reading your post closely enough. I had it in my head that you wanted to do the extra blast damage from his trait, after he had already resolved his blast damage. Your question seems to be:

1. Resolve blast damage with Starck (1 from Orbital Bombardment, or such).

2. Now that the objective is damaged, Starck gets unit damage.

3. Resolve Starck's unit damage.

I agree that I don't see anything in the rulebook or the FAQ that would prevent this from happening. I also agree that an official ruling would be very helpful, I can see this being a sticking point in some matches.

Micah

chiller087 said:

Remember that the controller of the striking unit resolves his icons in an order of his choosing (rulebook p.21). So there's no reason you couldn't resolve your blast first (assuming you got one through some other means), place the damage, then resolve your brand spanking new unit damage icons.