I'm sure that has come up before but my search abilities are weak. Suppose 1 ship overlaps an opposing ship causing it to stop short and touch bases. Now assume that enemy ship moves 1 forward. Are they still touching but on the opposite side?

To clarify: Assuming the base squares line up perfectly when they are touching before the second ship moves. Now the other ship moves 1 (a base length) forward so that it is on the other side of the first ship. Since they would be exactly one base distance is seems like they would be touching still.

The ship that tries to move 1 straight overlaps and does not move at all. Why? Because the nubs are part of the base.

There's a difference between touching and overlapping. If the base of one ship isn't overlapping the other then overlapping rules don't go into effect.

The ship that tries to move 1 straight overlaps and does not move at all. Why? Because the nubs are part of the base.

But... If you have ships touching and move both 1 forward they're not overlapping. But maybe I'm not understanding the OP as well as I think I am.

As long as the second ship cleared the first ship during its movement, then ships are no longer considered to be "touching" and can therefore fire at each other, provided that at least one of the ships is within the other's firing arc (or anywhere within 360 degrees if a turret is involved).

"Touching" is only possible through overlapping:
Regardless of how infinitesimal the gap between them is, if two ships that are touching move in tandem, they will not overlap, and therefore do not "Touch".
Unless you had a margin-of-error problem, and they did not quite move in tandem, which is very likely to happen, and will probably result in a collision.

So.

If you're a mathematically precise robot, then no. If you're human, then probably not.

"Physical contact", "touching", and "overlapping" are all different things in this game. If your ship's base ends up in physical contact with another ship's base, but your ship did not need to back up at all, then the ships are not considered to be "touching" because they never "overlapped".

Here is what I think the OP is asking:

The blue ship just overlapped the brown ship. Now the brown ship tries to move 1 straight towards the blue ship. The black maneuver template does not clear the blue ship. The brown ship overlaps the blue ship and does not move.

Edit:

orthography

I believe dvor has the right question and with it the right answer. If one ship runs into another head-on causing an overlap it is very unlikely that the other ship will clear the first ship with a 1 straight which would then result in it overlapping and not moving at all.

Now if the two ships aren't rubbing nubs I think it may be possible to "jump over" the first ship. If this happens they will no longer be "touch" each other in the game sense although they may look like they are very close together. If nubs are involved the net bases are a bit longer than the 1 forward even if most of the rest of the base is that long.

Ewwww, rubbing Nunbs?!

When a ship over laps another you slide it back until they are no longer over lapped.

Now if they both move one they will not over lap and can both have actions

When a ship over laps another you slide it back until they are no longer over lapped.

Now if they both move one they will not over lap and can both have actions

This may work if one ship rear ends another ship but it doesn't work to get out of a head on collision except in the rarest of cases. A 1 straight doesn't clear the nubs and if they hit you overlap and are right back where you started.

Edit: Not sure what went wrong there.

A 1 straight does clear the number on the base and if they hit you overlap and are right back where you started.

I think autocorrect is messing you up on that sentence.

Here is what I think the OP is asking:

The blue ship just overlapped the brown ship. Now the brown ship tries to move 1 straight towards the blue ship. The black maneuver template does not clear the blue ship. The brown ship overlaps the blue ship and does not move.

Edit:

orthography

There is an ultra rare exception to this. If only the edges outside the nubs touch each other, then 1 straight forward will not overlap.

That was the exception I was hinting at before. It is hard to set up however.

so if two ships are parallel, can one barrel roll to the other side of the other? I understand that facing ships cannot move as the nubs make the bases longer but side by side should be fine right? Also after the barrel roll they won't be touching? (in game terms) even if they are physically touching.

side by side

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Facing

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so if two ships are parallel, can one barrel roll to the other side of the other?

Two small ships? Yes you can. The maneuver template may overlap a ship.