I've heard that a tactic to use against a "fat" ship is to force it to bump into an "expendable" smaller ship.

But you'd have to end the Activation Phase with both bases touching; how easy is that to do?

I'm assuming that if your smaller ship was also lower PS, one would have to:

1. Anticipate where his opponent's larger ship's movement dial will place him

2. Find a way to maneuver his smaller ship "around" the larger ship to that point (WITHOUT bumping him)

3. While also anticipating any Boost / Barrel actions by his opponent

Is there another way?

I'm assuming if you bumped your opponent (instead of the other way around) with a lower PS ship, you would lose an action and your opponent would just then maneuver away with no consequence.

Or, are folks actually using high PS ships to bump? Which would seem less cost effective.

Thanks for the insights!

You summed up the whole idea right here:

Anticipate where his opponent's larger ship's movement dial will place him

It's as "simple" as that!

Large base ships take up a lot of room, getting in there way with a lower PS ship, especially something like a TIE Fighter that has a great dial and a barrel roll, shouldn't be too hard.

And if you do instigate a bump by placing your base anywhere that the larger ship base will land, the large ship loses perform action step so barrel roll and boost are not an issue.

I've heard that a tactic to use against a "fat" ship is to force it to bump into an "expendable" smaller ship.

But you'd have to end the Activation Phase with both bases touching; how easy is that to do?

I'm assuming that if your smaller ship was also lower PS, one would have to:

1. Anticipate where his opponent's larger ship's movement dial will place him

2. Find a way to maneuver his smaller ship "around" the larger ship to that point (WITHOUT bumping him)

3. While also anticipating any Boost / Barrel actions by his opponent

Is there another way?

I'm assuming if you bumped your opponent (instead of the other way around) with a lower PS ship, you would lose an action and your opponent would just then maneuver away with no consequence.

Or, are folks actually using high PS ships to bump? Which would seem less cost effective.

Thanks for the insights!

Generally you're looking at #1. The whole idea is to position yourself so that he will bump you, losing his actions (while you keep yours to fight the other enemy ships). This is especially important in regards to #3, if you get him to bump into you, you rob him of the ability to reposition any further.

2. You don't need to go "around"the big one as you may go through as long as you have room enough to complete your movement.

3.If the big guy bumps, won't be allowed to take any action including boost and barrel roll.

1.Yes, you have to guess his dial... that's the funny part!

Or, are folks actually using high PS ships to bump? Which would seem less cost effective.

You can't really setup a blocking situation with a ship that is a higher PS than the ship you hope to block. The position of your higher PS ships does help to narrow down the number of moves your opponent has to choose from, which makes it easier to guess where you should put your low PS ship.

I can only really think of three times that you might want to try to set the dial on a higher PS ship to bump where you are expecting a lower PS ship to end up:

1. You have an ability that benefits from bumping (Oicunn, Arvel, Intimidation, etc.).

2. You want to deny an opponent's ship a shot on a ship that won't be able to get out of range or arc.

3. You want your ship to go slower than its dial will allow.

Edit: I made one and two more general than they were originially.

You place your lower pilot skill ship where you think the higher one will end up. When the higher pilot skill one executes its maneuver it hits yours and loses its action.

4. You don't want the ship you're bumping into to shoot at you...

4. You don't want the ship you're bumping into to shoot at you...

That was number two. I guess I shouldn't have called out turreted ships specifically.

Thanks for the responses. I totally forgot that he wouldn't be able to Boost or Barrel if his initial action already bumps.

Now I just need to work on my Prescience.

Edit - one other related question. Two ships touching can both still fire at OTHER ships right? So there's only so much utility to bumping.

I carry a small laminated sheet with all of the ship's movement dials on it. Then I start narrowing down their options.

If they have stress, obviously the red moves are out. If there are asteroids around, they most likely will try and avoid them (except Dash). If they do not have a turret, they will try and keep something in arc. From that, you can probably knock at least half of the moves off the dial - and give you a better chance guessing.

Or, are folks actually using high PS ships to bump? Which would seem less cost effective.

You can't really setup a blocking situation with a ship that is a higher PS than the ship you hope to block. The position of your higher PS ships does help to narrow down the number of moves your opponent has to choose from, which makes it easier to guess where you should put your low PS ship.

I can only really think of three times that you might want to try to set the dial on a higher PS ship to bump where you are expecting a lower PS ship to end up:

1. You have an ability that benefits from bumping (Oicunn, Arvel, Intimidation, etc.).

2. You want to deny an opponent's ship a shot on a ship that won't be able to get out of range or arc.

3. You want your ship to go slower than its dial will allow.

Edit: I made one and two more general than they were originially.

Higher PS ships can at least block K-turns, but it's a lot harder. You have to estimate where your opponent is going to end his move the previous turn. If you can put your ships in his path, you can at least force him to turn or move around you, if not force him to deliberately bump you instead. Soontir can basically block a B-Wing's K-turn by ending his turn directly where a 2-straight would be, for example.

It's dangerous, because you are also deliberately putting yourself in their firing arc.

Thanks for the responses. I totally forgot that he wouldn't be able to Boost or Barrel if his initial action already bumps.

Now I just need to work on my Prescience.

Edit - one other related question. Two ships touching can both still fire at OTHER ships right? So there's only so much utility to bumping.

Yup. Other ships are still legal targets.

Thanks for the responses. I totally forgot that he wouldn't be able to Boost or Barrel if his initial action already bumps.

Now I just need to work on my Prescience.

Edit - one other related question. Two ships touching can both still fire at OTHER ships right? So there's only so much utility to bumping.

Yup. Other ships are still legal targets.

And don't underestimate the utility of a bump.

1) You force them to attack without tokens. If they roll an eyeball, it stays an eyeball. It cuts their hit/crit results by an average of 1/3rd.

2) You force them to defend without tokens. Each green die only has a 3/8ths chance of getting you an evade result, instead of 5/8ths with a Focus, and they don't have any guarenteed evade results without an Evade token.

End result: They take more damage, and deal less damage to you.

Yes, you have to anticipate where they are going, like others have said here. It also becomes easier to predict where ships will go if you know that ships dial (using a reference card or experience) and/or know your opponent well.

Even if you do not intend to block you want to try and predict where your opponent's ships will end up in order for you to have shots on them.

Do not underestimate blocking. It is utility to stop a ship's movement, action, and also can protect one of your lower PS ships by making it touch the opposing ship, allowing you to keep it around a turn longer and forcing your opponent to split their fire. The most brutal thing is to be blocked on a K-Turn. You end up not turning around and still get stressed (unless you are flying the TIE Defender).

Yes two ships touching can fire at other ships, but whoever got blocked doesn't have their action so they lose action economy (exceptions to some cases, like K4 or Kyle Katarn Crew). This makes it more ideal for the person doing the blocking because their opponent is forced to shoot unmodified dice.

Now I just need to work on my Prescience.

Try planning out your opponent's moves before your own ships.

The ultimate blocker is a phantom with enhanced scopes and intel agent. You get to see where a ship is going if its within range 2, then you move at ps0 to block it. and with a decloak it really helps your potential moves.

The ultimate blocker is a phantom with enhanced scopes and intel agent. You get to see where a ship is going if its within range 2, then you move at ps0 to block it. and with a decloak it really helps your potential moves.

While this may be true, I don't think I would ever want to use that ship in that manner.