Firstly, do fighter squadrons have to start on the table, or will we be able to launch wings after the start of the game from Star Destroyers? It makes me think of the deep strike rules from Warhammer 40K, where you can reserve certain units, like ones with teleporters or jet packs and they can strike anywhere on the board in future turns, but the have a chance to scatter. And some ground based reserve units could come in from a random board edge. I think it would be cool if you could hyperspace jump in behind a gun line or close to a heavily defended objective. Is that pretty much ruled out for Armada?

That's a good question. The only game demo we have all seen was from Gencon last year. In that all the fighter squadrons were deployed at the start of the game. It would be an interesting idea to have some of the fighters able to deploy from the larger capital ships. My own guess would be that they will all need to be deployed at the start. Very well could be wrong though.

As far as we are aware, they start on the table. I think stuff like hyperspace and reserves is likely to be house rules.

That said, i'm going to create so many optional rules for stuff like this

You have to remember that those rules in 40k are often at the center of criticisms of game play and game balance. FFG is decidedly more pragmatic when it comes to thier game rules.

True enough ScottieATF. A happy compromise between full rules and house rules could be those mission cards. So you can only do it if a certain mission calls for it, that way it's not so prevalent, but we can have the way it works standardized from FFG.

It occurs to me that it could be done very simply though. Why couldn't you have a cap ship plow forward and then, once in the midst of the enemy fleet, deploy fighters? Just rule that fighters must deploy either touching the base or the carrier ship or within range 1. Done. Easy. Points are still used as per normal.

It would create an interesting bluff. And if you have multiple ships rushing or saw squadrons waiting to be deployed you'd be wondering, is that everything as the opponent?

This would require rules I imagine though on how many squadrons a ship can carry though.

They start on the table, but certain Ships have abilities that boosts the use of Squadrons

Likely not the case with Armada, but I always liked Infinity's reserve rules.

You only need to reveal the visible units starting on the table to your opponent. If you have hidden units or units in reserve, you don't have to show or tell the other guy what else you have up your sleeves. Makes the game hugely tactical in that regard. What else could they have? What if you only see a third of their points on the table at the start of the game? How do you react? Etc...

Woo, I was right!