Hello Steve,
I think that Rotate Object tool could be inactive (disabled) in the version 1.2 only if the chunks are aligned with each other - have [R] mark next to their label in the Reference pane. You can use Reset Transform option for the chunk from the Workspace pane context menu and the tool should become active again.
But note that in the version 1.2 you wouldn't be able to apply manual Translation and Scaling to the object.