http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_news.asp?eidn=5325

Oh man, this is awesome

This looks really interesting. I'd like to try a demo sometime when the FLGS gets it in.

I can't support so many costly habits, but I'm definitely going to watch Armada more closely after that Star Destroyers! article.

I like that missiles and special weapons just enhance your attacks as opossed to conducting a different style of attack all together. Adds to the more strategic feel to the game.

Also, the clear difference between "exhaust" and "discard" cards and tokens shows that FFG have got the wording of the rules down very well.

Just a pity that there wasn't a sneak peek of the ISD in this preview

Now I'm going to need to pick up 1-2 more Gladiators. 1 Vic and 3 Gladiators doesn't seem like to bad of an idea. Or if you're willing to go light on upgrades and fighters you could go 2 and 2. Either way I think I'm going to need another 1-2...

Just a pity that there wasn't a sneak peek of the ISD in this preview

The soonest you'll see a ISD is Wave 2.

2 pieces of conflicting info in that article that I noticed:

Firstly, the card lists the point value of a Vic-I as 75, while the article says seventy-three.

Secondly, the article and card for Ion Cannon Batteries has a conflict about wether it strips command or defence tokens.

Looks awesome picked up a possible error though, when talking about ion batteries it says "Or if you’ve equipped the Ion Cannon Batteries, you can slowly but surely strip away all of a ship’s defense tokens forever." but the actual card linked says discard a "command token" so unless they have started calling the defence tokens "command" tokens, I thought it meant the tokens you can save when you activate and don't use your command? (Which is one of the things I suggested ion cannons might do in the ion cannon thread )

Just a pity that there wasn't a sneak peek of the ISD in this preview

The soonest you'll see a ISD is Wave 2.

Hence "sneak peek" and not " comprehensive preview " .....

Lol Hygric, just as I spent ages typing it up on my iPad

Interesting to notice that Upgrades are Much more expensive in Armada then they are in X-Wing.

The cheapest one in that preview is 3 but with 3 different ones costing 10+ with the Dominator title costing 14. With the avg cost of an upgrade being nearly 8 points, where in X-Wing I'd guess it's closer to 3.

Hehe... fear the power of a fully armed and operational key-board! ;-)

Just noticed as well with Admiral Motti, ships come in size classes (small, medium and large). That's a new snippet of information isn't it?

edit: assuming that the Vic is large and the Glad is medium, Motti would add 7 hull points to a fleet of 1 Vic and 2 Glads... that's almost another ship for the rebel scum to try and blast through!

Firstly, the card lists the point value of a Vic-I as 75, while the article says seventy-three.

Most likely a typo, there's 2 places that show the cost of the VSD I as 75 points.

Secondly, the article and card for Ion Cannon Batteries has a conflict about wether it strips command or defence tokens.

I think it means defens tokens for both cases.

My bad, I looked at the cards again and i'd say the article just had another mistake, I'd trust the cards over the article.

Glad to see Screed. Old school Droids cameo.

Just noticed as well with Admiral Motti, ships come in size classes (small, medium and large). That's a new snippet of information isn't it?

Yeah actually it is. I wonder if the VSD will be Large, or Medium?

I could see the VSD being Large, Neb's being Medium and Vettes being small, but the Vette isn't that much smaller than the Neb B.

Doh, Hygric you did it again! I literally just started a thread discussing this!

Great minds think alike they say

Or I'm stalking you... just ignore the web-cams hidden in your light fittings...

Some thoughts:

Does the Victory-I cost 73 or 75 points? The article text contradicts the picture. I am inclined to doubt the pictures, since they have not been consistent in posting the most up-to-date pictures in previous articles. If the Victory-I's cost has been reduced to 73 (and the TIE Fighter squad to 8) since playtesting, I think that this indicates that FFG is trying to make triple-Victory lists a thing. An example:

Triple Victory
VSD I @ 73 pts + Admiral Motti @ 24 pts
VSD I @ 73 pts
VSD I @ 73 pts
5 TIE Fighter squads @ 40 pts
Howlrunner TIE Fighter squad @ 18 pts
Total: 299 pts

(Alternatively, drop Howlrunner to upgrade Motti to Tarkin. Grab another upgrade, such as XX-9 Turbolasers with the extra points.)

Admiral Screed will probably be the go-to commander for lists with lots of upgrade cards that use critical effects. He is especially nice with upgrade cards that use black crits, such as Assault Concussion Missles.

Screed's Launchers
VSD I @ 73 pts + ACM @ 7 pts + Admiral Screed @ 26 pts
GSD I @ 56 pts + ACM @ 7 pts + Demolisher @ 10 pts + Engine Techs @ 8 pts
GSD I @ 56 pts + ACM @ 7 pts
6 TIE Fighter Squads @ 48 pts
Total: 298 pts

I was mostly right about how Ion Cannons work in this game (see my reconstructions of the card elsewhere on the forum).

Overload Pulse is cool, but right now the only Imperial ship that can take it is the Victory-II, which is a pretty pricey ship. I think that this upgrade will really shine in Rebel lists with a CR90B. That thing has 2-3 blue dice in each of its forward and side arcs, and it is super maneuverable and cheap. The CR90B lands a blue crit, activates the Overload Pulse, and blammo!--the rest of your fleet can just wail on the target.

The Hammers and the Anvils
CR90B @ 38 pts + Overload Pulse @ 8 pts
CR90B @ 38 pts + Overload Pulse @ 8 pts
Nebulon B Support @ 52 pts + General Dodonna @ 25 pts
Nebulon B Support @ 52 pts
6 X-WIng Squads @ 78 pts (or mix in a few pure bombers)
Total: 299 pts

The three available commanders are a good mix of abilities--the flexible, clever (with really expensive tastes) Tarkin; the tanky, unsubtle Motti; or the brutal, specialty-weapon-crazed Screed. The abilities are all global, so your only concern on where to stash your commander is where he will be safest.

Just noticed as well with Admiral Motti, ships come in size classes (small, medium and large). That's a new snippet of information isn't it?

Yeah actually it is. I wonder if the VSD will be Large, or Medium?

I could see the VSD being Large, Neb's being Medium and Vettes being small, but the Vette isn't that much smaller than the Neb B.

My guess is that the size class is dependent on the size of the base. The CR90, Neb B, and GSD all have the same size base--probably small. The AF MkII and VSD both have the same size base--probably medium. I'm guessing that the ISD and the Mon Cals will be large.

Interesting to notice that Upgrades are Much more expensive in Armada then they are in X-Wing.

The cheapest one in that preview is 3 but with 3 different ones costing 10+ with the Dominator title costing 14. With the avg cost of an upgrade being nearly 8 points, where in X-Wing I'd guess it's closer to 3.

They really aren't more expensive because the scale is different. A 100-point X-Wing battle is the equivalent of a 300-point Armada battle. Thus, you need to divide all of the Armada point values by 3 to get the equivalent in X-Wing. So, the average Armada upgrade is 8 points, which is 2.67 "X-Wing" points.

Been seeing the small/medium/large thoughts (And whether we currently have small/medium or medium/large in the wave 1 stuff) and The comment on the point scales for this game versus X wing make me think we currently have medium small.

It makes a ton of sense, because then a VSD is somewhat equivalent to an Xwing. If that's the case, Mon Cals/ISD would be the equivalent of Millennium Falcon/Decimator. That seems too reasonable to me to not be true.

Excellent article. The upgrades look awesome, and the choice of Admiral is really going to affect the fleets whole playstyle (Tarkin adds flexibility, Screed adds raw power, Motti turns your ships into tanks).

The base size info is great too...definitely looks like we have small/medium so far, so looking good for the Mon Cals and ISDs

I'm confused what the XX-9 Turbolasers do. Do they cancel the rest of your attack and just cause two crits? Or make your opponent flip the first 2 cards of damage up? If its the latter, why would you never not equip them?

I'm confused what the XX-9 Turbolasers do. Do they cancel the rest of your attack and just cause two crits? Or make your opponent flip the first 2 cards of damage up? If its the latter, why would you never not equip them?

If your attack deals 5 damage, the first 2 are face up. Leaving 3 face down.

If you do 5 damage, 1 is cancelled by a shield, and 4 get through. Then 2 face up, and 2 face down.

You do need to "use-up" a crit effect to trigger these, so you are converting 1 crit and 1 hit into 2 crits by using these.

2 pieces of conflicting info in that article that I noticed:

Firstly, the card lists the point value of a Vic-I as 75, while the article says seventy-three.

I wonder if the card art (which was released previously) is old, and further play testing has dropped the Vic-1's price.

This only helps make a 3xVSD list more viable, especially since there is now a 24-point admiral. Motti plus 3 73-pt VSDs is 243 pts, leaving 57 pts. That's 7 TIE squadrons, or 6 TIEs and a ship title card, or the turbolaser upgrade for all three VSDs with five TIE squadrons...