This might sound utterly stupid, but I have a problem with knocking ships over; theirs, mine, whoever's. It seems like not a game goes by without me scattering a vessel, accidentally prodding one when measuring range, or moving one out of place EVER SO SLIGHTLY when slotting the template in (which isn't the end of the world, but just feels like a little cheat every time). I'm probably a complete nuisance to play against. And then, when I win, I think of all those little nudges and knocks and feel a bit bad.

Am I alone out here with this problem?

Are there any practical things I can do to avoid these issues? The main reason I'm asking is because eventually I might like to play in a tournament, but don't want to bugger up the game and engender ill feeling by being a clumsy oaf.

Cheers, folks!

PM3D

bumping ships a bit is an inevitability, especially when you're in a tense situation, and your hands are a bit shakey. By and large, most people will understand small bumps and nudges, and IMO, the variance makes the game even better.

As far as what you can do to reduce it, you can weight your ship bases. Some washers will do the trick. Just be sure to not raise the ship base, or it will be illegal for tournaments.

I feel the harder I try it seems the more damage I do

practical solution, avoid the **** out of the following ships:

Tie Fighters

Y-wings (use only one peg, otherwise they just smack into models)

B-wings

K-wings

Starvipers

Decimators/Yt-2400s (unless you have epic stands)

the above ships either snag like complete bastards (especially the B-wing, who really wants a hug) or love tumbling off their pegs and onto the enemy in an attempt to belly-flop them into submission

I'd recommend A-wings, very nice and compact little guys

Use magnets and a magnetic mat for casual play at least. The magnets also serve to at least weight your bases.

If only they were so easy to get

No, you're not alone. Weighted bases help as does blue tack or poster putty. I've joked with a friend that I was going to hire a kid with steady hands to move the ships for me! Hmm, I wonder if that's legal in a tournament setting?

Idk but I use to get my boy to roll my dice

He had better roles than I did, and if I lost well it wasn't my or the dice fault

Some of the comments here are cracking me up - thanks for the pointers, guys!

Practical things you can do:

Slow down! Just moving calmly (but deliberately), instead of getting all excited and hurried with the awesomeness of the "pew pew" and the "zooooooom" of it all, can make a huge difference.

Stand up, especially if you're reaching across the table. Move around the side of the table if you have to. Being able to reach down from above instead of across the table means there's less of your arm at the same height as the minis.

Get a 3-piece acrylic range ruler set that has separate 1-range and 2-range rulers in addition to the standard 3-range ruler. The smaller rulers are very helpful in determining ranges when ships are close together or very close to the edges of a range band. Plus, because they're shorter, you're less likely to accidentally swing one in a way that bumps something.

Picking up ships by the pegs or base instead of the wings or top of the ship can help give you more control of it.

If there's a ship in the way that you're worried about bumping accidentally, ask your opponent to mark the ship's position with a maneuver template and take the ship off the board temporarily while you make your maneuver.

Yeah, you are not alone with this problem. Strangely, X-wing has never been problematic for me. Warhammer 40k and fantasy on the other hand... let's just say that some models have spent more time on their face than standing up.

In all seriousness there's a couple of things to do that helps.

When adding or removing the 'L' shaped ship minders hold it down with a pencil or template. That way it wont stick to you finger when you let go. This is where I knock the most ships.

Use a pencil with some poster tack on the end to retrieve templates that are in the middle of a scrum. Easier to get between the ships.

That's two that work. There's another that I haven't tried yet. Painting one side of a template with a thin coat of rubber cement. That should keep the template from moving when trying to move a ship. I'll let you know how that turns out.

Wow those FFG official star mats are as slick as ICE

Yeah it happens, more time than not. I remember watching a MWG video and when templates overlapped instead of placing markers on bases and placing the maneuver template on the table they just placed it over and eye guess the base position. At that time I am guilty of being that guy pointing and saying you are doing it wrong. However The more I play (especially on FFG mats) the more times I have bumped, pushed, tipped knocked over to the point where I am thinking maybe just guessing would be the better move so I don't mess up other ships positions.

I guess the best thing to do is well as mention in the tournament rules just try to put the ship back in its original position that everyone agrees on.

Yeah, weird that I also don't have x-wing problems apart from bumps and jostles (and snags ). I've had two ship fatalities where the part where you attach the peg just broke clean off a HWK and a Defender, but the cat was caught red handed.

Can't say the same about my armada vette and neb (**** things love to snap)

Save the beer until after the game.

[Eyes lovely new Deathstar FFG mat with suspicion.]

Nudging happens but I don't think I've out right knocked a model down during a game.

I've got shaky hands as well. Sometimes I take an extra moment to calm it just before touching a mini. Often it doesn't help. Particularly with the official mats. They seem better than a glass table anyway... Wife just picked me up a new gripmat star field. It seems incredible but it really does hold the xwing minis well.

for me if I lay off the caffeine it helps.. a little!! energy drinks are loaded with it!!

There are quite a few ships that you can put directly on the base. It is very easy to keep from bumping those.

I was clumsy before I sliced the tendon on my left thumb so you're definitely not alone amigo. One thing that helped me out is a buddy hooked me up with a thinner range ruler. I also am pretty aggressive about marking ships to clear lanes as well.

There are quite a few ships that you can put directly on the base. It is very easy to keep from bumping those.

#nopegpilots

now, if you want a challenge, use X pegs per ship where X = pilot skill.

had a jolly good time with someone flying flying Corran + Chewie and both where sort of just leering down menacing everyone beneath them. I was flying panic attack (I am lame )

I know your struggle, I'm a ham-fisted Gamorrean. My hands get very shaky during tournaments as well.

- Stay away from caffeine on tournament days. You may feel you need it, but you can get by with a good night's sleep, lots of hydration, and calories.

- Glue washers to the bottoms of your bases.

- Epic pegs are your best friends on large ships (especially if you are flying a decimator). Plus, it looks badass.

- Get in the habit of holding things down when moving stuff around them.

- Trust your opponent to move your things on his side of the board if there's a lot of clutter and you don't want to risk leaning over.

- Stay away from TIE fighters. They like to crash into hands/asteroids. Handroids?

In my regionals Finals with the nationals Champion, I stuck an asteroid to the bottom of my hand on a move.

Subsequently I had to take the bump even though I know it was clear before moving my ship.

I beat him in the swiss and then did this in finals, really put my game off.

It happens.

Slow down. no caffeine before or during game. Add washers as weights to the bottom of your bases to make them more stable. Do the best you can and others will treat you well.

If you bump something your opponent gets to resituate it so it actually could be to their advantage.