2nd ed. ACTA Boarding Party Question

[Fedral]

Some friends and I were looking at the rules last night and a question came up about boarding parties.

Now, the rules state that if I send boarding parties over to a ship that has troops on board, the troops of both sides fight it out until one side wins.

It then says that if the attacker wins, "on subsequent turns", their troops may attack crew and vital systems. (As per the boarding party damage chart.)

My question is, if the defending ship has no troops on board to start with, do the attacking troops immediately start rolling on the damage chart?

It would seem to me, if there were no troops to start with, the attackers wouldn’t have anyone to stop them from getting down to the enjoyable pastime of crew slaughter and control panel destruction.

Thanks for everyone’s time and attention.

 

[WereRogue]

My ruling - strictly from a fluff point of view - is that the opening "salvo", if you will, involves carefully moving through the ship, clearing out resistance, etc. The first phase represents the combat, and, even if there is none, it takes that first phase for your boarding crew to ensure there's not going to be combat, and to move to the rest of the "wholesale slaughter".

Think of it like establishing a beachhead. Even if there's no resistance, most forces still ensure that the ground is secure.

-Ken

 

[Fedral]

My ruling - strictly from a fluff point of view - is that the opening "salvo", if you will, involves carefully moving through the ship, clearing out resistance, etc. The first phase represents the combat, and, even if there is none, it takes that first phase for your boarding crew to ensure there's not going to be combat, and to move to the rest of the "wholesale slaughter".

Think of it like establishing a beachhead. Even if there's no resistance, most forces still ensure that the ground is secure.

-Ken

I would think that your scenario would indeed be the case if there was one defender against say 5 to 8 boarding parties.

But if there was a ship that you knew was too small to have defenders (Like a Blue Star for example.), your boarding parties would know that they have nothing to fear from defenders and thus get down to the actual business of slaughter.

Just my opinion.

 

[Winged_Human]

I agree with Wererogue on this one.

I believe it would take an entire turn to "Establish dominance" of a ship, and the 2nd turn would allow you to start doing damage. What's great about this is that even if you "own" a ship, they can't fire on their own ships.

they'd have to use a boarding party of their own to get you out.

 

[WereRogue]

I would think that your scenario would indeed be the case if there was one defender against say 5 to 8 boarding parties.

But if there was a ship that you knew was too small to have defenders (Like a Blue Star for example.), your boarding parties would know that they have nothing to fear from defenders and thus get down to the actual business of slaughter.

Just my opinion.

Just because a vessel may have no Marines (troops) doesn't mean they don't have Security Personnel that can handle boarding detail. People grab PPG's and head to the breaching area, etc. Or, the boarded ship implements internal shields and seals doors, barricades, etc, that slow the boarding party down, even though they're not meeting actual resistance.

-Ken

 

[Harry Lonsdale]

"If the attacker wins, he can start causing real damage in subsequent End Phases."

"Once the defending Troops have been defeated...In every subsequent End Phase where the enemy is on board a ship and remains unopposed, roll one die per Troop..."

I think the attacking Troops should be able to just get down to business on the turn they arrive, but the rules don't read that way.

What's great about this is that even if you "own" a ship, they can't fire on their own ships.

Did I miss this somewhere? I know the Launch Breaching &etc. SA says you can't fire on the target ship but there's nothing in the Boarding Action section preventing anyone from firing on the ship in question. I can think of situations where it might be preferable to destroy a ship you know is about to be captured to avoid giving up so many VPs. The Claweagle is certainly allowed to fire on a ship holding friendly troops (though that may be an exception rather than the rule).

 

[Burger]

Rules wording: you have to "defeat" the defending troops in the End Phase of the current turn, even if there are 0. You can then start causing damage in the End Phase of the next turn.

In-game reasoning: what WereRogue said

You can fire on an enemy ship with your own troops on board, just not in the same turn as you use the special action. You can never fire on your own ships, even if you have been boarded or the ship has been captured.

 

[Winged_Human]

You can fire on an enemy ship with your own troops on board, just not in the same turn as you use the special action. You can never fire on your own ships, even if you have been boarded or the ship has been captured.

This is true.

What I was pointing out was that you can't fire on your own Ship if the enemy is wreaking havok.

 

[Harry Lonsdale]

You can fire on an enemy ship with your own troops on board, just not in the same turn as you use the special action. You can never fire on your own ships, even if you have been boarded or the ship has been captured.

This is true.

What I was pointing out was that you can't fire on your own Ship if the enemy is wreaking havok.

Ah, that makes sense. I misunderstood your statement.