Squadrons are fiddly!

By MAstaKFC, in Star Wars: Armada

Hello all!

Had my first Armada game today and one of the things that struck my friends and I were that the squadron dials and tabs are extremely fiddly! In fact it's almost impossible to rotate or press without needing to pick them up. Either that or risk knocking them over or breaking the stem.

Does any one have any tips or hints on how to make this process easier? Also, would weights on the base make it easier?

Thanks!

I forgot how hard it is to move circle bases, with the movement template it is quite simple. The circle bases I see the old inch pinching again and people adding the base to the movement speed.

I've hot glued washers into the bottom of my squadron bases, but yes, the squadrons take a little getting used to.

I guess the biggest thing is to not get too nervous about picking them up, changing the health-o-meter on them and putting them back down. The positioning of the squadrons matters, but it shouldn't matter so much that you should lose any sleep over it.

Also, I tend to shift the activation sliders as I'm moving my squadrons.

Also, I tend to shift the activation sliders as I'm moving my squadrons.

This is a biggie, as soon as I pick up a squadron I automatically thumb the slider across, if you can get in that habit then you dont forget and have to pick them up again and risk moving them after you have placed them.

Also, when adjusting damage I find that you can pinch your thumb and second finger on the base and adjust the dial with your first finger (pointing finger) if you are delicate enough. If its just too hard (in the case of ships wanting to put the tool there) then we lift them off, put a coin or token down where the middle of the base was and place them back when we can (after movement is done). In the case of dogfights scoring hits, if the fighters are too tight to get your fingers in then its pretty good odds if you lift it out to change the damage then its going to leave an obvious gap where it fits back in.

It's not like x-wing the exact position of a squadron isn't super important as long as it's within a few mm of the original position.

The biggest problem I've found with squadrons so far is remembering to rotate the card base rather than the pointer when taking damage. You kind of have to hope that you get into the correct habit before you snap the stems off of the bases.

The biggest problem I've found with squadrons so far is remembering to rotate the card base rather than the pointer when taking damage. You kind of have to hope that you get into the correct habit before you snap the stems off of the bases.

After playing Wizkid's Magenight, Crimson Sky, Heroclicks and Mech Warrior I have no problem with this.

When lifting the squadrons you do have to watch out for where they are placed back down or else you may have some "creep".

I'm finding that the more games I play the better you become at perfecting my Armada handling skills and this becomes less of an issue.

The biggest problem I've found with squadrons so far is remembering to rotate the card base rather than the pointer when taking damage. You kind of have to hope that you get into the correct habit before you snap the stems off of the bases.

This.

I've actually got several pegs twisted already as my friends didn't realise they weren't meant to turn that way. :(

Edited by MAstaKFC

The biggest problem I've found with squadrons so far is remembering to rotate the card base rather than the pointer when taking damage. You kind of have to hope that you get into the correct habit before you snap the stems off of the bases.

After playing Wizkid's Magenight, Crimson Sky, Heroclicks and Mech Warrior I have no problem with this.

Same here.

I have started using Washers underneath the dials as markers for when I move and adjust them. Also handy when moving ships around them

In my local group we agreed to have "status-sheets" for squadrons; a simple mock-up, on which you have squares for each hull point, will do ... This requires you to get the identifier numbers from X-Wing to mark each squadron.

Only real downside is that you always have to ask about the status of squad instead of seeing it - but unless you have a fighter heavy list that is no big problem.

We just put quarters under the bases so when we pick them up we have the quarter left on the table to show where they were. We don't glue them or anything, they are just loose under the bases so they mark the spot the sq came from. Makes life easy for moving ships and for changing sq health.

I've hot glued washers into the bottom of my squadron bases, but yes, the squadrons take a little getting used to.

I guess the biggest thing is to not get too nervous about picking them up, changing the health-o-meter on them and putting them back down. The positioning of the squadrons matters, but it shouldn't matter so much that you should lose any sleep over it.

Also, I tend to shift the activation sliders as I'm moving my squadrons.

Ditto. Washers also help keep them upright when pushing the maneuver tool through a swarm of them.

You could take the book keeping to the side of the table, there are slots to number the squadrons and with a pad you could just jot down the damage as they, the squadrons, take hits. If you have enough cards you could even use the X-Wing card on the table side and maybe use Victory Point/Objective marker tokens as damage tokens.

I love the quarter idea. i gotta try that

Since I ply on a mat, I use the L-shaped play area token to mark squadron position when I pick it up.

I used 1 inch washers placed under the squadron it marks its place and doesn't bump that easy. Plus you can lift the squadron to lay rulers and check for overlapping.

sort mis post

Edited by clontroper5