The way I understand it is that when flying, after setting the dials, you don't touch your measuring sticks to see if you can do something, ie Echo moving the soft two ruler around to see if it can do something before committing to a move. Or looking at your dial before decloaking. I see many people seemingly not pay attention to the rules and then at our local tournaments fly the same way, measuring their options with barrel roll and boost and decloacking.

I guess I want to play by the rules all the time and if I or someone else screws up a move, so beit, we were supposed to do the calculations in our head, right? But am I being a jerk for calling people out at my house or at the game store on "casual nights"?

What do you do in these situations?

Whenever i sit down with somebody i don't know, i ask him if he knows about how pre-measuring works in this game. It has worked every single time for me, so i don't need to stop people from doing something midgame at the risk of sounding pedantic.

You are not being a jerk by telling them the rules, You could be a jerk in the "way" you tell them the rules. We have our regular players, and a bunch of newbies, so telling one group has to be different than the other group (regulars should know better). That being said, I also have to tell different regulars differently, one may take it as a observation, one may take it as an insult, and one may start trying to find you doing something "off" just so they can call you out on it. Be respectful. Be factual.

Also, a good way to avoid it is to tell them up front, that you want to play a "casual" game to a "tournament" standards of the rules. Inform them that certain things are O.K. for a casual game: learning a new list, new ships, or playing with different folks that you normally don't get to play (out of towners, married folk, ect.). Also let them know that certain actions are not allowed in tournament, or competitive play: choosing a barrel-roll, and then measuring off all sides to see which gives the best advantage.

Now as far as looking at your dial before decloaking, that IS allowed. Pg. 6 in the rulebook states that " a player may look at his own facedown maneuver dials at any time, ...". Then on the decloak card, it states that " a ship may spend a cloak token to decloak immediately before revealing its maneuver dial.". So as long as they don't show it to you , they may look at it, decloak, do the decloak maneuver, then reveal, then do their normal maneuver.

I was under the impression that you could measure your barrell roll or boost. In fact, you aren't committed to that action until you've actually moved your piece.

I was under the impression that you could measure your barrell roll or boost. In fact, you aren't committed to that action until you've actually moved your piece.

Wrong. The moment you declare for example a boost to the left, you must perform that boost if you can. And you can't pre measure it. That's why when i teach newbyes, i don't let them pre-measure, they get bad habits.

I was under the impression that you could measure your barrell roll or boost. In fact, you aren't committed to that action until you've actually moved your piece.

In the base rules yes. But repeated addendums to event rules basically make it so measuring for actions means you must commit to it. Honestly it's how the rules should have been written to begin with. Allowing premeasuring of actions just cheapens the game, slows it down, is overly advantageous to those ships that can take those actions. In addition everytime you go to move a piece to check every angle is a risk of bumping other pieces or not returning a piece to the correct position. Players should be encouraged to interact with the peices as little as needed to prevent the jostling that does occur.

I was under the impression that you could measure your barrell roll or boost. In fact, you aren't committed to that action until you've actually moved your piece.

Wrong. The moment you declare for example a boost to the left, you must perform that boost if you can. And you can't pre measure it. That's why when i teach newbyes, i don't let them pre-measure, they get bad habits.

That is only if you are using the modifications to the orginal ruleset for competitive play. The OP specifically asked about casual play which very well may not be using that modification. The qouted poster is not wrong depending on circumstance.

The moment you declare for example a boost to the left, you must perform that boost if you can.

That's only true if you're playing by the competitive rules in the FAQ.

You are never committed to an action until after you complete it, per the standard rules. You are allowed to premeasure that barrel roll or boost as much as you wish to, before deciding if you're going to do it or not.

People really need to understand the difference between the Standard and Competitive rules before they tell people what is or isn't the proper way to play. Competitive is what a lot of people use, but it is not the standard rules, it's a more strict rule set intended to be used in competitive environments.

Also you should IMO never teach someone to play using competitive rules, they have enough to learn already without being locked into what is intended to be tournament level play.

I'm pretty casual but I still think measuring is too much. One of the most basic skills in this game is eyeballing it. However, I do allow for it with the condition that I can and will change my dial in response to what I think you're doing. That way, the certainty of knowing you won't hit an asteroid or bump a ship is countered by giving me information.

To be clear, I mean I'll pick up my dial and adjust it as if changing my mind, since seeing my opponent measuring his move has given me reason to reconsider my choices. Against a new player I wouldn't do this, since someone who just started playing has no idea where things will end up generally speaking.

If we're talking boosts and rolls that's another matter. I get irritated when people want to measure to see if they'll escape an arc, but if you just want to make sure you'll clear that asteroid next turn I'm fine with people checking. When it comes to arc-dodging I feel that failing to escape and missing out on your focus token is the risk you accepted when you chose to boost/roll instead of focus.

To be clear, I mean I'll pick up my dial and adjust it as if changing my mind, since seeing my opponent measuring his move has given me reason to reconsider my choices.

I'm not sure I follow. You can't premeasure a move. At no point can I pick up a template and put it on the table to see where I'll end up once I complete that maneuver.

As far as changing your dial. Until all the dials are set, I don't think there's anything wrong with picking up one you've already set and changing it. But once all dials are set you can not pick it up and change it.

I get irritated when people want to measure to see if they'll escape an arc, but if you just want to make sure you'll clear that asteroid next turn I'm fine with people checking.

Your irritation is highly irrelevant to the rules. The rules are quite clear in fact.

Standard rules = You can check for things like Barrel Rolls or Boosts before you commit. So I can check every possible end point of a BR before I decide to do it, or change my mind and focus.

Competitive rules = If I declare I'm going to Barrel Roll left or Bost forward, I have to do that if I'm able to.

As an interesting aside, it seems that based on the FAQ decloaking has the more strict rules built into it. You can't premeasure for a decloak the same way you can for a barrel roll or boost.

I was under the impression that you could measure your barrell roll or boost. In fact, you aren't committed to that action until you've actually moved your piece.

Wrong. The moment you declare for example a boost to the left, you must perform that boost if you can. And you can't pre measure it. That's why when i teach newbyes, i don't let them pre-measure, they get bad habits.

That is the competitive level rules you are adhering to. Casual play allows you to premeasure boost/BR/decloak.

Casual play allows you to premeasure boost/BR/decloak.

I'm not so sure about that. But perhaps that would be better to discuss on the rules form.

Casual play allows you to premeasure boost/BR/decloak.

I'm not so sure about that. But perhaps that would be better to discuss on the rules form.

Well, maybe not the decloak, as you had pointed out.

Boost and BR for sure you can pre-measure in a casual game.

The way I understand it is that when flying, after setting the dials, you don't touch your measuring sticks to see if you can do something, ie Echo moving the soft two ruler around to see if it can do something before committing to a move. Or looking at your dial before decloaking. I see many people seemingly not pay attention to the rules and then at our local tournaments fly the same way, measuring their options with barrel roll and boost and decloacking.

I guess I want to play by the rules all the time and if I or someone else screws up a move, so beit, we were supposed to do the calculations in our head, right? But am I being a jerk for calling people out at my house or at the game store on "casual nights"?

What do you do in these situations?

It's more or less so that when we enter te more competitive scene that we don't take bad habits along with us.

Friendly house game, the rules can be more casual, but if you want that extra lvl of competitive rules, then just mention that you want to use tournament rules for your next game, so for the next tournament you can try to get rid of some bad habits.

It's more or less so that when we enter te more competitive scene that we don't take bad habits along with us.

Lots of people do that, including myself. If you're going to play in tournaments you're likely to be better off playing by those rules...

That said not every tournament is going to play by competitive rules.

Or looking at your dial before decloaking.

Minor point on this. You are allowed to check your dials in both competitive and casual play at almost any time. Just make sure you let your opponent know that you are "checking."

Apologies, i took for granted what we do around here. We play under the competitive rules always, since we are a growing close group who have leagues and tournaments each times a month, so when a new player comes, he is instructed into the arts of xwing warfare at the competitive playgrounds

Or looking at your dial before decloaking.

Minor point on this. You are allowed to check your dials in both competitive and casual play at almost any time. Just make sure you let your opponent know that you are "checking."

Gotya! Again thanks everyone for this clarification.

I tend to want to play tournament rules, but that is just me. I like the suggestion that I ask before we play. The phantoms decloak seems to be my big pet peev probably because it is left, then check right, then check backward, all to do it over again until the optimum move is made.

Or maybe I'm a rules stickler cause I loose all the time vs Phantoms ;-p

Currently Vanor is looking into the premeasring of the decloaking in the rules thread. I'm in there too.

For what it's worth, I would always allow someone to do their "before you reveal your manoeuvre template" even after I've seen it, so long as they haven't moved the ship yet, even in competitive play.

Or looking at your dial before decloaking.

Minor point on this. You are allowed to check your dials in both competitive and casual play at almost any time. Just make sure you let your opponent know that you are "checking."

Gotya! Again thanks everyone for this clarification.

I tend to want to play tournament rules, but that is just me. I like the suggestion that I ask before we play. The phantoms decloak seems to be my big pet peev probably because it is left, then check right, then check backward, all to do it over again until the optimum move is made.

Or maybe I'm a rules stickler cause I loose all the time vs Phantoms ;-p

When we play we play with the competitive rules, so if I decide to decloak with echo I declare my intentions and then I'm committed

However, I've flown echo a lot so I know how she flies pretty well.

If my opponent is new, or not overly familiar with it, I'd let it go in a friendly game, but i would point out the competitive rules if they were thinking of going to tournaments.

During tournament I would kindly tell my opponent that they are committed to the action they declare. I wouldn't get upset over it for the first time, but after that I'd hope they would remember

In our gaming group, we try to stick to the competitive rules for things such as pre-mesuring, declaring actions and proper sequence of play. It just makes more sense to try and get good habits right from the beginning. Gently introducing new players is the key and helps make the game fun for everyone.

We're a lot more flexible when it comes to "missed opportunities" because we're testing lots of new squads/upgrades and sometimes, we just forget about effects and we try to fix it as best as possible. In the end, it's about finding the proper balance of structure and fun that works for you

yeah, i have a bad habit now of measuring my br and boosts... not good.

I heard you can't touch your dials after you've started the activation phase

I heard you can't touch your dials after you've started the activation phase

Well you heard wrong.

In competitive environments you have to inform your opponent when you are looking at a dial per the FAQ. In a casual environment I wouldn't someone who complained about me double checking my dials.

I heard you can't touch your dials after you've started the activation phase

Well you heard wrong.

In competitive environments you have to inform your opponent when you are looking at a dial per the FAQ. In a casual environment I wouldn't someone who complained about me double checking my dials.

Yep, it's laid out in the rules and the FAQ.