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Hello dakka i'm playing dominion and have some questions about the card long range tachyon scan, the text for the card reads "when attacking a ship at range 3, you may spend 1 scan token

to force that ship to roll 2 less defense dice this round." I have two questions about this. First does the Romulan card artificial quantum singularity negate this ability like it does a normal scan

token? And second the card reads that the ship rolls 2 less defense dice this round, does that mean that the affected ship rolls 2 less defense against all ships this round or only against the

ship that used the card on the ship. Thanks

You've actually found something clever here...

Artificial Quantum Singularity (AQS) is
"In spite of the presence of an opposing ship's SCAN token."

Normally, when you do a normal SCAN action, you do not SPEND your Scan token. It is just the presence of the token, gives the enemy ships -1 defence dice when you shoot at it with that specific ship.

So, AQS works out fine and dandy.


HOWEVER

Long Range Tachyon Scan is. *SPEND* your scan token. - Once you do that, the Scan Token no longer exists, it's gone, removed. And your opponent gets -2 defence dice. So, AQS does NOT work at all, as there is no SCAN token present at the time it triggers, it's been spent.

As for the. "-2 Defence Dice this round" part, that's actually even cleverer.

There's a rule in the game that is, whenever something specifies 'this round' that means, it is the total number that happens for "this round." So, that means, the enemy ship would have to roll a total of -2 defence dice during the course of that round.

Which means, if it's something like a Borg Cube, which has 0 Agility as standard, you could make it lose 1 defence dice, from your range 3 attack with that ship. Then a second defence dice, with another Range 3 attack with a different ship.

Creating a total of 2 less defence dice this round.

It's why, I assume, there is actually a 'Long Range Tachyon Scan' counter in the box. - You give that to the ship you've Tachyon'ed as a reminder.

Even with Artificial Quantum Singularity the Tachyon Scan will work because you spend the scan token to use it. Therefore there will be no scan token next to the ship during the roll defense dice step.

The -2 defense dice is applied to every attack, just as if you hit a ship with an EM pulse. Also multiples do stack.

 Mr. S Baldrick wrote:

The -2 defense dice is applied to every attack, just as if you hit a ship with an EM pulse. Also multiples do stack.

Doesn't that disagree with The FAQ?:

9. When a card ability allows a player to gain a certain number of attack or defense dice "this round" (for
example, Scotty), how does this work?
For attack dice, this allows the player to add that many attack dice (in total) to his attack rolls during that round's
Combat Phase. If a player is able to make multiple attacks during the same Combat Phase, the player may choose
when to add the bonus attack dice. These dice can even be added to Secondary Weapon attacks.
For defense dice, this allows the player to add that many defense dice (in total) to his defense rolls during that
round's Combat Phase. If the player is attacked multiple times during the same Combat Phase, the player can
choose when to add the bonus defense dice.
Note that this type of text is different from a continuous bonus which does not use the phrase "this round" (for
example, the text on Donatra or Terrell). A continuous bonus applies to all attack and defense rolls made by the affected ships during that round.




10. When a card ability forces a player to roll fewer attack or defense dice "this round" (for example, Kyle), how
does that work?
The player must roll fewer attack or defense dice in total during that round's Combat Phase, starting with the very
next time the player uses those dice during the Combat Phase.

Yes it is only -2 for the round, but it still carries over to other attackers not just the ship that had the tachyon scan.
Example 1
you use Tachyon scan on a borg sphere thst has no defense dice, your 1st ship attacks and the borg are -1, your 2nd ship attacks at range 3 and the borg are still -1 for a total of -2

Example 2
you use tachyon scan against the Enterprise D and it gets -2 against you 1st ship's attack and -0 against the next ships attack

Example 3
you use 2 Tachyon scans against the Defiant -4 total. Your 1st ship attacks and Defiant is -3 dice, your 2nd ship attacks and Defiant is -1 for a total on -4.

It is the long winded version, but explained better than I did above. You take away that total for the round, but if the ship can't apply it to the 1st attack it rolls to the next to complete the effect. Negatives to defense can be more brutal than negatives to attack because there are not many was to make multiple attacksnin a round.

 Mr. S Baldrick wrote:
Yes it is only -2 for the round, but it still carries over to other attackers not just the ship that had the tachyon scan.
Example 1
you use Tachyon scan on a borg sphere thst has no defense dice, your 1st ship attacks and the borg are -1, your 2nd ship attacks at range 3 and the borg are still -1 for a total of -2

That's pretty much the precise example I used in my reply above. Except sed 's/sphere/cube/g'

It is funny that the "per round" is about the only consistent phrasing in the game. Tachyon scan is one of those upgrades that doesn't see much play, but for 2 points you would think it would.

I think it's just one of those "yes, it's a good card" but it's also quite easy to sacrifice when you're over your points limit.

And I don't know about you guys, but I'm always over my points limit when I first make a list.

 Compel wrote:
I think it's just one of those "yes, it's a good card" but it's also quite easy to sacrifice when you're over your points limit.

And I don't know about you guys, but I'm always over my points limit when I first make a list.

I was doing ok, I have everything thing from waves 0-4 memorized, but after that things get fuzzy. The past month I haven't had much time to play with a Kindergartner and forced overtime at work