Hi all, I've been a longitme lurker on these forums following all of the Armada news and opinion over the last month and am still deciding about whether to buy the game. Let me say that I own both the CCG and Xwing and I think they are really well made and a lot of fun to play (when you can find someone to play in central VA).

What gives me pause about Armada is that a lot of folks are complaining about things that probably shouldn't be issues in a $100 game. (1) Poor paint jobs, (2) chintzy manuever tool, (3) broken models. Others have said they expect these problems to be fixed and the quality of the product will get better in a second printing, based largely on what they saw happen with Xwing and how the core set got better after the first release.

So my question is, to those who own the game, are the complaints overblown and is the quality of game play enough to justify buying it right now or do you think it might be best to wait for the second printing so one doesn't have to deal with the kinds of issues that are coming up in these forums?

Apologies in advance if I've missed this discussion elsewhere, in another thread, and please feel free to point me to it rather than answering in any detail.

I don't think the second printing will really address most of these issues. So I'd go in now.

Its really a matter of how much it bothers you that the Neb doesn't have a wash on the rear part vs. how long can you wait to play it. We don't know when the second printing will be done or even if it will be any better.

Its a great game, and for the sake of chucking an ink wash on one of the ships I say just go and buy a copy

well i can attest to the paint jobs on the rebel ships being fairly poor quality compared to X-wing standards. the imperial VSD is really nice though

as for broken pieces, it does happen so i'm not surprised. but i have everything in tact

the second wave won't be much better in terms of quality. the X-wing's and TIE Fighters from the game X-wing didn't come in with better quality until about a year later after release. So i imagine that would be the same for Armada

Think about it this way. FFG has no idea how well this game will sell, just like they didn't know X-wing would grow to be their golden child, so I imagine that upon first release they have a set standard limit on quality control to not go overboard but release the ships as "good enough" and get them out the door. And if this game grows to be as big or even bigger than X-wing is, then i'm sure you'll see their quality jump up to higher standards because they know they can afford to bring out a better quality product and not lose money on it

Yeah - I agree, dive in now. I definitely share the maneuver tool concerns, and I think that its potential drawbacks will persist through future printings. I'm just glad it will be sold separately for replacement purposes.

I'd go in now.

At this point, I'm thinking that they have rather refined a lot of their production methods. And a second printing of Armada won't bring much beyond.. maybe corrections within written rules/cards? Maybe. I wasn't around for the beginning of X wing. So I can't really bring much to the table with that experience

Other than that, I can't see it really. I own 2 core sets and both have been top notch stuff.

Paint jobs are as expected: good. Nothing mind blowing.

Movement tool is ... as is. I'm not sure what I'd even expect from this thing. It doesn't feel feel 'flimsy'.. But Yes, i could probably break it in an irreparable way if i wanted, but not accidentally.

No broken models for me.

So far $100 for me, this game is working out just fine at that price point. And I paid it twice.

Malev

My Neb-Bs both have washes. It isn't as dark in the back as in the front, but that doesn't really effect anything? They look good to me.

And the maneuver tool is awesome, not sure the comaints there.

And peoe who have broken VSD antennas, well, It didn't happen in normal play, so I'm not sure what happened there.

The only defect I noticed was the Neb-B was slightly bent in some of the starter boxes so I checked every box untill I found a "perfect" one.

No other issues with my copy.

The paintjobs are easy enough to fix, although bearing in mind we likely pay for them they should be better.

The manouever tool has some fragile parts, mine lost it's "click" on part one so to speak, the thing still works fine.

I wouldn't wait, it's a great game, the paintjobs ought not to put you off, you must know someone with a brush and a pot of paint?

The manouever tool has some fragile parts, mine lost it's "click" on part one so to speak, the thing still works fine.

Lost one "click" on mine to. Wouldn't mind a more durable metal tool

The minis are excellent. Some folks like that "waxed 3 times a week" look. I prefer my Rebs a bit more run down and grungy. Compared to X-Wing, the Rebel minis look too clean -- too factory fresh. I corrected this in 10 minutes with a pot of Nun Oil wash and a brush.

Compared to X-Wing, the game plays much better. And X-Wing is easily in my top 5 games of all time.

Armada is a contender for number one. If this game were played with cardboard counters, it would still be a contender for number one.

I have 2 core sets. Both Neb B's needed a wash on the engine area, other than that everything looks great and no broken bits for me. I would say this is possibly my favorite game of all time (at least after 8 days of playing it) only time will tell if that stays true but I've never been so excited about a game in the 30 years I've played tabletop games. So I also say go for it!

I picked my set up yesterday and I have no problems with it whatsoever - the paintjob is pretty crisp, the antenna and front observation post spire are intact, didn't break either yet, and I put it loosely in a foam carry bag with enough room for it to wiggle a little on it's own and nothing bad happened. My maneuver tool is very solid - it even takes a little force to be able to click it, so there's no way someone could "accidentally" change the direction, all the cardboard tokens are perfect... the only issue I had was that my CR90's engine piece wasn't glued on, but a wee bit of superglue fixed it in approximately five seconds.

Some people might have problems, but I know I didn't, so I wouldn't panic if I were you - you can see the models through the window in the box to check if you like the paintjob... other than that you probably should be perfectly okay - it's really not that easy to break anything there, I guess people who did it were either unlucky or extremely clumsy with those models.

I have been wondering the same thing as the OP. I bought early into xwing, and have purchased 5 core sets for me, as well as a few for friends, and I can say there is a definite step up in quality with the later run minis. the early ones were not bad mind you, but the later ones are most certainly superior. I have high hopes for this game, I want it to do well, but I agree that if I have to lay out this much change for 3 ships, they certtainly shouldn't be bent or need painted. As one who used to play SSB, I was used to some bending, but you got 6 ships for 20 bucks, not 3 ships for 100.

Before you tar and feather me, I like this game, and I plan to buy it. I may buy into it heavily if it takes off. It's what SSB always should have been and could have been with bettter rules.

A later edition may have cards fixed thru errata as well, something I've run into quite a bit with Xwing.

Don't call me a nay sayer, file me under wait and see. but, i will confess, it's getting harder and harder to wait!

I for one would be pretty upset with a bent nebulon B at this price point. However, I have herad that FFG service has made good on some of these, and they do have a reputation for excellent customer service.

Thank you all. It seems like it's worth taking the plunge given what you all have said. I appreciate the quick responses!

May as well buy now. Could be a year for a reprint.

It's a fun game, if you're even half way interested in it, I say jump in. If the money thing is an issue, there's always Walmart... FFG is willing to replace poor paint quality on the CR90 or VSD, but not the Neb-d. Any physical problems with the model has been reported to be replaced instantly by FFG.