Hi,

I've played only two games of Armada, and I'm still learning . . . but both games I've played have resulted in a mash-up wherein all ships end up colliding. Is this common?

Yes...

It's not uncommon for people still learning out to maneuver ships to have them run into other things, because one side or both misjudge where a ship will end up.

Also ramming is a valid tactic so sometimes people will do it intentionally.

Yeah, the (relatively) large bases and asymmetry of the map suggest that ramming will be common.

really? it's not all that common in my games, but considering I always play rebels that might just be because I know better than to get tangled in black dice

the only time I start ramming is when there's a slow VSD that needs dropping and I can work my way past the front arc

I did, however, see two VSDs go nose-to-nose in one big space pissing contest (while their demolisher buddies just sorta buzzed around them). Once you get VSDs like that, they literally can't go around each other. No one moves unless he's the last man standing. It's sorta mystical to watch

I deliberately rammed my own ship last night. Had missed being able to score an objective token by a couple of millimeters the round before and was going to badly overshoot this round if I didn't hit my own ship in order to slow down.

when two ships ram, their speed drops to zero temporarily, right? The next turn, speed returns to the previous value, so does that mean they'll ram in consecutive turns?

when two ships ram, their speed drops to zero temporarily, right? The next turn, speed returns to the previous value, so does that mean they'll ram in consecutive turns?

Their speed temporarily drops by one. This might take it to zero. Immediately after executing the maneuver (even if that maneuver is to remain stationary at speed zero) then the ship is returned to it's normal speed.Then both ships will have a chance, when they activate, to increase or decrease their speed and attempt to maneuver past the other ship.

It's important to note (and I only just realised while reading through the rules) that when you are executing a slower maneuver due to ramming another ship, your ship CAN be placed in such a way that it overlaps the maneuver tool.

It's also important to be aware that it two ships run into each other, there can be circumstances where in subsequent turns neither ship is able to completely move past the other ship, and so BOTH ships must remain stationary, but until BOTH sides OFFICIALLY reduce their speed to zero using navigate commands, then they will continue to ram each other every turn. It's a bit of a nasty glitch in the rules, IMO.

Not really a Glitch. More of a Grind.

A Slow, Slow Grind. For Two Turns. Until that Navigate command on your VSD comes up. Hopefully you're not ramming another VSD.

I think the designers saw this eventuality, of (potentially) being stuck in place unable to move and constantly ramming for several turns, but decided that addressing it would require too much re-writing of the movement rules and further, thought it to be a pretty unlikely scenario, so they just left it.

But it's very silly, IMO. At the very least, I would have liked to see something like X Wing where you are at least placed touching the other ship, which makes it easier to move past them in the next activation.

At the very least, I would have liked to see something like X Wing where you are at least placed touching the other ship, which makes it easier to move past them in the next activation.

Yeah. There are several details of the movement system that kinda annoy me. I don't mind that you can ram someone (you HAVE to deal with overlaps SOMEHOW), but this just doesn't "feel" like ramming, or anything else, it just comes across like "We needed to deal with overlaps somehow, and this is the nest we could come up with."

I don't even think about it as ramming, since that's too silly to imagine (except in empire strikesback)

more like dangerously close range

space is huge, after all (and 3 dimensional!)

Ramming actually can occur in space. In our reality it would be highly unlikely since it would be more around the way the Lost Fleet represents such things.

Now in Star Wars, we are talking ships that behave differently and cover more distance than is realistic. So ramming can be a thing.

Now game wise, rating should be in every space game, several reasons for this. Lack of computer centric maneuver controlling is the ultimate culprit however. Relying on human or even a non humans capacity to move a ship traveling so fast in space changes so many things

Had a head on with to VSD's in a blue on blue battle could have done a speed 2 double click with navigate but didn't fancy the black dice he would have had on my rear arc so took another ram which helped my squadrons wipe him out next turn, and it was Motti so double bonus. Lost my front shields but it was worth it 2 turns from the end I didn't get his objective ship but I all I lost was 2 Tie advanced Squadrons.

The big plus was how I managed to sit my my Victory II outside of his black dice range and just in blue dice range for me

So for ramming, if I have a head on collision with my opponent in the previous turn, and in the subsequent turn I still can't turn enough to avoid it, does it still count as a ram?

So for ramming, if I have a head on collision with my opponent in the previous turn, and in the subsequent turn I still can't turn enough to avoid it, does it still count as a ram?

Yep.

"Yeah, well this son of a ***** just slammed into me."

"No, no, he didn't slam you, he didn't bump you, he didn't nudge you... he *rubbed* you. And rubbin, son, is racin'."

There's the dilemma. Being at full speed makes you more likely to ram something. Actually ramming something while at low speed, however, makes you susceptible to ramming the same ship again especially if you put that precious, precious Navigate command deep in the stack. Sad, really.

It's important to note (and I only just realised while reading through the rules) that when you are executing a slower maneuver due to ramming another ship, your ship CAN be placed in such a way that it overlaps the maneuver tool.

IMO this is probably the most obscure, overlooked rule in the game. I actually wish it was more effectively highlighted in the rulebook, because it seems like the kind of thing many players will not notice, and therefore the kind of thing that can be really uncomfortable to explain in the heat of a live game without your opponent assuming you're pulling some kind of lawyering or shenanigans (and possibly feeling hoodwinked even after having it plainly pointed out to them in the rules).

Thankfully it doesn't come up often, but I'm dreading the day when it's my most effective maneuver in a tournament setting against an opponent who isn't aware of the rule....

It is why you don't adjust the tool after a confirmed overlap

I find that if another ship gets stuck ramming the front of my VSD the problem will resolve itself very soon.

It's not always an enemy ship though...

a good thing to do, is just get our your bases, and maneuver tool, and move your ships around on a table until you get a feel for the movement and can generally get a good guess where your ship can be two turns ahead. When you move, your are really planning on where your ship is going NEXT turn, since the game really assumes you have a lot of inertia going your initial direction. Too often if you ram something head to head, you are going to get stuck ramming until one of the ships goes boom

Now... uh... how about fighter craft ramming capital ships.

I mean... look at all these Tie fighters...

INTENSIFY FORWARD FIREPOWER!!!

Too late!

(Executor has a command value of 4)