I am probably missing something really obvious but if I have a move card that lets me move say..4 spaces, is there a way to move 3 and change my facing 90 or 180 degrees?
The short answer is, no, you cannot. The long answer is that, when moving to a new square your new facing direction is based on your old facing direction using the shortest route possible. You can hover over a move card to help show the direction you'll face once you move to that square.
Yes, it would be awfully convenient if you could choose your facing after every single move, but it ties into the "keep gameplay quick" philosophy. Here's Jon's commentary from early development:
I discovered if you stay put and use a movement card, then click in the center of your character's square you are allowed to set facing, it costs you a whole move card, but it might be a good use for those "walk" cards that i usually just end up discarding anyway. It would be nice to have the option to maybe turn 90* at the cost of one move point during regular movement, maybe make those Elven movement cards actually a bit more useful.
It'd be nice, and lots of folks argued about it back in that thread I linked, but what do you think of Jon's argument? Also . . . don't mock my Dash. I own the board with that thing.
Yeah I see his point and I certainly don't want to make it a mandatory thing you have to do all the time. I just think if you're willing to give up a space of your movement card you should be able to get 90* facing change. Either way it is not going to make or break the game or the gameplay for me. Now that I know I can waste a walk card and turn wherever I want it helps a bit. Elves just seem a bit under powered compared to Dwarfs and Humans and I think that adding an optional facing change in exchange for a few points of their large move cards would do a lot to make them feel more useful, agile, and mobile.
I find them to be good when, as per always in a strategic game, I plan my strategy to account for their strengths and weaknesses. Here's a little essay I wrote on the racial HP and Move stuff. A few posts down, I also started seriously measuring where mobility was and was not useful in game modules. If you can maneuver, then maneuvering better than all other races means you have an advantage you may exploit, whatever the total number of movement points may be.
