Launch Breaching pods and Shuttles & Stricken

[Winged_Human]

sO here's my Question:

A Ship that has met all the requirements and had Called Launch Breaching pods and Shuttles SA during the movement phase, gets stricken during the Firing phase.

Does the Boarding action still happen. Because the rule states, "Once you determine how many troops are being used to attack a ship in a boarding action you may resolve the attack.

Yet it has been counter-argued. that once a ship becomes stricken All Special Actions go away.


So which takes presedence?

 

[Silvereye]

It all depends on whether you have fired with the ship initiating the Launch Breaching Pods and Shuttles! action, if you read the description of Launch Breaching Pods and Shuttles! it says the baording action is carried out in the following firing phase (when you declare how many of your troops get shuttled over).

So if the you have fired the ship on Launch Breaching Pods and Shuttles!, then you have already declared how many troops you are sending to board the enemy vessel and they are already enroute if the ship is Striken later in the turn. The boarding action will happen in the end phase.

If the you have not fired the ship on Launch Breaching Pods and Shuttles!, the boarding action can be averted however. This does mean your opponent has a chance to react and prevent their ship from being boarded. If they can reduce the Launch Breaching Pods and Shuttles! vessel to Striken or cause a No Special Actions critical hit before it declares its firing then it will loose the Launch Breaching Pods and Shuttles! Special Action and no Troops will be sent. It must also be noted that the other part of the Special Action will be nullified. The target ship is now a viable taget for the weapons in your fleet once more.

 

[Greg Smith]

Locutus has it. It the ship has attacked, the troops are now on board the enemy vessel. If not, the breaching pods aren't going to make it out of the launch bay.

 

[texican]

Locutus has it. It the ship has attacked, the troops are now on board the enemy vessel. If not, the breaching pods aren't going to make it out of the launch bay.

The problem I see with that sequence is that now the boarding action is not goint to be subject to anti-fighter action or interception from any fighters supporting the target. It would make more sense to have the specal action "away boarding paraties" resolved with the fighter attack phase where the anti-fighter/aux craft weapons can engage them and they can be interecepted by defending fighters. Otherwise you have a case of the anti-fighter trait being used twice once against any attacking fighters and then against any attacking boarding pods or even worse you have no way to defend against this special action as you are having in resolved after anti-fighter/aux. craft weapons have fired.

 

[Greg Smith]

The best way to defend against this action is not to go slow. This action cannot be carried out against a ship with fully functioning engines that does not voluntarily go slow.

You are right, supporting fighters and anti-fighter fire don't come into play, and arguably they should. However the original poster was asking about how the rules work, and that is how they work.

 

[Iain McGhee]

If you board with this Special Action you can't intercept the troops with AF fire or escorts, never could in either version of ACTA. The only change is that the ship you were boarding had to be stopped and now it's any below half speed. You could only attack boarding parties if they were in a Breaching Pod flight. Don't particularly like the rule (doesn't seem very "B5 universe" to me, but them's the rules so either you house rule it or use it as written)

 

[texican]

If you board with this Special Action you can't intercept the troops with AF fire or escorts, never could in either version of ACTA. The only change is that the ship you were boarding had to be stopped and now it's any below half speed. You could only attack boarding parties if they were in a Breaching Pod flight. Don't particularly like the rule (doesn't seem very "B5 universe" to me, but them's the rules so either you house rule it or use it as written)

Then if is that is the fact the rule is broke. There should be no reason for ships to avoid defensive fire because I used a special action.

 

[Greg Smith]

Then house rule it.

Many changes were made in 2e based on suggestions that players made on these forums. If your suggestion proves popular it may get adapted in later iterations of the rules.

Or even write it up for S&P.

 

[Iain McGhee]

I'm experimenting with this:

Ships must fulfil the normal conditions for using the boarding Special Action. For the purposes of this rule assume that each unit of troops use 1 shuttle or breaching pod each. Execute it as normal but with the following steps added:-

1: Any fighters escorting the targeted ship that have not been involved in a dogfight this turn automatically stop 1 point of troops.

2: Each point of troops that get past the fighter escorts may be attacked by the target's anti-fighter weapons, but only if they have not been used this turn. Ships with the Escort trait may lend anti-fighter points to the target as normal, as long as they have not used AF fire this turn. Use the hull scores for breaching pods appropriate for the boarding race.

3: Surviving troop points then board as per normal rules.

 

[thePirv]

What you've got to remember is, if you look at this problem logically, everything in a turn is happening so fast and almost simultaneously in a "real" fight, but is just spaced out for ease of play.Thus, while Anti-fighter SHOULD be able to fire at boarding parties, all ships are opting to fire it at the Fighters that are coming in to attack at the same time sine all shps have troops on board to deal with the invaders anyway.

Did that make sense? It made sense in my head, but i'm rediculously hungover today (and maybe even still a little drunk. WOO!)

 

[Greg Smith]

A question:

1: Any fighters escorting the targeted ship that have not been involved in a dogfight this turn automatically stop 1 point of troops.

Even if that fighter is being used as an interceptor?

 

[Iain McGhee]

Currently yes, but as I said I'm still experimenting with this. Odds on I'll just use the 2e rules as written anyway. I was going to allow fighters which had been used as interceptors to stop boarding craft as they are big, slow targets and it would only take one or two of the flight to splash one of them.

 

[texican]

I'm experimenting with this:

Ships must fulfil the normal conditions for using the boarding Special Action. For the purposes of this rule assume that each unit of troops use 1 shuttle or breaching pod each. Execute it as normal but with the following steps added:-

1: Any fighters escorting the targeted ship that have not been involved in a dogfight this turn automatically stop 1 point of troops.

2: Each point of troops that get past the fighter escorts may be attacked by the target's anti-fighter weapons, but only if they have not been used this turn. Ships with the Escort trait may lend anti-fighter points to the target as normal, as long as they have not used AF fire this turn. Use the hull scores for breaching pods appropriate for the boarding race.

3: Surviving troop points then board as per normal rules.

I do pretty much the same but I resolve all this during the fighter phase except for the actual boarding action.

p.s. I have found the changes an interesting defense against jump point attacks. Against a newbie the other day I had an explorer capture a Mimbari Tiagara, under these new rules, when he jumped into the middle of my fleet feeling big and bad.