Federation Commander

Ok, let's say I have an impacted drone held in a tractor beam, and that tractor beam is destroyed in a hit-and-run raid. When does that drone hit to cause damage? The Defensive Fire phase of the next impulse? Immediately?

If not immediately, can I shoot at or tractor [with a fresh tractor] that drone again in the next Defensive Fire phase, similar to what happens when you drop a tractor at the start of the turn?

Rule 5D4b: [If the tractor is destroyed] the weapon hits immediately without any defensive fire...

So, you have no chance to fire at it or tractor it again. It's a good tactic if you've got the power and the enemy has a down shield.

It is a special case when the tractor is destroyed in a hit & run raid. In this case the drone does not hit until next impulse.

I will look up and provide the reference tonight.

cc30 Q&A

Q: A ship is holding an “impacted� drone with a tractor
beam. An enemy raid (5F1) disables the tractor holding
the impacted drone. Rule (5D4b) describes what happens
if the tractor is disabled by enemy weapons fire.
Rule (5D4c) describes what happens if the tractor holding
an impacted drone is not powered at the beginning
of a turn. Which procedure applies?

A: The procedure described in (5D4c) is used in this
case. The impacted drone will not hit until the Defensive
Fire Phase of the next impulse.

There you go.

Thanks!

Wow. Sorry about that. How did I miss that??

This is one question that came up in a game recently, and that was how we played it at the time. It probably wouldn't have mattered which way we did it, but it's nice to know when you did it right.

That one will need to go in the CRUL document...

Well, !^#@$%. I thought it was in the CRUL.

It isn't.

Darn. What's the drill with regards to updating the CRUL when new clarifications are issued or old clarifications which aren't already included in the CRUL are added? Will a new version be put up on Commander's Circle to replace the old one, and will this be a regular/periodic thing or something which is done once enough updates have been issued to make it worthwhile, etc.? Well done and thanks for doing this though, it's looking like it's gonna come in really handy.

Well, Steve has created a new stickied topic for just this purpose. So, now we do have a mechanism to handle such issues.

That's a good idea, certainly beats flicking through Communiques to find the answers. It means we now have a "five minute fix" option for when such clarifications arise, all in one central place.