I went to my 2nd bi-weekly xwing event last week. It was a lot of fun, but still learning and I made a lot of mistakes. No big deal. One thread here (rules lawyering) reminder me of an opponent that left me feeling helpless.

Now in the moment, I ended up winning so I let things slide. But had things gone different, I would probably still feel really cheated. He was decloaking and bumped my ship, but it was obvious he needed this decloak to go his way (he hit an asteroid due to block during movement step). He was blocked by a good amount. He pushed my ship back (quarter of an inch?), I sort of blurted out in confusion "Doesn't look like it'll fit." As a newbie the phantom is a mystical creature, so it wasn't obvious in the moment why this mattered so much to my opponent.

He a few turns later was K-turning a Defender over my Shadowcaster. It looked really tight. He kind of did this fast place template loosely against ship grab ship action, then dropped nearly touching Shadowcaster. He obviously was upset about his phantom landing on a rock, so I decided to bite my tongue.

Lastly, I could understand if all his play were sloppy, but they were not.

In restrospect, his style was almost practiced and aggressive. He moved in such a way that forced me to say something uncomfortable. I've played magic the gathering in several tournaments, so I'm not afraid to call a judge. The problem is I ran the conversations in my head and it was always akward. In mtg, you know a trigger was missed, mechanic is wrong, etc. 99% when I called a judge I knew I was right going into the conversation, but I didn't want to argue with my opponent. Now if I call a judge, "My opponent moved his ship sloppy" or some variation. It's his word against mine. How can I prove he was one tenth of an inch off? Every interaction feels confrontational.

There was a few minor other moments, but the 2 mentioned were massively game changing. It wasn't even the movements, it was the casual bravado of "I challenge you to say something" vibe I got. Or "I'm going to do this, worst case I apologize and take it back." Either way, I become the bad guy.

If a player bumps a ship, according to the rules the other player is the one that should reposition it. That player should make a good faith effort to put the ship where it actually was. Unfortunately, that's really subjective and hard to keep everyone honest.

In a competitive setting, you may end up with the TO having a dice roll to settle it if the players can't agree as to what exactly happened and what the correct game state should be.

With bumps, you should absolutely feel empowered to call the judge.

The rule is that if a player bumps a ship or asteroid, then the other player gets to put it back where it was. Don't be afraid to say, "I'm sorry, but that's not where that was, do you mind if we call a judge over?"

I have found it helpful to take photos of the map from time to time (I always ask my opponent if they mind; none have ever objected). It makes it super easy — especially for asteroids — to get things back to where they were.

He's definitely a cheater, and this is sadly a somewhat disappointingly common way in which sleazy players give themselves an illegal advantage while probably also thinking they are so clever.


The solution : find them afterwards in the parking lot and beat them with a dice bag full of dice. This is why FFG gave so many dice bags as prizes in seasonal kits.



All joking aside (and the above is obviously in jest), in reality, the only real solution is to insist that all close and meaningful maneuvers be done patiently and carefully while both players are watching and call them out on any obvious bull. Even a snide comment can sometimes put someone in their place and let you know you're onto their shennanigans.

If it happens once and you think it might be a problem, just insist that you'd prefer if they be more accurate, such as holding down bases and templates firmly at all times.

If one of his ships is coming close to yours, be sure to put your finger down firmly on your ship's base so it won't move.

Best thing I have found to do in these situations is just be proactive and helpful. Offer to help with his movements by holding down your own ships or his if he his moving over them or pull out templates to mark where ships are in an effort to be helpful. this way he can't bump for help and because you are right in there with him he can't make any slips to help him out.

I'd be a little more communicative than some are suggestion.

If you see they are a little "sloppy" or inaccurate in their placement, say, "Could we move a bit slower when moving ships? I want to make sure we're being accurate."

There isn't a viable argument against that. If the opponent continues to play "sloppy," you could at this point call them out on it, if you're comfortable with that, or you could call the TO over, and explain the situation to them.

If this is a repeat player at the store, this may be a known issue. If it isn't, maybe it should be.

THAT BEING SAID! If you're not willing to say anything, and I know plenty of people that aren't, for fear of awkwardness, you're just going to have to deal with it. Fly better and beat them at their own game. That's the solution if you're too uncomfortable to speak up, which is also completely fine , if unfortunate.

We've got an incredibly varied group playing this game. From the extremely helpful mentors, to those working with social anxiety, to those who are complete and utter jerks. You've got to see where you fit, and then how comfortable you are in dealing with everyone else.

I agree that you should always give the benefit of the doubt to your opponent the first time. He could have been nervous and was either not thinking or was just shaky or sloppy. At the very least you could voice your concerns and move for a roll-off that first time. If it happens again, call a T.O.

I always am overly helpful during the movement and positioning phase to prevent this as much as I can, be it intentional or accidental.

Whenever a template looks like it's going to be tight or move over a base I always preemptively say 'ok let's mark that ship' and am in process of moving it by the time they can touch their ship. I hold down ships or asteroids if it looks close and if they have short arms and the ship is on my side of the board or are particularly sloppy I usually can reach my carefully aligned templates faster than they can dig out theirs (sloppy ship movement often equates to sloppy template storage), and will move their ship for them. I am always careful to be as precise with their ships as I am with mine, finger on their base, slide the template in, finger on the template, pull the ship out, carefully place it precisely, finger on the ship, remove the template. I pull off my ships if it looks like wings will collide, and just work to make it as impossible for fudging to occur for either side as possible.

In general I try to manage the maneuvering section as much as possible while being careful to not push things in my favor by rushing them or cheating how I move their ships if that comes down to the case. I haven't heard a complaint yet, and it often speeds up gameplay while maintaining accuracy. Also if someone did complain I would certainly cease doing so, but as I'm careful and polite I think most people really don't mind.

As people have said, and it is an extremely easy to implement rule: if you bump a ship or obstacle, your opponent gets to place it to within reasonable placement of original position. It is one the best rules as it takes away all arguments. if you're ham fisted, well I guess you better git gud and moving your models.... I am ham fisted... during tournaments I go into zen levels of concentration so I don't knock ships everywhere.

Dont feel bad calling Bull****, you have templates and measurements for a reason, it's not a that is close enough kind of game. This isnt rules lawyering or power gaming, it's playing it as intended. If a person gets an unfair advantage because of your generosity then thats not cool for your game.

Also in a tournament setting if you tell the TO's and then more people tell the TO's they build up evidence to call against the guy because he has a history, albeit a short one. If a guy is aggressive, that can be a tactic to put you off and not say anything. This isn't the school yard, what's he going to do? say something bad to you for calling him out? Always but always report cheating behaviour, stand up for your fun. I bet that guy doesnt even remember what happened now, but you have posted in a forum because it is on your mind still a week later. A quick, "No mate that wasnt there", solves all this post game drama.

When moves are gonna be close, put your finger on your ships bases, or just say "It's gonna be close, lemme mark that ship for you ." This emphasizes it's in their best interest. If they continue real quick before you mark the ship, then that is shady. Some guys are just lazy and want to play fast and don't have time for moving ships. That is how they play on Casual Nights to get games over in 45 minutes with their buddies, but it doesnt fly in tournies and they need to know that. In a tournament, any movement over another ship should be done properly by marking the ship and removing it from the area so the template can lay flat.

Dont touch their ships without permission, but feel free to secure obstacles and your own ship bases if they are gonna bump. Once they screw up, and get called on it, and get Whisper one-shotted, they will be more careful with their movements.

I can be clumsy at times so I always ask the other player to help/check me - what I have found is that (with one exception) this helped with the overall dynamic of moving and bumping by allowing me to proactively get involved with all moves and call out bumpage. The one exception turned out to be a guy that loves some "elasticity" in his movements, and who blew up when I called him out on it. Apparently his sciatica was causing it (!) so now we don't play, we jus stare at each other uncomfortably across the room

I dunno, if the chucklehead is doing it intentionally I'd be inclined to be a childish smart alec. I'd say stuff like "Wow a bump much bigger and we'll be playing on the next board/different galaxy" .. and then do nothing else about it. It shows you know he's doing it and it's not getting at you.

As others have said, this is an expected part of the game, and as such it has an unambiguous answer: the person who did the bump must allow the other person to set things right, with the understanding that the other person will act in good faith to recreate the board-state.

Personally, I bump a lot. I'm a really big guy, with (genuinely, not like Donald Trump) big hands, and my Dexterity score is a 10 or 11 at best. If it's a tiny nudge, I set things back, then look up for approval from the other player. If there's any chance my bump is significant, I say (pretty much verbatim, and with apologetic sincerity), "I bumped that ship. Please place it where you you think it was."

I'd personally only get a judge involved if I thought the opponent were taking disproportionate advantage of me. (It hasn't happened yet, in this context.)

Sounds like a deliberate cheat to me you should have no reservations calling him out on it, cheaters won't stop on their own you have to stand up to shenanigans like that.