Anecdotal as it is, people also take their rulers when moving and bend it around the corner of buildings when walking around them, not properly measuring the quarter-half-radius circle that IJW has confirmed you have to measure, effectively saving 0.5" every time they round a corner. So that people in practice do something doesn't mean they follow the rules. The whole argument is here is that there are players in my meta who are extremely keen on how the rules can be used to deduce information* and they want to be able to limit the amount of misinformation they get from the opponent. One player who thought that the minelayer shell game and misinformation was part of the game asked me whether I knew of what CB's stance on the matter was as most people feel alienated by the forums and when I found I didn't know I put the question out here to hear what people thought. * as an example; the rules-established assumption that automatic skills are always used means that these players (and I count myself among them) can use that rule to sus out the few non-Stealth units in hidden identities because of how it forces the player to declare movement skills with it. That kind of clever game mechanics...
I still maintain that stealth is a mechanically broken rule that just needs to die in a fire already.
I think it's fine if you: A) need to announce you use it B) it prevents AROs declared vs that target from being valid when checked at Step 5 But that's OT.
As far as I can tell the rules dont say anywere. I would play that you are allowed to place the Mine after the trooper but not necessary immediately after. Usually I place my Minelayer Libertos with his mine together in Dashat (lack of real infiltration Minelayer) and it is not clear for many opponents which one the mine is, or that there is even a mine at all. So for me it is usually the more importent part to deplay minelayers NOT prone.
