I´m thinking of picking up the core set to try this game out. I´m actually more excited about wave 2 (ISD, MF, etc) than wave 1. I already play X-wing and will probably try to stay calm with Armada purchases and rather attempt to pick out ships that I really like and remember that the game will probably spawn a number of waves in the end.

There is one ship from wave 1 that I simply hate. It´s probably just the looks of it, but it´s the rebel Assault frigate. Is it a crucial ship to enjoy the game till wave 2? Are there upgrade cards in there that you simply have to have?

I would rather pick up a pair of Corvette and Neb-b expansions because they are seen in the films.

ps. Do I have options if I end up picking up one of each wave 1 expansion besides the Assault Frigate and the Victory-class (I figure there will be plenty Star Destroyers in the game with more waves)?

Well to be Competitive you probably need the assault frigate, or 5 cr90s but if your not planning on dueing many tournaments you can definitely wait untill wave 2

I didn't bother with the assault frigate either and I've got enough options to see me through I think. Playing at 300 points might be more difficult, but once the Mon Cal turn up you'll probably be sorted.

I´m thinking of picking up the core set to try this game out. I´m actually more excited about wave 2 (ISD, MF, etc) than wave 1. I already play X-wing and will probably try to stay calm with Armada purchases and rather attempt to pick out ships that I really like and remember that the game will probably spawn a number of waves in the end.

There is one ship from wave 1 that I simply hate. It´s probably just the looks of it, but it´s the rebel Assault frigate. Is it a crucial ship to enjoy the game till wave 2? Are there upgrade cards in there that you simply have to have?

I would rather pick up a pair of Corvette and Neb-b expansions because they are seen in the films.

ps. Do I have options if I end up picking up one of each wave 1 expansion besides the Assault Frigate and the Victory-class (I figure there will be plenty Star Destroyers in the game with more waves)?

If you hate the ship, dont get it. If you stick with the 300 pts limit it is perfectly doable to build fleets with just some other Neb/CR90 and the fighter wings alone. Sure, it might not be the most competitive list, but that should not bother you.

3 Neb-B lists have plenty of power if flown right.

The assault frigate is the easy button.

I got the RAF for parity against the VSD. Now that I have 2 NebB and 2 CR90 as part if the fleet, going up against 2 VSD and1 GSD should be a balanced affair.

You're free of course to buy or not buy whatever you want. But the assault frigate is an amazing ship, you're missing out by not buying it.

The AF Mk II is possibily the best training you will get for what the Rebels are going to look like after Wave 2 drops. Both the CR90 and the Neb/B are unlike the other three revealed Rebel ships, which have their firepower (without upgrades) in the side arcs not in the front, so they require a whole different set of tactics (e.g. using the broadsides exposes you to more fire)

A lot of people didn't like the Space Whale at first, like me, but after seeing it for a while it has grown on me a lot. Now the Space Whale is my current favorite ship of the Rebels.

I like the assault frigate but hey you don't have to get it if you don't want to. I do recommend getting a Neb B expansion

3 Neb-B lists have plenty of power if flown right.

The assault frigate is the easy button.

There are no easy buttons as of yet. It is all dependent on how you maneuver and target prioritize. I have flown both Empire and Rebels and since wave one both sides have had to relearn how to play their lists. Just do not rely on the VSD so much.

The beauty of this game so far is no ship is a "must have" you can build a perfectly competitive list with Neb's, CR's and fighters. I have the frigate as I like it, but I am super excited for the Mon Cal's as I intend to field a Mon Cal only fleet.

If you don't like it, don't buy it. You might end up with buyers remorse, and thats no fun.

But honestly, it is a good looking ship, it flies well, and loves Enhanced Armaments and Advanced Gunnery Objectives (well, the paragon at least).

3 Neb-B lists have plenty of power if flown right.

The assault frigate is the easy button.

Wait, the last great thread said the Domolisher was the Easy Button. Now it's the Mark II?

There are no easy buttons as of yet. It is all dependent on how you maneuver and target prioritize. I have flown both Empire and Rebels and since wave one both sides have had to relearn how to play their lists. Just do not rely on the VSD so much.

But that term is incredibly relative. This game is too complex for there to be something fool-proof like xwing's fat han. The whale is easy not to do poorly with because it's chuncky on all sides and favors its wide arcs.

If not flown well, however, all those side arcs accomplish is the output of a neb-b for far more cost.

I like to say the whale is easy to not embarrass yourself with and difficult to use effectively. You really want to line up two arcs to get respectable amounts of damage out (esp paragon)

I was originally planning on going without it myself, but I've grown to really enjoy it. That said, my go to fleet style is 2 Corvettes and 2 Nebulons at the moment, so there are always options.

aye, I've been leaving my beloved space whales on the side more because when I loan out my VSDs I have to loan out one of the fattie's bases (the core set VSD one got bent something horrible )

my initial assumptions about the absolutely fragility of two nebs and one corv were laid to rest when I, for lack of table space (no 3 by 6 available at the time) decided just to run straight into the opponent running my double 10-hull (motti) VSDs

those braces will save your ass for a few turns (general D took two points of hull damage from a close range VSD - 1 onslaught to his side), and the titles will more than carry their weight (Salvation and Yavaris enabled B-wings hands down won the game, which came down to just the CR-90 + 3 Bs staring down the dominator + rhymer + bomber, only by then the VSD was going full Nicolas Cage)

I use the Assault Frigate when I go fighter heavy to give me that edge in the amount of squads I can push into action with one command. I think if you plan on running fighter heavy with the Rebels, you may want one for the job. Plus it is also a great ship in general.

3 Neb-B lists have plenty of power if flown right.

The assault frigate is the easy button.

Wait, the last great thread said the Domolisher was the Easy Button. Now it's the Mark II?

There are no easy buttons as of yet. It is all dependent on how you maneuver and target prioritize. I have flown both Empire and Rebels and since wave one both sides have had to relearn how to play their lists. Just do not rely on the VSD so much.

IMO, the afmkii is the easy button

But that term is incredibly relative. This game is too complex for there to be something fool-proof like xwing's fat han. The whale is easy not to do poorly with because it's chuncky on all sides and favors its wide arcs.

If not flown well, however, all those side arcs accomplish is the output of a neb-b for far more cost.

I like to say the whale is easy to not embarrass yourself with and difficult to use effectively. You really want to line up two arcs to get respectable amounts of damage out (esp paragon)

The Nebulon has been sitting on the sidelines after its poor showing in the last few games I used it. The CR90 and Space Whale just fly better. (I also use very aggressive tactics where I go for flanks hard and the Nebulon just doesn't do that well for me.)

Well, I would say there are a few things that males Space Orca look better. One is flipping the tail piece which is easy

Who does not love space whale!

3 Neb-B lists have plenty of power if flown right.

The assault frigate is the easy button.

Wait, the last great thread said the Domolisher was the Easy Button. Now it's the Mark II?

There are no easy buttons as of yet. It is all dependent on how you maneuver and target prioritize. I have flown both Empire and Rebels and since wave one both sides have had to relearn how to play their lists. Just do not rely on the VSD so much.

IMO, the afmkii is the easy button

But that term is incredibly relative. This game is too complex for there to be something fool-proof like xwing's fat han. The whale is easy not to do poorly with because it's chuncky on all sides and favors its wide arcs.

If not flown well, however, all those side arcs accomplish is the output of a neb-b for far more cost.

I like to say the whale is easy to not embarrass yourself with and difficult to use effectively. You really want to line up two arcs to get respectable amounts of damage out (esp paragon)

Well as long as you realize people said the samething about the VSD (before wave one), Domolisher and running several corvettes at once than I can see that. It is a solid ship, just like the Domolisher but if it is not maneuvered right it becomes wasted points.

The Nebulon has been sitting on the sidelines after its poor showing in the last few games I used it. The CR90 and Space Whale just fly better. (I also use very aggressive tactics where I go for flanks hard and the Nebulon just doesn't do that well for me.)

like I said, the term is relative

as context changes, so too does the meaning of "easy"

in the current match-ups, the fattie has the easiest time taking on imperial capital ships whereas the other ships can be highly effective but also quite vulnerable.

this doesn't make them auto-win by any stretch of the imagination, it just makes them more easily integrated into a wider variety of strategies and certainly more of a ship I'd recommend to newer players

Armada itself also simply doesn't lend itself to "I win" buttons. There is far too many interactions between ships and far too many positional dependencies. Even though the AFmk2 is easily the least picky i.t.o firepower spread across every arc, it becomes far more effective if you can line multiple arcs on a target and it's not durable enough to ignore the strengths of other ships with just its raw stats (you can lap a VSD and overpower its weaker arcs, but if you go in from the front...)

So, in the current environment, the Afmk2 is the easiest ship to fly because it is the most flexible and most forgiving out of the lot thus far. The extent of this ease is highly debatable because while it is difficult to kill it can also be difficult to use effectively on the offense, but it's there. On the other hand, if you work with the less easy ships, you can get them to acomplish things the fattie simply cannot (which is kind of the point of having different ships, eh?).

Just like you, I absolutely hate the look of the Space Guppy, it is purely the choice of the mk2 over the mk1 which I prefer and is not a reflection on FFG's design or paint job. So I skipped it as well in favor of a second copy of the CR90 and NebB, and I've had no regrets.

Flying either all four ships or a CR90 and 2x NebB's have been both fun and competitive for me.

Don't get me wrong, I would've jumped for the mk1 design, because it is a very good ship, but I can wait for the Mon Cal cruisers. I do want to pick up some of the Upgrade cards, but I'm not buying an entire ship just for some cardboard.

@Ficklegreendice. Got it.

I do use that term differently and reserve it for "that" ship or model that has no solid counters and becomes an auto-include in competitive lists. But I really do agree with your assessment about Armada being a game where models like that will be harder than other games.

Sign of a well designed game.

But in the end the Space Whale is not an Auto-must-have more than it is a solid ship that has the ability to take fire from the heavier hitting Imperial ships. The smaller ships can't repel firepower of that magnitude.

Ok, I completely agree with you. I don't like the ship, I don't like the look of it at all. It's goofy that with all that mass it has 1 thruster as well. BUT, stat wise it's the best thing the rebels have. It's the best for commanding squadrons, and it's the best for hammering the enemy at long range. It's tremendous at circling enemy VSDs and wearing them out. I think imperial players would feel immediate relief if you fielded a list without one.

Now, it seems likely there will be other good options in the future, but It also seems likely that they will not create a ship that would make the AF obsolete. I went ahead and got it. I still don't love it, but I don't hate it anymore, and it definitely pulls it's weight in your list.

I think a nebulon B list would have extreme difficulty succeeding against gladiator heavy imperial lists. They are good snipers, but a team composed only of snipers is brittle indeed. you can mitigate this some with fighters, but I think, if you intend to play rebels, eventually, you must yield to the bulbous, truncated, abomination that is the space whale.

Ok, I completely agree with you. I don't like the ship, I don't like the look of it at all. It's goofy that with all that mass it has 1 thruster as well. BUT, stat wise it's the best thing the rebels have. It's the best for commanding squadrons, and it's the best for hammering the enemy at long range. It's tremendous at circling enemy VSDs and wearing them out. I think imperial players would feel immediate relief if you fielded a list without one.

that sense of relief lasts about as long as it takes to realize they're staring down ridiculous numbers of red dice and mon motha double evades, or double-tap B-wings that hit harder than VSDs

the Afmk2 is the best only in a single capacity apart from its durability. Like anything else it can't juggle all roles at the same time.

Both Afmk2s and Nebs are brittle against gladiators, because everything is brittle against gladiators. Those things are no joke. The Afs have the advantage of not getting pulped as easily (Throw in a few more shots, though, and they pop) and the nebs have the advantage in that if you trade one for the demolisher, then the trade favors the neb player.

Nebs also aren't just good snipers, they are the most point efficient anti-squadron fire (absolutely shreds 3 health ties) and pack Yavaris, one of the most hilariously devastating titles in the game. With a couple bombers and just a bit of foresight, it's incredibly easy to punish close range imperial ships. Play it either to learn the game of because it appeals to you.

You don't have to yield to jack in this game, except to impatience. Nebs and corvs are unforgiving compared to the fattie, but that doesn't make it an auto-include by any stretch of the imagination.

Ok, I completely agree with you. I don't like the ship, I don't like the look of it at all. It's goofy that with all that mass it has 1 thruster as well. BUT, stat wise it's the best thing the rebels have. It's the best for commanding squadrons, and it's the best for hammering the enemy at long range. It's tremendous at circling enemy VSDs and wearing them out. I think imperial players would feel immediate relief if you fielded a list without one.

that sense of relief lasts about as long as it takes to realize they're staring down ridiculous numbers of red dice and mon motha double evades, or double-tap B-wings that hit harder than VSDs

the Afmk2 is the best only in a single capacity apart from its durability. Like anything else it can't juggle all roles at the same time.

Both Afmk2s and Nebs are brittle against gladiators, because everything is brittle against gladiators. Those things are no joke. The Afs have the advantage of not getting pulped as easily (Throw in a few more shots, though, and they pop) and the nebs have the advantage in that if you trade one for the demolisher, then the trade favors the neb player.

Nebs also aren't just good snipers, they are the most point efficient anti-squadron fire (absolutely shreds 3 health ties) and pack Yavaris, one of the most hilariously devastating titles in the game. With a couple bombers and just a bit of foresight, it's incredibly easy to punish close range imperial ships. Play it either to learn the game of because it appeals to you.

You don't have to yield to jack in this game, except to impatience. Nebs and corvs are unforgiving compared to the fattie, but that doesn't make it an auto-include by any stretch of the imagination.

Salvation is no joke too with XI7s. Rips up ships like no other business. Add intel officer and your opponent will be looking defense tokens left and right.