So I know the obvious answer is (correctly) play more games, but I was wondering if anyone in the Armada community knows of, or can suggest some training drills/exercises to improve certain aspects of the game such as:

Manouvering

Lining up attacks

Deployment

I really need to sharpen up my game so any and all suggestions welcome.

dude just get more baterz!

on a serious note you could try lining up a ship say a victory something easy to predict where it is going. Then take the ship you want to practice with and simulate some rounds trying to double arc and what not. I have no idea if this would produce the desired affect but it might!

This may be too specific but if you're working on a relatively complex fleet, say for a tournament to practice, I would recommend drilling with individual groups, like sub-fleets. The same could work for components that you use regularly (e.g. most of your Rebel fleets use Yavaris , most Imperial Demolisher , etc.). Put that subunit on the table, set up opposite it a counter, and play out. If your Yavaris needs practice hauling B-wings, practice chasing a Victory and killing it. If you want a greater challenge, take on a pair of Raiders. Working with these components until their individual actions are smooth and practiced will help pulling together a larger fleet and will help you remember to use all those parts correctly in a tournament (personal example: remembering Montferrat on Demolisher to swing a decent victory into a 3 point loss). That's my suggestion, good and generic so you can broadly apply it.

I've trained against myself using an opposing fleet of 450 points (with the list im training with having the standard 400). It makes playing against yourself a more worthwhile experience as it's an up hill (space) battle for your fleet to win. An Armada version of "train hard, fight easy", meaning when you face a standard 400 pointer you'll instantly be that bit more comfortable and used to pressure.

Thank you all, these are great suggestions!

When I add ships I don't have experience with, I do worst vs best case scenarios with maneuvering and taking/dealing damage. I did this quite a bit with the Liberty. I ran it at speed 3, and set up an ISD II and Vic II on the board and practiced maneuvering around them and seeing if I can keep my front arc in place while staying out of theirs. I only move the Liberty, and set it up in different positions so I can get the feel for it's speed chart. Then I start to make moves and rolling dice so I understand how much damage I can take in certain arcs and ranges.

I did this with the AF too. Try to line up double arcs at various speeds with/without Nav commands with stationary targets so I can understand the speed chart. The best part is, it doesn't take long and you just need a few bases to practice with. When I did this, I didn't make it grueling and painful. If I messed up a movement, I just went back and started over. Once I got good, I started to move the enemy ships so they would bring to bear the most dice possible while staying out of my double arcs.

To practice deployment, you can play games against yourself. It takes longer sometimes, but you don't need to communicate so you can go through the motions quickly. Grab a fleet from one of your local players, or if you play both sides, pick your favorite 2 lists and play them.

You have to remain unbiased however. Set commands like you really would, and don't "anticipate" the enemy ship commands and movements. It may seem weird and silly at first, but I've found this the most helpful when I design a fleet and need to know how I should deploy it. Play the game out to the end and understand what went wrong.

To help keep the game unbiased, follow these rules:

1. Keep your main arc/double arc on target. Pick a ship and track it.
2. Stay out of the main arc of enemy ships.
3. Have a purpose for each ship, and set its dials accordingly. Yavaris should only have squad and nav commands. Demo should have nav and CF commands.
4. Do not push squads out of range, or in a weird position to "set up" for an attack. Keep them close-medium range within ships, and when you get within range to alpha strike, then you should throw them ahead. And try to keep a carrier within range to activate them.
5. Do not take back moves or actions. Commit to your mistakes. Learn how badly they hurt and don't do it next game.
6. Play with an objective and don't play one side so it doesn't try to get VPs.
7. Don't be scared to make mistakes. There is no penalty and no one will laugh at you but yourself. After all, your playing this game by yourself.

As far as how to line up shots, practice putting the base at end of the maneuver template. Memorize where that firing arc traces across the end of the maneuver template so that it becomes pretty natural for you to know whether or not you're getting that double arc. I do this before tournaments with all my ship types.

Also important is to know where each base size extends from the end of the maneuver template. This helps with arc dodging.

Thanks again for all the great suggestions, I really appreciate it.

post game analysis with your opponents.

especially on things like Salvage run. Like ask them "what part of this scares you" "how could I abuse this". We spent 45minutes with salvage run figuring out how ot deploy the objectives to maximize me getting all 4. there is a lot of "work" that goes into armada besides just playing. Atleast depending on your objectives.

Also drop a ship at range 3 on a table edge. max deploy your squadrons, and then map out how far they go and threat. do with with fighter coordination upgrade as well. like take the time on a small table and just learn those measurements so you can kind of eyeball it during playing.

A few things I have done as far as "drills":

Set up your fleet and pull opposing fleets from the Fleet Builds forum, Regionals data, or things you regularly see locally. Run them against each other without setting dials giving each ship the dial it most wants at the time. Give take-backsies on moves. Roll out best and worst case scenarios or, if you know them off the top of your head, just take most likely scenarios. But most important, move fast . The idea is to see lots of scenarios in a short amount of time. There is nothing at stake, so don't ponder, just do . Take backsies let you fix obvious mistakes, and help you learn to judge distances and arcs. Just make sure you're paying attention to what you're changing and why so you learn from it.

Another drill is to measure out ranges, moves, and formations for the early rounds. Do you know off the top of your head what speed and where you can deploy to keep Demo from reaching you on round 1? You keep an ET Liberty from threatening you at the opening of Round 2? A Rhymerball? Do you know if a strategic squadron can reach your Fire Lanes tokens on round 1 (yes, they can)? Can you throw a B-wing all the way across the board on turn 1 (yes, you can)? Do you know how to jam as many CR90's as possible into the smallest area possible without ever overlapping each other? Lay it out and figure out the answers that are relevant to your list!

Squadrons are another place that drills are useful. Try setting up a squadron formation, and then try to see what you can do to it with optimal positioning. Pour your squadrons wherever you want them, with no speed or range restrictions. Then, try working backwards: how can I make this scenario happen against this composition? What can I shift around to make it more feasible? How many do I have to activate at once to make this work? How likely am I to kill X squadron with my current comp, or what could I change out to make that more likely?

Finally, practice moving formations. I can't tell you how many times I've laid out Gallant Haven, Yavaris, B-wings, and escorts on the table to figure out how to maneuver the whole thing as a unit. Same with my 8 CR90B's when I was playing that. Figure out how you want to be oriented with respect to the enemy, and then figure out how to posture yourself to be in that position when you engage.

Also, just generally be prepared to look ridiculous pushing around little plastic spaceships on your kitchen table by yourself in a Friday night.

17 minutes ago, Ardaedhel said:

A few things I have done as far as "drills":

Set up your fleet and pull opposing fleets from the Fleet Builds forum, Regionals data, or things you regularly see locally. Run them against each other without setting dials giving each ship the dial it most wants at the time. Give take-backsies on moves. Roll out best and worst case scenarios or, if you know them off the top of your head, just take most likely scenarios. But most important, move fast . The idea is to see lots of scenarios in a short amount of time. There is nothing at stake, so don't ponder, just do . Take backsies let you fix obvious mistakes, and help you learn to judge distances and arcs. Just make sure you're paying attention to what you're changing and why so you learn from it.

Another drill is to measure out ranges, moves, and formations for the early rounds. Do you know off the top of your head what speed and where you can deploy to keep Demo from reaching you on round 1? You keep an ET Liberty from threatening you at the opening of Round 2? A Rhymerball? Do you know if a strategic squadron can reach your Fire Lanes tokens on round 1 (yes, they can)? Can you throw a B-wing all the way across the board on turn 1 (yes, you can)? Do you know how to jam as many CR90's as possible into the smallest area possible without ever overlapping each other? Lay it out and figure out the answers that are relevant to your list!

Squadrons are another place that drills are useful. Try setting up a squadron formation, and then try to see what you can do to it with optimal positioning. Pour your squadrons wherever you want them, with no speed or range restrictions. Then, try working backwards: how can I make this scenario happen against this composition? What can I shift around to make it more feasible? How many do I have to activate at once to make this work? How likely am I to kill X squadron with my current comp, or what could I change out to make that more likely?

Finally, practice moving formations. I can't tell you how many times I've laid out Gallant Haven, Yavaris, B-wings, and escorts on the table to figure out how to maneuver the whole thing as a unit. Same with my 8 CR90B's when I was playing that. Figure out how you want to be oriented with respect to the enemy, and then figure out how to posture yourself to be in that position when you engage.

Also, just generally be prepared to look ridiculous pushing around little plastic spaceships on your kitchen table by yourself in a Friday night.

Awesome!!! Thank you so much!!