So, from the picture in the preview

and the explanation of the ship cards, we can make some guesses on how this funky move template thingy works, but the picture shows it being oriented to the SIDE of the ship base, not the FRONT like in X-wing, and the ship's final position would be radically different depending on which side of the ship the template is place on.

So anyone have any speculation how that is going to work.

Also, the example move above suggests that fine positioning and slight course corrections will be a bigger issue in this game than in X-Wing, which implies a more crowded playing area, either large fleets with lots of ships or lots of terrain somehow. What do we suppose the recommended playing surface will be? 3x3 like X-Wing? 3x6 to match Epic X-Wing? 4x6 to match other common wargames and make the game feel bigger?

True, the movement will be kinda funky i think.

There are nubs on the side of the movement ruler that appear to match up to bumps on the side of the base like in x-wing. I would assume the rules tell you to put the ruler on a specific side depending on which direction you are turning.

But you can turn in both directions during the course of a move, as shown in the picture.

?

I think it's like x-wing where you pick up the ship and move it to the end of the ruler (or the end of your movement in this case). The first "turn" in this case was done so the ship would change facing without too much forward movement Basically, it is using inertia to drift into positron, rotating about its vertical axis at the same time.

It's like that to represent the Frigate drifting. It isn't actually turning to the to the right and then to the left.

And it is really tough to say how crowded the play space will be until we get an idea of just what the build totals will be like and what will be going on the board.

The movement will be interesting, in that it set your speed at the start of the game, but then, you maneuvers can change when you activate your ship. And that it takes a command to adjust your speed. It will be interesting to see the different options the ships will have at differing speeds.

Remember you're not 'pre-plotting' movement, so I'd guess you can put it whichevever side you like.

There will be a built-in limitation based on how you're mannouvreing - the base logically must go on the 'outside' if you turn at the last joint.

there might be some "Pre Plotting" in the commands actions. Possible. We'll have to see, but I think that might be a possibility.

Since the ships are on stands, it's also possible they allow you to place the ship on the other side. It might not have to be on the outside, as the tool can slide out from underneath the ship's stand. If that's possible, it would be pretty simple to say that you choose either the left or right side of the ship to start the move on and then you must also end on the same side.

But who knows? Keep in mind we'll be finding out basically the moment GenCon opens.

There are nubs on the side of the movement ruler that appear to match up to bumps on the side of the base like in x-wing. I would assume the rules tell you to put the ruler on a specific side depending on which direction you are turning.

I think you are almost there: if you have a look there is an inside elbow and an outside elbow. (Not a good explaination but...)

The template will be positioned so that the ship finishes up being placed on the outside elbow. So if the ship in the example moved 2, then you would put the movement template on the other side of the ship and finish the move on the outside elbow.

hmmm im curious about how moving through other ships will work.. it's probably the only gripe (and a small one at that) which i have about x wing. I don't like moving through ships with the template.. and I am imagining this to be just as odd.

Well regardless, ffg come take me money! please! more x wing. more armada.. it's like cowbell, I really want more!

It goes deeper into movement in this article: http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_minisite.asp?eidm=270&enmi=Star%20Wars:%20Armada

So excited about this new movement system. I've done a fair amount of big ship gaming, and getting movement to work is ALWAYS finicky. It usually either gets abstracted away (which I don't like) or requires complex rules (which I also don't like).

I've been doing some simulations at home with some approximations of the new ruler and I'm REALLY liking how it works. It brings in momentum and long burn/late turn movement very well while not burdening the player with a bunch of difficult calculations and decisions. To me it is the most exciting thing about the game at this point.

There are nubs on the side of the movement ruler that appear to match up to bumps on the side of the base like in x-wing. I would assume the rules tell you to put the ruler on a specific side depending on which direction you are turning.

I think you are almost there: if you have a look there is an inside elbow and an outside elbow. (Not a good explaination but...)

The template will be positioned so that the ship finishes up being placed on the outside elbow. So if the ship in the example moved 2, then you would put the movement template on the other side of the ship and finish the move on the outside elbow.

^^ This.

It looks like the positioning of the movement template is based on the last turn in the movement. if the last turn made is a turn to the left, the template would be placed on the left side of the ship (or would it be proper to say, "turn to port" and "port side"?).

Conversely, for a straight maneuver, it wouldn't matter which side you use to start the movement, as long as it ends on the movement on the same side of the template (although, I think that could be an interesting ability if you could end your straight move on the opposite side of the template, kinda like changing lanes on the freeway).

On the other hand, they could just allow you to place it on whichever side you want before OR after, since they seem to be focused on allowing more granular movement. This game seems to be less about estimating and guessing and working around movement templates than X-Wing, and more about letting you put your ship where you want, but within some realistic constraints.

So anyone have any speculation how that is going to work.

To illustrate what others meant about always moving on the outermost edge, as the size of the base prevents you from taking the inside turn:

Also, the example move above suggests that fine positioning and slight course corrections will be a bigger issue in this game than in X-Wing, which implies a more crowded playing area, either large fleets with lots of ships or lots of terrain somehow. What do we suppose the recommended playing surface will be? 3x3 like X-Wing? 3x6 to match Epic X-Wing? 4x6 to match other common wargames and make the game feel bigger?

3x3 like X-wing. The fine positioning comes into play during the shooting phase, which due to the double arc firing and the possibility of nailing a ship with both arcs, is going to make aiming even harder than it is in X-wing. But that does not require a crowded area.