I don't think I could convince you to dump one for another. It's fun, but for me locally, I know of 4 players, one I've yet to meet and maybe 2 people interested in buying in eventually. So most games I play are against myself.

[...]

I wish I was in Portland where it sounds like they made it mandatory that every other house on the street owns a copy. I'm in an area where only one store within 40 minutes supports FFG (or it seems). It's frustrating to have to travel 2-3 hours to play a game with strangers. But it's fun enough to justify the travel for an occasional casual tournament where I'll get stomped and have fun while doing so.

It was pretty tough lobbying that municipal ordinance, but now that every other house does own a copy, the tough thing is getting all those hipsters to show up at the game store at the same time.

But, in all seriousness, this game (for me) is about sharing a Star Wars experience with another fellow enthusiast. The opportunity to go meet strangers to have that connection with is half the fun. A while back Lyraeus and I drove up to a town about 40-60 minutes away to attend a tournament. Turns out, one of the other (out of 4 total) participants was another of our regulars. That meant that only the TO was a local.

We don't have that many people. . . X-Wing still out does us but we have a good community. It helps that we have at least 3 stores in the Portland area alone, 1 in Vancouver, 1 in Hillsboro/Beaverton area and one south of Portland, all accessible by public transportation pretty reliably.

As for the amount of players. . . My mind is still boggled sometimes when I hear that it is selling like crazy but I don't see many players. . .

Then again. . . I just bought a starter box, Gladiator, Imperials squadron pack and a dice set for a friend so he can start playing. . . Bleh. . . I am too nice

It's hard to keep track of the community. Some people have life events happen to them and they drop off the radar. This happened particularly over the summer. Others say they'll come to some events, and then you never see them again.

Also, there's the matter that some of the FLGSs hoard their players by building a very strong community that doesn't come out to the stores that we frequent as much. I'm hoping that Sullust helps us cross-fertilize somewhat.

Seems like we're pretty lucky here in San Antonio.

We have at least eight regular players who show up on a weekly basis, with another six or so whose schedules restrict them to playing infrequently. These are just the ones I play with, too. Apparently there is another group who plays at a game store I don't frequent myself.

I lived in San Antonio for a number of years. I didn't do much gaming, and no wargaming to speak of when I lived there though.

What FLGS do you haunt? Are there others with as much activity?

All the "selling" you should need.

Look at the SIZE of that thing!

All the "selling" you should need.

Look at the SIZE of that thing!

Strengths:

Weaknesses:

Are you crazy? Those are both strengths!

Most people still make pew pew pew noises when firing there lasers.

What more do you need past that.

Most people still make pew pew pee noises when firing there lasers.

What more do you need past that.

The ISD is all I needed to see.

Thanks everyone for your input! I know command a fleet of two core sets, one nebulon b and corvette, two gladiators, two assault frigates, two rebel squadrons and three imperial squadrons!

Jumping into a tournament tomorrow and massing at sullust Sunday!

Good luck! Get some practice in and if you have questions many people here are able to answer them!

Can you take a photo of it next to a slice of pizza?

Why do I think he has tiny hands?

Why do I think he has tiny hands?

Remember that is an 8" model

1. We have twice the Vader X-wing has.

This statement is false though. Vader also sees much more play in x-wing now than before.

1. We have twice the Vader X-wing has.

This statement is false though. Vader also sees much more play in x-wing now than before.

But there is only one Vader card.

Armada has Two.

Hence the double.

• We have twice the Vader X-wing has.

This statement is false though. Vader also sees much more play in x-wing now than before.

But there is only one Vader card.

Armada has Two.

Hence the double.

Both Vader versions are good and flavorful. In tournaments there may be a focus on cheap commanders so Motti is the most versatile there.

No, X Wing has Crew Vader and Pilot Vader, same as Armada.

Does anyone remember an old 1980s FASA game named Leviathan?

It was starship combat on the capital ship scale and I've not encountered a better one for the visualization and speed of large ship scale combat.

Obviously the community here would place Armada over that game, my question if you remember that game is, can you compare the two?

Does anyone remember an old 1980s FASA game named Leviathan?

It was starship combat on the capital ship scale and I've not encountered a better one for the visualization and speed of large ship scale combat.

Obviously the community here would place Armada over that game, my question if you remember that game is, can you compare the two?

Yes.

Leviathan was a game of the 80's and had a few good ideas. Most notably the use of boxes for the ships and a means of rolling the box so that different arcs could be used defensibly. The damage mechanism was nice, each weapon had a "template" and would damage each ship based on its shape. Each ship would have "X" rows of armour and 10 columns, so you would roll a d10 and centre the damage template there. Lasers would go straight down and mass drivers would damage many rows, so using your weapons in order was meaningful. That said it was a product of its time, book keeping and a time of play that would limit it's audience in this day and age.

With that said FFG have produced Armada with the design ethic of the times. We have less time for our games, but we still want a rich tactical experience. Gone are the hex grids, damage charts and excessive dice rolling. Most of the vital information travels on the base of our ships and for the most part it plays in less time. We are also getting rules that are simpler, however, the games are just as rich tactically. I think Armada via movement constraints and amalgamating the weapons systems into one large pool of dice don't achieve less, the achieve exactly what Leviathan does but in a different mechanic. Ships are still damaged with no effect, hurt and then critically hurt with some cost to what it does.

No, X Wing has Crew Vader and Pilot Vader, same as Armada.

this is true

but it is also true that Vader the goddamn commander abroad an Imperial goddamn Star Destroyer is infinetly better than him being some schmuk on a shuttle

I just wanted to thank you guys for helping to convince me to jump into this game.

Never having played before, I dove into a small tournament on Friday, coming out of it with a medal. And then Sullust yesterday, which I ended up with a shiny new ISD. All in all, my first forays into this game have been amazing and I am more than hooked.

On a related note, my wife is not happy. They say happy wife, happy life, but I'm guessing they've never had a chance to command an Imperial-Class Star Destroyer .

Fantastic, enjoy the ride

I just wanted to thank you guys for helping to convince me to jump into this game.

Never having played before, I dove into a small tournament on Friday, coming out of it with a medal. And then Sullust yesterday, which I ended up with a shiny new ISD. All in all, my first forays into this game have been amazing and I am more than hooked.

On a related note, my wife is not happy. They say happy wife, happy life, but I'm guessing they've never had a chance to command an Imperial-Class Star Destroyer .

Simple answer, get her hooked

Haha she just complains because of all the xwing and imperial assault stuff she has to see.

As others have said, Armada is good for those wanting a more epic gaming experience. The rules are pretty tight, the pieces are high quality, and it's Star Wars, so there's a lot to like. However, I have been disappointed in the following things:

- the relatively low amount of official posts about strategy, decks, and the like. It's a common problem- of the several games I play (Magic: the Gathering, Star Wars CCG, Star Wars Miniatures, Vs. TCG), only Magic has a consistent stream of official information (the other games are now dead, but even at their height, articles were less common). This, combined with long lead times between waves, makes for lots of frustration in Armada. I'm a casual player, so I need to see frequent posts and releases to both maintain interest and believe the company itself is invested in its success.

- though epic, the designed scale of the conflicts (300-400pts) are such that your typical engagement is a few ships/squadrons vs. a few ships/squadrons. I'd call them skirmishes, really. I'd love a card or miniatures game where you had _dozens_ of ships/squadrons squaring off. Yes, you could scale Armada to that . . . if you had tons of space, money, and time. Speaking of which . . .

- the time it takes for one game is too long. At least for newbies like me, who have to consult the rules frequently, a game can take 3+ hours.

Overall, I like this game, but I wish FFG would come out with a one-shot card game with fast-playing battles for the entire galaxy. All ships would be unique (named, even if the same class of vessel) and combat would be much faster (to facilitate the increased number of skirmishes within the game). That's my dream . . . a long sought-for game that will likely never come.

As others have said, Armada is good for those wanting a more epic gaming experience. The rules are pretty tight, the pieces are high quality, and it's Star Wars, so there's a lot to like. However, I have been disappointed in the following things:

- the relatively low amount of official posts about strategy, decks, and the like. It's a common problem- of the several games I play (Magic: the Gathering, Star Wars CCG, Star Wars Miniatures, Vs. TCG), only Magic has a consistent stream of official information (the other games are now dead, but even at their height, articles were less common). This, combined with long lead times between waves, makes for lots of frustration in Armada. I'm a casual player, so I need to see frequent posts and releases to both maintain interest and believe the company itself is invested in its success.

- though epic, the designed scale of the conflicts (300-400pts) are such that your typical engagement is a few ships/squadrons vs. a few ships/squadrons. I'd call them skirmishes, really. I'd love a card or miniatures game where you had _dozens_ of ships/squadrons squaring off. Yes, you could scale Armada to that . . . if you had tons of space, money, and time. Speaking of which . . .

- the time it takes for one game is too long. At least for newbies like me, who have to consult the rules frequently, a game can take 3+ hours.

Overall, I like this game, but I wish FFG would come out with a one-shot card game with fast-playing battles for the entire galaxy. All ships would be unique (named, even if the same class of vessel) and combat would be much faster (to facilitate the increased number of skirmishes within the game). That's my dream . . . a long sought-for game that will likely never come.

The games will get shorter as you become more experienced. My first match at Sullust took under an hour. As for truly large scale battles, you can always play a 600 point game with your friends. Regarding tactics posts...remember that this is a very new game. Magic has been around for 20 years. Give it time, and if you want the game to play on, keep supporting it!