[Official Response] FFG e-mail responses to be titled like this.

[Sergovan 1,440]

It was suggested that when an FFG response via e-mail is given, that it be placed in an official response page so people can locate e-mail responses better. Kinda like a forum FAQ if you will.

 

I have e-mailed FFG and have received many responses from them. I will post them all here for forum consideration and searchability. Some have made it into the FAQ, while others are pending.

 

The format will be my rules question (in bold when I remember) followed by FFG's e-mail response to that question.

 

*Use CTRL + F to search for card titles or abilities (thank you WW).

 

Rule Question:

When decloaking, can you attempt the [2] barrel roll, and if it overlaps, backtrack out of it like the barrel roll rules state and opt for the [2] forward instead?

 

When decloaking, if you overlap doing the [2] straight, there is no mechanism to backtrack out and try the barrel roll (as the [2] forward is not a boost) so can you explain the resolution of a [2] straight that overlaps vs the [2] barrel roll that overlaps?

 

Similar to failed attempts to barrel roll or boost, if a ship attempts to decloak but cannot (either because its final position would overlap an obstacle token or another ship, or if the maneuver template would overlap an obstacle) that player may attempt to decloak in another direction or choose to not decloak. Also like barrel roll and boost, if a player declares to decloak in a direction, if it is measured and is possible, that player must do it.

 

Thanks for playing,

 

Frank Brooks

Associate Creative Content Developer

Fantasy Flight Games

 

Rule Question:

Corran Horn takes his second attack during the beginning of the end phase.

 

He gets a direct hit on an X-wing that has no shields and 1 damage on its hull and it is carrying an R5.

 

Does the R5 get the opportunity to flip the direct hit over before the X-wing is destroyed?

 

If there was a direct hit on the X-wing before the end phase, and Corran put a hit on it, would the R5 be able to flip that direct hit or would the X-wing be destroyed?

 

During each phase there is a “start” and an “end” at both of those times there may be various abilities that can trigger. In between those timing windows are when “during” things can happen. This means that something that triggers at the “start" of a phase would fully resolve before something that happens “during” the phase.

 

Therefore in this example, the X-wing would be destroyed at the start of the end phase and wouldn’t have the opportunity to flip it facedown.

 

Thanks for playing,

 

Frank Brooks

Associate Creative Content Developer

Fantasy Flight Games

 

Hello Sergovan,

 

In response to your question:

Rule Question:

Fel's Wrath's pilot ability states that he does not get removed from play until the end of the combat phase.

 

With Corran Horn able to take an attack at the starts of the end phase, does this mean Fel would stay in play until the end of the next turn's combat phase?

 

Yes. Fel’s Wrath would not be removed until the end of the next combat phase.

 

Thanks for asking,

 

Frank Brooks

Associate Creative Content Developer

Fantasy Flight Games

 

Hello Sergovan,

 

In response to your rules question:

Rule Question:

If I am barrel rolling with Lorrir and I choose a bank away on the right side, but it doesn't fit, do I have to do a bank towards on the same side or can I redo the barrel roll action altogether?

 

In competitive play, if a player attempts to do an action and measures whether it is possible, and it is, then they have to commit to that action. When using Lieutenant Lorrir, that player has to declare he is going to barrel roll to “front right,” "right," or “back right.” Usually a player can just try to do the one they want to do and if they can’t fit, they can do another action.

 

Similarly, when using "Echo", the player says which of the 5 directions they are attempting to decloak.

 

Frank Brooks

Associate Creative Content Developer

Fantasy Flight Games

fbrooks@fantasyflightgames.com

 

 

Sergovan,

 

Rule Question:

Regarding using R2D2 (crew) on the Tantive.

 

If the front section has no shields, but no hull damage, and the rear section has no shields, and 2 hull damage, would R2D2's ability repair the shields on the forward section without having to flip a card or would you have to flip one of the 2 rear section hull damage cards?

 

R2-D2 only works on the Tantive when it has no shields on either section. This is part of a general rule for cards on the CR90 work from the whole ship. The only exception really is hardpoint weapons which only work from the section they are equipped.

 

When you use R2-D2 it would flip a faceup damage card from the section that recovered a shield.

 

Thanks for asking,

 

Frank Brooks

Associate Creative Content Developer

Fantasy Flight Games

 

Hello Sergovan,

 

Rule Question:

Airen Cracken and Luke are squadmates.

 

Luke takes fire and has 3 hits to his hull, but it is simultaneous fire and Luke and Airen still have time to go. Airen shoots and gives Luke a free action. Luke uses R5-D8 to remove one of the hits to his hull.

 

Is Luke destroyed or not?

 

Luke is destroyed. Due to simultaneous attack rule, after Luke has his chance to attack, he is removed. Even though he is removed with fewer than the number of damage cards to normally remove him he “was destroyed” so he is still removed.

 

Thanks,

 

Frank Brooks

Associate Creative Content Developer

Fantasy Flight Games

 

Hello Sergovan,

 

In response to your question:

Rule Question:

A YT-1300 with Tactician has a target, in its front arc at range 2 but out of arc at range 1, so the attack is done at range 1.

 

Would Tactician work on the target in question and give it a stress token?

 

No. Although part of the defender is inside of the firing arc at Range 2, since the closest point of the defender is outside of the YT-1300’s firing arc,  the attack is considered “performing an attack against a ship outside of the attackers firing arc". Therefore Tactician does not trigger to assign the defender 1 stress token.

 

This has since been changed and can be found here (thank you VanorDM): 

 

http://community.fantasyflightgames.com/index.php?/topic/121537-turrets-outmaneuver-and-tactician/

 

Thanks for asking,

 

Frank Brooks

Associate Creative Content Developer

Fantasy Flight Games

 

Sept 3, 11:57am

 

Hello Sergovan,

 

In response to your rules question:

Rule Question:

A rookie, Dutch, and Wedge are together. Dutch passes off a TL to Wedge, who attempts to TL a Lambda that looks to be in range but turns out not to be.

 

Can the TL that Dutch passed to Wedge now be sent over to the Rookie instead?

 

If it cannot be done can you explain the mechanic that prevents it?

 

Yes. If Dutch allows Wedge to acquire a target lock, then he gets the opportunity to acquire a target lock. If he has no valid targets, then Dutch can allow another friendly ship to attempt to acquire a target lock.

 

Frank Brooks

Associate Creative Content Developer

Fantasy Flight Games

 

 

Hello Sergovan,

 

In response to your rules question:

Rule Question:

How does a YT-1300, with a ship in arc at range 2 and out of arc at range 1 (with closest point to closest point being at range 1) resolve Tactician and Outmaneuver.

 

Please see thread "Turrets, Outmaneuver, and Tactician".

 

The issue arrises from Tactician itself since the initial clause is a bit ambiguous (“After you perform an attack against a ship inside your firing arc at Range 2”). It is unclear whether the attack needed to be inside of your firing arc, whether the attack needed to be at Range 2, simply the ship attacked needs to be both at Range 2 and inside your firing arc, or something else entirely. The intention is that the attack performed was a not at Range 1 or Range 3 but explicitly Range 2 and that that ship was inside of the attacker’s firing arc.

 

Therefore, to answer your question: if a YT-1300 equipped with Tactician and Outmaneuver is attacks an enemy ship at Range 2 (when measured inside of the firing arc) and at Range 1 (when measured closest point to closest point, not inside the firing arc), Tactician would not trigger and Outmaneuver could trigger (so long as the YT-1300 is outside of the defender’s firing arc).

 

You may treat Tactician as though it said “After you perform an attack against an enemy ship at Range 2, if that ship was inside your firing arc, it receives 1 stress token."

 

This is reverting my previous reasoning for my answer to Tactician although keeps mostly the same resolution. In fact, it removes an artifact from the previous ruling. This means that for a YT-1300 equipped with Tactician and Outmaneuver that is attacking a ship that is at Range 2 and straddling the firing arc, Tactician would still trigger (even if the closest point to closest point is drawn outside of the firing arc) and Outmaneuver could still trigger. With the previous ruling, it actually “punished” turret primary weapon ships for having this setup since another ship in the exact same situation would have been able to use both abilities.

 

Thanks for asking,

 

Frank Brooks

Associate Creative Content Developer

Fantasy Flight Games

 

Hello Sergovan,

 

In response to your rules question:

Rule Question:

Turreted ships have the "may" clause when it comes to their ability. For card abilities that require an in-arc check, could the player choose to not fire outside of his firing arc and follow all the rules that pertain to a normal firing arc shot?

 

No. This is due to a common confusion around the use of “may.” In the core rules of X-Wing, sometimes the word “may” is used instead of the more clear “can” which usually function the same, but are subtly different. “Can” means roughly “you have the capacity to do so” while “may” means more like “you have the choice to do so.” In this case, both work, but “may” seems to imply that there is something you can gain by choosing to not target a ship not inside your firing arc; this is not the case.

 

The relevant part of the rules is specifically:

“When attacking with a turret primary weapon, a ship may target an enemy ship inside or outside its firing arc.”

 

This does not actually say that you can choose to fire inside or outside of your firing arc, but specifically that the target of your attack can exist either inside or outside of your firing arc. When measuring range, it is measured from closest point to closest point (more specifically on pg 10 of the core rulebook):

“To measure range, place the Range 1 end of the range ruler so that it touches the closest part of the attacker’s base. Then point the rulers towards the closest part of the target ship’s base that is inside the attacker’s firing arc."

 

These rules were written specifically for ships that can only target ships that are inside of the their firing arc (which is most ships). In order for Ion Cannon Turret, Blaster Turret, and turret primary weapons to function as intended, the last part of the phrase “closest part of the target ship’s base that is inside the attacker’s firing arc” must be ignored, otherwise a ship with a turret weapon could not actual attack a ship outside of its firing arc.

 

So, instead of these effects not working, merely whenever a ship attacks with a turret weapon, it is always measured from closest point to closest point. Whether a ship is inside of your arc (or not), is simply a property that can be checked as needed.

 

Thanks for asking!

 

Frank Brooks

Associate Creative Content Developer

Fantasy Flight Games

 

Hello Sergovan,

 

In response to your rules question:

Rule Question:

Leebo's pilot ability and Determination both trigger from when a face up damage card is dealt.

 

Can Leebo choose one of the two face up cards to keep, and if it is a pilot crit, then discard it using Determination or does the drawn card not count as a card dealt?

 

Both the initial card dealt and the additional card drawn both count as a faceup damage card being dealt. This does mean that with Determination, he can choose a Pilot trait damage card and then discard it.

 

Thanks for playing,

 

Frank Brooks

Associate Creative Content Developer

Fantasy Flight Games

Edited October 7, 2014 by Sergovan

[Parravon 5,217]

Here's an oldie that I asked not long after I started playing, but keeps coming up:

 

In response to your question:
Rule Question:
Expert Handling: Does use of the Expert Handling card give you an additional action (the free barrel roll) on top of your Perform Action step action, or is it considered your sole action for your Perform Action step?

 

Using a card whith the "Action:” header requires an action, such as the action you have during the Perform Action step. For example, if you had Luke Skywalker equipped with Expert Handling, during his Perform Action step he can either use the Expert Handling action (which results with him performing a barrel roll), perform a focus action, or perform an acquire a target lock action.

 

The errata to include the word “free” was because rules as written, Expert Handling would require you to somehow have 2 actions; 1 to perform the Expert Handling action and 1 to perform a barrel roll. By including the words “free action” allowed a ship to use the card as intended.

 

Hope that helped and thanks for playing,

 

Frank Brooks

Edited October 5, 2014 by Parravon

[Parravon 5,217]

Deadeye and Target Locks

 

In response to your rules question:
Rule Question:
Secondary ordnance that requires you to spend your target lock to fire, also require the attacker has said target lock on the defender. When using Deadeye, you can spend a focus token to fire instead, but are you still required to have a target lock on the defender, or can you shoot at an opportunity target using Deadeye? And does a target lock have to be in play at all?

 

The first part of Deadeye says that you may treat “Attack (target lock):” as “Attack (focus):.” This means that instead of having a target lock, you are only required to have a focus. If you need to spend a target lock, you may spend that focus instead.

 

For example, with Homing Missiles, you are required to have a target lock, but you don’t need to spend it to fire the missile. If that ship also had Deadeye, it would only have to have a focus token, but wouldn’t need to spend it.

 

Hope that helps explain it. Thanks for playing!

 

Frank Brooks

 

Follow up question:
Example: Attacker gets a target lock on Defender A. Following turn, the Attacker focuses, but Defender A moves out of arc/range. Defender B moves into arc/range and is now what I would consider to be an opportunity target. Clearly I can’t shoot at Defender A, but am I able to shoot at Defender B using Deadeye, even though I’ve still got a lock on Defender A?
Does the target lock still being in play restrict my shooting options at all? Or am I free to shoot Defender B regardless of where the target lock is?

 

In that case, the target lock is not restricting the ship from choosing to use Deadeye in order to fire at a different target. Deadeye allows a ship to change from “Attack (target lock)” to “Attack (focus)” if it wants to.

 

Thanks for asking,

 

Frank Brooks

Edited October 5, 2014 by Parravon

[VanorDM 11,599]

Was pointed out that the answer in this email was changed with a latter FAQ entry.

Edited October 6, 2014 by VanorDM

[WonderWAAAGH 7,153]

There needs to be a reminder at the very top of the first post for people to use the Ctrl + F function to find what they're looking for.

[Eltnot 690]

I'm not sure of the intent of this thread.  Emailed responses for a rules query aren't official.

[Forgottenlore 9,838]

I'm not sure of the intent of this thread.  Emailed responses for a rules query aren't official.

 

Until those questions get answered in a FAQ the emailed responses are the closest thing we have to an official clarification and are treated as such by the player base at large.

 

And since that is the case, having those responses gathered together in one place where they can be quickly searched is potentially an extremely useful convenience.

Edited October 8, 2014 by Forgottenlore

[Sergovan 1,440]

New response from Frank regarding Leebo and Advanced Sensors.

 

 

Hello Sergovan,

 

In response to your rules question:

Rule Question:

Leebo as crew on a B-wing with advanced sensors.

 

What happens during the activation phase, when you use Leebo before you reveal your dial, and gain an ion token?

 

Does the ion effect change for the activation phase kick in immediately, resulting in a 1 white forward even though a player has a dial set but not revealed?

 

Or does the whole ion effect come into play next turn?

 

 

The B-wing would perform a free boost action (receiving an ion token) and then still reveal its maneuver like normal. The effects of the ion token would occur during the next planning and activation phases.