I know many are still trying to put the pieces together and master the system. Let's discuss what we've discovered so far and strengthen the community. It doesn't have to be profound; just any thoughts, ideas, or solutions that have worked for you.

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Ships

Victory Star Destroyer

Current - at this stage, the VIC is a beast. It really is a challenge for the rebels to bring this monster down.

Future - once wave one hits, the Vic will have asome competition with the AFM2. That will offer some interesting combat. It will continue to maintain its position as the backbone of the Imperial fleet until we see the IMP in wave 2. At that point the Vic will become a blocker for its cousin, keeping smaller ships at bay, and dishing out pain to Rebel cap-ships.

Nebulon-B Frigate

Current - this guy has it rough at this point. It is usually the first Rebel ship to go down. It's to big to ignore at this point, yet to soft to stick around long enough to make a difference.

Future - with the new waves, the Neb will find its place as a great screening vessel or light carrier.

With bigger ships to take the heat, the Neb can focus on fighters, and getting a few hits in when the Imps aren't looking.

CR90

Current - this little guy has surprised me. The one time I took down a Vic, it was Dodonna's Pride that did most of the damage.

Future - it will continue to be a great, cheap, fast screening vessel. I think the NeB will have an advantage in power, but the CR90 will be easier to fit into tight lists.

Fighters -

Fighters represent a challenge in Armada; almost a mini game. X-Wings are better than TIES 1on1. But the TIEs are better when they have numerical advantage, (which they always should). X-wings pose a serious threat to ships, while TIEs are a fighter buzz saw.

X-Wings do not want to get into a fur-ball. At best they will get locked down. At worst they will be dismantled by TIEs, which will then help take down the Rebel ships by a thousand cuts.

TIEs should be wary of the rebel ships, as their anti fighter fire can hurt, and if it takes them out the rebel fighters will have a field day on the Vic.

I big part of mastering this game is solving this conundrum. One way is to form a CAP, (close area patrol). Leave you fighters close to your ships, and wait for the prime time to commit them. The Imps want to draw the X-Wings away from the bigger ships, while the Rebs want to draw them towards their ships. Knowing the right time to commit your fighters will be difficult, but the key to victory.

My winning tactic is thus:

So I play Imperial.

RE: squadrons.

Lately I've had some success as the rebels by sending my squadrons to a point in front of the Vic. The ties come in to engage. A single volley of anti-squadron from a nebulon. After that the Vic is in range of my ships, and is probably heading straight toward the squadron furball.

Either the vic turns aside and is out of position, or bowls over the furball, allowing me to reposition the squadrons, grabbing some bomber shots.

Bonus points if the x-wings can end their turn on an obstacle as then even if the ties are at distance 1, they still aren't engaged, allowing me to break off if needed, plus the loss of a die hurts the ties more than the x-wings. The trade off though is that the x-wings will be bogged down longer.

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My experience has been different than the OP though. At my store the imps tend to play upgrade heavy, and squadron light, consequently i've won most of my rebel games solely on the outcome of the furball. Last night the squadrons were Luke + 2x vs 3 tie + howlrunner. The only casualties at the end of the game were Howlrunner, 2 ties, and an x-wing. I used the tactics I listed above.

Your mileage may vary, and will certainly vary in a month when wave 1 hits.

I actually really like the Neb and find it to be fairly survivable with its braces

it really helps to have a nav token stored, though

Wave 1 is extra exciting for them because the Salvation and Yavaris seem like such high impact titles whereas the Redemption...meh

I like the Redemption when my Neb is not trying to trade shots with the Vic, that boost with Engineering while using tokens help keep those flimsy shields up.

My Rebel tactics as of now, are letting the Corvette zip around and land a sting here and there like a wasp, while the Frigate tries to stay close enough to unleash my X-wings with a Squadron order, but obviously not too close to Vicky. While my Xs try to engage the TIEs on a one v one basis, saving Luke for taking on the ship once the TIEs are weeded out. Of course, that's probably pretty much everyone's Rebel tactic for now.

Ive been playing as the rebels. Definitely have to use the escort nebulon for the 2 anti squadron dice. this is vital in being able to take out some tie fighters. keep some x wings with the neb to be activated when need be as well as protecting the ship. Use the corvette to out maneuver/get behind the imps, even use it as a ramming ship to inflict some damage.

ideally would take out the tie fighters and then can focus on the ships with the x wings and whatever remaining ships you have.

I've been leaving the speed on the corvette and nebulon pretty high. 3/4. the vic can't react fast enough to trap them, but have to be careful about running off the play field when you are moving 3/4 segments each turn.

i really have no opinion until after wave one.

There are really not many options to make any broad statement

Very limited experience but from the games I've had taking initiative is no substitute to having one of your objectives picked and being the 2nd player.

Last night I played my friend and he had spent less points than me and elected to be the first player. He then chose hyperspace assault from my three objective missions. The other two were dangerous terrain and advanced gunnery. Although it appears we played a few things wrong, which may have skewed the result, having a vsd 1 Dominator jump in behind his fleet line at close range was brutal.

A Squadron Command is executed as the dial is revealed. The Squadrons are activated one at a time. Thus the first tie fighter will not always be able to benefit in using swarm.

For a Core Set fight I made this.

Vic-1: Tarkin, Yularen, Expanded Hangars

Howlrunner

TIE-Squadron x5

TOTAL: 179pts.

With Tarkin + Yularen you shrug off most damage by the capital ships and the maximized TIE-Squadron will destroy X-Wings with a well placed squadron command

That said...

Everything goes out the window as soon as Wave 1 finally arrives.

I actually really like the Neb and find it to be fairly survivable with its braces

it really helps to have a nav token stored, though

Wave 1 is extra exciting for them because the Salvation and Yavaris seem like such high impact titles whereas the Redemption...meh

Same experience here, although I have to agree with OP that the Neb has a good chance to go down first. It actually all comes down to not exposing any of the squishy side arcs, so I go with the nav token, and play nav command quite regularly. I had some results with slowing down to speed 1 early to exchange some blows on long range, than speeding up to max with a command + token to get into the VSDs side, showing my rear arc. This will all get sweeter with wave 1, with XX-9/XI7 Tlasers and salvation title. In future gameplay I expect to see them regularly with no/few upgrades, as 57 pts for 2 blue anti-squadrons on a 5hp ship is quite good and affordable.

Re: Squadron tactics for rebels, see my recent post about Using Raymus with the Yavaris:

https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/index.php?/topic/168322-yavaris-raymus-awesome