This page contains a compilation of the Babylon 5 Wars rules questions that have come up in my local B5W group and the answers/clarifications we have received for them from Bruce Graw over at Agents of Gaming. These answers are posted here with the permission of Agents of Gaming. Only the text marked as official should be read as official rulings or clarifications. Any additional commentary on this page has been generated locally and should be considered suspect.
In some cases I have expanded on the AoG answer to a question with my own interpretation of the rule. Whenever I do that I will mark the text as clearly as possible. Anything I say should not be considered to be official AoG material.
Note: As of 11/1/02, AoG is no longer in business. No further additions are likely to be made to this page.
General
Q: The rules for variants and ship rarity are a little unclear. What do you need to include in a fleet in order to take extra uncommon or rare units? The rules seem to imply that the number of variants you can have in your fleet is restricted based on the number of copies of each variant's 'base hull' present in the fleet, but the terminology used in the rules implies that 'ship class' applies to an entire size category of ship. (e.g. capital ship, heavy combat vessel, etc.) Which is the correct restriction?
BG: "Ship class" in this context refers to the base hull and anything that says it is a variant of that hull.
Example: In order for a narn fleet to contain two G'Quonth attack cruisers (an uncommon variant of the G'Quan) you would also have to include at least two base model G'Quan heavy cruisers. Those two G'Quans could not be replaced with some other capital ship type such as T'Loths or a Var'Nics.
Q: If a ship is moving along and pivots two hex sides (so she is facing two hex sides away from her direction of travel), can the controlling player voluntarily decide that his ship is moving in reverse? This becomes important if the player wishes to execute a manuver such as turning into the ship's pivot. Example:
BG: Yes, this is 100% legal. At the moment the ship makes the second pivot, so that it faces away from its direction of motion it is by nature then moving in reverse and can take advantage of the 'turning into the pivot' rule.
Q: There seems to be a contradiction between the rules for called shots in the Rules compendium and the official B5W FAQ. In the RC it says that ballistic weapons are incapable of called shots (unless specified by the weapon in question), but in the FAQ it says that they are capable of called shots at the normal penalty. Which is correct?
BG: The FAQ is more up to date, therefore it is correct. However, if you call a shot against a system that winds up facing away from your launch point, it cannot be hit; you still have to roll to-hit with the penalty.
Q: Showdowns 1 states that asteroids block line of sight through their hex. Do they block line of sight if you are shooting at a ship that is actually in the asteroid hex?
BG: [It] depends on what 'side' of the asteroid hex the ship is on. The ship is located on the side that was facing the ship when it entered the hex. (If it was there before the scenario started, the player has to assign a side before play begins.) If the line of sight can be traced to the ship's side of the hex without touching any other side, it has LOS, otherwise it doesn't.
Q: Do asteroids block line of sight if both the attacker and defender are in the same hex?
BG: Same as above. [Use the ruling from the preceding question.]
My interpretation: The ships have LOS to each other if they are on the same side of the asteroid hex.
Q: What happens if an area of effect weapon such as an energy mine detonates in or near an asteroid hex? Do the ships inside the asteroid region suffer damage from the effect?
BG: Only if they have LOS to the center point of the blast. Otherwise the asteroids shield them.
Q: I have, of late, been noticing that some people seem to be implying that you can use fighters other than the Rutarian on the Dargan. Is this possible? Or is the Dargan's hanger "Rutarian Only"?
BG: Yes, you can use any fighters. I apologize for the confusion. Originally it was intended to only allow Rutarians, but we relaxed the restriction to allow better use of the CSS (now you can make it look like another carrier and not give it away the moment it launches).
Q: I am a little confused about the point pulsar rules. How do you determine how many pulses hit? Do all 3 hit automatically, or do you roll to hit for each pulse, or is it d3 pulses with the grouping range listed on the SCS? Is it the same if you target a specific system with the shot?
BG: Effectively, there are two ways to use this weapon. You can use it as a standard pulse gun with three shots and the grouping range shown using the standard pulse rules. [Alternatively] you can fire them individually as the rules state. If you fire them that way each [pulse] rolls to hit indivitually and ignores most of the pulse rules, except that you can target them on specific fighters in a flight of your choosing. You also get that lovely called shot bonus [when firing in targeted mode.] You don't get that bonus if you fire in the standard [pulse] manner.
Note: Since Bruce did not correct me, I assume that the pulse mode uses a D3 for the pulse die before adding the grouping bonus.
Q: Can the Hyach called shot specialist be used in any scenario? (including those where called shots are not normally allowed)
BG: only if you are allowing called shots.
Q: The rules text for the called shot specialist refers to him being assigned to the Spinal Laser, and how he then takes up two specialist slots. Looking at the called shot rules, they state that you can only use called shots with non-ballistic standard mode weapons, unless the rules for a given weapon say otherwise. Now, does this mean that the specialist's ability over rides the "standard mode only" rule, or is this specialist simply useless on raking weapons?
BG: On a spinal laser he overrides this rule. Successive rakes continue to strike the called system until [it is] destroyed. Then they hit other things at random [like a normal raking mode shot.]
Q: The Hyach Senchlat Kam and Senchlat Kes both seem to have weapons systems in their primary sections but they do not appear on the primary hit chart for either ship. What is the correct hit location chart for those ships?
BG: Hit 6-7 [On the primary hit chart] should be either kind of laser.
Update (6/18/02): Upon reviewing the Senchlat Kam SCS, I noticed that the primary hit chart shows primary structure getting hit on a 1-8. I emailed Bruce to get a correction:
BG: Sorry, I meant to say that the last two hits [7-8] of structure should be replaced with laser hits.
Q: How would the Ipsha resonance generator deal damage to a Vree vessel given that the Vree have no external hull sections?
BG: The number of attacks is as listed (five for capitals, three for HCVs, etc.). Roll [the hit location for each attack] as though it was coming from the appropriate direction. Any weapon or system that faces through that arc is eligible for damage [from that attack.]
Q: The Ipsha mag-gravitic reactor has a unique critical hit chart. The final entry (29+: Catastrophic field disruption) states that the reactor must check for explosions like a jump engine. This is very different from a normal reactor explosion since a jump engine has a percentage chance to detonate equal to the [percentage of the jump engine that is destroyed.] A normal reactor would have a percentage chance of blowing up equal to the number of destroyed boxes in the reactor, regardless of what fraction of the reactor is destroyed. Is this correct?
BG: Yes, that's correct as listed.
Q: How does the plasma web work with ballistic weapons? Can it be used? What hex does it defend against?
BG: [Note: This answer is composed from two separate replies. I have tried to remain as faithful to Bruce's original wording as possible. - Ed] It would work against ballistics just like any other weapon. In fact, it would protect against all ballistics launched from a given hex, making it a great thing to use against a Saggie.
You pick the hex the missiles were launched from.
Q: If I deactivate a plasma cannon to provide power for something else (such as an extra point of sensor) during the power allocation step of a turn, can I use a plasma battery to keep it armed that turn or would I end up resetting its arming sequence to zero and have to recharge the gun from scratch?
BG: You could do this [(keep the gun armed and ready to fire)] IF you shunted the battery into it at the exact moment [you shut down the gun.] (i.e. while allocating energy shifts). If you tried to do it afterwards, say to react to an opponent moving in front of you, it's too late.
Q: A player may add extra power to the fusion agitator to get extra damage. Is this done like virtually every other weapon you can do this sort of thing with, where you pay the extra power on the turn you fire the weapon, or do you have to power the weapon with the extra power for the whole arming cycle? My instinctive reaction would be to go with the way all the other guns go, but they are all weapons that fire every turn, as opposed to 1 per 3 turns.
BG: [You only have to supply the extra power] on the final turn. If it required it over the whole arming cycle, like sustained weapons, it would explain that, as that is the exception rather than the general rule.
Q: How does the molecular agitator affect advanced armor?
A: See Ancients below
Q: In Wars of the Ancients the Shadow battlecruiser has six separate energy diffusers. I assume that half are hit from the left side and half from the right. Is this correct? The rules on the SCS are not clear. Does each diffuser cover a separate 60 degree arc?
BG: One set covers the left side, the other the right side.
Q: If you use the higher level ancients rules from the Wars of the Ancients supplement do you apply the 50% point cost increase before or after adding enhancements such as Vorlon ship color enhancements?
BG: It's applied to the base cost.
Q: Does the Yolu Molecular Agitator ignore the first point of advanced armor or would the AA be at full value? If it ignores the first point, would it also ignore the first point of the Kirishiac's hardened advanced armor?
BG: Yes [it ignores the first point of advanced armor] and yes [it ignores the first point of hardened advanced armor.]
Q: Can a Vorlon ship still shut off its weapons and shields to double its Self-Repair after its Capacitor has been destroyed? For that matter, what will work on a Vorlon ship without a Capacitor?
BG: If the capacitor is destroyed, it's like a ship with no reactor - anything that requires power (even if it has a zero, like the shields) won't work. Because these things don't work, then turning them off won't gain you any benefits. An item without a power icon, like a thruster, will still function.
I'd like to thank Bruce Graw for answering our questions and nit-picks and for giving me permission to post this Q&A.
You can email questions or comments about this page to me at b5w@klargia.com
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Babylon 5 Wars is copyrighted by Agents of Gaming. The name Babylon 5 Wars and the rulings presented here are presented with the express permission of Agents of Gaming.