So I played in a tournament running a 2 ship list (Kylo Silencer and Stridan). While I did make a few bumps with Stridan (that's what he does) I never bumped with Kylo. With 15 minutes left, my PS9 Kylo was worth more than his PS10 Nym, so I took off to run out time. Near the end, I look across the table and my ship wasn't in the 90 degree position that it should have been in. Also wasn't in a 45 degree position. More of a 30 degree position pointed in towards the center of the board. I did allow my opponent to move my ship (we were being friendly and allowing for assistance when across the table, as our LGS has 4' wide tables that are quite tall but are arranged in a long continuous row, so side access isn't really possible). I said "Hey, how did my ship end up pointed like that?" He stated that he placed it correctly. My suspicion is that he did (I feel like I would have noticed a bad position), but that his sweatshirt sleeve may have brushed one of kylo's pokey bits. He wouldn't have felt it, but it could have been enough to alter the ship orientation.

My question(s) to y'all is:

"Would you have called a TO over to resolve this?" and "If you were/are a TO, how would you handle this?"

Play the ball as it lies. There isn't anything you can do other than that.

5 minutes ago, JasonCole said:

While I did make a few bumps with Stridan (that's what he does) I never bumped with Kylo.

As grueling as the situation seems, probably best to let it fly. The logic is sound though

"If all manoeuvres are at a 0, 45, or 90 degree angle, there's no way I can be facing any direction that isn't an increment of those unless I bumped.

You recall that I haven't bumped this entire game,

Therefore: I'm not placed correctly." But in a plastic spaceship game where you have to lean over a table to move these little figurines, there are going to be little angles not lining up frequently. Shrug and move on

Additionally, keep an eye on your ships while any manoeuvring is going on. It's very easy to knock any ships on the board inadvertently.

And if this happens, say so out loud and ask, 'Mind if I put that one back in place?' And check after replacing if your opponent is happy with the final position. This applies to both your own ships and your opponent's.

Its the same thing when the perfect formation of ties after a few turns of manouvering start to bump on banks. its sad, shouldnt happen, but i do not think it is avoidable.

Nothing to do if nobody noticed the bump. You should be watching your opponent move your ship anyways. Some people get lazy and miss being flush against base, etc. And if it is ever close to a rock or board edge, always do it yourself.

after the third maneuver never expect to be 100% 45/90 degrees. Slight twists in the ship as you move, especially if you move quickly, will add up over time.
It cost me one tournament because i didnt notice i was twisted by about 15 degrees, which made my 4k land on a rock by a hair instead of sitting next to it.

If a 75 min game lasts 11 rounds on average and each maneuver you execute probably has a margin of error of a few degrees, it's not crazy to be off of the "grid" by mid-late game. In general, the combined errors should cancel each-other out to a certain extent and should keep you pretty close to 0/45/90 if you're playing clean, but it's definitely important to be cognizant of that error and play the game state on the table and not the one in your head.

Yeah, not really anything to do if neither player noticed it when it happened.

Some wiggles is going to happen, though, especially if playing on FFG's super-slick official mats.