The Activation Phase is the third phase of a round. During this phase, each ship activates, one at a time, starting with the ship with the lowest initiative and continuing in ascending order.
Each ship activates by resolving the following steps in order:
Reveal Dial: The ship’s assigned dial is Revealed by flipping it faceup and then placing it next to its ship card.
Execute Maneuver: The ship executes the maneuver selected on the revealed dial.
Perform Action: The ship may perform one action.
After all ships have activated, players proceed to the Engagement Phase.
If a player has multiple ships with the same initiative value, that player activates them in any order—finishing the entire activation for one ship before activating another ship of the same initiative value.
If multiple players have ships with the same initiative value, player order is used to determine the sequence. The first player activates all of their ships with that initiative value in any order, then the second player activates all of their ships with that initiative value in any order.
When a ship activates, if it skips the Reveal Dial step, it cannot resolve any abilities that trigger after the ship reveals its dial.
A stressed ship cannot execute red maneuvers or perform actions.
If a stressed ship attempts to execute a red maneuver, the ship executes a stress maneuver instead. The stress maneuver is a white [8 2] maneuver. The bearing, difficulty, and speed of this maneuver cannot be changed unless an ability explicitly affects the stress maneuver.
If a ship with no active h attempts to perform a purple maneuver, it executes a stress maneuver instead.