Armada Tactics News: How does it work: Targeting

By Lyraeus, in Star Wars: Armada

Alright so in this segment of How does it work, I go over Targeting and what constitutes a target as well as LoS. Now I focus on ships for this but the rules stay the same for squadrons so it is easy to translate.

For those of you having issues with the errata on LoS please watch this.

https://youtu.be/EjkI1UP9ibk

All of these videos have been nice to have. Glad you put them on youtube so I can add them to my subscriptions.

I am glad you subscribe. :)

As always I look forward to questions, comments, concerns, and ideas for future videos!

Mate you need to look at this with the eye of someone that doesn't have a clue and break it down into a step by step. I would almost suggest you grab the rules and write a script for the steps...

Seeing if you can shoot at a target ship is a three step process. First up run through the simple process of one ship shooting at another that is completely in the attackers hull zone.

Is the target hull zone in arc? So I have this here VSD and it is wholely in the front arc of my corvette, so all four hull zones are in the corvettes firing arc.

The next step is to check LOS, to do this we measure from yellow dot to yellow dot. If in making this measurement our line passes over a hull line on the target ship the LOS to that hull zone is blocked and we must pick another target hull zone. If LOS passes over the Hull line on our own ship LOS is unaffected. So in the example about 5 minutes in you can now give a reason why the LOS is blocked to the starboard zone.

The final step is to check range, we do this by measuring from the closest point on the attacking hull zone to the closest point on the defending hull zone. We measure from card to card and do not include any of the plastic parts on the base. Don't worry about making an issue of what happens when you do it wrong, just do it right and keep doing it right.

So ok, we have the target hull zone in arc, we have LOS to that arc and range.

Now what about the following unusual situations:

  • Target arc is not in the firing arc
  • Target arc is out of LOS
  • Target arc seems to be in range but isn't (VSD port arc shooting at a ship at long range from front arc)
  • etc

I teach fencing and I have to say it is very hard. You know what you are trying to explain, and you know what happens. But the folks you are explaining it to just doesn't have a clue. Explaining engagement/absence of blade and open/closed is not unlike firing. And I have no end of trouble explaining all of this to my students.

I think the o lyrics think I did not go over was range but I showed arc and LoS at the very least.

Yup all I missed was measuring range which I then cover in the second part of the video as I cover why we don't measure from dot to dot.

Keep it simple

Arc and Range: Using the Range Ruler, measure a line between the attacker and defender. If attacking from a hull zone, this line is drawn within that firing arc (include width of the firing arc lines). Measure the shortest line between hull zone’s cardboard base, or squadron’s plastic base and check Range.

If a hull zone is defending, this line must not cross over any other hull zone on the defender.

Line of Sight: Trace a line between the attacker and defender; connecting the yellow targeting point of the hull zone, or the closest point of a squadron base. This line must not cross any other hull zone on the defending ship. If this line crosses an obstacle or the hull zone of a ship other then the defender, the attack is obstructed and the Attack removes one dice from the pool before rolling.

If LOS passes over the Hull line on our own ship LOS is unaffected.

So I thought I was clear on all of this, but this has no effect? So if my LOS is drawn through my own hull zones, but the target is still within my arc and range, I can still fire at that target?

If LOS passes over the Hull line on our own ship LOS is unaffected.

So I thought I was clear on all of this, but this has no effect? So if my LOS is drawn through my own hull zones, but the target is still within my arc and range, I can still fire at that target?

I showed that in my Attacking video. Measuring through any arc but the defenders arc is valid

Keep it simple

Arc and Range: Using the Range Ruler, measure a line between the attacker and defender. If attacking from a hull zone, this line is drawn within that firing arc (include width of the firing arc lines). Measure the shortest line between hull zone’s cardboard base, or squadron’s plastic base and check Range.

If a hull zone is defending, this line must not cross over any other hull zone on the defender.

Line of Sight: Trace a line between the attacker and defender; connecting the yellow targeting point of the hull zone, or the closest point of a squadron base. This line must not cross any other hull zone on the defending ship. If this line crosses an obstacle or the hull zone of a ship other then the defender, the attack is obstructed and the Attack removes one dice from the pool before rolling.

I think the o lyrics think I did not go over was range but I showed arc and LoS at the very least.

Yup all I missed was measuring range which I then cover in the second part of the video as I cover why we don't measure from dot to dot.

Nah you got it all. But the structure of how you are teaching isn't as good as it could be.

You start on seeing what target hull zones are in arc and then start dealing with exceptional situations, so the poor fellow looking in doesn't get a simple step by step procedure but a whole mess of detail that hides away the message you primarily want to communicate.

Ahhhh that's what you meant. Ok that makes much more sense to me and is entirely fixable

It's just a very long video for the scope of what is covered. It does not cover the intricacies of of squadrons or obstacles.

BTW at 9:20 and 10:20 you are measuring range following the old rules. This was changed in the FAQ. You should measure to the closest point within the firing arc. Your measurement was beyond the edge of the arc.

Make yourself a little script or lesson plan. The aim is to make sure you cover everything and create a basic understanding of your topic then build up from there.

Say for example:

Is my target in arc? To figure this out I need to eyeball the lines of either side on the arc I want to check. If it isn't clear I may then use a range ruler or a laser line. As long as part of the other ships base, the base being the cardboard part of the model and not including the plastic frame or dials, then each arc on my target ship covered in my firing arc is a potential target. In this example I have setup, you can see that the entire ship I want to shoot at is in my front arc. So I have all four arcs of the target ship in my front arc.

<all the other stuff you want to cover>

Once you have finished do a wrap up, in this video we have learned how to perform the first steps in making an attack, seeing that our target is in the firing arc we want to use, in LOS and range. At this point we should tell our opponent what arc of ours is attacking what arc of his ship and grab some dice. Next video we'll talk about how many dice to use and how to complete the steps needed to make an attack.

It's just a very long video for the scope of what is covered. It does not cover the intricacies of of squadrons or obstacles.

BTW at 9:20 and 10:20 you are measuring range following the old rules. This was changed in the FAQ. You should measure to the closest point within the firing arc. Your measurement was beyond the edge of the arc.

@Amanal Thank you, I will do that from now on. I have never done this before and have been winging it. The Attacking video sort of had a script

BTW: Despite the criticism you are doing a great job, I am looking forward to seeing what you do moving forwards. Thank you.

It is all a learning process. No one else is providing this information so like my Rebel blog I will do it

I am pretty sure I am measuring from the closest point of the Gladiators side arc to the closest point of the Nebulon-B's side arc. . .

The whole point of the 1.1 change in the FAQ is to address zone crossing conitions intruduced by this new method.

Personally I prefer the old way of measuring that you used. It was simpler and separated the three checks more logically. But you've gotta play by the rules.

Also, I do watch your videos and I do appreciate everyone giving back to the community. I don't mean to discourage you making future videos.

I am just a stickler for accuracy.

I still don't understand. I am measuring from the closest point to closest point and it does not go over the Nebulon-B's line.

So I measure from the tip of the GSD's port arc to the tip of the Nebulon-B's port arc. No lines were crossed. What as I doing wrong?

Since the Port side IS the defending hull zone and it is in arc and the range does not cross a line I am pretty sure I am doing it right.

I see at 9:20. You keep taking about the VSD front and port arc. You measured correctly assuming that it was for the port arc. That said at 10:20 still appears to be measured beyond the arc. The laser edge hit the center of the rear cardboard, but you seem to be measuring from the corner outside of arc and the voice over sounds like you are referring to the corner. At a minimum the video is unclear.

Are we watching different videos? At 9:20 I am talking about the GSD.

The VSD portion ends at around 7:40 and I go into the GSD attacking the Nebulon-B. That is where range comes in. . .

You do realize that the arc line is still part of the arc right?

Second bullet of Firing Arc: A fring arc includes the width of the fring arc lines that border it.

I am taking your advice Amanal and I am redoing this video. I will have some top down shots and I have a script of what to cover.

10:20 you have an AF firing upon a VSD. Your laser line when measuring arc isn't even close to the corner of the VSD you measured to. The width of the arc line doesn't cover this gap, and you voice over comes across as doing this intentionally.

My point is that as an instructional video, it does not convey the correct method to the viewer. Even if you think it was done correctly.

That said, I am looking forward to seeing the next version.