Firestorm: Prime Edition
Official Rules Changes & Rulings Summary
October 1, 2001
Compiled by Dan Gray, Michael Nickoloff, & Frank Bustamante
Changes included in this summary will be incorporated into the applicable document as soon as possible.
Rulebook Changes
Changes are listed by rule number in the Prime Edition rulebook.
103 & 405.3
Rules 103 and 405.3 can be interpreted to contradict one another with regards to Total Victory. 103 implies that it is impossible to achieve a Total Victory unless all the other Homeworlds are conquered. This isn't the case. The description of Total Victory in 103 should now read, "Total Victory: A player controls the last remaining unconquered, undestroyed Homeworld." So eliminating all your opponents through use of the Tactical Bomb is an acceptable strategy to achieve Total Victory.
203
The four actions listed under "Deployment actions" in Rule 203 have been changed. Substitute, "Issue 1 command" with "Pay its command cost" within each of these actions.
306
The parenthetical description after "structure" in Rule 306 should now read, "(indicates how much damage the ship can take and how many combined total support cards and heroes may be attached or aboard)." The note on heroes was inadvertantly left out of the rulebook. This means that the sum of support cards attached to the ship plus heroes riding aboard it must be less than or equal to the ship's current structure. If this isn't true, the controller of the ship must immediately sacrifice enough support cards and/or hero cards so that the total is once again equal to the ship's structure.
Note that this doesn't change the rules for ships with the Fighter trait-regardless of structure, a Fighter can still have at most one hero aboard it and it cannot have any support cards attached to it.
307
Rule 307 adds the following sentence, "If a planet, ship, or hero changes controllers, all attached support cards remain with that planet, ship, or hero, but they themselves do not switch controllers."
505
The last part of Rule 505 conflicts with the Quick Start rules with regards to when a combat ends. The Quick Start rules are correct. The last part of Rule 505 (following the bullets after "If an action asks someone to do something to the opposing fleet or to a ship in the opposing fleet. . .") should now read:
"Combat continues until all players pass in a row. If every ship in the defending fleet is destroyed or retreated, and the target of the attack was planet or a ship not in the defending fleet at this location, the remaining ships in the attacking fleet must continue the combat until both players pass. If this happens, combat continues with the next player to have an action and until every player passes in a row.
When a combat ends, no further ship movement occurs, and any surviving ships remain at the location where the combat occurred. Turn every ship that joined either fleet in the combat and that is still at the location of the combat. Note that if the target was a ship, and the ship didn't join the defending fleet, it won't turn, nor will any other ships at the location that didn't join a fleet."
To clarify, combat continues until every player who is eligible to take an action passes in a row. Combat will still continue even if one fleet is totally wiped out, the target is destroyed, both fleets are eliminated, etc.
605
The last bullet should read, "Combat React: Sacrifice this Fighter as damage is being inflicted on a ship you control at the same location to prevent 1 damage to that ship."
"At the same location" was inadvertantly left off this ability.
Rules Clarifications
Fate Cards in Hero Combat
If you place a card from your draw pile while the attacking player in a hero combat, and that card turns out to be a Fate card, it does in fact go off. Hero combat immediately stops while the Fate card is dealt with. Once that's finished, reveal the top card of your draw pile to replace the Fate card (since Fate cards don't have a cosmic value), and continue hero combat using the new card normally. (Yes, if you reveal multiple Fate cards in a row this way, they'll all go off.)
Locations
Locations outside a player's Star System and adjacent only to the Firestorm only exist if a player has deployed a planet there. You can't move into a "phantom" location, though if someone deploys a planet, and it ends up destroyed, the location will still be there.
Losing the Game
Anytime a condition where a player would lose the game becomes true, that player immediately loses the game, and all the cards he or she controls instantly leave the game. If this happens during a ship combat, continue the combat normally, even if there's no longer a target or opposing fleet to shoot at, and even if there's now only one player eligible to play combat actions. If this happens during a hero combat so that there's only one hero left in the combat, the hero combat immediately ends.
This includes not only losing due to a player's Homeworld being destroyed, but also due to any other effect (usually from an advantage card like Overrun).
Sacrifices
A sacrifice counts as recycling or terminating whatever you sacrifice (as appropriate), so things that trigger or count recycles or terminates will see it. Note, however, that sacrifices themselves can't be prevented, even by cards that prevent a recycle or a terminate (though things that say, "Recycle instead of terminate" or "terminate instead of recycle" will function normally).
Ship Combat
- During a ship combat where the target of the attack is a planet, note that the planet can't participate in the attack using its guns or shields actions (assuming it has combat and power stats) until the attacking fleet has bypassed all of the ships in the defending fleet (that is, all the defenders are destroyed or retreated). Once this happens, and the attacker is free to shoot at the planet, the planet is now free to shoot back at the attackers. The planet may use any attached support cards with Combat actions (ex: Planetary Cannons).
- During a ship combat, if the attacking fleet bypasses the defending fleet (all defenders are destroyed or retreated), and the fleet then goes on to face the target, the action order isn't interrupted. So if the last action by the attacking player removes the final defender, the defending player can now fire on the attacking fleet using the target ship or planet, or take any other legal action before the attacking player gets a chance to fire at the target. The opposite of this is also true-if the defending fleet is eliminated due to a defending player action, the attacking player then gets first chance at the target.
- To determine how much and what sorts of damage two ships firing using the Sync trait inflict, use the following procedure:
- The player firing the guns removes energy from the two ships and declares they are firing using Sync.
- The firing player chooses what ship will receive the damage. If either ship has the "May divide damage among two targets" ability, the firing player may only divide that particular ship's damage among two targets. If some damage is piercing and some isn't, determine (if necessary) where the piercing damage is going now.
- Time for Reacts. Each of the two Syncing ships can use a single hero to modify its damage.
- Determine how much damage will be inflicted (for only one ship, sum the two Syncing ships' guns, then subtract any prevented damage).
- Inflict the damage.
- The phrases "in either fleet" or "in
fleet" have an implied, "at this location" tacked onto the end of them. This means you can't fire up the Planetary Cannons from three planets away to start gunning things down.
Ship Movement
To move more than one ship (using the last action under Movement or the second under Combination in Rule 203), all the moving ships must both start out and end up in the same location. If you want move to move ships from different origins or to different destinations, you'll have to take two (or more) separate actions.
Spies
Spies can move onto enemy ships, but they count against that ship's hero/support limit (see item 3 in Rulebook Changes above), and if the ship suffers damage such that the controller has to kill some heroes aboard it, the controller chooses which ones to kill, and can kill your Spy. Spies can also hang out in the orbit of a location with a planet (handy if you think the planet is about to get blown up), and can even initiate hero combats from there onto the planet or nearby ships, etc. Spies can't start a ship combat-they can only move like ships; they aren't actually ships.
Card Rulings & Errata
Cluster Missile
Military, Retrofit, Weapon
Combat: Turn and sacrifice Cluster Missile to reveal the top card of
your draw pile. Cluster Missile deals X damage to target ship in the
opposing fleet, where X is the revealed card's cosmic value plus 1.
Cluster Missile was reworded to sacrifice it as a cost of playing the effect.
Command Post
You may attach Command Post to a planet you don't control. You may deploy heroes at subject planet's location. While Command Post is attached to a planet that isn't in your Star System, you have +1 maximum commands.
Remember that you must pay any additional costs if there are already support cards attached to target subject planet (see Rule 307 Support Cards).
Conscience
Play as an opponent declares an attack targeting a planet in your Star System that has no ships you control at its location and that has no combat and power statistics. Cancel the attack unless the opponent issues an additional command.This errata is to clarify when Conscience is played and how it is supposed to work. The attack is cancelled (assuming he or she doesn't issue a command) before the attacking player even has a chance to move ships or a form a fleet. It can't be used to cancel an attack already in progress (i.e., once you allow the attacking player to start moving ships in and forming the attacking fleet, it's too late to cancel that particular attack, even if the conditions become true later).
D14 Missile
Military, Retrofit, Weapon
The traits were accidentally printed in the wrong order. This has no effect on game play.
Foz
Scientist, Soven, Voicing
The "Voicing: 2" printed on the card was inadvertantly left there from a previous version of the rules.
Herbalist
Soven, Medic
The "Medic: 2" printed on the card was inadvertantly left there from a previous version of the rules.
Mercenary Carrier
Mercenary Carrier can't join an attacking or defending fleet unless you
pay 1 resource as it would join the fleet.
Limited Combat: Pay 4
resources to return a Fighter card from your recycle pile to play at
Mercenary Carrier's location. The Fighter joins Mercenary Carrier's
fleet. At end of combat, recycle the Fighter.
Cards cannot target cards not in play.
Mining Asteroid
When Mining Asteroid comes into play, put 5 ore counters on it. Ignore this effect if Mining Asteroid comes into play at a location not in a player's Star System.
Limited Main: Remove an ore counter from Mining Asteroid to gain 1 resource.
This errata is to make it clear you don't get mining counters outside a player's Star System, and it also serves to clear up the old wording which could easily be interpreted to imply that Mining Asteroid can be deployed into a player's Star System after the game has begun.
Orbital Space Station
Limited Main: Unturn target ship in Orbital Space Station's Star System.
Prefect Lusana Alsyriun
React: Play as two ships you control in Lusana Alsyriun's fleet would inflict combat damage
using the Sync trait to have those ships each inflict +1 damage. You can only do this once each
time Lusana's ship inflicts combat damage.
This doesn't count against the hero combat damage modifier limit for either ship.
This is to make it clear that you can use Lusana's React game effect, and then use an additional hero on each ship (or even use Lusana's own Military rules action) to further modify the damage. It's also intended to make it clear that you can't play the React multiple times on a single shot.
Revenge
React: Play as a ship or hero you control would be recycled or terminated by a card or game effect an opponent controls. Ships you control get +2/-1 combat (minimum 0/0) until end of turn.
Sudden Strike
Combat React: Play as a ship you control would inflict combat damage. Shields
can't prevent this damage. Until the damage action is complete, the ship that
would suffer the damage gains, "React: Spend 1 energy from this ship and reveal the top card
of your draw pile to prevent X damage to this ship, where X is the revealed card's cosmic value."
"From this ship" was inadvertently left off of the card.
Card Clarifications
Multiple Choices
Neither of the other two advantages you elect to place face down can be one that must begin the game revealed, so neither of them can be a second copy of Multiple Choices.