Can Dutch give his ability to a stressed ship?  Would it keep the lock if it moved with a red manuver after receiving the target lock?

sirchristopher2 said:

Yes, Dutch may use his ability to give a target lock to a ship with a stress token because he is not giving the ship a target lock action. And no, ships do not lose a target lock because they perform a red maneuver. There's nothing in the rules to suggest that.

Jim

Can "Dutch" Vander give a target lock to any (friendly) ship, even one that does not have target lock in it's action bar?  I don't see anything that contradicts it but wanted to toss it out to the community for verification.

Sunsteel said:

At the moment at least, this isn't really relevant - all Rebel ships have the option to target lock.  If you're running something homebrew that mixes Imperial and Rebel ships, then it's pretty much up to you since it's all house rules anyway :)  But FWIW, I see two possible reads on this.

The rules interpretation: The action bar only dictates what actions a ship can take, nothing more.  For example, a ship with the Damaged Sensor Array critical hit can still have a Focus token passed to it by Garven, or gain one in other ways (such as Soontir Fel's ability).  It's not a perfect comparison, since the critical hit doesn't actually remove it from the action bar, but the concept is the same.

The fluff interpretation: Ships like TIE Fighters lack the Target Lock icon because they just don't have the equipment installed, because there's no need for it.  So no matter how much Dutch coordinates with them, there's simply nothing to let them lock on with.

Which you use probably depends a lot on how and why you're allowing mixed squads, but like I said, it's all house rule :)

This sounds like another decent candidate to send to the FAQ actually, but I think we can reason through it…

Dutch's power states:

"After acquiring a target lock, choose another friendly ship at Range 1-2. The ship may immediately acquire a target lock."

The thing to remember here is that "Acquire a Target Lock" is an action, so the text is referring to a specific action and does not say "place a target lock token" which would be more like Garven's power:

"After spending a focus token, you may place that token on any other friendly ship at Range 1-2 (instead of discarding it)."

Nor is it assigned like Soonter's power:

"When you receive a stress token, you may assign 1 focus token to your ship."

The Acquire a Target Lock entry in the rules states:

"Ships with the [target lock] icon in their action bar may perform the acquire a target lock action to place a pair of target lock tokens (see below). The player can choose to spend the target lock tokens later during the Combat phase to increase his chances of hitting the targeted ship (see “Spending Target Lock Tokens” on page 11)."

…

"Each ship capable of performing this action can maintain only one target lock (i.e., each ship can have only one blue target lock token assigned to it). However, multiple ships can target the same ship, so it is possible for a ship to have several red target lock tokens assigned to it."

The part that stands out for me in this section is that each ship capable of performing this action can maintain a target lock.

The last rule I would cite is on the side of page 20:

Breaking the Rules

Some abilities on cards conflict with the general rules. In case of a conflict, card text overrides the general rules.

If one card ability forbids an effect, while another ability allows it, the effect is forbidden.

Though it seems a bit ambiguous, I would posit that if for some reason a rebel pilot did not have the means to acquire a target lock, they could not benefit from Dutch's ability. For instance, if a pilot took a Damaged Sensor Array critical, they would no longer be able to acquire a target lock, so Dutch couldn't grant them that ability.

In the case of a new pilot without the target lock ability and having no card denying the target lock ability to a ship, I could see the arguement for the other side.

Also, Dutch doesn't offer it as a free action (which would clear up all ambiguity). This allows a ship with a stress token to benefit from it as well.

paradox23 said:

Except that Dutch's ability does not refer to an action, or let you take the action.  Just because it lets you do the same thing as the action would have does not mean it's an action.  Night Beast provides a good comparison for wording which would work the way you're thinking.

One other thing to add: I think the reason it doesn't just say "Place a target lock token" is because target locks are more involved than that.  You've got two tokens, and range limitations to consider.  But so long as Dutch's ability doesn't say "action", it's not an action.

Like I said, I could see it argued either way and am squarely on the fence when it comes to the hypotheticals. Two reasonable, intelligent people could easily come up on opposite sides of the debate.

And I agree, Dutch's ability is not a free action. If it was, the whole thing would be super clear. But there are about a dozen clearer ways they could have stated it if it were meant to resemble Garven's ability, that is why there is a question about it.

However, in what is currently the only possible application of it (via Damaged Sensor Array), I'd rule against it because a card that takes away the ability to do something supersedes a card that allows it. It's still ambiguous and I'd love a FAQ entry on it, but the arguement against seems just a little stronger (and even then, only by a little).

I have to admit that I'm a little confused at this point.

You agree that Dutch doesn't pass a free action.  He obviously can't let it be any other kind of action, so it's not an action.  The only thing that Damaged Sensor Array does is prevent you from performing the actions listed on the action bar.  So you say that Dutch doesn't give a free action, but you'd rule that a damage effect that prevents actions stops it?  How exactly would that work?

I agree that it is not a FREE action.

The part that makes me lean the way I do is that "Acquiring a Target" lock is an action. To clarify, that is the actual stated name of the action in the rules. And if you are no longer allowed to "Acquire a Target Lock", someone else cannot allow you to "Acquire a Target Lock".

Just going purely on the grammar of the rules and cards…

paradox23 said:

paradox23 said:

Damaged Sensor array doesn't actually "remove" actions from the action bar though. The card says "You cannot perform the actions listed in your action bar." So Dutch should still be able to give a free target lock because the ship with the Damaged Array isn't performing the action.  If the card actually said remove the actions, I'd agree, but that isn't what it says.  Would you prevent a ship with the Damaged Sensor Array from gaining a Focus token via Garven?  If no, why would you think Dutch couldn't pass a Target Lock?  The Damaged Sensor Array also wouldn't make an existing Target Lock disappear either.  I'm not sure an FAQ is actually needed here.

Jim

Emrico said:

"Target Lock" is not an action.  "Acquire a Target Lock" is actually the name of the action depicted by what we casually refer to as the Target Lock icon.

Damaged Sensor array says:

You cannot perform the actions listed in your action bar.

One of the actions listed on your action bar is called "Acquire a Target Lock".

Damaged Sensor array forbids you to "Acquire a Target Lock".

So, if Dutch offers you the ability to "Acquire a Target Lock" the damage should trump.

That's my reasoning at least. I agree that it is not perfect, but it seems to be more in line with the rulings I've seen thus far. 

paradox23 said:

The only difference between an Action and a Free Action is that "this action DOES NOT count as the one action allowed during the "Perform Action" step.  I'm not even sure it's possible for an action taken outside the perform action step to be anything but free.  I can't seem to find any examples of it.

You're conflating the steps you take to go through the action with the action itself.  If it doesn't say it's an action, it's not an action, no matter how similar the wording is.  By your interpretation, Dutch's ability would count against the 1 allowed action.  So if I were to move a Rookie Pilot and take a Focus action, then later move Dutch, Dutch couldn't let him Target Lock.

We also have a very solid precedent for this in the FAQ thanks to R5-K6.  The wording ("immediately acquire a target lock") is identical between Dutch and R5-K6.  The FAQ entry for R5-K6 explicitly says that this is not an action, allowing it to double up wtih the actual target lock action.

I think your arguement on taking actions is sound, but I don't think a ship that is incapable of performing this action can maintain a target lock. I think that the damage card trumps the ability to acquire a target lock and that the rules for target lock mention that ships capable of performing the "Acquire a Target Lock" action can maintain a target lock. 

That said, I concede that you could be spot on.  I just want official clarification because it is ambiguous.

That would directly violate the R5-K6 ruling in the FAQ.  If "acquire a target lock" could only be done when you could perform the action, then you wouldn't be able to use R5-K6 at all - you would be prohibited from taking the action because of the once-per-turn rule.

Buhallin said:

That faq entry was about the type of actions that can be performed. And since it was not a free action it was OK to do it again. You are 100% correct on how actions and free actions work. The broader part of my arguement that I think you may be missing is that the section on Acquiring a Target Lock states:

"Each ship capable of performing this action can maintain only one target lock (i.e., each ship can have only one blue target lock token assigned to it). However, multiple ships can target the same ship, so it is possible for a ship to have several red target lock tokens assigned to it."

I think that means you have to be able to perform that action to be able to maintain a lock. And even if Dutch temporarily allows them to perform that action, the damage card taketh it away.

I could be wrong. But I think once Damaged Sensor Array takes away your ability to Acquire a Target Lock is also takes away your abillity to maintain that lock.  Either way, I sent it in to the rules questions.