Essentially, a blue maneuver removes 1 stress token, 1 strain, and 1 deplete. That means if you have a full set (stress/strain/deplete), one blue move removes all three... but if you have a stack of one type of token (say 3 stress), you only remove one of them. As far as "are they worth it?" The question is best answered with two other questions: How bad would it be for your squad to gain those tokens? How good would it be to see your opponents with them? Deplete tokens can make offensive powerhouses ineffective, and Strain can make agile ships more susceptible to less accurate shots. Against particularly beefy ships, Strain can sometimes negate defense dice entirely, preventing almost any modifiers from being used. On the flip side, Strain doesn't matter if you're not being attacked - a fact that ships like Major Vonreg use to their advantage. And Deplete doesn't matter much if you're not shooting, and were planning to clear it later anyway with a blue move.

Normally, no. The process of a boost or barrel roll requires that you neither move through (template) nor overlap (final base position) an obstacle. That said, there are some card abilities that would allow you to go through obstacles, like Collision Detector, Backwards Tailslide, Dash Rendar, and Qi'Ra.

Next time, just bring Primed Thrusters.

Lately, I've been enjoying playing some "fat aces" lists in my local online groups. Generally, these lists are notable for including a small number of high-initiative pilots, with either lots of upgrades, or lots of hit points (or both). Some recent standouts for me include: Jango Fett (Lone Wolf, Count Dooku, False Transponder Codes, Proximity Mines, Hull Upgrade, Slave 1, Boba Fett) + Sun Fac (Ensnare, Predator), 13 point bid Han Solo (Trick Shot, Agile Gunner, Kanan Jarrus, R2-D2, Hull Upgrade, Shield Upgrade) + Wedge Antilles (Predator, Plasma Torpedoes, R2 Astromech, Afterburners, S-Foils), 11 point bid Variations on Rey + Poe, Zam Wessel + Darth Maul, and Lando + Han. I'm also curious about trying some builds with Rear Admiral Chiraneau + Wingman, such as Whisper, Vader, Soontir Fel, or Redline. Does anyone out there have any similar lists they've had either fun or success with (preferably, both)?

There's the X-Wing Second Edition discord forum, which has a lot of the rules regulars. While you lose the "threadability" of certain rules interactions, you can often get fairly timely answers to rules questions. Perhaps the 2nd edition Wiki might consider adding notable rulings (and current rules questions) for given ships and upgrades on their respective pages. While not official, it would be a good reference point for people to look at when they ask, "Hey, what happens when this pilot tries to use that upgrade?"

This is an important distinction to remember. You CAN replace a replacement effect, like a TIE Bomber using Skilled Bombardier and Nimble Bomber together, in order to drop a bomb with a 2-bank. What you CAN'T do is replace an effect that has already been replaced before... it would be like using Skilled Bombardier to replace your 1-straight drop with a 2-straight drop, THEN using Nimble Bomber to replace the SAME 1-straight drop with a 1-bank drop, getting two bombs for a single charge.

I see one of three possibilities here, and each of them seems to have a reasonable argument behind it, to me... First Player wins. Once one player has placed a replacement effect upon one aspect of a ship, no further replacement effects can be applied. They will engage at whatever value the first player assigned (0 or 7), without the second player having the option to change that ship any further. Second Player wins. Since Torkil and Roark both have the same timing, after the first player institutes their effect, the second player can "overwrite" that effect with their own. Highest Initiative effect wins. This one is a little weird, but... the ship is now instructed to engage at 7 instead of their base initiative, and 0 instead of their base initiative. When you reach the Initiative 7 bracket, thanks to Roark or HP, you engage and attack. Then, when you later reach Initiative 0, you try to engage again thanks to Torkil, but fail (because you only engage once per round). Which do I think is correct? I have no freaking idea. I think the "second player overwrites the first player's change" makes the most common sense given the rest of the game's flow, while "highest initiative wins out" feels like the proper "strict reading of the rules" interpretation.

Except that neither Torkil nor Roark alter the initiative of the ship in question... merely the initiative they engage at.

Precisely correct! As a reminder/refresher for everyone: These ARE modifications! Rerolling 1 or more dice results (Spending a lock, Predator) Adding 1 or more dice results (Finn Pilot, Norra Wexley, Reinforce) Changing dice results (spending focus or force) Spending dice results (Thane Kyrel, Ion Cannon) Han Solo Pilot ability (because he's... weird) These are NOT modifications! Rolling additional dice (Jan Ors pilot, Gideon Hask in Xi Shuttle) Cancelling dice (Crack Shot, Munitions Failsafe)

...but seismic charges also preceded seismic torpedoes in first edition, and both always worked the same way, by destroying obstacles...

Like First Edition Seismic Torpedoes?

There's a difference between rolling zero dice (VCX-100, VT-49 Decimator, etc) and not rolling dice (Homing Missile). Interestingly, while it is possible to roll zero dice, it's not possible to reroll zero dice (which would otherwise become relevant for ships like Sunny Bounder).

Aha! Good catch... PIE triggers BEFORE you execute a maneuver, while Ved triggers WHILE. A subtle distinction, but it blocks his use! At least, unless we get a counter-ruling from FFG, which is unlikely.

Amusingly, there are almost no ships that both equip it, AND use it. Of the myriad TIE variants out there, only four three can actually make use of the card (and for one of them, only a single pilot): Mining Guild TIE Fighter Nimbus-class V-Wing TIE Advanced v1 No slow K-Turns, no Mod slot TIE Advanced x1 No slow K-Turns; not even Ved Foslo can do it, thanks to timing. TIE Aggressor Agility too low TIE Bomber Agility too low TIE Defender no Mod slot TIE Heavy Agility too low TIE Fighter (includes Rebel TIEs) TIE Interceptor No slow K-Turns TIE Phantom Agility too low TIE Punisher Agility too low TIE Striker Agility too low TIE Reaper Agility too low TIE/fo No slow K-Turns TIE/sf No K-Turns! TIE/ba Interceptor No slow K-Turns TIE Silencer No Mod slot

Seems like there are three elements to Zam that we haven't seen in this particular combination: The first effect is mandatory. The second effect is optional. The two effects are in separate sentences. Personally, though, I'm inclined to think that the separate sentences makes the two effects independent of one another (rather than the second one relying on the resolution of the first). I don't think the mandatory or optional nature of the abilities has any bearing; there is no plainly written causal connection (i.e. "if you do") between the two, only sequential (i.e. "then").

Run it down their throats! I set up in the center of the field to maximize my options, planning on a round one three-bank + barrel roll. Then I charge in as fast as I can, forcing them to choose how to handle it. Some players turn away and hide on their own edge, potentially losing the advantageous position they chose to deploy in. Others come in hard and fast, committing to killing it before it kills them (thereby committing to a semi-joust with the rest of my squad, which Torani approves of). Looking at your link, I'm thinking of trying something more like this:

I've been having some luck with various flavors of this squad lately, but it seems like most of my games have come down to the wire. Here's the stripped-to-the-bones version: I'm wondering what you would collectively recommend for padding this out. I usually add a Deadman Switch to Jostero, and I've tried both bombs on Torkil or the Cluster/MuniFailsafe/R5-TK combo on Torani, but both seemed more like point sinks than useful upgrades. What would you include to make this a bit scarier?

Short answer: You pick one ship and apply the mine effects to that ship only. So no, you can't hit a whole swarm with a single mine. Explanation: In the rules reference under "Devices," there are these two this bullet points:

This gets a little weird with Seismic Charge: If you are in Range 1 of the bomb token, but NOT of the obstacle that explodes, you're not suffering any effects from the bomb; therefore, Sabine has no trigger. If you are beyond Range 1 of the bomb token, but you ARE within Range 1 of the selected obstacle, you DO suffer the effects of the bomb, and Sabine works.

So the big question is, how do we parse the phrase, "Do X. Then, you may do Y."? Is Y dependent upon successfully doing X, or are X and Y merely related by sequence (do one before the other)? To my knowledge, there aren't any abilities in X-Wing that are specifically parsed that way, where X is something that could fail, AND Y is something that could subsequently succeed. Is it etymologically equivalent to the single-sentence version: "Do X, then you may do Y?" Is there an implied "if you do" at the beginning of the second sentence? Myself, I'm cautiously leaning towards the interpretation that the two effects (recovering a charge, and acquiring a lock) are independent, neither one being contingent upon the other succeeding. In this case, if you had full charges, even though you would be unable to complete the first sentence, it wouldn't impact your ability to do the second sentence.

I'm not throwing shade at all, but... given the track record and history of FFG's handling of the previous app, and knowing that they developed this new one... I'm very wary of calling the app the definitive source for all game information, until they can provide a stable & accurate product for multiple consecutive months. As for judges overruling costs? I don't think anyone is pushing that line of thought. Rather, the fact that you asked whether zero-cost upgrades were correct, is clear evidence that there is confusion to the appropriate point values. Lacking a clear and definitive answer on the point values (which is absolutely the case here), the gaming community relies on the judgement of tournament officials to make the call whenever there's a dispute, or confusion over the rules. The Judge, therefore, would not be overruling something, but defining a situation that was previously undefined, all within the limited scope of that event.

Let's look at them one at a time! Here's my opinion and evaluation... C-3PO: Before rolling defense dice, you may spend 1 calculate token to guess aloud a number 1 or higher. If you do and you roll exactly that many results, add 1 [evade] result. (other abilities irrelevant) As far as triggering Threepio, you need to make your call before you roll (obviously). After you roll dice, if your guess was correct, you add an evade. Now, since he doesn't say to add it at a certain time, I'm inclined to think that this evade is actually added at the typical time: when the defender modifies defense dice. Whether your initial roll is juked is irrelevant... you still guessed your roll correctly. Count Dooku: Before a ship at range 0-2 rolls attack or defense dice, if all of your [FORCE] are active, you may spend 1 [FORCE] and name a result. If the roll does not contain the named result, the ship must change 1 die to that result. Again, you need to make the call at the proper right time (before rolling dice). If the roll (the initial throw of the dice) does not contain the targeted result, then when it comes to your turn in the modification cycle, you get to add that result to the mix. This means that, if Dooku wants to modify the opponent's dice, his mod will happen before the opponent has a chance to do anything about their roll. Conversely, if Dooku wants to modify his own dice, the opponent modifies first, then Dooku applies the modification he called (among any other mods he chooses). ...or, go with @joeshmoe554 below.

It's also worth noting that the Cost PDFs are typically considered to be the absolute authority on ship & upgrade pricing and legality, in cases when there's a discrepancy with the squad builder app. Given that the PDFs have no information on how to price an initiative-scaled upgrade for a ship without initiative, it stands to reason that those upgrades can't be played legally. It's a bit like trying to charge your car battery by plugging an extension cord into the gas tank... the functionality just isn't there. I'm not arguing that the Nashtah Pup should be outright disallowed from using those upgrades! In fact, I don't really see a problem with equipping them at zero on a ship that's at 75% health as soon as it hits the battlefield. In the current game scenario, though, it's unclear what the answer is, or what it's supposed to be. Lacking further FFG/AMG direction, it's up to tournament judges & marshals to adjudicate the matter, for Official Play purposes... and if someone is unwilling to accept their rulings, perhaps those people should not be playing in tournaments.

The Nashtah Pup is in the awkward position of having no initiative (or if you will, a value of "n/a" or "tbd"). Since the card itself doesn't have a core value, it messes with the code of squad builders. There are three possible interpretations on how to price out those upgrades, then... Option one is, of course, to consider the Nashtah Pup to have the same initiative as its carrier ship (i.e. the YV-666 that has the Hound's Tooth upgrade). This is logical and consistent with the way the ship works. The second possibility is to treat its initiative as zero until it comes into play. While not ideal, it does have some merit: the abilities printed on cards are inactive until a ship is actually in play (unless stated otherwise). To that end, until the Nashtah Pup hits the table, there is nothing to indicate its initiative. That, of course, leads to the third option... the Nashtah Pup has an UNDEFINED initiative. Since it has NO value (instead of the integer value we expect), it simply cannot equip any initiative-based upgrades. The cost is undefined. You might as well divide by zero while you're at it. ...no... WAIT. DON'T DIVIDE BY ZER...

One shorthand that can help identify whether certain card text is referring to an action, or that action's resulting effect, is that actions are almost universally referred to with the corresponding action icon (eye = focus, wiggly arrow = evade, three arrowheads = coordinate, etc). When a card is just referring the effect, it will spell out the name of that effect. R3 Astromech is a great example of this: "After you perform a [LOCK] action, you may acquire a lock." One uses the symbol, explicitly meaning the lock action; the other spells out the word, meaning that it isn't an action. Nodin works the same way: He really only cares about whether he is coordinating, or was coordinated. That can come from the regular coordinate action, or an effect like Hondo Ohnaka.