I was reading over the rules the other day and saw this for the first time, "A command token is assigned to a ship by placing it next to the ship in the play area."

I had been just putting my assigned tokens next to the ship card. One thing I dislike about X-Wing is how cluttered the play area can get with tokens. Do you guys play with the command tokens in the play area? Do you think that it is vital that they be placed there? Would you insist an opponent do the same?

I put them on the ships' bases, it works well enough

Base is a good idea. I'd been putting them on the cards, too, but I guess this is incorrect.

Good catch prior to a tournament. :-)

I put them on my ship's base so I don't forget them. During the game I usually am looking at the ships, not my cards.

I put them on my ship's base so I don't forget them. During the game I usually am looking at the ships, not my cards.

This is why I have bright neon green tokens. . . I forget them otherwise. . .

I've always just revealed 'em, used 'em up (or cashed 'em in for tokens), and put them back on my cards. Never saw the point for keeping them in the play area.

I saw this rule a while back and it's one I voluntarily choose to ignore. The dials are in one place, the tokens in another, I might as well make an arbitrary spot next to the planter for the initiative chit and the kitchen counter top for all my exhausted upgrade cards.

I choose to make things organized by placing everything mechanical in one spot. That way, I'm not forgetting command tokens that are shuffling around as I try to move the ship, and I'm not looking at boardgame clutter. If someone does it that way for their own benefit, that's totally fine with me.

I wouldn't throw a fit if someone insisted (there are good reasons, IE, they want to remember what commands I have, and can't see all the way over to my colour coded tokens), but I'd be lying if I said it wouldn't change the mood of the game a touch

"Your measuring tool is only two increments long, it must be four."

"But I have three Victories, they only go speed two."

"It must be to specification and it must be reset to its initial default 'straight' position every time you use it."

I saw this rule a while back and it's one I voluntarily choose to ignore. The dials are in one place, the tokens in another, I might as well make an arbitrary spot next to the planter for the initiative chit and the kitchen counter top for all my exhausted upgrade cards.

I choose to make things organized by placing everything mechanical in one spot. That way, I'm not forgetting command tokens that are shuffling around as I try to move the ship, and I'm not looking at boardgame clutter. If someone does it that way for their own benefit, that's totally fine with me.

I wouldn't throw a fit if someone insisted (there are good reasons, IE, they want to remember what commands I have, and can't see all the way over to my colour coded tokens), but I'd be lying if I said it wouldn't change the mood of the game a touch

"Your measuring tool is only two increments long, it must be four."

"But I have three Victories, they only go speed two."

"It must be to specification and it must be reset to its initial default 'straight' position every time you use it."

Please tell me that last bit is for comedic effect, and someone didn't pull that on you.....

In vassal I like to just group all the large defense tokens and command tokens together on the board, even though the ships all have built in little flags. Its something about the physical, or in this case non-physical, token that helps my overworked mind out while playing.

I also put my tokens by the ships for the same reasons as above. I wouldn't insist on my opponent doing the same, but I do prefer it that they do so.

That said, if that person is already spoiling the mood by insisting on some other but similar thing, I'd probably respond with such an insistence.

It bugs me more with X-Wing than with Armada, however.

A little bit of A, a little bit of B Corlinjewell, but in a not so terrible way. "Your measuring tool is only two increments long, it must be four." "Huh? I've got three Victories, they only go spe-... you forgot yours at home, didn't you?" "That is a distinct possibility."

There's good reasons for the tokens to be on the field (easy identification by an opponent, better recollection of what the player has if they compartmentalize their thoughts like that , the rules say so) and equally good reasons for it not to be on the field (tokens cluttering up LOS and arcs when placed on the base, better recollection of what the player has if they compartmentalized their thoughts differently, aesthetic considerations). Like in so many University courses, the reason matters more than the answer.

I may also like having command tokens around because it's not them that I have to worry about: I keep forgetting about exhausting my upgrade cards, so when I have to look down I realized, "Oh hey, I have Intel Officer!" ... I'm not a CCGuy. On the other hand, I like the initiative token by the player that has initiative, keeps them responsible for changing rounds officially

It's harder for you opponent to keep track of your tokens if you keep them stacked on the cards. Putting them on the base is a good option.

Aaa, the table sometimes is so full of ships and fighters you have to move 4 or more to put down a movement tool just no point adding more stuff to be in the way of the game on the table when there is no real need for it.

bases are nice and flat enough to house em

tokens are public info like your speed dials, do your best to make them readily visible when feasible

So far, I have never had a lroem with someone hiding tokens. I look over, see the ship number. And then look at the board. I understand the rules say on the base. But, I would always be dumping them when I moved my ships. Always. Lol

Ship card, upgrades & crew, defense tokens, command dials, spedometer, and commad tokens for each ship are all arranged identically just off the play area... Never had anyone have an issue.

I think this is a preference that unless a TO or an opponent insists, I'd ignore. I hate clutter in the play area. I'm more than willing to remind an opponent of my ship's status. I don't want to play so strictly that it becomes not fun.

I put them by the ships, and I want my opponents to as well, just as in X-Wing. I must say I particularly resent the implication by some posters that that makes me some pernickety rules lawyer - it's nothing to do with it being the rule, it's for the simple reason that it allows your opponent to have in their mind, just by looking at the game board, an accurate impression of the state of the game, including what ships have what tokens. The fact that the rules include it is simply a reflection of the fact that the game designers thought about it, and is also a handy weapon should anybody argue against putting their tokens in the play area.

I agree, Mazz0. I think you're well within your rights to ask your opponent to keep his tokens out where you can easily see them. Obviously you don't have to be a **** about it, which some folks here seen to think you do. Just ask nicely, it's not that hard.

If they won't oblige, decide if it's important enough to you to take it up with the TO. If it's a friendly game and they have a problem accommodating their opponent in something trivial like this, then you have sh*tty friends and should find new ones.

I'm more than happy to oblige, but personally the **** things just fall all over the place when moving the ship, not to mention that my ham-fisted moves to grab tokens increase the likelihood that I'm gonna bump something in the field of play.

It may sound silly, but I also dislike "clutter" on the field, more appropriately things that disrupt the "illusion" if you will. Tokens, piles of dice, rulers, I try to keep that all off table or at least to the outer edges or corners. As Stasy said, during a tournament, I won't say anything about it and I'll put them on the base if asked. But it's not my preference. They also fall off all the time when the ship is being moved. Sometimes they get left behind by accident and the ship they belong to is forgotten. Looking down to reference your tokens could improve your game anyway by reminding you which upgrades you have, etc. I don't mean to start any kind of argument, but this thread asked basically for a poll, so my vote is on the cards, not the base.

Yeah ,I much prefer putting them on my cards. I can se my opponents just fine on the cards too.

For xwing this is way different though. The tokens have a much more drastic effect. I will flip a poop.

I put them on my cards but for some strange reason, I often forget to activate card and command abilities despite it being near the "stat board"

There ARE times where my sister and I forget to reveal the command. We only realise after shooting and attacking. It ends up as command token instead.

It very much depends on the table setup.

In the tournament I played today, all the ship cards were set up at the end of the tables as the play area filled the rest of the space, so my cards were at one end, my opponents at the other.

This made it really hard to see what tokens were allocated to my opponents ships - not even factoring when he was flying multiples of the same ship that it was so easy to get confused.

Having the tokens on the base is much clearer and fairer, both in remembering to use your own, but also in seeing what actions your opponent has up their sleeve, which can greatly impact your gameplay.

If i had known that the rule was actually to have them in the play area I probably would have requested it :/ (I put mine on my ship bases)

I put mine on the cards, mostly because those VSD's I always run seem to have a bad habit of manageing to block my view of my tokens about 2 seconds after I gain it, where it is then forgotten...