I need some help. I've been a long time fan of Star Wars and in particular the big ships. I started playing X-Wing to scratch that itch and I can't tell you how excited I was/am when Armada was announced. I have a friend that loves Star Wars as well and plays X-Wing with me. I've been trying to convince him for months to play Armada with me but he just tells me that he feels its the same thing as x-wing. Any tips to get him to come around to play Armada? I don't mind playing with strangers but its always nice to be able to play with friends.

I think it sounds like you are decided on playing Armada anyway, so just get it and then blow his mind

Tell him the rules are more thought out, Armada took a lot of the lessons learned from X-Wing and made a better game. No defensive dice, instead defensive tokens that have known effects. Being able to measure at any time, a cool maneuvering method.

Plus it looks awesome. You get Star Destroyers and Neb-B Frigates, what more could you want!!

I can see your friends point to the extent it's a miniatures space combat game set in the Star Wars universe. The games will just play out differently though, the game and maneuver mechanics have diverged enough that you'll have a different pace and experience with Armada.

Also, star destroyers.

As mentioned earlier,

STAR DESTROYER

Also ANOTHER STAR DESTROYER

I and some thing called a "rebal fleet" or something but that's so small it's hard to see behind the STAR DESTROYER

On a serious note, show him the gen con demo game of armada on YouTube that will let him see the diffrence

1 more thing, I also here that armada is avalible on vassal, so you could actually play it!

Show him the TC Gencon video and all the FFG articles on the game

http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_news.asp?etyn=1&ecan=251&epn=0

One of the big game differences that appeals to me as an X-Wing player is the objectives system.

I get tired of just 100 point "kill the enemy games" in X-Wing so am really looking forward to having some variety with Armada.

As others have said, Armada has also taken the best things that worked in X-Wing and further refined them, like the different damage dice for different ranges or weapons, as the red attack dice in X-Wing don't fairly represent the vast differences in ships, firepower and distance.

What do you really mean by 'play Armada with you'? Do you mean that he sits down with your plastic spaceships or that he buys his own?

I also have X-Wing pals who are not sure about Armada. I tell them that's fine. My core set is on pre-order, and when it comes in we can play on my set. Then they can make up their own mind about it.

What do you really mean by 'play Armada with you'? Do you mean that he sits down with your plastic spaceships or that he buys his own?

I also have X-Wing pals who are not sure about Armada. I tell them that's fine. My core set is on pre-order, and when it comes in we can play on my set. Then they can make up their own mind about it.

Yeah, thats what I do, then people see how awesome they are and tend to get hooked

Well, if he already a plays Xwing with you, and says Armada is the same thing as Xwing, it sounds like he will play Armada wih you.

He probably doesn't want to commit to playing it until you actually have the game in your hands.

1 more thing, I also here that armada is avalible on vassal, so you could actually play it!

Clarification as the guy who made the current armada module.

Its VERY basic. Its currently a proof of concept thing that will be heavily updated when the game is in our hands. Things like the size of the board relative to the ships, or ratios between components are not necessarily accurate. Also the articulated ruler currently only has 2 segments instead of 4.

1 more thing, I also here that armada is avalible on vassal, so you could actually play it!

Clarification as the guy who made the current armada module.

Its VERY basic. Its currently a proof of concept thing that will be heavily updated when the game is in our hands. Things like the size of the board relative to the ships, or ratios between components are not necessarily accurate. Also the articulated ruler currently only has 2 segments instead of 4.

I was wondering if we'd ever get Armada on vassal, seeing as Muon is heavily invested in XWMG and probably won't have the bandwidth to do an Armada module. I don't get a lot of game time at my LGS so this is great news.

Thank you very much for doing this:)

Armada is in no way alike to X-wing other than

a.) it's star wars

b.) the model quality is FFG standard of excellent, save the squadrons due to issues of scale

As for what it really is, well no better way to explain than showing instead of telling

Just to echo what others have said, Armada looks to be a very different game than X-Wing (other than it being a Star Wars space combat game by FFG). Have a read through some of the articles and this will soon become very apparent.

I would recommend posing this question in the X-Wing forums as well, because you're very likely to get a lot of bias opinions on either game. X-wing is out now, has a lot of ships and varieties to choose from. Armada is taking forever and a day to be released and like X-wing, will take several YEARS before it will have as much diversity. X-wing is not without its faults, but there is VERY little actually known about Armada and is mostly just speculation. I have played both; Armada shortly at GenCon 14'. I liked both quite a bit as one satisfies an itch. the other cannot.

with X-Wing, if you don't care for 100 point death matches (I really don't), the many scenarios are a great way to alleviate that. X-wing IMHO, is meant for 3 ships vs. 3-4 ships max on a 3x3 mat. Otherwise it seems to just get crowded, fat and sloggy.

Armada will suffer from the same problem as it appeared to be tough to move pieces around the measuring stick and the many fighter squads strewn about. And like all FFG games, you will have phases, within rounds, within turns, and so on that will slow it down. I love the scale of Armada though, and it looks like a gorgeous game.

However, for all that flash, you can put lipstick on a pig, and its is still a pig.

That being said...I will own Armada...if it ever gets released.

Just to echo what others have said, Armada looks to be a very different game than X-Wing (other than it being a Star Wars space combat game by FFG). Have a read through some of the articles and this will soon become very apparent.

And because of that, some X-Wing players may not like Armada. It may be that it just won't trip your friend's triggers in the same way as X-Wing does. Of course, he should at least give it a try when your core set comes in.

Still, if your friend won't get into it, it's not the end of the world. I got into X-Wing with the hopes that my best friend (my wife) would get into it, but she has categorically not gotten into it. As a result, I've had to go out and find other people to play with, and as a result of that, I now have a larger circle of friends. My wife complains that I'm gone too much, to which I occasionally reply: "you reap what you sow, woman!"

Thanks everyone. A lot of good info here. He'll try it a few times before he renders final judgment. I'm just crossing my fingers that he'll get into it!

Just to echo what others have said, Armada looks to be a very different game than X-Wing (other than it being a Star Wars space combat game by FFG). Have a read through some of the articles and this will soon become very apparent.

And because of that, some X-Wing players may not like Armada. It may be that it just won't trip your friend's triggers in the same way as X-Wing does. Of course, he should at least give it a try when your core set comes in.

Still, if your friend won't get into it, it's not the end of the world. I got into X-Wing with the hopes that my best friend (my wife) would get into it, but she has categorically not gotten into it. As a result, I've had to go out and find other people to play with, and as a result of that, I now have a larger circle of friends. My wife complains that I'm gone too much, to which I occasionally reply: "you reap what you sow, woman!"

You don't think that was a bit harsh?

...and some thing called a "rebal fleet" or something but that's so small it's hard to see behind the STAR DESTROYER

Which is why FFG made the Rebel ships so "unrealistically" large: To help the Rebs cope with their "Destroyer Envy"

...and some thing called a "rebal fleet" or something but that's so small it's hard to see behind the STAR DESTROYER

Which is why FFG made the Rebel ships so "unrealistically" large: To help the Rebs cope with their "Destroyer Envy"

Its not the size of the ship but the ..... suction of the vacuum?

...and some thing called a "rebal fleet" or something but that's so small it's hard to see behind the STAR DESTROYER

Which is why FFG made the Rebel ships so "unrealistically" large: To help the Rebs cope with their "Destroyer Envy"

Its not the size of the ship but the ..... suction of the vacuum?

There is one advantage Armada has over X-Wing:

Defense does not rely on dice rolls.

It just occurred to me the other day: Armada defense is not entirely dependent on random luck. There will never be a "Three blank one focus" result that totally makes your craft open to being destroyed. Protection is a gradual reduction of resources in this game, so you'll never be caught without options until much later in the game when you've already exhausted defense tokens from particularly nasty incoming attacks.

If you're like me and can't trust your dice at all to be consistent or kind, this is incredible. Sure your attacks might whiff now and again but at least you'll be around to make more of them.

There is one advantage Armada has over X-Wing:

Defense does not rely on dice rolls.

It just occurred to me the other day: Armada defense is not entirely dependent on random luck. There will never be a "Three blank one focus" result that totally makes your craft open to being destroyed. Protection is a gradual reduction of resources in this game, so you'll never be caught without options until much later in the game when you've already exhausted defense tokens from particularly nasty incoming attacks.

If you're like me and can't trust your dice at all to be consistent or kind, this is incredible. Sure your attacks might whiff now and again but at least you'll be around to make more of them.

No defense dice (randomness) removes extreme outliers from the damage distribution. Also giving defense tokens which have the ability to sort out spikes in incomming damage further flatten the variance of incomming damage a lot. You will have to grind your way through the enemy shields and armor which results in a more "fighting against a massive behemoth battleship" feeling as it should be. X Wing on the other hand should have this spikes in damage where the enemy fighter just by luck suddenly fully explodes unexspectedly.

Its similar to the way soccer and basketball scoring works. soccer is won by a lucky 1:0 with 10 shots on the goal per side where the goal itself is mainly celebrated so much because of the sheer luck spike involved in it imo. Basketball on the other hand is more of a grind and won 100:99 with 130 shots per side. So far less exciting single shots with basketball and due to the high number of hits the result is much more descriptive for the teams performance as opposed to soccer.