Hi all,

This isn't a flamewar game vs. game thread! And I think most people are fans of both anyway. I'm thinking of getting one of these two games but don't know which. I have read about X-Wing so have some idea of how it plays but no practical experience and Armada I don't really know much about but am guessing it is similar-ish.

There are no FLG's nearby so I'm afraid the answer of "play both and see which you like" isn't helpful to me. What are the differences between the two games? Is either more tactical than the other? Better supported? Cheaper to get into? Anything that would help me decide which to get?

Sorry if this gets asked a lot, I'm just trying to get a feel for how the different games play. Many thanks.

Obviously asking here on Armada forums most will say Armada.

I say Armada as with one core box you can build two 180 point fleets. With X-Wing you would need to buy a few expansions before you could build two full squadrons.

The games are quite different. Armada is brand new and only been out a couple weeks so you would be getting in on the ground floor still. But X-wing is more established too so there might already be players in your area of it.

Both are supported. X-Wing being nearly three years old has quite a few more options.

Thanks. Armada looks more expensive, is that right? £80 looks like it would buy me the base X-Wing set and both the Rebel and Imperial Aces expansions. Whereas the Armada game alone costs £80. But I don't know what you "need" to have a good game in both systems. Do tme two games play very differently or are they both sort of the same but on different scales?

EDIT: Doh! I just realized Armada comes with all thise little squadrons too - I was thinking that it was just those capital ships.

They are not the same really at all. Other than both use dice, are Star Wars, and have spaceships.

Armada gives you a complete experience with some options for your 180 fleets.

With X-Wing core plus both Aces you could maybe build two squads but not many options there. You would have little variety.

Do you want to play with grand strategic fleets involving huge capital ships or do you want Top Gun Star Wars ?

Buy in for both @ £80 is about right. Armada is more meaty game out of the box, X-Wing needs some support to get a matching gaming experience.

Both however require further buy in to get the best (as to be expected really).

X-wing has faster paced action, the movement system is far less forgiving, and destroying your opponents stuff is the only way to win.

Armada is objective based, stuff doesn't blow up as readily, and it feels as though the player has more control about the outcomes for each ship in the engagement.

Both games require careful planning, X-wing with manoeuvring, and Armada with command selection & activation order.

I prefer Armada, but that may also be due to the fact that it is new and shiny.

As far as money goes, despite the higher price point of the Armada core set, I believe to construct a 300 point fleet is a similar outlay to construct a 100 point squad in X-wing. Also, being a newer game there is less initial investment to be on the same playing field as everyone else. To buy all the things in X-wing today would be a significant amount of money. In addition to that, if you want to play competitively in X-wing, some of the best cards are found within ships that aren't used competitively (Rebel transport/Corvette).

They are not the same really at all. Other than both use dice, are Star Wars, and have spaceships.

Armada gives you a complete experience with some options for your 180 fleets.

With X-Wing core plus both Aces you could maybe build two squads but not many options there. You would have little variety.

Do you want to play with grand strategic fleets involving huge capital ships or do you want Top Gun Star Wars ?

I guess I would go for whichever offered the most tactical depth. But maybe they're the same. I like the miniatures in X-Wing a little more, though. The big ones are nicer I think but they're all grey.

Buy in for both @ £80 is about right. Armada is more meaty game out of the box, X-Wing needs some support to get a matching gaming experience.

Both however require further buy in to get the best (as to be expected really).

I'm looking for something to play as a fallback for when RPG night falls through because someone can't make it or insufficient orep time, mainly. Supposing I had a budget of £150 give or take - would either game still be needing more to get a good experience from?

Actually, that's a good point that just occurred to me, can either of these games be played with more than two sides? Doesn't matter if not, but it's a bonus if they can.

X-wing has faster paced action, the movement system is far less forgiving, and destroying your opponents stuff is the only way to win.

Armada is objective based, stuff doesn't blow up as readily, and it feels as though the player has more control about the outcomes for each ship in the engagement.

Both games require careful planning, X-wing with manoeuvring, and Armada with command selection & activation order.

I prefer Armada, but that may also be due to the fact that it is new and shiny.

As far as money goes, despite the higher price point of the Armada core set, I believe to construct a 300 point fleet is a similar outlay to construct a 100 point squad in X-wing. Also, being a newer game there is less initial investment to be on the same playing field as everyone else. To buy all the things in X-wing today would be a significant amount of money. In addition to that, if you want to play competitively in X-wing, some of the best cards are found within ships that aren't used competitively (Rebel transport/Corvette).

I'm not planning to play competitively but that's really interesting about the command planning. I love fames where you nave to really anticipate and set actions in advance and then see how they play out when everything is revealed. That might have just swung Armada for me!

Thanks for all replies. Despite looking I somehow missed the big "which is better" thread that is on the same page. Whilst I don't know that either is "better", Armada sounds much more strategic. I'll look at betting that one over X-Wing as it sounds more my style. Again, all replies were really helpful - thanks.

They are not the same really at all. Other than both use dice, are Star Wars, and have spaceships.Armada gives you a complete experience with some options for your 180 fleets.With X-Wing core plus both Aces you could maybe build two squads but not many options there. You would have little variety.Do you want to play with grand strategic fleets involving huge capital ships or do you want Top Gun Star Wars ?

I guess I would go for whichever offered the most tactical depth. But maybe they're the same. I like the miniatures in X-Wing a little more, though. The big ones are nicer I think but they're all grey.

Buy in for both @ £80 is about right. Armada is more meaty game out of the box, X-Wing needs some support to get a matching gaming experience.Both however require further buy in to get the best (as to be expected really).

I'm looking for something to play as a fallback for when RPG night falls through because someone can't make it or insufficient orep time, mainly. Supposing I had a budget of £150 give or take - would either game still be needing more to get a good experience from?Actually, that's a good point that just occurred to me, can either of these games be played with more than two sides? Doesn't matter if not, but it's a bonus if they can.

I think for £150 you can get the core set plus a good few extras from Wave 1. I bought online via Firestorm Games in the UK and got great service.

You can easily divvy up the ships in Armada to each player if you have more than 2. The same with X-Wing, each player has a ship.

Both can make great pick up games and need little prep.

We played 300 point 4 player Armada last night. 2v2. Each player had at least one ship plus a few squadrons. The rules for Armada contains a section on team play too.

I think my main reason for choosing Armada was that the "tournament only" focus hasn't sunk in on this forum yet. X-Wing is definitely fast paced, and fun in its own right, however, I think that it has gone down the focus on tournament play only road that happened with 40k.

It really all comes down to one thing.

Do you see yourself commanding capital ships that feel and act like they should or do you want to be a pilot, zipping around on the edge of your seat?

They're different games, so it depends on what appeals to you.

I've got the Armada core set, but haven't gotten to play yet. From review it looks like it will be limited until wave 1 hits, so I'm not ready to give it a full assessment yet. Armada has greater complexity and more strategic choices; it has built in objective-based play; and who won't go "sqeee!" with a full-sized ImpStarDeuce on the board?

Right now, though, I think I'd prefer X-wing for faster play, a more streamlined experience, and my own personal affinity for starfighters over capital ships. Since I play at our FLGS and do evening tournaments, I like that I can get in three rounds of play in a couple of hours; I don't know that Armada will offer that.

We'll see as the game evolves.

X-Wing might be the better bet for your needs.

X-Wing is the faster and looser of the two systems. There are already seven waves' worth of expansions so there's plenty of fighters to pick from. A new Third faction allows for "proper" multi-player scenarios, and usual games typically last an hour.

For me personally I prefer Armada for the theme and for the reduced dependency on dice. After a while it gets frustrating when your dice are not rolling the way you want to for several weeks in a row.

depends on what you prefer

X-wing is cheaper and plays faster/more simply. It's great for passing the time with friends or going at it competitively because it contains a lot of hidden depth.

Armada is just depth. It's a very complex and engaging game, but it's going to demand a lot more out of you.

Armada does, however, have the advantage in coming out after X-wing because it side-stepped the twin issues of high dice variance and what is perhaps the worst and most senseless gameplay addition since the Diablo 3 auction house (360 degree, range 1-3 turrets in a game based on maneuvers)

For me personally I prefer Armada for the theme and for the reduced dependency on dice. After a while it gets frustrating when your dice are not rolling the way you want to for several weeks in a row.

My sentiments exactly.

The last time I played X-Wing (at a LGS night) I had 5 TIE Intercepters at close range to the Millennium Falcon. That's 20 dice and I only took 1 shield off him. The next time I played an opponent he said I'd been the best opponent he had played and it was the best game he'd ever played (and he had played a lot more than me), I out manauvered him, out gunned him and got the drop on his 6's at close range all the way through the game and I still lost due to die rolls. When I got 3 hits on him he rolled 3 evades, when he got 3 hits on me I didn't roll any evades.

Widely swinging dice rolls have more effect in X-Wing.

Good playing skills and decisions have more effect in Armada.

I don't play X-Wing any more because I believe the outcome of a game should reflect how well you or your opponent played. If you both played well then it should be a close game.

For me personally I prefer Armada for the theme and for the reduced dependency on dice. After a while it gets frustrating when your dice are not rolling the way you want to for several weeks in a row.

My sentiments exactly.

The last time I played X-Wing (at a LGS night) I had 5 TIE Intercepters at close range to the Millennium Falcon. That's 20 dice and I only took 1 shield off him. The next time I played an opponent he said I'd been the best opponent he had played and it was the best game he'd ever played (and he had played a lot more than me), I out manauvered him, out gunned him and got the drop on his 6's at close range all the way through the game and I still lost due to die rolls. When I got 3 hits on him he rolled 3 evades, when he got 3 hits on me I didn't roll any evades.

Widely swinging dice rolls have more effect in X-Wing.

Good playing skills and decisions have more effect in Armada.

I don't play X-Wing any more because I believe the outcome of a game should reflect how well you or your opponent played. If you both played well then it should be a close game.

Armada it is!

For me personally I prefer Armada for the theme and for the reduced dependency on dice. After a while it gets frustrating when your dice are not rolling the way you want to for several weeks in a row.

My sentiments exactly.

The last time I played X-Wing (at a LGS night) I had 5 TIE Intercepters at close range to the Millennium Falcon. That's 20 dice and I only took 1 shield off him. The next time I played an opponent he said I'd been the best opponent he had played and it was the best game he'd ever played (and he had played a lot more than me), I out manauvered him, out gunned him and got the drop on his 6's at close range all the way through the game and I still lost due to die rolls. When I got 3 hits on him he rolled 3 evades, when he got 3 hits on me I didn't roll any evades.

Widely swinging dice rolls have more effect in X-Wing.

Good playing skills and decisions have more effect in Armada.

I don't play X-Wing any more because I believe the outcome of a game should reflect how well you or your opponent played. If you both played well then it should be a close game.

aye

though I believe the dice rolls only do that very rarely and you can ignore them entirely by flying around arcs. In those cases, your skill will trump dice.

Against turrets, though...

X-wing is more personal - I see the difference between the two as the difference between playing a squad level skirmish and a company based game - you feel more affiliation to the pilots in X-wing. However it is completely and utterly reliant on dice rolls and while they should in theory even out the fact you can modify so many of them means that it doesn't at all - that and the 360 fire arcs which take any manoeuvre skill out the game really means that I will be playing more and more armada and less and less X-wing.

Unless the OP is set on a space ship type game. It honestly sounds like Imperial Assault may be the better choice.

Visually I love the idea of 2 Star Destroyers baring down on each other!... with the scream of Tie Fighters in my ears (and later Interceptors and Bombers).