Star Wars: Armada

Michael Barnes wrote: But I got into a conversation with the store owner, since they had literally three Armada products in the shop (a core, a VSD and the Gladiator) and like a whole half-wall of X-Wing. He said nobody is playing it at all there, he's got 20 or so X-Wing people coming in but none of them wanted to spend to get into Armada. Invited me to come play there and made it clear that he did not tolerate "problem" gamers. We had a laugh about that, I told him about the hygiene rules I had in my store and shared a couple of anecdotes (like the time that dude tore my front door off...and went straight back to his Heroclix game).

I was thinking about this, we talked about it up thread well. The long format has really got to hurt both FLGS owner and player incentives to come in and play tourney style at a store. It also means the meta develops slowly, since it depends on long 2 hour games. It may make some sense to price high because players are not going to churn through Armada ships very quickly naturally, due to the nature of the game...

Thankfully Armada has a pretty good scene up here in KC. I can locate a game with relative ease via the local Facebook group that has over 70 memebers at this point. By comparison the local X-Wing page is closing in on 200. So, factoring in relative length of time the game has been out I'd say Armada is going pretty strong. That's also because the GM at one of the shops, who already had a very strong core of X-Wing players, bought a few base sets for people in order to gain some opponents which I think was the catalyst to forming a solid core of players.

Yep, if you play the game, you will sell it. Always remember that when people buy a game from you, they also have to have the confidence that there is someone and somewhere to play it. Provide that if you have to. If a game is sitting on your shelf and not moving, open one up and get people playing it. #1 rule of game shop ownership. I sold like ten grand of Confrontation in three months with that philosophy- product that had literally sat on the rack for A YEAR without being touched. We had ZERO interest in Warmachine, I started and painted a Khador army, set up some "demo" stuff and before long we were hosting PP events.

Armada is really a very strange product because it is perceived as being too similar to X-Wing. But it is VERY different. The gameplay is more detailed at a mechanical level, not at an upgrade card level. Stacking orders, deciding whether to take an order or delay it, the effects of speed on yaw, four firing arcs, shield management, squadrons...this stuff all adds a lot to the basic "move and shoot" concept without having to get that detail in the cards.

But you can't get around that it is a "second" SW space combat game, and that makes it kind of awkward. And it is, quite frankly, a big ask on FFG's part to get folks on board with it that have already invested hundreds of dollars in a game that isn't even three years old. I get that the marketing philosophy is sort of like the difference between 40k and Epic- larger scale, more strategic than tactical and so forth- but it really kind of doesn't make sense from a business perspective. The big ships are NOT, for most people, what SW space combat is about. It's about the WWII fighter jockey stuff despite the end of ROTJ. You don't tend to associate the naval style with SW. That's a Star Trek thing.

In a way, I almost kind of wonder if the game is a response to Attack Wing. They licensed flight path to Wizkids, and it was sort of not really the right feeling for those ships. So then they come out with Armada and it's almost like "oh, here's how you do the naval war in space thing guys. Sorry, we gave y'all the draft version". There may have been thinking that Armada would bring the Attack Wing gamers back to FFG product. But you know, it is kind of a shame that there isn't a Trek version of Armada. it would totally work.

Having everything at this stage, I'm totally cool if they announce that it's canceled next week (they won't, just saying). I've got enough to field many hundreds of points on both sides, there's a TON of variety, the objective cards are a smart way to generate scenarios and I feel like I've got my money's worth. I don't really care about in-store play or events, I mostly just want to play with a couple of friends who don't have their own stuff (although some have X-Wing) casually and be able to play with it solo.

And of course, when my kids "come of age"...that's always out there. We don't need no stinkin' FFG support.

There is a ton of game just with one of each, that's what surprises me to hear so many make the price a deterrent. I've bought one of each thing with the exception of the fighter packs, those multiples are very beneficial. I've spent $100's less than on XWing so far and feel like where I'm at there's about equal game left to explore.

For me though, in-store play is about what I'm limited to. All my gaming buddies I've fallen out of touch with or they've moved, so I've been off trying to meet some new people (with mixed results). What sucks is the store that actually supports both X-Wing and Armada is 30 mins further away than the closer shop to my house which is just 15 mins away where the shop owner is incompetent and doesn't grasp the "get people playing it" concept.

I've offered on a few occasions to provide ships, dragons, whatever for events to people to get bodies in there playing and sampling the game. His response: "Well that doesn't help me" meaning those people aren't buying product from him before the games, without thinking about what happens after the play and see there's a player base. He's also always "too busy" (because he is a procrastinator) so he never gets around to scheduling events and when he does he doesn't promote or advertise them. Sometimes I do wonder why he's still in business.

I'm trying to figure out what to get for my wave 2 order (probably not til March).

2 ISD's
2 Raiders

2 MC80
2 MC 30

---

$191.91 @ coolstuff. Ow ow ow!

I own (2 cores)
3 VSD
2 Glad

3 Corvette
3 Neb FF
2 Assault FF

I agree with you guys - there is a whole lotta play just in the wave 1 set. I think I'm around 10 plays and I haven't even tried all the objectives yet. Some seem samey though.

I think two ISDs is a little silly- I like that it is the ONE Imperial ship, and you can support it with VSDs or Gladiators to get that Star Destroyer fleet you want. But I would say that two Raiders is a must- it fills a huge gap in the Imperial roster, which did not have a small, Corvette-class vessel. It's a cool little ship, I think it is one (like the C90 or the Neb that you could fly three of to great effect.

I feel pretty much the same way on the Rebel side. I like one MC80 because it is Home One. There is not a Home Two. But two MC30cs, definitely. I love that thing.

I'm also willfully limiting the Rogues and Villains pack. If I've got a YT-1300 on the table, it's Han Solo. Even if it doesn't have the Han Solo card and is just the "generic" YT-1300, it's still Han Solo for all I am concerned. It would be kind of dumb to have multiples of the Firespray/Slave 1 and all of that, I like those as single, unique ships.

I do not have two Assault Frigates, but I'm kind of thinking about another.

2 ISD would be F:AT as hell, though.

I may have a check in my hand 200 dollars for reimbursement for a conference registration. I pulled money out of my savings to pay for the conference, so technically it should 1000% go straight back into savings now that I'm paid back. On the other hand, I have a 200 dollar check, 80 dollars in credit card benefits, and a CSI cart open in front of me with 13 items in it (no Gladiators!)....

PS How big is the playfield? Is 3x3 enough or would I need 2 of those?

My $190 purchase for 40 airplanes feels so reasonable now! Thank you all!

Sagrilarus wrote: My $190 purchase for 40 airplanes feels so reasonable now! Thank you all!

DON'T JUDGE ME

3' x 6' is what you'll need because of the objective cards.
In games like this I'd always recommend starting with one, play a few games to see how it feels, if it agrees with you and your strategies. Then if you have a build in mind that'd take two ISD then do it. Same goes for Raider, Frigate, Gladiator...everything. Except fighters, get multiples. But go in with a build in mind before doubling or tripling up.

The reason why I have a Frigate and another Gladiator or two on my shopping list is because I have builds in mind. Not yet for 2 ISD or 2 Home Ones.

Barnes: Yeah, I'm kinda see-sawing on two ISD/Home One's. This is the only tough call for me. And I'm with you regarding the Falcon and Slave 1, even in X-wing. Two Falcons is just weird to me. I'm sticking to one Rogue pack for sure.

Gary Sax: Unfortunately, the "tournament" field is 6' x 3'. The setup area is 4' (center). I've only got 4' of play space and I've never had to go outside this "setup" area. You could save cash and get a cheap ass felt. But you could totally play on 3' IMO. A bit tight but fuck it.

VT: You're probably right. I'm a freak that hates making multiple orders though. I need to get over it but it's hard.

It's "officially" 3x6 (you sit at the long ends) but I will tell you "unofficially" that you can easily get by with 3x3 or 3x4 if you are doing sub-300 point builds. Those "fringe" areas really don't see a whole lot of action. I bought two FFG X-Wing mats and I love them. I got the plain starfield and the one with the Death Star, they look awesome put together. On my floor. Because I don't have a table that big.

I've played a TON over the past week. Both with a couple of friends and almost every night solo. My friends loved it, but both of them said "nope, we'll just play your stuff". Which makes me think I should have hidden some of it to make them feel like they needed to buy their own. But that's cool, it's edging up into my "favorite games" tier so I don't mind having it all.

The MC80, man. That thing rules. It is EASILY the equal of an ISD and in some ways it's actually a little better. I love the Command outfit with it, using the 4 squadron rating to get squads mobilized and shooting ASAP. Last night I took down two Gladiators with it.

That was a fun match- 400 points, used Fab's to emphasize ships over cards. So it was two gladiators and a VSD including miscellaneous squadrons and IG-88 in his crab-ass ship. Rebels had the MC80, an MC30c torpedo frigate and a Corellian Corvette. The scenario gave points for inflicting damage to the rear hull, so the battle was quite interesting. The Gladiators flanked hard to their left and picked up speed. The VSD went straight on. The Corvette had a title that let it avoid debris/obstructions, which was nice because it was set up behind a bunch of it. It just fuckin' floored it and got up to speed 4 to try to hook around the VSD. The MC80 went straight on in, hoping to get broadsides on the Gladiators and the VSD. I kind of screwed up with the MC30, it went stupidly wide and wound up with a TIE Advanced squadron and IG-88 on its tail. So the Imperials got some points out of that.

But that Corvette successfully got behind the VSD and using some concentrated fire, just pummeled it. Blue dice knocking out defense tokens. I got an X-Wing squadron back there (which had been escorting Y-Wings that got wiped out in a TIE swarm) and the damage just rolled on. The Gladiators got off a couple of shots on the MC80, but it just takes a beating- lots of redirects kept it going. The MC30c had blown up one of their engines so it was taking damage for its speed dial being over 1, and then it took a full broadside from the MC80. The other one went down taking two shots from the side and rear since it was in both fire zones. That pretty much annihilated it. The VSD went down too, so it was a total victory on the fifth turn...before counting the points.

Every time I play there is like a break where I stop and think "god damn it, this game is amazing". I'm at the point now where I am actually wondering if X-Wing has been completely rendered obsolete by it...the games are different (really very different), but I think eight out of ten times I would pick Armada to play over it.

The movement ruler is just freaking genius...when you see the kinds of maneuvers you can do with it, it just makes so much sense. Like how you can maintain forward momentum but juke to the left or right. And it adds a strategic element, where you have to take into account your ability to yaw given your current speed. I think it's WAY more interesting than flight path...

And the defense tokens...what a great idea. That's one of the things that makes you feel like you are in charge of capital ships and not fighters. Because you make these big decisions on how to mitigate damage. It's not like your ship is not going to be hit (a shot is either effective or not effective), so you have to decide whether to brace, diffuse the damage into other hull quadrants, evade or take another action. But once those chits are flipped...it can get ugly real quick.

The dial planning is also how it sells this idea...with the larger, harder to martial/manage ships (think about all of the staff, logistics, engineering, size, etc.), you've got to commit earlier to a course of action than the smaller ships. So having crew that can change dials can be pretty significant. And you've got to plan, for example, to take damage and use the ship's engineering rating to perform repairs or transfer shield energy.

The only thing that I think is goofy is overlapping, but that's always a mess in any game like this. I don't like how the opponent sets the arrangement for any displaced squadrons. It's awkward and kind of gamey. Like, if I have an A-Wing escorting Y-Wings and the MC80 barges through, why does that break up my flight group?

It's a minor thing and it's usually not a big deal...but it's the sort of thing where everything else is almost perfect so it sticks out.

Nice report, fun read.

Michael Barnes wrote: The only thing that I think is goofy is overlapping, but that's always a mess in any game like this. I don't like how the opponent sets the arrangement for any displaced squadrons. It's awkward and kind of gamey. Like, if I have an A-Wing escorting Y-Wings and the MC80 barges through, why does that break up my flight group?

It's a minor thing and it's usually not a big deal...but it's the sort of thing where everything else is almost perfect so it sticks out.

The squadron rule doesn't bug me but the ship collisions do. If you're a shitty navigator (like me) you will find that you can get two ships stuck in place ramming each other, neither of which have the speed or yaw to avoid repeat rams on future turns. It's not the collision that bothers me it's that the ships will come to a full stop. Which I think is worse for the game-state than letting you fudge a teensy bit of forward movement. As you said though, it's minor.

Damn... wish that Armada had come out first,
or that I held off from X-Wing,
and/or Wings of War/Glory.