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How do you handle Stacking when using miniatures?

 
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Captain Nebula
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Joined: 13 Jun 2011
Posts: 101

PostPosted: Wed Aug 28, 2013 3:06 pm    Post subject: How do you handle Stacking when using miniatures? Reply with quote

As the title says, how do you handle Stacking (2A3e) when using miniatures? Only one miniature can fit in a hex (usually).
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Spacecowboy87
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Joined: 03 Jan 2012
Posts: 209
Location: Colorado

PostPosted: Thu Aug 29, 2013 2:53 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

First off, we always use a game mat that has 2-inch hexes. That helps.

Second, we've tried having a counter on "standby" for each ship, so when too many ships want to enter a hex, we swap them out temporarily then switch back to minis when they leave the hex.

Third (you can tell we've tried quite a few things) for ships that want to move in formation --like a trio of F-5s for example -- we have "big hexes" cut out of black foam board, shaped and sized to match the hexes on the mat. It acts as a "movement tray," to borrow a term from other types of games.

And finally, we have a secondary map. Its small, less than 18" x 18", and its basically one big hex and the six surrounding hexes. When we can see there's going to be a big mess in a given hex, we mark it and move all participating ships to the "zoom in" map. It helps keep track of multiple firing arcs and shield facings.

The method we use depends on the size of the game and how much we feel like bothering with any of it Smile because they all have their drawbacks
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djdood
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Joined: 01 Feb 2007
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Location: Seattle, WA

PostPosted: Thu Aug 29, 2013 7:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I got nothing, as Spacecowboy covered all the suggestions I would have made.

The only thing I could add is that I pack my 1" counters in the same storage-box tray as the associated mini, so they're always handy.
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Scoutdad
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Joined: 09 Oct 2006
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Location: Middle Tennessee

PostPosted: Thu Aug 29, 2013 1:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yep.
Same here.
We use a mat with 2 inch hexes that will allow two ships per hex.
Failing that, we either use the associated mega-hex counter...
Or we resort to an auxiliary map with even larger hexes for temporary use.
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Nerroth
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Joined: 08 Oct 2006
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Location: Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Thu Aug 29, 2013 1:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I almost wish there was an option to turn the stacking off when using miniatures in FC, akin to the no-stacking rules in Starmada and ACtA:SF.

(That might help encourage Inter-Stellar Concordium players to make use of a proper Echelon, for one thing. It is unfortunate that the formation which the modern ISC Navy was built around "historically" is more actively encouraged in "non-native" tactical game engines than it is in either SFB or FC.)
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Scoutdad
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PostPosted: Thu Aug 29, 2013 2:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

There's nothing stopping you from using a proper echelon formation, Gary.

You can do so whether your opponent would or not.
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djdood
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Joined: 01 Feb 2007
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PostPosted: Thu Aug 29, 2013 4:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Indeed. If echelon has a tactical benefit in FC that is superior to 3-ship stacking, then it should be used.

Some groups use "explosion" rules modeled on those in the old Commander's Edition of SFB to diminish the incentive from stacking, but those break the tuning of FC and were left out of the published rules for a reason.
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BrentO
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Joined: 03 Jan 2013
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Location: Kansas City

PostPosted: Thu Aug 29, 2013 8:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Changing the height of the different stands can help with stacking. Some ships like the Hydrans work better than others.
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Captain Nebula
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Joined: 13 Jun 2011
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PostPosted: Thu Aug 29, 2013 9:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Excellent! Thank you all!
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