So, here's the situation:

Yesterday, I'm playing in a friendly tournament with a small number of people (details here ). I had Director Isard on my flagship. And one in a blue moon (maybe 50% of my opportunities) I remembered to use her. (My brain is about as watertight as a bottomless bucket.)

Knowing that I am very prone to forgetting things, I put a little notepad on my dials to remind myself that I have this ability. Also, knowing that very same limitation, once I do see what those dials are, I made a note of what I saw on those dials.

My otherwise gracious and friendly opponent, questioned the legality of this memory crutch. He says that the card reads: "...you may look at all command dials," and that it doesn't say ' look at and write down '. He argued that mental stamina was a part of the game.

The people at the tournament agreed with me that what I did was not contrary to the rules, and my opponent relented.

So, what do you say? Is writing down notes about things observed allowed or not allowed?

It was not a big deal to me. More of a question. And that basically was my question is can you then write down the commands ? Or do you have to remember from memory? I don't know the right answer, you probably can write them down. But I don't know because the rules don't cover that. My 2 cents.

It was not a big deal to me. More of a question. And that basically was my question is can you then write down the commands ? Or do you have to remember from memory? I don't know the right answer, you probably can write them down. But I don't know because the rules don't cover that. My 2 cents.

Just for everybody else, wtfboar was my opponent in this exciting nail-biting game that he wound up winning.

His flagship was just 1 or 2 hull value away from dying, which would have given me the game. Had he won by two tournament points more than he did, he would have won the tournament.

So, at the time, the stakes were pretty high. That said, he did offer it as just a question; he did not state it as an assertion.

Note that Isard only kicks in when the ship she is in reveals a command dial. "You" refers to the ship she is in, not "you" as in the player.

Having said that, it does not say whether you are allowed to write them down. I wonder if you can also ask the player later on "what commands were on the stack again?"

I would say that if you were to look at the dials, you're free to do whatever you wish with that information. You can shout it out to the rest of the players. You can take your own dials, set them as he did, and go through that. You can write them down and put heart drawings on it as well.

But I usually do my best to fly casual.

I can't find any rule prohibiting note taking anywhere in the rulebook. You're good.

I can't find any rule prohibiting note taking anywhere in the rulebook. You're good.

While I agree that he can take notes, that logic isn't good.

Just because something isn't explicitly disallowed in the rules doesn't mean it's legal.

http://xkcd.com/1552/

I'm in the camp of : you can do whatever you want with the information you have. I have a pretty good memory so I'm not bothered by writing stuff down, but it's no problem that you do whatever you want with that information.

Otherwise, we'll have debate like : how long as we allowed to look at each dial ? which dial should we start looking at : the top one or the bottom one ? does our opponent hand us the dials or do we pick them up ? Are we allowed to show them to spectators ?

Then, we'd go to deeper questions like : Are we allowed to look at our own dials if we forgot what order at turn +2 we gave to our VSD in Turn 1 ?

Then, we'd go to deeper questions like : Are we allowed to look at our own dials if we forgot what order at turn +2 we gave to our VSD in Turn 1 ?

That one is actualy covered in the RRG (p 3). You are allowed to look at your own dials at any time.

Most game rules I have seen never address situations like this. The few I have seen usually have a phrase something like this, "if there is no rule saying you can do something, assume that you can not do it."

However, I think it's kind of ridiculous to say you can't take notes. And there is no rule in Armada that paraphrases my quote above.

I can't find any rule prohibiting note taking anywhere in the rulebook. You're good.

While I agree that he can take notes, that logic isn't good.

Just because something isn't explicitly disallowed in the rules doesn't mean it's legal.

http://xkcd.com/1552/

Most game rules I have seen never address situations like this. The few I have seen usually have a phrase something like this, "if there is no rule saying you can do something, assume that you can not do it."

However, I think it's kind of ridiculous to say you can't take notes. And there is no rule in Armada that paraphrases my quote above.

Mikael writes for HNN, what if he wanted to do a piece on sneaking a group of Intelligence Specialist into a rebel fleet (your welcome Mikael). Is he allowed to take notes then?

I can't find any rule prohibiting note taking anywhere in the rulebook. You're good.

While I agree that he can take notes, that logic isn't good.

Just because something isn't explicitly disallowed in the rules doesn't mean it's legal.

http://xkcd.com/1552/

When it's something as mundane as recording information, it's perfectly fine logic. It has zero impact on the outcome of the game unless a player forgets, and nowhere in the rulebook is anything stated about this being a memory game.

I mean, the book never explicitly states that we're allowed to use a calculator when building our lists, either, and that has about as much effect on the game as writing down the information available to us.

Wait, calculators and list building programs are not allowed ?

Wait, calculators and list building programs are not allowed ?

Most game rules I have seen never address situations like this. The few I have seen usually have a phrase something like this, "if there is no rule saying you can do something, assume that you can not do it."

However, I think it's kind of ridiculous to say you can't take notes. And there is no rule in Armada that paraphrases my quote above.

Mikael writes for HNN, what if he wanted to do a piece on sneaking a group of Intelligence Specialist into a rebel fleet (your welcome Mikael). Is he allowed to take notes then?

Freedom of the (loyal) press!

Look. If I needed to make a ruling I would of allowed him to take notes. I never said he couldn't take notes. I want to make that clear. I just asked a question. And my question was basically is memory part of the mechanic. Meaning did FF intend for you to look once and then have to remember what you looked at for future decision. I just asked a question. We were all actually in agreement that he can take notes. I never directly disputed that and I never tried to stop him from taking notes. None of you know what FF intent was. So my question still stands. Are you allowed to take notes of you opponents command dials when you look at them. Or was memory part of the intended mechanic? I guess we will have to ask FF to find out. Because the rules to not speciffically cover it.

And don't troll me with comments like can we use a calculator. That has nothing to do with the question. The question is what was specifically written on a card and what was FF game mechanics intent.

Send a email to FFG. Have them officially answer it because we are just going to go round and round here.

I dont see why you would not be able to write it down. Doesnt really change anything, if he doesnt write them down he can still remember. I would be perfectly fine with it.

But I would still be interested in what FFG would have to say about it.

I cannot see why he could not. People do record their games either for personal review or for posting on YouTube (or both!), I know in games like chess or even Magic: The Gathering, people take down notes of their moves and their opponent's moves.

I do not understand why you would question if "memory was intended as a mechanic." In what other aspect of the game is "memory" a game mechanic? In fact, we have speed dials, command dials, activation sliders, round counters, flagship tokens, defense tokens, and all other stuff designed to help us remember things. "Wait, have I activated this squadron already? Have I spent this Brace token already? What was my speed on this Gladiator again? Was it this Gladiator that was Speed 3 or was it that other one? Which CR90 was my commander on again?"

The rules don't say that you're allowed to breath during the game either. Anyone who then claims that breathing is cheating is not worth your time.

Regarding note taking, I see no problem with it as long as it's not delaying the game. If it is, I believe there's already a rule that covers time wasting

The rules don't say that you're allowed to breath during the game either. Anyone who then claims that breathing is cheating is not worth your time.

Regarding note taking, I see no problem with it as long as it's not delaying the game. If it is, I believe there's already a rule that covers time wasting

I'm glad that you agree with my interpretation, but I don't think a reduction to the absurd helps the debate at this stage.