Oh right - they should. The Republic troopers that come in through Affinity are supposed to get her Rapport, so the Bribery folks should, too. Hello 10 Mouse dump for 1 point each.*

(I almost expect a ruling that they don't just to avoid the 1-point Mouse... but it would be only 10 mice in the worst case.)

*Although Gha doesn't exactly mesh with anything else in a typical Daala squad, so maybe not.

So they are worth fewer victory points to the opponent but they don't increase the size of your squad? What strange ruling that would be. I can understand that you can't use Daala's Rapport to steal more than 10 points worth from the opponent, but the original selection comes into the squad at the same time as Reinforcements, so I'd think Rapport would work with those as normal.

*shrug*

Just seems needlessly complex to make Bribery > Imperial work so much differently from Affinity (Imperial).

But Affinity also happens during Reinforcements, which is the same time as Bribery.

For example, can't you bring a Yuuzhan Vong Ossus Guardian into the New Republic with Garm's reinforcements? (I know you can't bring it into the Rebels.)



In any case, I added this question to the list of questions that could be answered with step-by-step sequences for pre-game and pre-initiative (similar to what we have for attack resolution).
http://www.bloomilk.com/Forums/default.aspx?g=posts&t=13288

Good question regarding timing, but moot point in practice. Disra has Rival with Pellaeon.

(Actually... maybe it's not completely a moot point. Unique is ignored in sealed. Is Rival? It probably should be. If so, then it's no longer a moot point.)

I was looking for a more direct example where Affinity, Rapport, and Reinforcements all come together at the same time the way it does with Bribery, Rapport, and changing the faction to Imperial. Turns out there isn't one, but there is for Reserves, which would raise the same issue.

Suppose Disra is in a squad with Daala. Daala gets Imperial Reserves. She chooses to bring in a Clone Trooper with Flamethrower, using Disra Affinity. Can she also use her own Rapport to bring in two of them? (They're 11 points to start.) The Rapport depends on them being Imperial, but they aren't Imperial until they are in the squad. Does their faction change "in time" to take advantage of Rapport? I know it works during squadbuilding (that answer is in some thread somewhere), but what about characters added later during Reinforcements and Reserves?

I think Bribery needs to be revisited because they should all work the same. I can't find the 'official' glossary entry for Bribery. It debuted in Vengeance, but I don't see a link for the Vengeance glossary - just for the FAQ.

The card text for different versions of Bribery has a slight wording difference that could be interpreted to mean that different Bribery flavors grant their abilities at different times. Bribery should have a common glossary entry that clarifies that the rules on timing for any Bribery flavor are all the same. Here are the 3 versions so far:



During setup, after seeing your opponents squad, you may add up to 10 points of living Fringe characters to your squad. After setup, you may choose to select up to 10 points of your opponent's characters brought in through reinforcements instead of your original selection. These characters join your squad for the rest of the skirmish, gain Zann Consortium and set up in your starting area.

During setup, after seeing your opponent's squad, you may add up to 10 points of Fringe or Imperial characters to your squad. After setup, you may choose to select up to 10 points of your opponent's characters brought in through reinforcements instead of your original selection. These characters join your squad for the rest of the skirmish, are considered Imperial for the rest of the skirmish, and are set up in your starting area.

During setup, after seeing your opponent’s squad, you may add up to 10 points of Fringe characters to your squad. After setup, you may choose to select up to 10 points of your opponent's characters brought in through reinforcements instead of your original selection. These characters join your squad for the rest of the skirmish, and set up in your starting area. Living characters brought in through this ability gain Con Artist.


The underlined part could indicate that the Bribery for Imperial works differently from Affinity. With Affinity, the faction changes as you enter the squad, so a Rapport that triggers on faction would be in effect during squadbuilding or reinforcement-building or reserves-building. But maybe Bribery doesn't change the faction until *after* the Bribery is resolved. Based on that, I can see Echo's argument. (I disagree with it, but I can see where it comes from.)

Problem is that the wording is different for Bribery> Zann Consortium and Con Artist, where it indicates the effects are all simultaneous: join the squad, set up, and get the benefit. Changing the timing for granting the benefits of one Bribery but not the others is a huge mess. That would make Bribery>Imperial work differently from both Affinity and the other Bribery abilities, when it looks like it should act just like both of them.

Where is the Vengeance glossary? If it was never actually published and there's just the FAQ (I couldn't find the Vengeance glossary), then the easy solution is to just make a glossary entry that clarifies Bribery the way it should be for all flavors of the ability - presumably in a way that doesn't allow 1-pt Mice. Although, it's only 10 mice that Daala/Disra/Gha can provide... which is no worse than the 10-mouse dump that Lobot can do. So while not preferable, if fixing it makes the rules too horrendously ugly, it's probably something we could live with.

Are you sure about that? I was just reading the glossary and FAQ and both only talk about Rapport reducing the cost of characters when they are added to the squad. Not saying you're wrong - I really don't know. But it would seem an odd ruling.

Urbanjedi just said that the Rapport character has to be alive to grant Rapport - not just "in the squad". (http://www.bloomilk.com/Forums/default.aspx?g=posts&m=155023#155023) If urbanjedi and you are both correct, then the rule for applying Rapport becomes,

Consider these possibilities:
a) Cost is reduced from Rapport only if Rapport is active (relevant characters alive) when added to the squad.
b) Cost is reduced from Rapport only while Rapport is active (relevant characters alive).
c) Cost is reduced from Rapport while the relevant characters are "in the squad" (including defeated).
d) Cost is permanently reduced from Rapport if the relevant condition is ever met.

If you and urbanjedi are both correct, then a and c are incorrect. I know b is incorrect - if you defeat Gha first, Mice aren't suddenly worth more victory points when killed. That leaves (d), but (d) would also mean that Gha reduces the cost (victory points) of enemy droids if he betrays into the other squad. Maybe that's true, but I'd never heard of that before and it seems odd.

===
(Or maybe b is correct after all. Still waiting on an answer for this one.)