Star ship battle formations

[Inkpaduta]

Have a question. So when you start your game for a space battle what formation
are your ships in? In a long line like 19th Century naval warfare? In a V formation?
Want to do a space battle but don't know how to set up the ships. Thanks.

[Mako]

It depends upon your desires, the rules set(s), what type of ships you have, their capabilities, and what you want to do, among others.

Line Abreast
Line Astern - Column Formation
Two-Column Formation
Echelon Left
Echelon Right
"A" Formation (or "V" formation)
"V" Formation
Diamond Formation

Those above are some of the typical formations for naval warfare.  Space is 3-D, so it could be even more complex, if desired.

Modern US Carrier Groups, as well as those from WWII (and Battleships too), would frequently have the largest ship(s) in the center, and then concentric rings of others spreading outward from that.  Heavies towards the interior, and lighter, "screening" vessels outside of that, kind of like the layers of an onion.

I hope that helps.

It's Sci-Fi, so don't restrict yourself to conventional norms, unless you see and advantage in it.

[Pattus Magnus]

The formation to use depends mainly on the rules system you use, and especially how the rules handle firing arcs for ships’ weapons. The long lines used in the late 19th and early 20th century were meant to allow the fleets to bring the largest number of turret-mounted weapons to bear agains the enemy, since both fore and aft turrets could  fire to the sides. If the space battle rules allow similar firing arcs to historical battleships then the long line tactics should be productive.

That isn’t true for some games (or ship designs) which tend to have the weapon arcs pointing forward. In those cases, it is probably more effective to form up in a wedge facing the enemy so that the fleet’s most powerful firing arcs overlap and are in range at the same time to deliver a concentrated strike.

Some games have area-effect weapons, such as missiles or torpedoes (and sometimes fighter squadrons), which might favour a more open formation (or a tighter formation if several ships can pool their anti-missile defenses...).

In summary, look at the predominant firing arcs for the fleet you are flying and the formations should follow from that.

[Mako]

Couldn't think of the name, but yes, the wedge formation is the "A" formation, or inverted "V" where the pointy end is towards the enemy.

Thought of a few others, e.g. :

Double-Wedge Formation (Double "A" formation - again, with pointy ends toward the enemy)
Double "V" formation

Square or Box Formation

Diamond Formation

[Ultravanillasmurf]

It does depend on your ships and your rules.

Is direction of travel independent of facing (basic momentum).

Spinal mounts are an SF trope, they affect deployment and tactics. They are tactically perpendicular to the turreted vessels described above.

Are there beam cannon/wave motion/nova guns in use. Being able to draw a line across the board (even slowly) and destroying everything in the path means in line is not a good tactic (ask the Zentradi).

There are also problems with distance, when you are measuring distance in light seconds/minutes - round trip times preclude remote control.

Read the descriptions in Walter Jon Williams' Dread Empire's Fall series for interesting description of space combat.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dread_Empire%27s_Fall

Also The Expanse.

[Inkpaduta]

Thanks guys for the input.
Did not know the rules made such a difference.
I will be using Full Thrust as my rules.