People have had the game for a little while now. Granted it's limited to the core but, now that the community has some experience, I'm wondering how people are finding the 6 round limit? I don't mean for a tournament setting since there are obvious logistical and time based issues to be kept there. But for the game in principle, as something you play with friends at the FLGS or home, how are people finding the 6 round limit?

Do you find the objective winner is pretty well decided by round 6 -- or do you think extended time would throw it up in the air?

Do you find you need just a little more time, 7-9 rounds? Or fewer?

Which faction benefits, if any, from how long the game goes?

6 rounds is a great amount of time. By then fighters are likely depleted and objectives have been scored a few times. Beyond 6 rounds is when you'd start the circling that would kill the game. It also for a you to act decisively, because you can't take forever to set something up or wait for a mistake. You've got to make something happen and quickly, which is actually pretty thematic--Imperial reinforcements are likely on the way, so eventually the Rebels are going to be forced to jump out of the system.

I have found the 6 round limit to be about perfect to encourage action. I agree that in many cases some lead time could be of great help in many situations, but to much time to waste usually means no action. Works well IMO.

i finally got a full game in and we decided to play the minefields scenario. i got to lay the objects and mines down and i made the mistake of making a mess of the board

it forced us to move slower to try and avoid hitting them (yet we both ended up hitting 2 each anyways) and we only got to engage ships in the final round of play. it was enough for myself (imperial) to blow up one nebulon B and unfortunately the CR-90 hit both mines and took 2 damage both times to kill it before i got a chance to shoot it along with killing off 90% of his X-wings

our fighters didn't even engage until round 5

next time i set the mines up i plan to put them closer to the edges of play and force a choke down the center and run at him full speed and slow down just as i get there

i like the 6 rounds, though sometimes i wish it went an extra round or 2. More play time will truly tell. but i think it's a pretty good number. I just wish my VSD's could reach speed 3

The round limit is a really good thing for the game. Right off the bat, it means that the games will eventually end; Repair commands and the like could indefinitely extend the game otherwise. Also, as Inksplat said, it forces a sense of urgency. You can't wait around for the perfect positioning, you have to do something right now, with whatever you can get on hand. This really enhances the feel of commanding a fleet, as you struggle to make the best of a bad situation.

Granted, with only the Core Set, it's pretty tough for the Rebels to finish off that Vic. Even a single additional small ship on either side should allow enough concentration of fire to consistently destroy some of the ships on both sides, since right now the entire game hinges on the (admittedly impressive) survivability of a single ship.

Both games I've played against other people came right down to the wire; one ship would be crippled and set to fly off the board, while it's hunter was in only marginally better shape but covered in enemy fighters.

Aside from the constant maintenance/other mechanics exploits it's also the basic part of 99.9% of tabletop wargames to have limited amount of turns for the game, because it forces players to play more aggressively and it's more in the competitive style of tournament games.

Here you can go for the objectives and then try to do some damage to enemy fleet or flee with it, both players play actively, there's no "1 forward" turtling unless you're playing a ship kill scenario.

I think 6 rounds is a good sweetspot. I think the majority of the games won't be a complete tabling, but come down to victory points, which is what FFG was going for in Armada.

I do want to do a 400 point deathmatch slug fest. Basically last ships standing is the winner. It will be interesting to see how the game system holds up past turn 6.

I think 6 rounds is a good sweetspot. I think the majority of the games won't be a complete tabling, but come down to victory points, which is what FFG was going for in Armada.

I do want to do a 400 point deathmatch slug fest. Basically last ships standing is the winner. It will be interesting to see how the game system holds up past turn 6.

Six round seems to be the average for tabletop wargames in my experience (and I've played several of them). So I think they've got it pretty well calibrated, especially in terms of victory points and win conditions being vital to the vibrancy of the game as you noted.

You know, that's a lot of words just to say I agree with you

I think the 6 Turms are perfect. When we played the learning scenario, or simple deathmatches, it was very close victories most of the time, but when we played with objectives, it worked pretty well.

I like 6

i do think a neat expansion would be an interdictor that extends it out to round 9 unless the ship is destroyed.

I like 6

i do think a neat expansion would be an interdictor that extends it out to round 9 unless the ship is destroyed.

That could be interesting. If it came with new objective cards there could be some interesting scenarios that could be introduced.

To short. We have needed 10-11 rounds without objectives to finish up. I'll have to see how long we need after that.

To short. We have needed 10-11 rounds without objectives to finish up. I'll have to see how long we need after that.

Why would you play without objectives though?

I think 6 rounds is just fine with the objectives involved. This game isn't all about kill the other squad. I am hoping that makes for a bit more interesting tactical play. Hoping...

To short. We have needed 10-11 rounds without objectives to finish up. I'll have to see how long we need after that.

Why would you play without objectives though?

Because some times ya just wanna blow things up!

To short. We have needed 10-11 rounds without objectives to finish up. I'll have to see how long we need after that.

Why would you play without objectives though?

Because some times ya just wanna blow things up!

exactly this

once wave 2 comes out i'm sure most people will have enough to easily field 600-1000 pts per side. and in a battle of that scale, you're going to want to fight to the bitter end!

I know i will

To short. We have needed 10-11 rounds without objectives to finish up. I'll have to see how long we need after that.

Why would you play without objectives though?

Because some times ya just wanna blow things up!

exactly this

once wave 2 comes out i'm sure most people will have enough to easily field 600-1000 pts per side. and in a battle of that scale, you're going to want to fight to the bitter end!

I know i will

You know I actually counted the number of ISDs represented on the movie screen at the Battle of Endor and it was over 36 ISDs. Couldn't get a precise count because of camera angle and panning, but I was able to spot at least 36 of them.

If I were a rebel commander and that showed up out of hyperspace, I'd be hard pressed not to just jump my ship right back out...and get a fresh uniform.

I'll have that at the end of Wave 1!

I love Star Wars and for the first time ever FFG waves their hands and say "These are the Star Wars Games you are looking for!"

So I say heck yeah, dust them all of get a big table and lots of beer and maybe some chips and have a weekend playing games with mates.

After all, what is the most important thing in life?

400 point games with the same old missions will become a staple, have a treat now and again.

I find the 6 round marker ok, but not necessary. I would rather have been without.
My biggest problem is the shot THEN move. This encourages Imperials to halt their few, larger ships and the rebel player to activate ships furthest away in order for the Imperial to move into firing range of the closest ones. I HATE that. Totally a game killer for me. And then with only 6 rounds you use a lot of the time just getting close to eachother. And I want to roll dice, not just move.

I think I will be playing fighter heavy lists, with Squadron 2+ Ships to activate them.

Sorry FFG, but the shot-move is really, really bugging me, especially with limited rounds.

I agree with the statements of many others..6 Rounds is great, when playing with Objectives. Which I generally insist on now anyway. I really do not want to go back to the training scenario EVER again.

Focusing on accomplishing objectives helps keep the game strategic. Limiting the game to 6 rounds also means you have to execute your plans and fight in a certain time. Totally dig it.

Six turns is good. I think usually after six rounds of fighting the battle is decided one way or another, or ships are separated so it'll take many turns to get back into position (after being repaired, in which case you're fighting in a second scenario).

The game doesn't play as zip-fast as X-Wing. You can cram a lot of action into an hour of X-Wing but the demands of Armada are more stately than that.

So. How do you feel about this now?

I'm finding 6 rounds decisive. In my last game, my VSD would have died and thus I would have lost complete on turn 7. Its weird.

I'm thinking 8 rounds feels better at 180 or 300... Though that might give the rebels an advantage: More time to get past, and more time in the rear where the VSD can do nothing about it.

At 400, I think there will be so many ships its going to take 2 hours to finish 6 rounds. And stuff will happen and die. So, maybe 6 is good for future proofing.

I find the 6 round marker ok, but not necessary. I would rather have been without.

My biggest problem is the shot THEN move. This encourages Imperials to halt their few, larger ships and the rebel player to activate ships furthest away in order for the Imperial to move into firing range of the closest ones. I HATE that. Totally a game killer for me. And then with only 6 rounds you use a lot of the time just getting close to eachother. And I want to roll dice, not just move.

I think I will be playing fighter heavy lists, with Squadron 2+ Ships to activate them.

Sorry FFG, but the shot-move is really, really bugging me, especially with limited rounds.

I feel your pain, but shot-move has nothing to do with it. It is the I go - You go mechanism. That in combination with shot-move leads to something I find annoying when playing with only a few ships: If you have the initiative, you can move the most threatened ship out of harm's way.

For me it depends on the objectives and situation; in some games 6 gives the rebels a chance, but for some where you need to kill X ship or deal lots of damage, the Imps really cream the rebels in 6 turns. If you do it longer it would still be very situational I think, as by turn 6 I'm usually down to my last 2 ships (Rebels 2 core sets) and outgunned and outclassed.

@Blail Blerg - I can get almost 400 out of the 2 sets; and it takes about an hour and a half; a VSD alone can jump to nigh 150 with cards even without the 'Dominator' card.

Six rounds is great for me. Without the built in timer, all sorts of weirdness is possible, like the dreaded infinite stall. Longer games do not equal better games. Currently, with six turns (at 300 at least) there is a bit of time to stall / maneuver but still a driving force bringing the two sides to clash. Six turns means finishing in the two hour range is possible, and that's important to me since I like to get in multiple games per session.