Choosing a Deployment Edge

[Sleboda]

I've recently noticed something odd in an online battle report and wanted to know if they got it wrong or if they just showed me something I had not considered.

When it came time to choose a board edge from which to deploy, they chose the one to their right, not one of the two in front of them (the near side and the far side). I see that the rules just say "The player without the Priority token chooses a battlefield edge..." but it never occured to me that I could pick an edge other than the ones shown on the cards (or at least hinted at by the dark blue bar on the cards*).

So, can I pick any of the four edges to be my edge?

 

*BTW, just a note/thought for clarity -

The deployment cards have dark bars on opposite sides, but there is no actual wording in the book to say that these are the deployment zones. When we first got into the game we just assumed, based on our experience with other games, that these bars are meant to show the deployment zones, but it is just that, an assumption.

With no actual rule to show an opponent, he or she could easily claim that they want (for example on a D map) one of the two edges where the objective tokens are pretty much already in the deployment zones to be their edge. Or, to say it a different way, nothing indicates that the deployment map card is to be used only in 'portrait' format as opposed to 'landscape.' So, one could orient the map so that a Hammer (for example) is already inside each deployment zone. That seems odd, but there's nothing I can see within the rules themselves to guide the players about the orientation of the card.

I'm the sort of player that never feels comfortable telling my opponents that they are not allowed to do something when they can find support within the rules for their opinion. In this case, I would not be able to deny my opponent their choice as nothing shows us that the dark bars are indeed the deployment zones.

 

[Negoldar]

1 hour ago, Sleboda said:

So, can I pick any of the four edges to be my edge?

Yes, you may. 

1 hour ago, Sleboda said:

The deployment cards have dark bars on opposite sides, but there is no actual wording in the book to say that these are the deployment zones.

They are the deployment zones. 

1 hour ago, Sleboda said:

That seems odd, but there's nothing I can see within the rules themselves to guide the players about the orientation of the card.

On page 10 of the rulebook, Building a Mission, after the two crisis cards are revealed, the player that lost Priority chooses a board edge. 

The crisis is then setup as per the two revealed crisis cards. 

Due to this order a player cannot choose the left or right edge shown on the setup cards.