Trying to up my game and work in a blocker into my list. So far I have not been able to get the hang of blocking down, which leads me to my question for you better players.

When you have a blocker in a list, sienar test pilot let's say, do you focus on having it block a single ship (I.e. putting the blocker right where you think he will go) or do you just try to muck up where the other ship is gonna land while still giving you an option for taking a shot?

Thanks y'all

you don't inherently care about your blocker shooting

hence why it's a blocker, not a jouster

obviously, everything depends on the opposing list, though. In cases such as palp aces, you probably have to just deny table space while hopefully setting up a shot on the shuttle if all else fails. Against jumps, though, you 5-foward and slam that accelerator (boost) because **** taking torpedoes (and because they're 4-times easier to block due to base size)

Indeed. Remember that blocking, whilst a useful tool, does not itself achieve anything a lot of the time. Blocking Soontir Fel means nothing if you don't have a shot on him and he hasn't a shot on you; all you've done is delay your problem for a turn.

It's about blocking someone when you've then got a shot on them whilst they have no actions.

The exception is with Jumpmasters or Aggressors where you're trying to block something like a Segnor's loop - blocking can result in someone stressed and pointing the wrong way; you don't necessarily have to capitalize on it that turn for it to be a good thing.

It also matters whether the guy you're trying to block is your primary target or the other guy, who you just want to prevent getting involved whilst you scrag the guy you're actually after.

Unless you've got a swarm, don't try and trap and block more than one ship at once. Aside from big base ships, it's usually too hard.

Ideally you'll block your target ship while maintaining a shot on another ship, but rarely is that the case

As others have pointed out, you want to block a ship to deny actions while keeping it in your other ships' firing arcs.

As far as "man" or "zone" goes, it depends on how well you know the enemy ship's maneuvers and tendencies. Soontir Fel is a great example -- he is usually going to pull a 2-speed maneuver to clear some stress after Pushing the Limit. You can use this to your advantage to throw a TIE in the path of a 2 turn, bank or forward, and probably forcing the opponent to make a less-than-desirable move. Use asteroids and other lower PS ships to your advantage to force your opponent's maneuver options to only one, then throw your blocker there. Of course this is easier said than done, but it's something to think about.

Other ships, like the Defender (especially with Ryad) or an Advanced Sensor B-Wing / IG, have a myriad of possibilities for maneuvers. Usually you'd expect a 4K turn with a Defender, but their green straight maneuvers (or banks with TIE MkII) make it difficult to assess where they will go, so you usually have to throw a ship in front of it and hope for the best. IG can Boost and then Segnor, while the B-Wing could Barrel Roll before pulling a 2K. In those cases, it might be better to play a "zone" block given the board state.

If you want to get good at blocking, I suggest flying a mini swarm of TIEs or A-Wings / Z-95s. TIE Fighters are much better blockers because of Barrel Roll, however, so maybe you could start with them. The A-Wings have Boost, but Boost doesn't give blocking nearly as much of a... boost... as does Barrel Roll. Z-95s have nothing and may the Force be with you.

Once you figure it out with multiples of a ship, try to whittle one or two out of your list and make room for the beefier ships you enjoy playing. Speaking of beef, the Lambda can be a great blocker with that stall maneuver.

Also, as you learn a ship's dial and your local players' personality, you'll get a better sense of what they might do on the next few turns. You'll get the hang of it!

Repeated blocking of an opponent's ships can get under their skin and get you in their head. As mentioned above, it doesn't help you directly achieve your win condition, but it can give you an intangible mental benefit against players that are not used to being blocked consistently.

A blocked K-turn is a thing of joy forever.

Part of the reason the shuttle's such a handy blocker in a Palp Aces list is that most of its value comes from it just being alive, no matter in what direction it's pointed. If you can persuade an attacker or two to run into the Lambda's fat tailfeather, you can buy yourself an extra turn or more of PalpSurvival.

I like to think that having a ship that is a potential blocker, I don't always try to have it block every round. When approaching enemy ships, it's usually great to use as a blocker. I will put it out in front where I expect my opponent to go. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. I often like to have a ship or two behind my blocker, which can create a bit of a larger area that is blocked. If your opponent tries to jump over your blocker, they hit the ship behind it and bump to the front of the line. This then means the ships in the back can fire at the ship that was blocked.

I like to keep my blockers in a spot that will block....and hopefully get a shot at someone.

Sometimes blocking is used to block a space....in case they go that way. So, you set it up so that you can cover a couple of different movements of your opponent.

I have no idea if that helps at all, but I love blocking.

I think there's lots of ways and reasons to block. If you're trying to kill a specific ship, you try to block it to deny actions and get your guns on it easier. If you're trying to avoid fire, you can block a position where a ship would be if it was making an attack on you. That way, if it makes that move, it's not hitting you with modified red dice. You can also do positional blocking, like the aforementioned K-turn, to try and keep ships oriented in certain directions. You can also block to avoid fire on the blocking ship. A 50 point ship that throws a block on an enemy ship (or intentionally bumps that ship) isn't going to be taking fire from that ship, so even though it's not dishing any damage out, it lives to fight another turn.

Repeated blocking of an opponent's ships can get under their skin and get you in their head. As mentioned above, it doesn't help you directly achieve your win condition, but it can give you an intangible mental benefit against players that are not used to being blocked consistently.

Definitely this... Had two turns of blocks before an opponent tried to go faster to get passed me.... and flew off the map.

If you want to get good at blocking, I suggest flying a mini swarm of TIEs or A-Wings / Z-95s. TIE Fighters are much better blockers because of Barrel Roll, however, so maybe you could start with them. The A-Wings have Boost, but Boost doesn't give blocking nearly as much of a... boost... as does Barrel Roll. Z-95s have nothing and may the Force be with you.

Not entirely true. No repositioning, true, but A Z-95 swarm can be the deadliest blockers going - because a swarm of 7 Scum Headhunters can all have Feedback Arrays - a deadly weapon for a blocker, because you can hit someone even if you've collided with them, and hurt them regardless of whatever autostealthglitterpatine shenanigans they could pull out against 'normal' attacks....

Nothing sweeter than correctly calling the move of a decloaking Whisper; blocking her and leaving her without a shot.... And then have your Gray Squadron Y-Wing unload Proton Torps into her.