Hello all, after the National Armada Championship at Gen Con, I was able to get brief interviews with both the Champion, Quynh Nguyen and Runner-Up Bryan Schmidt. Both are fantastic Armada players and well deserve their top finishes.

The interviews can be found here, the audio player is on the right: http://www.boardgametheater.com/archived-episodes.html

Thanks!

Thanks for posting! (and for recording these after what I'm sure was a very intense and draining 2 days).

Congrats to you both!

Congrats, you heard it from the Champ himself. Don't take any fighters.

Congrats, you heard it from the Champ himself. Don't take any fighters.

Sigh...but to be fair he said he was practicing with Imperial squadrons. I would be curious to see what he thinks about Rebel squadrons.

Congrats, you heard it from the Champ himself. Don't take any fighters.

Hey man, ever heard of a thing called critical mind ? It's not because he is the Champ that you have to blindly follow what he says.

List building is only half of the game, the other half is on the table. I've played against pretty beefy lists and won just because the guy in front spent too much time working on an autowin list that he forgot to think about playing it well on the table I'm earger to start facing 3 Gladiator lists with 100 points of Rebel squadrons and win with them

HE might like flying without fighters... looking at the Rebel squadrons, I just might try playing Rebels....

Hey guys!

I just wanted to say... my comments are my own personal opinion... YMMV! I'm certain there are a lot smarter players out there than me AND I have faith in FFG for making an enjoyable game (let's face it... it's really about the "pew pew" sounds, right?). I'm also confident that it's a good game given how much passion is going on in these various squadron vs no squadron debates (it's like Coke vs Pepsi?)...

1. I thought about Luke. He has 25% of putting a crit on and that may have messed up my plans greatly. However, I was Navigating and Engineering as my commands so I wasn't as worried about that.

2. Rhymer Ball and equivalent. I was just riding full speed 3... sometimes losing all my defense tokens in a turn of firing. I was more than happy to sacrifice/trade/gambit whatever to get in range for my next round of shotgunning (hopefully the carrier). It was one of those magical moments I think that I only lost two ships the entire tournament!

During kitchen table practice, we just randomly drew the Objective to be played so I could gain familiarity with them all.

Nothing says that FFG may make more Objectives to choose from that are squadron friendly?

@Overdawg

I tried a Yavaris/Gallant Haven build... but my sparring partners were too smart to get in close vs. Yavaris (two B-Wings to shoot twice). I found that a Guppy moving at Speed 2 is a dead one (e.g., at Speed 3, only A-Wings can keep up). This is really a positioning game so I think Navigate is the most important command.

Nothing says that FFG may make more Objectives to choose from that are squadron friendly?

@Overdawg

I tried a Yavaris/Gallant Haven build... but my sparring partners were too smart to get in close vs. Yavaris (two B-Wings to shoot twice). I found that a Guppy moving at Speed 2 is a dead one (e.g., at Speed 3, only A-Wings can keep up). This is really a positioning game so I think Navigate is the most important command.

Cool, was just curious and I agree that Gallant Haven is crap and Yavaris is very situational. I do play two Guppys and almost 100 points in squadrons (including Bwings) and the way I play I dont find it hard to anticipate my opponents movements and put my fighters right where they need to be enough of the time. My strategy doesnt depend on squadron commands but if I can get them in all the better. I think that is the key imho....if you play with a dependency on using your squadron commands you will get overrun by ships. But if you play them as minefields and round 2 or 3 alpha strikes you can sink a few battleships quickly. I play the long game and I dont think I have ever been tabled with my strategy.

A buddy of mine who got in the top 8 at Gencon plays a squadron less imperial build and I beat him a lot with my Rebels. But to be fair we have the advantage of knowing how each other play style and that helps me anticipate his moves better.

Either way congrats on your win...no one can take that away from you and you proved that you dont need squadrons to succeed. I suspect as the tournament scene gets more active we will see the meta change especially at 400 pts and beyond.

seems like Qube is a Quewl guy

congrats on the win !

Just being curious, did you try "balanced" squadron lists? Yavaris+Haven is one thing, but what about just Yavaris and ships & some squadrons (no need for even adar), or two fatties armed to the teeth for anti-ship (and paragon!) with just Haven to support a gaggle of aces? Or two lesser armed Fatties + a CR-90 and some aces...

urgh, where's my weekend I want to play Armada

@FGDice... Thanks. IceQube is a "square but he's still cool?" LOL

I think squadrons as minefields (yeah, Overdawg) and adding in an alpha strike (with squadron command) right before a big ship attack can be devastating. Lots to coordinate correctly though.

In my Thoughts from the Top Table post, I hope it emphasized that I tried to simplify my game so I wouldn't make as many mistakes. Fatigue, pressure/stress, remembering stuff due to old age... these are all points of consideration!

Furthermore, these are all views from a tourney perspective, not on one-off games... where a lot can happen!

As the meta becomes more mature, I can see a squadron alpha strike to bag a ship and playing keep away as a valid strategy. I do feel you need to underbid to win going 2nd for squadron builds though... I expect scores to be in the 7-3, 6-4 for wins...

IceQube, how did you attempt to avoid squadrons and minimize their impact?

@Blail, if I saw squadrons... my Glads were moving at Speed 3 and would continue to do so. Engineering would be my command... just in case a crit got through. After a round of squadrons, I'd try to nail the carrier ship.

Remember at 300... I had 3 Glads + Vic. If squadrons (bomber build)... that's likely the cost of a Glad. So in the attrition game, the opponent would likely have 3 ships.