Can Ryuken Unit-9 with Forward Deployment plant his D-Charge directly on an objective during deployment as long as the objective is within it's deployment area? For example in The Grid?
Using Grid as an example: The deployment of the Deployable Weapon or piece of Equipment must follow the Deployment general conditions. and "It is not permitted to deploy in base contact with the Antennas." Seems like a fairly definite "no" to me.
Isn’t the fact that the game turns haven’t begun also at issue? From the Traits page: In the Active Turn, the trooper can deploy the Deployable weapon or Equipment in base contact or, if he moved, in base contact with any part of his route. In the Reactive Turn, the trooper must deploy the Deployable weapon or Equipment in base contact. A Deployable weapon or Equipment is not considered deployed until the Conclusion of the Order. Deployment requires an active or reactive turn Order, and no Orders can be spent until at least the first player turn, so I’ve just assumed there’s no means of deploying equipment; unless there’s any exception to this?
I remember this coming up during the initial N3 release; the only way to make use of this I can think of is if you infiltrate past the center line, you could start with a d-charge already attached to your sabotage target. As always, remember that you have to declare the placement of the deployable before making the PH roll, as if you fail it, it is lost.
If you want to be nit-picky about the rules, they should exist as markers just like mines and such, when used as a Deployable Weapon. People just don't tend to play it that way. Deployable Mode. Using D-Charges as Deployable Weapons is a two-step process: Planting and Detonating. Planting a D-Charge on a piece of scenery or on an enemy trooper in an Immobilized (IMM-1 or IMM-2) or any Null state. In base to base contact, spend one Short Skill of an Order or ARO. No Roll needed. Detonating a D-Charge. The user, or another friendly trooper with D-Charges or the Special Skill Engineer, spends one Short Skill of an Order or an ARO (if ARO Requirements are fulfilled). No Roll needed. D-Charges can only be detonated if they have been previously planted. Deployable. The user of this weapon or piece of Equipment can place it on the battlefield—but never on a vertical surface— whereupon it becomes an independent element. Deployable weapons and Equipment have their own profile with Attributes, and are targetable by Attacks and Skills. The placement of Deployable weapons and Equipment cannot violate the Deployment rules or any restrictions on deployment put forth by the rules of the scenario being played. In the Active Turn, the trooper can deploy the Deployable weapon or Equipment in base contact or, if he moved, in base contact with any part of his route. In the Reactive Turn, the trooper must deploy the Deployable weapon or Equipment in base contact. A Deployable weapon or Equipment is not considered deployed until the Conclusion of the Order.
That's a good point @macfergusson . TBH, I don't think D-charges should even be deployable, they don't work like other deployable equipment.
Planting a D-charge is technically a CC attack which allows you the option to place it as a deployable, since minelayer only lets you place deployable weapons, you can't make the CC attack with it that allows you to plant it as a deployable...
Not a D-charge, specifically a D-charge used as a Deployable Weapon. In the definition of the Deployable trait I already quoted, which applies to Mines as well, it speaks of "an independent element" on the table. D-Charges are able to be used as Deployable weapon, per the rules I already quoted, which fulfills all the requirements of Minelayer. As @toadchild already brought up, this basically is only useful for Classified: Sabotage, at this point.
Sabotage requires the target to be on the opponent's side of the map, so that requires an infiltrating minelayer with D-charges, which I don't think exists or we have received knowledge will exist. Pretty much boils down to that one ITS mission (The Grid?), getting access to The Armory and any homebrews using targets in the friendly zone or with destructible terrain.
If there are no D-Charge equipped Minelayers with Infiltration, this entire conversation is pointless, because that's the only way any of these situations work. Without Infiltration, you can't minelayer anything outside of your own Deployment Zone.
Ah I see, I was thinking about infiltration as encompassing all "outside of the DZ" type stuff. So yeah, if that's the case, this would be the one profile where an edge case might make that combination rarely useful.
Honestly, I think it's a legit tactic and a case for Minesweepers and Deactivators to be of more use. Just need mission critical stuff immune during turn 1 more often.
FD lvl 2 allow you to reach the middle of the table only in mission with 40 cm large deployment zone. I'm not sure it's enough to be B2B with a scenery fully in the opponent half : scenery would have to be on the exact limit between the two half o be reachable, does it count as "fully in the opponent half" then ?
If either player is questioning whether your target is "fully in the opponent's half" then I'd say it isn't.