"Soliciting Star Wars Armada Opinions" Topic

Who has played this? I've played X-Wing and enjoy it enough, but I'm a bit turned off by how expensive Armada is. It seems like building a descent little fleet will get out of hand fast, especially with the new releases being about $50 USD each.

So who has played this…and what are your thoughts? Is it a good time? I read the rules and it seems quick and easy enough, but how does it play? What ships would you recommend getting? How many of each type make for a good fleet?

I'm inclined to wait a bit before putting some fleets together as I want to see what else they release in the upcoming waves, but in the meantime I'd like to do some research.

I tried it once and didn't care for it. I realize that forming an opinion after only one play session is probably unfair, but it just wasn't a fun experience for me. As I recall, the sequence of play (with firing taking place before movement) seemed counter-intuitive to me. I think it would take me a few more games to get the hang of the system, especially how to use fighters effectively. Oh, and I didn't like the unpainted fighters, although the larger ships look nice enough.

I really like X-Wing so I will stick with that.

I second that. It's more complicated than X-Wing, and some key rules are ambiguous and worse counter intuitive. The rule book is also not that well written. As such, a number of key game mechanics are difficult to understand. I imagine if you had a group of very motivated players and you all played frequently, it would all come together. The game also includes a reference booklet that is almost twice the size of the rulebook, but to be honest, it is not very useful.

I give it a 3 out of 5.

I will offer a counter. I find the game to be fantastically fun, and with the order dial stack, it really forces you to think ahead in ways X-Wing doesn't.

The learning curve is steeper than X-Wing, yes, but I think the investment is worth the payoff. I play both happily- if I have 40 minutes, I will get 40 minutes of fun in X-Wing. If I have 2 hours for something meatier, it's all about Armada.

Feel free to have a look at some of my Battle Reports to see if they pique your interest. They aren't rules-intensive but you can see the game break down by effect on the table: link

Well I've never played X-Wing and I do like the fighters but I wanted Fleet combat which is why I choose Armada.

And I'll give you that the Core set is more than the X-Wing Core set but I was able to get mine off EBAY for a good deal.

As for the expansions I also say that price wise X-Wing is cheaper,but that's changing now with some recent expansions for X-Wing you have the CR-90 and the Imperial Raider which are close to $100.00 USD retail now the Imperial Star Destroyer which isn't out yet but it's going to be around $50.00 USD retail.

As for the game which I've played 2 1/2 times even though it's hard to understand it's still pretty good and we're getting at it everytime we play a game.

As for the unpainted fighters I agree I didn't like them coming unpainted but that's what paint's for so it's all good plus the fact that I did a trade with a friend and I got a lot of extra ship bases plus over 45 fighter squadrons which brings me to 63 squadrons overall.

So eventhough I don't disagree with anything that's been said here but I still like the game.

I've only played twice so far, once as Imperial and once as the Rebels. They play very differently. We've got a group of 4 or so that are playing right now.

Love it.

I like it quite a lot. X-Wing is fun, but somehow the dogfights of small groups of fighters doesn't really appeal to me as much as fleet actions. Armada has some odd quirks, but once you catch on it works quite well. A few things took me by surprise like the stacked order dials. I naturally assumed that they were like the X-Wing order dials and the big ships had to plot their actual movement 3 turns in advance. Wrong, the order dials have little to do with movement. Instead you are plotting things like repairs, ordering fighter squadrons and allocating extra firepower. (Why a big ship, with extra staff people to handle such things would be less 'nimble' than a small ship is a mystery.) But it still works and can be quite challenging. Likewise with the fire-then-move turn sequence: you have to plan ahead.

But the game is fun and challenging and has a lot of subtleties. Making full use of your fighters is particularly interesting.

So I am eagerly awaiting the next release of ships!

I like Armada and X-Wing, but if I had to choose only one I would choose Armada. X-Wing is a quicker game. Armada has more depth. They are both fun to play.

I have and both games and like them both. If I had to choose between them I would probably go with Armada. To say that Armada is more expensive well that depends. Many of the ships in X-wing work better in pairs or even in threes, so by the time you figure the cost of 2 or 3 fighters versus the cost of one capital ship it sort of evens out. The new large ships for X-Wing are a bit on the pricey side, and I have not picked any of them up yet especially since they are also in Armada.

Armada is different in the you fire first and then move, but once you get used to it you develop your tactics accordingly.

I have been waiting for more ships before I get into it. But really I did not because I am too invested in X-Wing $$ wise.

Here's my AAR posted on TMP:

TMP link

Love it…too!

I enjoyed it when I played it but it is crying out for the Imperial Star Destroyer to be released – it's like releasing X-Wing without any TIE Fighters, it's an iconic ship that should have been in the first wave. Several of my gang are holding out until they see the ISD.

Its fun and you need to shop around on the net you can get ships for up to 35% off just by taking time to look around and not trying to get everything at one time. and the starter boxes can be had for $40. USD

Thanks all for the feedback.

I think it's something I want to give a chance. I like X-Wing for its simplicity to play but complexity to master. It's a game that's easy for casual gamers and serious gamers alike.

That being said, I love fleet actions. I love playing Full Thrust, so this seemed like it would be a natural fit. Good to hear there is some potential in the game and some of you enjoy it.

I think I will wait and see what gets released in future waves and see how the game balances out. The fun thing about capital ships is that in Star Wars, it seems, there is an almost no limit to source material. They're already kind of running out of fighters for X-Wing, but it seems there is a much larger base of capital ships that could appear. I'll wait this one out for a bit and see what gets released and how they play.

I'm using the miniatures as well as other miniatures I have in that scale (MM Titanium) to play a very old game called star fire as the rules system. You can also use full thrust.

I use to love starfire what a simple damage system

Yes, Starfire was great for fleet battles. I'm still wondering what the practical size limit on an Armada game is. I could see two experienced players doing 500 or 600 points without problem. But 1000? 2000? At what point does it bog down beyond playing?

Id like to know that too I have purchased but not tried the game

I'm heavy into X-Wing. Many full squadrons heavy. And so did not jump right into Armada, it's not only the extra cost but also competition for playing time. But I will be playing my first game this weekend, and suspect I will at least get sucked into doing up my own small casual fleet.

The Wave 2 ships have been delayed in production but should arrive by the end of the year, including the ISD for super-iconic visuals.

My general thoughts on the game are mixed.

On one hand, this is a super-exciting time to get into the game — classic Original Trilogy material is being released first. And that is the best for folks who didn't grow up with computer games as their primary entry point into SW!

I am rather disinclined to try to play this game competetively. FFG will doubtless develop this like they did with X-Wing. In 2 years, everything you bought now will be made obsolete by power creep, and then eventually you will be able to buy more packs of expensive ships to get the power-creep upgrade cards that will make the original ships competitive again >.<

This is a fun and challenging game to play with very sweet mechanics.

I can still resist buying into the FFG competitive planed-obsolence CCG model of game development on this one.

Immediate temptation is to homebrew a Babylon 5 variant!

I diffidently won't be buying into the FFG competitive planed-obsolence I'm buying the models I want and playing the gaming system I like.

Id like to know that too I have purchased but not tried the game

You and me both, bruddah.

Thanks to all comment, pro and con; interested in trying, not concerned about 'FFG competitive planned obsolescence' if only, same as Lee337, ships are ships to [insert your favorite system]. But usually, I play so vanilla, someone demanding use of new cards will just make me not play, with them.

Other other hand, I HOPE it's good. Plenty of Starship Battles, Micromachines, and the new Risk to cobble into massive fleets.

Doug

And plenty of fun stuff on Shapeways! I think I may have talked myself into building up a fleet for Karrde's Smugglers Alliance.

The FFG provides Booster Terrik's privately owned ISD, Shapeways provides the WIld Karrde, the Lady Luck, squadrons of Skiprays and Z-95s.

My Thrawn books are out on loan, need to get them back to see whatever other ships would be good to add.

If anyone is buying ships for just the ship models and is willing to part with the other paraphenalia (cards, cardboard, dials), I'll be happy to put those bits to good use and will proxy in other fun ships from Shapeways.

--Mo

Proxying is currently a backup plan to me, but I have enough old MM's of Skiprays and Headhunters to be very interested in what you create.

Please do keep us informed!

Doug

Check out the Armada Ships & Squadrons available so far, and Mel keeps cranking them out!
link

I did just break down and ordered the core game from Jet.com. Googled for best current promo code, got YAHOOJET for $15 USD off the first order, waved the Free Return for another small discount. Grand total with free shipping: $43.73 USD.

I have 'yet' to set in on a game but watched the last cpl turns and it looks interesting to say the least.
My "love / hate" of Armada have both (so far) to do with the miniatures. First they are done 'in scale' to one another, unlike Starship Battles where ALL captial ships are roughly 4", add to that they are beautifully done!
The major 'hate' is the per-ship cost. Im sure many of you may have seen this already but in searching for upcoming Wave 2 release's, I found the list which is as follows.

Armada Wave 2 "Shipping Summer'15" Have yet to see them in stores.
Imp. Star Dest $49.95 USD
Mon Cal Cruiser $39.95 USD its acually Home One not the MC80.
Imperial Raider $19.95 USD
Mon Cal Frigate $29.95 USD this is the MC90 if not mistaken
Rouges & Villans $19.95 USD

I LOVE fleet battles, but when your talking $30 USD just for the 'smaller' frigates. thats just really reaching for my game budget.

When you guys mention FFG's "competive obsolescense plans" for the future, I have flash backs to GW's 'buy me rules' that I dare say ran more than a few out of some games.

Have to say, due to $$ Im 'r e a l l y' giving SWSB a 2nd look. Over all the minitures are really well done, just over look that 'one size fits all' with the capital ships and perhaps buy only the Armada fighter packs, like the other models They Rock! And just take it from there.

The game didn't become tempting for me until the arrival of the ISD. Yes, it's pricey compared to smaller gaming ships. But it is a large, highly detailed and accurate model that's prepainted, and comes with a stack of action dials, a speed dial, and handful of other quality game components.

Having seen one of those on the table at the Sullust tournament, nothing screams Star Wars! as much as that does <3