"An action cannot be interrupted unless a card specifically allows it. Interrupts are resolved first in, first out, and "between" individual actions. They do not alter the previous action unless the card specifically says so."

So, you *cannot* use a card to interrupt your opponent while he is moving, beaming, or encountering a dilemma. Similarly, you can't use cards to do the same to your own ship or Away Team. The only exceptions to this are interrupts which cancel cards (such as Amanda Rogers, Q2, and Kevin Uxbridge) or when the interrupt itself specifically says that it can be played during an action (such as Hugh or Eyes in the Dark).

If you encounter a Borg Ship dilemma, you cannot play Temporal Rift on your own ship to avoid the attack. You cannot use Emergency Transporter Armbands to avoid a dilemma (except Firestorm). You can't play Loss of Orbital Stability on a ship moving past a planet location.

The reason for this confusion is mainly because of the statement on page 16. Also, many ST:CCG players come over from Magic, where "last in, first out" is the rule for instant spells. "Last in, first out" is not how Interrupts are handled in Star Trek, unless the Interrupt says that it interrupts the current action.

Here are some examples of Interrupts you can play during an opponent's action:

You can play Hail on a ship passing one of your ships. The card "Hail" says that you can.
You can play Barclay Transporter Phobia as your opponent is attempting to beam, even if he's trying to do it during a dilemma (such as Punishment Zone or Portal Guard). Again, the card specifically says that you can play it during beaming.
You can use Howard Heirloom Candle when your opponent encounters an Anaphasic Organism. Because the card affects the dilemma, it must be played when the dilemma is encountered.

The above cards all state that they can "break the rules" when it comes to using them during an action. Howard Heirloom Candle does not specifically state this, but the card would be useless if you couldn't use it to react to your opponent's discovering of an Anaphasic Organism. Similarly, cards like Amanda Rogers and Q2 would be useless if you couldn't use them to "respond." Also, Kevin Uxbridge can be used to "counter" an Event that is immediately played and discarded (such as Kivas Fajo); this is errata on the card, and it should be read to say that it "nullifies" any Event. Except for special cards like these, you cannot alter or change the result of any action, yours or your opponent's! Note that playing an interrupt is an action by itself, which can itself be interrupted regardless of the "framing action."

Example: You are moving a ship past an opponent's ship. He plays a Hail card on the ships, which can be played during movement. You want to counter this Hail with an Amanda Rogers. Can you? Amanda doesn't say she can be played during movement. However, at this moment, we are not resolving movement. Right now, the only action that matters is the interrupt (Hail) that has just been played. So, the question is, can you play Amanda in response to another interrupt? The answer is yes.

Another example: Suppose that, instead of Amanda, you wanted to play "Warp Engine Overload," a fictional Interrupt that says "Play on any ship, even if it is moving. That ship is immediately destroyed." (Why would you want to blow up your own ship? I don't know!) Can you? He has just played a Hail, so the only thing that is resolving at this time is that Hail. Althought it can be played during movement, Warp Engine Overload doesn't say that it can be played in response to an interrupt (the action in progress) or that it cancels any interrupt. At this time, we ignore the fact that the ship is moving, since the only action we are resolving is the Hail interrupt. So, the two interrupts go in first in, first out order: he Hails you, and then your Warp Engine Overload destroys your ship.

Q: CHAINS OF INTERRUPTS -- How do "chains" of Interrupts work when played in sequence? For example, my opponent is about to send down an away team. I stop them (essentially) by interrupting with Rogue Borg. This starts a chain -- He plays Hugh to counter Rogue Borg. I play Amanda Rogers to nullify Hugh. Can he now play another Hugh to counter my Rogue Borg again? Can he also play another Amanda to counter Rogue Borg (again.)?

A: When Interrupts that affect other Interrupts are played, players can get caught up in an "interrupt battle" or "chain", as in the example of this question. Such chains could be very long. For instance: You play a Rogue Borg on me. I play Hugh to nullify it. Result ... so far, Rogue Borg are nullified. You play Amanda Rogers to nullify Hugh.... Rogue Borg are active again. I play Q2 to nullify your Amanda Rogers... Rogue Borg nullified. You play another Amanda Rogers to nullify my Q2... Rogue Borg active. I have no more Q2s. The result of the chain -- the Rogue Borg remains active and will have their effect, unless I have some other cards up my sleeve that may nullify it. If it is still active after I've exhausted all my possible nullifiers, then it gets through.


Q: INTERRUPTING "ACTIONS" IN PROGRESS -- Can Interrupts be played "during" an action of the opponent (i.e., after he starts doing something and before he finishes)? For example, I am about to beam up personnel to my empty ship. As I do this, my opponent tries to "interrupt" my beaming by playing a Ship Seizure card. He claims this will tow away the ship to which I am beaming so that my Personnel will beam into space. Can Interrupts "interrupt" an action in progress like that?

A: Interrupting an "action in progress" is normally not possible. Actions in the game are normally disctinct and happen in sequence. Interrupts allow you to literally stop the normal sequential flow and "insert" something special. But it doesn't mean inserting this interrupt "into the middle" of the previous action in the game. Thus, in the example, the personnel are beamed to the ship before the Ship Seizure could take effect. However, there can be cards that interrupt an action as it is happening if the card itself says so. In the example, if instead of playing the Ship Seizure he had played some sort of card that can be played "during" transport (such as Barclay's Transporter Phobia), there would have been a different effect.


Q: TIME TO RESPOND -- Do I have to give my opponent time to read and/or react to an interrupt, in case he/she wants to cancel it? For example, can I play a Neural Servo Device on his ship and immediately play an Auto-Destruct Sequence on that ship before he gets a chance to Uxbridge the Neural Servo Device?

A: Each card play is an individual action, and either player can perform actions (such as playing an Interrupt) between those actions. Also, common courtesy says that he/she gets a reasonable time to decide on such things (especially for inexperienced players who might need to read the interrupt card to see what it does before deciding whether to react), otherwise people would lay down a slew of Interrupts all together, causing unnecessary confusion. Give the opponent at least a little time to speak up, enough time to understand each step in your combination and to blurt out a "wait!" to stop you if he can.