Federation Commander

TRACTOR BEAM Question:

“No ship can tractor more than one ship at the
same time and must release one tractor link (losing
all of the energy in it) to tractor another ship.�

Pg 62 RRB

Can a single ship ATTEMPT to tractor more than one enemy ship in a single Other Functions phase?

For example:
My D7 tries to tractor beam an enemy FF which spends the point of power to repulse it and so my D7 decides not to continue, but it does attempt to tractor FF #2. The D-7 then spends 2 power in the attempt but FF#2 spends two points to repulse it. So I move on to try to Tractor FF#3 and spend 2 points of power. FF#3 spends 2 power to repulse the tractor and the D-7 ceases all attempts.

The reality is that I did not care about getting any of these ships in a tractor beam, I was simply trying to drain power from as many ships as possible. The reasons I would do this are speculative and a bit dubious, but could it be done?

Another question is this, could I tractor and then drop a tractor link in the same “Other Functions Phase�? See rule quote from above. It seems to imply that I could tractor a ship and then be forced to drop it when I attempt to tractor another ship.

I am envisioning a tactic where I use single ship to essentially drain the power from multiple ships to prevent them from having excess power for weapons later. It may not be a viable tactic as the ship doing the tractor beaming might get destroyed before making the attempt. It may be a rule loophole that should be explicitly closed. If not I can envision this is an advanced specialty tactic that MAY be useful to the Lyrans. Yes if someone knows what I am attempting, it could be countered, but that is the risk with any tactic.

Keep in mind, I am not asking whether this would be a good idea tactically (I know it might be a very bad idea), I am asking if the rules would allow it.

Thanks. ~ Pat

Patrick Doyle wrote:Another question is this, could I tractor and then drop a tractor link in the same “Other Functions Phase�? See rule quote from above. It seems to imply that I could tractor a ship and then be forced to drop it when I attempt to tractor another ship.

Yes. Check out http://www.starfleetgames.com/federatio ... c&start=15 , about 1/3 way down the page.

Pertinent quote from MJWest from the referenced thread above:

Yes, you may apply a tractor beam and then subsequently drop it all in the same Other Functions Phase.

Using a tractor to engage in a tractor auction with the specific intent of breaking another tractor beam is a valid use.

Do note that this counts as the use of that tractor for that turn. So, if that was your only tractor, you have to wait until next turn to use it again.

Thanks for the reference.

The only thing I still need to know is if I can make multiple tractor attempts. I would think the answer is yes.

Patrick Doyle wrote:Can a single ship ATTEMPT to tractor more than one enemy ship in a single Other Functions phase?

I had to think this one through a few times. Oddly, the answer is "Yes," but, in effect, it is, "No."

The precedent in Federation Commander is for all activity within a given phase/step to be simultaneous. Therefore, tractor activity within the tractor step of the Other Functions phase is simultaneous. You could declare multiple attempts, and they would be resolved in the order you choose.

But, because of the rule you quoted, only the last one means anything. The reason is because by declaring the attempt, you are committed to the attempt. To make the second attempt, you must release the first tractor (assuming it was successful). To make the third attempt, then the second tractor must be released in order (again, assuming it was successful). As a result, your opponent(s) have no reason to fight any tractor other than the last one declared. In effect, you are simply sapping power from your own ship, not your opponent.

So, for your purposes, the answer is, "No."

As has already been pointed out, you can establish and release a tractor in the same phase. The use in the other thread was to break someone else's tractor hold on something.

That's a great explanation, thank you Mike.