https://archiveofossus.wordpress.com/2019/05/06/tempo/

A long time ago I had a discussion with a few people (Ardaehel and PT106 I think) on the forums about Tempo in the game of Armada. Its an interesting topic as it appears to be very much off most peoples radars, yet is also fundamental to the game.

Due to the game being turn limited, there is only a limited amount that can be undertaken in this finite amount of time. We all know first and last activations are potent, however, most dont consciously recognise that there are only six first activations and six last activations. This is one of the most important steps in understanding tempo as it forms the backbone of the standard tempo seen in competitive play.

Two Punch

Around the time of the Clonisher, players started to get to grips with the activation mechanics that are so important to this game. In doing so, the two punch play style was created, use of high activation lists to line up punches. Right hook, left hook, right hook, left hook.

Lists for this style are very much built on two threats, lets call them A and B, and filler, lets call that X. Activations go like this:

Turn 1: X X X X B A
Turn 2: X X X X B A
Turn 3: A X X X X B
Turn 4: B X X X X A
Turn 5: A X X X X B
Turn 6: B X X X X A

Once you factor out the noise, its a rhythm, A then B A then B A then B…. Note, killing the X’s does not disrupt the rhythm, thats important.

If you call Demo ship A, you can see how it performs that classic triple turn at the end of turn 3 start of turn 4. At the end of the turn Demo activates and makes one attack, followed up by a double tap at the start of the next turn.

I’d suggest you read my article on tika taka armada, Ackbar Star Destroyers, but the pictures have been lost to the sands of time.

Ant Bites

To take the same idea a bit further, there are quite a few lists that use a lot of small but equal activations instead of the potent two. Think CR90B swarms or Hammer gunlines. These work on exactly the same principle, but with a twist in that the punch is now multiple ant bits.

An 8 activation CR90B swarm can be denoted as A1, A2, A3, B1, B2, B3, C1, C2:

Turn 1: C1 C2 B1 B2 B3 A1 A2 A3
Turn 2: C1 C2 B1 B2 B3 A1 A2 A3
Turn 3: A1 A2 A3 C1 C2 B1 B2 B3
Turn 4: B1 B2 B3 A1 A2 A3 C1 C2
Turn 5: C1 C2 B1 B2 B3 A1 A2 A3
Turn 6: A1 A2 A3 C1 C2 B1 B2 B3

In this case there is no noise to factor out, but the notes can be condenced into a simpler A C B, A C B, A C B rhythm, with each of the trio making significant contribution to the fleet. Its also why we find it harder to play against this style as its much more flexible, and harder to see where the distinct units are and how to break it. Yet at its core, its doing almost the same thing as the two punch list we all know well.

Kickboxing

For posterity there are also lower activation equal value fleets that get used, such as Ackbar gunlines or triple vics, that could work in a very similar way.

If we denote the three activations as A, B and 😄

Turn 1: C B A
Turn 2: C B A
Turn 3: A C B
Turn 4: B A C
Turn 5: C B A
Turn 6: A C B

The rhythm desired is exactly the same as the ant bites. However, in practice this list is likely to go offbeat whilst reacting to their opponent, as without activation advantage its hard to enforce the rhythm. This is why Tempo is such an important concept in armada as when you have it the game flows smoothly, but without it the game is much harder.

Disrupting the Tempo

The logic next step is to understand how to break the tempo, because if you can do that, your opponent will really struggle to get to grips with the game.

Rogues

Now you may have noticed that I havent mentioned squadrons yet, this is because in most cases they are simply an extension of the ship activations, with one notable exception. Rogues ability to activate in the squadron phase make them exceedingly useful in disrupting the rhythm as they fall in the middle of the punch. By activating after a ship moves into position, they get the opportunity to try and prevent it from unleashing its full potential.

Nathan Coda was doing this recently at Worlds, using his Rogues to cause all manner of problems to his opponents, especially those reliant on Pryce squadrons.

Counter Fork

I know I know, you’ve all heard of the idea of forking, and I wont patronise by going into detail on it. However, I would like to add something to it. If you look at the standard tempos, then you hopefully notice that whilst the right hook is punching the left arm is held in safety. If you want to disrupt the tempo, then whilst the right hook attacks you can go in hard on the left arm, and vice versa. Not many lists are built to fight on multiple fronts at the same time.

Crescendo

As I just mentioned, not many lists are built to fight on multiple fronts at the same time. This is fairly understandable, however, it can be exploited to the maximum. The usual right hook can only deal with one of your ships at once (or two with gunnery team). So why not attack with every single ship as one on turn 3?

Turn 1: E D C B A
Turn 2: E D C B A
Turn 3: BOOOOOOOOM

When i hear Crescendo i always have to think about this:

Your analogy does not really help with this 😁 .

Topic feels less like tempo and more like a good explanation of activation order and how to use it.

Tempo refers to speed, not order of operations. An article on how to play where everything shoots everything or you maneuver in such a way to keep the fight to one combat ship on one combat ship would be tempo. The difference between an ackbar fleet kiting somebody and a triple Liberty list with engine techs. How you get games that end round 3 compared to round 6. That’s tempo.

Still a useful thread, but it isn’t about tempo.

On 5/7/2019 at 2:52 PM, Church14 said:

Topic feels less like tempo and more like a good explanation of activation order and how to use it.

Tempo refers to speed, not order of operations. An article on how to play where everything shoots everything or you maneuver in such a way to keep the fight to one combat ship on one combat ship would be tempo. The difference between an ackbar fleet kiting somebody and a triple Liberty list with engine techs. How you get games that end round 3 compared to round 6. That’s tempo.

Still a useful thread, but it isn’t about tempo.

I'd argue that it is all intrisically linked. A 2 threat list plays with a far higher tempo than the multiple large threat which is a slower bass line.

However, lets not argue about the name. There is plenty to be said on the subject and I hope others have something to add!

Tempo: the gaining or losing of time and effectiveness relative to one's continued mobility or developing position, especially with respect

to the number of moves required to gain an objective

Can anyone calculate for this kind of tempo in Armada?

It is much easier in X-wing as the game is all about tempos. In armada I find it hard to calculate tempo because the game is positioned around activations, and not active pieces. In chess, checkers and X-wing, you want to go first. Armada it is all about strategic delaying, which can eventually lead to a desire to go first. I think that the game is actually 2 different games, one is strategic delaying, which tempo can be tracked by the amount of delay moves you have. So a list with 7 activations inherently is "better" than a 5 activation list assuming that they have the same ships. Obliviously there is no point to have a 5 activation list that could be a 7 activation list unless you are giving something up. So then we have no way of calling a tempi.

In the 2nd game, the fighting phase, people want to go first, which is decided at the start of the game, which means that there is no tempo in the fighting phase either. This makes it really hard to determine the nature of a game as there is no "positional advantage" that can be exploited in every armada game. Obliviously some people make mistakes, which can lead to a one-sided armada game, but the way this happens is normally not through positioning, but rather the lack of positioning on the opponent. The nature of first player is to lose a positioning tempo, but gain the one fighting tempo. I think that first player is the most valuable thing in the game. For any list. There is only one ship that can go first in each round, and the more shots the better. A fighting tempo is worth a lot more than a positioning tempo because a positioning tempo is only useful if it has a fighting tempo to go with it, IE Pryce+ first player. If this is the case, and fighting tempos are more important than positioning tempo, then first player should be worth a lot of points. Pryce is the "ultimate" positioning tempo as she lets you forget giving up any positioning information and instead just focus on fighting tempos. She is 7 points, which most people would consider a pretty hefty price (hehe) as it is 1/16th of a ISD. So by nature, First player should be worth somewhere +7 points. I think that since it can completely negate positioning(which is a very armada thing) at all with a massive shot, first player should be worth around 25 points. At least for the imperials... For rebels, they have Bail. Bail isn't used right now because A- there are a lot of good rebel officers, and B- Rebels do not have the amount of Shite that the Imperials have with BTA. I think that a 7 point officer that can completely negate the positioning game in armada AND the Fighting game in armada, then that officer should be taken 100% of the time. Now some people will say that I am wrong because the positioning game is the most important game for the first few turns, which is true, but Bail gives you tempi in this phase because you need 2nd player for him to trigger.

I guess the point I am trying to make is that tempo in armada is impossible to calculate because tempo requires established objectives and pieces to achieve these objectives with. In armada, the ships, objectives and WC are always changing. I think the closest we can come to understanding tempo in armada is to fix the last/first mechanic that is currently in place because it is making the game not about positioning, and more about running and gunning. idk maybe something to think about. hopefully yall theory craft with bail and create the next worlds list.

Good posts all around. First, to Ginkapo, who has been insightful and thoughtful (and with characteristic and caustic wit at points) since I first encountered him on the forums, but the objections to the word tempo also seem valid. The first time I saw the word "tempo" applied to Armada was by Q, when he had just won the US nationals and likened "tempo" to how it is applied in basketball. A time that is choosing to play the game at a faster pace puts pressure on the opposing team to play at the same pace (or greater). With that, is a since of feeling behind, or responding to the opponent, rather than sticking with your own game plan.

Although I'm not sure I like the name, and there, maybe I'm just stuck with a carry-over from chess, where a tempo=one move. A closer chess concept is the idea of initiative. Here, this is where I think Armada calling initiative first player doesn't capture at all what initiative is as a strategic concept and takes that term off the board for us in strategically dissecting the game. And that's where perhaps the idea of tempo can pick up some of the slack. Initiative in chess is a temporary advantage where one player makes a threat that must be parried, this is followed by a second threat, then a third, usually over a span of 3-4 moves. If we go back to the basketball concept, it is that feeling of the opponent dictating the pace of the game, of being off of your gameplan, and of having to respond to what they do. Although the mathematical dimension of chess might call the position even, psychologically, this is a powerful advantage. Almost all of us would rather attack and be the one calling the shots than the one having to parry every move of the opponent with precision.

So to grab @Cleto0 's definition, tempo in Armada is really about the losing of "effectiveness." He's also right that it is difficult to calculate out in Armada. If you're good and have played for any length of time, you can probably sense it when you look at the opponent's list and compare to yours. Ginkapo has the start of it, in that everything he cites generates effectiveness in some way.

Some of the strategic dimension of chess is generated at the list-building step. Before you've ever reached the table, your list should have a certain rhythm to its effectiveness. It needs to do something extremely well. Every list, like every good essay, has one big idea, and any other ideas are there to support it. You land in trouble when you try to have too many big ideas, because the effectiveness of all of them is diminished. This was my problem at worlds this year. I looked at Coda's list that he eventually took, looked at Aresius' world cup list, and split the difference. I ended up with something that had two competing big ideas, and in every game, dropping a ship and adding two squads would have significantly enhanced the outcomes of the game. OR I could have dropped 2 squads for a ship. Either way would have created something that simply synergized better.

Generally speaking, taking a huge advantage in one area leads to a weakness elsewhere. Truthiness ran squadronless, but he had powerful activations and mobility, and the tools to compete against a lot of different lists. 2-ship Pryce is limited to no responses on the turn of Pryce until the end, and is susceptible if Pryce is waited out. A lot of squadron-heavy lists were at 4 activations, but in the end. The cost that Tokra payed for his 5 activations max squads was having lighter ships.

Finally, one thing I was really drawn to when Q posted up his thoughts following his win at US nationals a few years back was how powerful the objectives are in creating tempo. The best lists tend to work extremely well with their objectives, and those objectives tend to suggest plans for them. So if you take Coda and Tokra's lists, they didn't have huge bids, could go second reliably, and had objectives that could punish opponent's severely. If you've got people in your meta that are bidding large for first, then you need a fleet archetype and objectives that will absolutely punish them for the choice. So while Armada uses the term "initiative" to apply to first player, there is a hidden kind of initiative that perhaps tempo as used in this thread can capture.

"There are only two kinds of people in the world, those who hear the music and those who don't"

Doctrine time!

From ADP 3-90:

TEMPO

3-10. Tempo is the relative speed and rhythm of military operations over time with respect to the enemy (ADRP 3-0). Controlling tempo is necessary to retain the initiative. At all echelons, an attack achieving results more quickly than enemy forces can respond disrupts enemy plans. Maintaining a high tempo requires initiative on the part of subordinates within their commander's intent. Mission orders allow subordinates the flexibility to react swiftly to opportunities and threats and maintain a high tempo.

3-11. Commanders adjust tempo continuously. The flexibility of any tactical situation, sustainment realities, or enemy actions affect tempo. Rapid tempo demands quick decisions informed by accurate running estimates. Maintaining rapid tempo continually creates opportunities and reduces friendly vulnerabilities. Maintaining rapid tempo also denies enemy forces the chance to rest or synchronize the employment of their combat power.

3-12. By increasing tempo, commanders maintain momentum. They plan for rapid transitions and ensure sustainment operations do not prevent premature culmination of the offense. Attackers shift combat power quickly to widen penetrations, exploit exposed flanks, and reinforce successes. Friendly forces attack in depth with fires and maneuver to destroy or disrupt an enemy commander's ability to command and control enemy forces. Commanders never permit enemy forces to recover from the shock of an initial assault. They prevent defenders from massing effects against the friendly decisive operation.

53 minutes ago, Truthiness said:

Doctrine time!

Well said. If you have not already read Strategy Strikes Back and the Star Wars doctrine articles from the Angry Staff Officer, you probably need to get on it.

1 hour ago, Truthiness said:

Doctrine time!

• Speed is the essence of war. Take advantage of the enemy's unpreparedness; travel by unexpected routes and strike him where he has taken no precautions.

- Sun Tzu

38 minutes ago, Tokra said:

• Speed is the essence of war. Take advantage of the enemy's unpreparedness; travel by unexpected routes and strike him where he has taken no precautions.

- Sun Tzu

I believe they express it as "Get there the Fastest with the Mostest..."

All good stuff. It is always helpful to know how tempo is used in a technical sense within military discourse.

Tempo fugit

15 hours ago, Truthiness said:

Doctrine time!

http://www.vh1.com/celebrity/2012-03-30/the-ultimate-mc-hammer-50th-birthday-gif-wall/

That did not work as intended. I haz no cheezburgers, etc.

But what I really thought when I read "Doctrine time!" was: "We believe that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament were given by inspiration of God..." etc. etc.

I have those ones off by heart.