Bio-Engineering Beam: does there have to be an Environment card in play to use its power? or can you just do the 2 damage if there isn't one/
"The Ultimate Target": is it intended that this card deosn't destroy itself when the card it is "attached" to leaves play, as all the other bounty cards do?
Since Bio-Engineering Beam doesn't have an "If you do..." attached to it, you can deal damage when there are no Environment cards in play. However, if there is an Environment card in play, you must destroy one of them to use the Beam.
Ultimate Target (for thematic reasons and because a destruction effect wouldn't fit on the card) stays in play even after the target leaves the field. The idea is that since it is "The Ultimate Target", you won't really need to attach the Bounty to anything else. Fortunately, it's pretty easy to destroy it since it's an Ongoing and Jim's Hat can pop it as a SoT effect.
There doesn't have to be an environment card in play to use it. You can attempt to destroy anything even if that thing is not in play. So you could play Disruptive Flechettes if you desired and only do the damage portion of it. Though if there is an Environment card in play you will have to destroy it if you use that power as there isn't a "may" in it.
"The Ultimate Target" is intended to stay in play. It is like this for two reasons, the first being that there wasn't enough room on the card. The second being that it actually fits as it is the Ultimate Target, you can't just easily change that. So either ongoing destruction or the start of turn effect on Jim's Hat can get it back into your trash.
thanks, guys. that's what i thought, but i wanted to be sure.
also, i realized right after i posted that there's that one equipment of the C-rangers's that cares how many bounties you have in play, so "The Ultimate Target" sticking around after its target goes away helps with that.
Bounties in play is important to Danny Boy (equipment), the Masadah (equipment), and Hunter and Hunted (ongoing). The first hits a number of targets equal to current bountie sin play, the second hits one target for irreducible damage equal to bounties in play, while the third causes Chrono Ranger to both deal out and receive extra damage equal to bounties in play. I think those are the only cards.