Breaching Pods and the Special Action

[Pavlov Grenadier]

Hi all! We played our first 2e game and have few quesitons. I will post them in different threads for easier tracking.

When do you launch breaching pods? The book reads that they are like fighters so I launch them in the end phase, right? If that’s the case, then what is the Special Action: Launch Breaching Pods and Shuttles do? Is the SA only for when a ship is going to board another ship and has nothing to do with the actual launching of Breaching pods? OR, do you have to have to call that special action to launch Breaching pods from my ship? Here is how I “think” it goes…please correct me if I am wrong:
Situation 1:
1: I have a ship that has 2 breaching pods(BP) with 2 troops on it.
2: That ship launches the 2 BPs in the end phase of turn 1
3: the BPs move at the end of the Movement phase of turn 2 and are lucky enough to touch an enemy ship (other rules apply here like AF, Fighter CAP, etc.)
4: No special order is needed to do this, once the breaching pods are launched, they move as normal fighters

Situation 2:
1: My Ship with 4 troops moves to within 4 inches of enemy ship that meets all the conditions for the SA and decarles the Launch BP and shuttle SA and moves 4 troops over.
2: The troops fight it out in the end phase
3: If this ship also had BPs, they would not have been moved over during the attack phase since they cannot even launch until the End Phase (correct?)

Thanks!

 

[Poi]

I think that's right, providing the launching ship has at least Carrier 2.

 

[Pavlov Grenadier]

Yeah, forgot to mention that part...carrier 2.

 

[Silvereye]

Situation 1:
1: I have a Carrier 2 ship that has 2 breaching pods(BP) with 2 troops on it.
2: That ship launches the 2 BPs in the end phase of turn 1
3: the BPs move at the end of the Movement phase of turn 2 and are lucky enough to touch an enemy ship (other rules apply here like AF, Fighter CAP, etc.)
4: No special order is needed to do this, once the breaching pods are launched, they move as normal fighters

Correct, however the benefit of Breaching Pods is that their Troops get to attack before an enemies Troops, potentially reducing his Troop numbers before he can defend properly.

Situation 2:
1: My Ship with 4 troops moves to within 4 inches of enemy ship that meets all the conditions for the SA and decarles the Launch BP and shuttle SA and moves 4 troops over.

Not quite. In the movement phase you declare the Special Action and when that ship activates to fire in the Firing Phase, it launches the shuttles and pods. This gives your opponent time to brutalise your ship before you can launch.

2: The troops fight it out in the end phase

Correct. However as they came in via shuttles, your opponents troops get to defend first.

3: If this ship also had BPs, they would not have been moved over during the attack phase since they cannot even launch until the End Phase (correct?)

Sort of incorrect. The Launch Breaching Pods and Assault Shuttles! is a special action meaning that you cannot launch auxillary craft (the Breaching Pods) that turn.... However, if you launched them the turn before then they could combine with the troops in the Special Action.

Boarding action sequence: Breaching Pods Troops fight > Defending Ships Troops fight > Launch Breaching Pods and Assault Shuttles! Troops fight.

So there are Pro's and Con's to each method of conducting a Boarding Action.

 

[Greg Smith]

That is right. The only addition I would make:

Situation 2:
1: My Ship with 4 troops moves to within 4 inches of enemy ship that meets all the conditions for the SA and decarles the Launch BP and shuttle SA
1a: In the attack phase, moves 4 troops over.
2: The troops fight it out in the end phase
3: If this ship also had BPs, they would not have been moved over during the attack phase since they cannot even launch until the End Phase

Breaching pods and the special action are two different and seperate ways to board an enemy ship. Breaching pods have a slight advantage, in that their troops get to act before the defender, but it can be more difficult to get the required number there.

 

[Pavlov Grenadier]

Great! Thanks for the quick feedback. I thought thats how it worked but the inclusion of "Breaching Pods" in Special Action wording got me confused.

Thanks again!

 

[Voronesh]

Now i need to clarify something for myself.

In the SA: Launch Breaching Pods and Shuttles, do i get to launch as many troops as i want or do i only get to launch a maximum of amount up to the shuttle value of the given ship.

Considering there are so many Narn ships around with troop values close to other races troop carriers yet no shuttle "special".

So:

A Rongoth has 5 troops and "shuttles 1" basically. Do i get to launch as many troops as i want, or only 1 during the SA?

 

[Chernobyl]

If I Recall Correctly, Shuttles only apply to planetary assault, not boarding actions.

Chern

 

[Chernobyl]

Also, the above mentioned ship can launch extra fighters(breaching pods) using the "Scramble" order, but that precludes the "launch breaching pods and shuttles" order (absent any commnder's ability to use 2 special orders at once)

Chern

 

[Greg Smith]

In the SA: Launch Breaching Pods and Shuttles, do i get to launch as many troops as i want or do i only get to launch a maximum of amount up to the shuttle value of the given ship.

As many as you want. The shuttles trait is used for landing on planets.

 

[Harry Lonsdale]

Also, the above mentioned ship can launch extra fighters(breaching pods) using the "Scramble" order, but that precludes the "launch breaching pods and shuttles" order (absent any commnder's ability to use 2 special orders at once)

Chern

If you can use 2 special actions in a turn, wouldn't using any SA preclude the use of "Scramble", since aux craft can't be launched if a SA other than "Scramble" is used?

 

[Voronesh]

In the SA: Launch Breaching Pods and Shuttles, do i get to launch as many troops as i want or do i only get to launch a maximum of amount up to the shuttle value of the given ship.

As many as you want. The shuttles trait is used for landing on planets.

Thanks alot. Im glad about the nice community. Cant wait to get my hands on the new books.

So Rongoths can take over other races BIG ships with a little bit of luck ^^.

 

[Greg Smith]

So Rongoths can take over other races BIG ships with a little bit of luck ^^.

And T'loths. If you're enemy does All Stop! while there is a T'loth nearby he is asking for trouble.