If I’m rotated at 6 KE with a Damaged Engine can I still Change Direction?

[MajorAlanYoung]

If I played a change direction card even with a maneuver I would end up changing KE by more than 2, right? So do I have to just rotate back to straight to get out of the drift?

[OldGuy59]

If I played a change direction card even with a maneuver I would end up changing KE by more than 2, right? So do I have to just rotate back to straight to get out of the drift?

The Change Direction card doesn't have any KE. It does have 2G if you're flying a Raider. The only KE is the following maneuver card selected.

You can rotate back to the same heading as your KE drift, and plan any maneuver you want from that point, though. According to Andrea, the Designer.

[MajorAlanYoung]

So I can change KE faster than my acceleration? That doesn’t seem right.

[OldGuy59]

So I can change KE faster than my acceleration? That doesn’t seem right.

Your confusing us both. The Acceleration rating of your ship allows you to change your KE setting by a certain range. This doesn't have anything to do with a Change Direction card. There is no KE rating on it. So, it isn't counted toward your KE in a turn when you use it.

I'm not sure why you think you need to count the Change Direction card as part of your KE.

[MajorAlanYoung]

It does has a zero KE value. And if you plan a maneuver, like a 3 bank or whatever you would still change your KE to at most 3. Why would you not change your KE? I don’t think there’s anything in the rules about not changing KE during a change direction turn or any other turn.

[OldGuy59]

It does has a zero KE value. And if you plan a maneuver, like a 3 bank or whatever you would still change your KE to at most 3. Why would you not change your KE? I don’t think there’s anything in the rules about not changing KE during a change direction turn or any other turn.

OK. Read, and understand, the question, Mike. I now understand the question.

You're hooped. If you are at 6KE, drifting across the play area, and you take engine damage, you might not be able to use a Change Direction card to boost out of the drift. Rotate until the ship is facing the same direction of the drift, and plot a move of 4, 5, or 6 KE.

[Rory]

If I played a change direction card even with a maneuver I would end up changing KE by more than 2, right? So do I have to just rotate back to straight to get out of the drift?

Correct.

If you have a single Damaged Engine chit, your Acceleration is halved (rounding up), so both the Viper Mk II and the Raider then become Acceleration 2. If you have a second Damaged Engine chit, you can't change your KE at all, so your Acceleration then becomes a moot point.

So you are correct mate, if you started Turn 1 with a KE of 6 and a damaged engine, you could not perform a change of direction because the highest KE you could achieve for the change of direction (with the current cards for the current ships - this may change in the future I guess), is a KE of 3, and going from a KE of 6 down to a KE of 3 exceeds your damaged engine Acceleration of 2, so you can't change direction.

As you point out, your only way out of the drift, is to plan an inertial movement on your next turn with a KE of 6 and also plan to rotate your ship so that it is then pointing in the same direction as your drift, so that in the following turn, you can then plan manoeuvre cards as normal (although the damaged engine would still affect how quickly you could change your KE up or down for the rest of the game, now limited to increments of 2 rather than 3 for the Viper Mk II or 4 for the Raider).

Turn 1 - You are drifting at KE 6 and rotated 90° to the left with a damaged engine and want to change your situation so that you can begin to manoeuvre again.
Turn 2 - During the planning phase, you plan inertial movement with a straight boost and a straight fast manoeuvre card, and also plan to rotate your ship 90° to the right, so that it aligns with your direction of travel.
Turn 3 - At the start of this turn, you are now travelling at KE 6 with your ship facing the same direction you are travelling, so although you have a damaged engine reducing your Acceleration to 2, you can otherwise now plan to manoeuvre normally.

If you had two Damaged Engine chits, you could still do that same thing, except that you are forced to stay at KE 6 for the rest of the game, severely limiting your manoeuvrability.

EDIT: I just found the thread on BGG where Andrea talks about using rotation during inertial movement to get back to a point where you can start manoeuvring normally again - it's relevant to this conversation I think.

https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/2118138/inertial-movement

[MajorAlanYoung]

So if you rotate near a board edge where you don’t have time for a full turn to realign you’re risking flying off. This is what happened to me and I wanted to be sure we had the rules right.

[OldGuy59]

So if you rotate near a board edge where you don’t have time for a full turn to realign you’re risking flying off. This is what happened to me and I wanted to be sure we had the rules right.

Sounds about right.

Also one of the things to watch for, when FTL jumping. Averages say you will get the direction you are hoping for, but not always. And if your KE is high, you could be off the mat in a turn, before you have a chance to correct.