I know that it seems like a silly question, but are you required to roll defense dice? A situation came up tonight where the following happened:

Han had a focus token, rolled to hit (against Howlrunner), and ended up with a blank, an eye, and an "hit" on the dice. The Imeperial player didn't want to roll defense dice because there was also a focus token on Howlrunner (the target), and he wanted to keep that token for when Howlrunner was able to fire.

So the question is this: can a player elect not to roll defense dice, or must a player roll defense dice after being attacked?

Benny6Toes said:

Nope, rolling dice is a non-optional part of the attack. You don't have to spend your focus token though if you don't want to.

That's how we played it, and the Empire polayer was none to happy about it. My reading of the rules was that you didn't have to attack, but once an attack started the attack steps had to be completed. Good to know. Thanks!

I'm really not sure why the Imperial player would be upset about this. As dbmeboy said, spending the defensive focus token is optional, and there is the possibility that the attack could be completely evaded. Exactly what was the reasoning behind not wanting to roll any defence dice? I frankly can't think of any…

since the attacker rolls first - before the defender - and in the situation of say,range one 4 die attack, that end up as hit, blank, blank, blank with a focus token - rolling one evade would cause a full miss - which would trigger the gunner - and likely lead much more damage. I can imagine saying - oh, i'd like to just take that one hit, and make it so gunner doesn't trigger.

Ravncat said:

I can understand it in this situation, yes, but that's not the one the OP describes.

ziggy2000 said:

At that point in the game, Howlrunner only had two hull points remaining. He didn't want to chance triggering the Gunner ability and being forced to possibly use the focus token; which is exactly what happened (rolled 3 hits and he rolled an evade, a blank, and a focus). When it was his turn to attack, he rolled a hit and 2 focus. He was…displeased.

A good question. And I see no where in the rules where it would allow you to not roll. But it may be worth while FFG spelling this out in the next FAQ.

It's already spelled out on page 10.

1. Declare Target
2. Roll Attack Dice
3. Modify Attack Dice
4. Roll Defense Dice
5. Modify Defense Dice
6. Compare Results
7. Deal Damage

It's further spelled out on page 12.

After calculating the number of defense dice,
the defender takes that number of green
defense dice and rolls them.

I don't think this was a good question. We don't need a FAQ for something which is not in the slightest way ambiguous.

NAIL HEAD…..HIT. Thanks to Grim. Agility dice have to be rolled via the Rulebook…..no FAQin' around needed!

If step 4 is optional I'mma skip step 7, that's all I'm saying…