The overlapping issue is HA sorted: You can do it without limit, but AC can attack small bases hidding in large bases.
..and torpedoes can not? So I can protect my Repulsive from boarding torps by putting it "inside" my Desolater? (I could not do this in good conscience, but I'm sure a number of people will squeeze every edge case benefit out of this official ruling that they can) Was there any play testing to try and sort out if the game changes or to find any other ways this can be abused?
If two ships with the same base size are on-top of each other, how do I determine which base the torps are resolved against first? A die roll or attacker/defender choice? What if two ships stacked fire torps...since the torps come from the stem, do they automatically hit the other friendly ship?
What about AC stacking? Is that permitted now or is this only for ship bases? How about defenses, can they stack?
Russ
Yes, attack craft can now pick out shps hiding inside a ships base, which are basically treated as if boteh bases are edge-on when the attack craft touch it. Keep in mind that massing turrets still works normally in this case.
No, this would NOT work for torpedoes. Torpedoes are much dumber than attack craft, just as a Harpoon missile is far more dangerous against friendly ships than say an F/A-18 Hornet. I would say torpedoes will only attack the first base they come in contact with, but that's just coming from me without rolling any dice and has not yet been discussed with Ray and Bob.
Bases stacking on each other is supposed to result from an unhappy accident when trying to move your ships maximum distance and optimum firing arc. If a player is purposely stacking their ships so perfectly that they are for all intents and purposes occupying teh same place in 2D space and there's no way to tell which one is closer, then I say the attacking payer gets to pick, just as teh attacking player gets to pick if firing between closing and abeam if the target ship is right on the line between fire arcs. Again, that's just me.
Two ships stacking torpedoes when firing doesn't work the same way because individual ships launch ordnance separately, just as they shoot separately. If they happen to be in a squadron it isn't an issue either because if in a squadron
AND in base contact, they may combine torp salvoes (except Ork Ravagers). Now if a friendly ship is in base contact and "firing through" another friendlly ship that it is not in a squadron with, the rule in the past has been that you have to defend yourself. However, I have always played it that if teh friendly ships were actually in base contact, they don't have to, following the same logic of how squadrons behave. That however is NOT in the FAQ an will need an HA ruling- I'll get to work on that. See, this is why having you guys dissect a first draft works so great!
We have specifically ruled in the FAQ against AC in an individual wave stacking,though there is no reason why different waves can't stack as long as they are ALWAYS treated as different waves, including when attacking and being atacked. Defenses on the other hand don't move. While I don't have a problem with defenses being in base contact, actually stacking defenses is just plan cheating. I say no and boo, but that's just me and will require an HA ruling.
- Nate
