Federation Commander

[Maldus]

2D5c allows shuttles and fighters to land on a friendly ship using one of two methods. I wanted to double check when this actually happens. The Self-Landing option can occur during any impulse and references the

[Maldus]

Keeping with the Landing shuttles topic....

2D5b and the example under 5H5 cover landing shuttles on a planet. If I understand the details the sequence follows:

1) End movement for the turn adjacent to the planet.
2) At the end of the turn (assuming somewhere near the Take-Off step), the shuttle counter is removed from the board.
3) In Energy Allocation of the next turn, declare landing.
4) Sub-Pulse 1 of Impulse 1, land and place counter on the planet.

If the example is correct, then you are actually declaring the intent to land when you remove the counter from the board, not in the following EA step.

My guess is that the "remove the counter" point in the example under 5H5 is a leftover from an earlier version since the 2D5b landing rules cover the situation without it...so you would not actually remove the counter as described.

I realize these questions about when things occur seem like splitting hairs (and possibly reading too deeply into rules) but I am working on a play aid and would like to get it right for my son (and others).
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Matthew Cicero
Heroism is endurance for one moment more.

[mjwest]

Heh. I guess no one has ever landed a shuttle before, as you are absolutely correct in that it isn't covered.

That should be in the Launch phase. Let's say that launch and landing happen at the same time so we don't get any "Launch then Land" or "Land then Launch" on the same impulse.

With Assisted Landing, it doesn't specify when the shuttle lands. For consistency's sake, it should also be the Launch phase, but that could end up with some very weird little side effects that I don't know are worth it. So, let's just say that with Assisted Landing, the shuttle is landed immediately.

For landing on a planet, it works like this:
1) The shuttle ends its movement in a hex adjacent to the planet.
2) In Energy Allocation of the following turn, the shuttle declares landing and the counter is moved to the planet.
Note that the decision to land is not made until the Energy Allocation phase. So, even if you have your shuttle all lined up for a landing at the end of a turn, you can change your mind on the turn break and not land after all.

The example after (5H5) is a little sloppy, as there is no need to wait for I1S1 to land the ship, as it is already landed in the EA phase. You are correct that the (2D5b) rules cover it correctly.

No, you are not splitting hairs. These are legitimate questions and just hadn't been caught yet. Just shows how few shuttles ever survive their trip into combat in that no one else has ever asked this. (Don't have to worry about landing when they don't live long enough to even try.)

As a side note, you can land on a planet during Energy Allocation and take off in the Undocking phase of the same turn.
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Federation Commander Answer Guy

[Maldus]

Ha! I had a feeling landings did not happen often....

I am good with the Launch Phase for self-landing.

For the assisted landing, I am fine with the tractor being applied (and potentially contested) during the tractor step of Other Functions and the actual landing occurring in the Launch phase to be consistent with the self-landing timing. Makes sense.

Regarding landing on the planet...I think the idea of actually landing during the first Sub-Pulse is to have it happen during actual movement in case there might be any other interactions. But I do agree that the way you lay it out allows the player to make the decision to land in EA rather than at the end of the previous turn.

Appreciate the responses!
_________________
Matthew Cicero
Heroism is endurance for one moment more.