So star wars is in space, and so the ships should be able to rotate in a "spinning manner", about the axis of their symmetry. I wonder if this could/should be simulated by allowing the ship to switch its left and right hull zone shields? Bigger ships take longer before they may switch of course, or maybe not at all for the big ships

Maybe ffg did not design the game balance with this in mind so it could not be a new ruling, but maybe as an upgrade? For small ships, or big ships but after x number of turns.

In star wars space is full of some kind of inert gas.

This is why fighters can bank and why so many species can just hold their breath and hop about in vacuum.

I'd much rather they allow us to navigate along the z axis than do barrel rolls. Get those big punishing underside orbital bombardments into play.

Omg I've been saying this to Wonderbread for the best party of a year!

In star wars space is full of some kind of inert gas.

This is why fighters can bank and why so many species can just hold their breath and hop about in vacuum.

There's nothing about a vacuum that would prevent a fighter for banking into a turn. In fact, distribution of force along multiple thrusters is probably a highly efficient form of turning if the computer aids are fast enough.

Also, we've never seen any creature that lives exclusively in space that isn't designed for it. The closest thing we've seen to humans in a vacuum is Han and Leia outside the Falcon in the worm, which may have had its own internal environment conducive to safe EVA with relatively minimal breathing apparatus.

I've gotta put this in the "way too complicated and fiddly to fit in the game" category. Another game, with a different approach, might handle something like this, but flat two-dimensional space is baked deep into the game. If you look at X-Wing, they have much more maneuverable craft that never do anything like this. If you want to model complex maneuvering, banking, rolling, climbing, and diving, you need to do it in another way, one that sticks to the flat tabletop.

The "barrel roll" action from X-Wing would be far more appropriate, allowing small ships to simply translate left or right, but even that doesn't have a clean way to get added into the game at this point, in my opinion.

Plus, think about the movies. The Star Wars galaxy operates in bizarro-physics, where all spacecraft are trapped in a single plane, alternatingly operating like fighter jets, battleships, hotrod racecars, or submarines.

Barrel roll? How do you imagine a scatter happens?! I for one yell barrel roll when a Floatilla scatters or chat 'miss,miss,miss,miss'

Interesting. It just seems highly unlikely that many imperial ships would be able to do this (they have greater and less equally distributed moments of inertia), as opposed to rebel ships which seem to be designed to do this with their mostly cylindrical shapes.

And I know you're intending this as something to simulate space flight, but using an engineering command to shift shields has the same effect.

However, if simulating fancy maneuvers is what you're after, perhaps an upgrade that allows small ships to be placed on the other side of the maneuver template when maneuvering

I think FFG would have incorporated this mechanic as long as they also included a damage card that only effected the broadside armament on one side of a ship. Then you'd have a reason to turn a ship 'belly up' and expose the functional broadside armament.

Just allow some ships to have the ability to be placed on the opposite side of the maneuver tool, when moving forward, (Of cause no overlap of the tool is allowed) thats about the closest you can get to a barrel roll.

I once played the FASA renegade legion fleet combat game. leviathan I think it was called. Anyway the mega capital ships in that could roll to bring port weapons to bear on the starboard side.

Sadly it breaks the second rule of space combat: All the protagonists must stay the same way up.

Just allow some ships to have the ability to be placed on the opposite side of the maneuver tool, when moving forward, (Of cause no overlap of the tool is allowed) thats about the closest you can get to a barrel roll.

That actually sounds like a possible upgrade! subtle yet useful

many players do not realise or remember the ruling that you must start and end on the same side of the maneuver tool without overlap. Such an upgrade might highlight the original rules

It's an interesting idea in the original post, but functionally that's nearly identical to using engineering to move shields around.

I believe Ashoka Tano and Thrawn use the Marg Sabl maneuver which is technically a barrel roll right?

Spinning is a good trick.

I believe Ashoka Tano and Thrawn use the Marg Sabl maneuver which is technically a barrel roll right?

Or did Thrawn simply tilt the ISD forward

The Marg Sabl maneuver is to disguise the deployment of your large fighter/bomber swarm, By having the launching ship itself block Line of sight/sensors of the deployment.

Once launched the squadrons would double back and surge forward and around the launching ship, in a "unstrucktured attack profile".

(Which the Elomi species somehow is unable to understand or counter act)

Okay all the above is purly based on the memory I have of the 1st chapter in Heir to the Empire.

But I have read the book series atleast 3 times

Maybe Thrawn should have a special rule that resembles a Marg Sabl maneuver to emphasize his tactical genius + a rule about picking the mission card to emphasize his strategic genius.

Or even better FFG should make 4 different Thrawn cards, two that has a tactical influence and two that has a strategic influence.

After deployment you may pick one of the four cards, which you must then use for the duration of the game.

Obviously each of the four Thrawn cards by themselves should not be any more OP, than any other Fleet commander cards in existance.

This makes Thrawn a good allrounder but once you have committed yourself to a specific card, you are stuck with it, for better or worse.

Tangent engaged

You'd need to keep port and starboard shield in a format so you can change their values as you roll.

Make the roll maneuver cost a maneuver token or command. It takes place during a ships movement phase and you swap shield when you do it. The problem is what it does to game balance when rebels can get one broadside shot up, then roll to present an untouched shield. My guess is that this was looked at in the initial game development

Armada is more 2 dimensional than X-wing is. Which is why there is no overlaps other than ramming. If it was fast enough you can overlap with the maneuver tool but besides that no lateral or reverse movement.

Shhhh or FFG will read this and get ideas :-)

I used to play Badylon 5 Wars in-which you could do this. It wouldn't take much to work this info Armada but because Armada doesn't have accurate, system specific damage allocation like SFB, B5W etc it would accomplish little and the only thing it would achieve is to present a different shield to the enemy which a Redirect already achieves.

I once played the FASA renegade legion fleet combat game. leviathan I think it was called. Anyway the mega capital ships in that could roll to bring port weapons to bear on the starboard side.

Sadly it breaks the second rule of space combat: All the protagonists must stay the same way up.

Makes me wonder, if FFG did a game based on Mech/Robot Combat how would it play out?

Perhaps a cross between X-Wing and Armada?

For bringing a different face to bare, we need the Star Wars equivalent of a "Crazy Ivan."

Maybe a one use upgrade, pick up your ship, turn it 180 degrees, and place it in the same position now facing the opposite direction.

Barrel roll for captial ships.

Barrel roll.... A barrel roll....

I will not forgive you for this pictures in my head for the next few hours.

But thank you for the smile.

Try it for yourself. Think about an ISD doing a barrel roll over a CR90...

Barrel roll for captial ships.

Barrel roll.... A barrel roll....

I will not forgive you for this pictures in my head for the next few hours.

But thank you for the smile.

Try it for yourself. Think about an ISD doing a barrel roll over a CR90...

A Barrel roll for a ship would probably just consist of a speed 1 - yaw maneuver where you place the ship on the other side of the maneuver template instead of keeping it on the same side. So I doubt you would be barrel rolling over a CR-90, the template wouldn't clear.

The only thing is how would it be used. I don't see any engine upgrade slot and defense tokens are not for moving after taking damage. It would defiantly have to be something that is exhausted so you can't do it more than once per turn.

I really think most people are thinking of a roll maneuver. The ship simply rolling on it's axis to present the other side to the enemy. If they could find a way to keep track of which shield facing is where I think it would be a cool idea. Maybe a "Rolled" token to put on the ship to remind you port and starboard shield values are transposed until the ship rolls back. As far as I can see moving the shield values would be the only effect, which is why I think they didn't put it in the game.