[_] If your answer is yes, you will need an official upgrade card for each upgrade you would like to bring. In case you know already which ships/upgrades you will play for sure, check if they are available in bundles or if some LGS is giving rebate if you buy everything with them. For upgrade cards alone, consider ebay!

I don't go to any tournaments that allow proxied cards.

I don't buy any Rebel ships.

I still win most of the tournaments I attend.

I am not an Armada god.

Having the best build is not a guarantee in winning this game. Having a suboptimal build is not a foregone failure. There's a lot more to this game that the ships and cards you bring to the table.

So, I don't think it's useful to imply to the OP that if he doesn't have certain cards that he shouldn't go to no-proxy tournaments. He should totally go to standard tournaments, because they're fun to play in.

The first few he goes to, he's going to get his rear kicked, but not having the right cards is not going to have anything to do with it. It's going to happen because he's new. Since he's probably going to have his rear kicked, he should just bring his funky rebel build and go down in flames with it. Wash, rinse, repeat until he gets better.

Besides, until he has a good number of games under his belt, he's not going to know what's good anyway.

I think you misunderstood my post in full.

OP was asking in reference to upgrade cards, and if he should buy imperial ships (or even multiples of ships) only because he wants some upgrade card from that box. Thats what I was refering to, because I wanted to help a fellow gamer save some bugs.. I just pointed out that there are certain events or locations that require you to have the original cards, and multiples if you want to play them on more then one ship, however there are also certain locations that do not require to do so.. and even if he would like to attend tourneys at some point, that there are ways to get a specific upgrade card (ex. Ebay) other than buying a complete expansion box.

Other than that, gratz to your tourney record ;-)

If you're worried about upgrade cards, I recommend you check out the trade thread in this very forum as well. I've gotten a few cards myself that way.

FAbs fleet builder may also help you. You can punch in a fleet using free mode then it tells you what sets you need. You can also limit the cards to what sets you "have" and then see if you can build a satisfying fleet.

FAbs fleet builder may also help you. You can punch in a fleet using free mode then it tells you what sets you need. You can also limit the cards to what sets you "have" and then see if you can build a satisfying fleet.

I'll check it out. I meant to look for a builder yesterday to start tinkering around but I did not want to suffer from analysis paralysis. Another reason I wanted to stick with one faction *to start* out.

The reason why I chose Armada and not X-wing was when I went to the game store, most the X-wing players had 100 points of each ship (more or less) 'just in case' and were towing them around in a large plastic box so they could prepare a hard counter to the favoured tactics of whomever they were drawn to play against. This, apparently, is how 'friendly' games go.

The armada players had armies that were all transported in the game's core box, had a selection of different ships on the board and were laughing while they payed.

I see this a lot. Not the 'not having fun part', that exists in my local area a little bit, but most of us just play for fun. I mainly see the part where people tote around their ENTIRE collections in Plano or Plano-type containers and it takes them a good 15 minutes or more to set up for a casual game. I actually store my X-Wing ships on their bases for easy access and no assembling (other than swapping pilot chits occasionally) and I only take exactly what I need (or might need) in the way of upgrades, tokens, ships, etc. to casual events or tournaments .

I have seen maybe 1 game played at my LGS but I know people have ships and they are going to be participating in the Winter Tournament and Store Championship. The waters are essentially untested, which should be great for me because I have a better chance to do well. I am hoping to learn a lot, and if possible, win a game or two.

*grumble grumble * I will be at you one day Mikael!

I will work on that video. Now sure what way to go about it but we shall see. . .

I think you misunderstood my post in full.

OP was asking in reference to upgrade cards, and if he should buy imperial ships (or even multiples of ships) only because he wants some upgrade card from that box. Thats what I was refering to, because I wanted to help a fellow gamer save some bugs.. I just pointed out that there are certain events or locations that require you to have the original cards, and multiples if you want to play them on more then one ship, however there are also certain locations that do not require to do so.. and even if he would like to attend tourneys at some point, that there are ways to get a specific upgrade card (ex. Ebay) other than buying a complete expansion box.

Other than that, gratz to your tourney record ;-)

Thanks man.

After a long day's work (and no play), I was perhaps feeling too combative. Also, for us to engage in a bickerfest is maybe not the best way to welcome a new guy to a community.

But this is all in good fun, and it's how we roll.

Still, I don't think I misunderstood you. Sure, you were saying that there are options to buying full packs in order to get the cards he wants, and until then he can hang out with the more casual crowd.

I'm saying there's a third option - don't sweat the cards. Build with what you got, take your licks, and find out that you don't really need to get the cards that only come in the packs that you don't want to buy.

Worrying too much about the minutiae of this or that upgrade card is a bit of a rabbit hole. The game is so much bigger than that, and he shouldn't waste time agonizing about it.

I will work on that video. Now sure what way to go about it but we shall see. . .

Some things I was looking for (as a new player) would be an Armada video that had an outline like this below:

-Focus on one faction at a time (or make two videos, one for each)

-Briefly discuss the order in which to buy expansions

-Briefly discuss the usefulness of each expansion:

---What it adds to its faction

---Why or why not you would recommend it

---What kind of fleet you would use it in

-Briefly discuss a few simple combos and/or favorite upgrades

-Generic fleet strategy:

---Deployment

---Movement

---When to spend or save tokens

---Objective choices

-Solid example fleets (400 points) for beginners with total MRSP listed (two of each faction):

---Briefly discuss the strategy behind each fleet example:

-----Opening Maneuvers

-----Useful command strategy

Some of these might be split into multiple videos depending on how detailed you would want to get. Again, I had a hard time finding legitimate vids that were not just batreps or unboxing videos. There was a single video where a guy talked about his one list in detail, but it did not quite cater to me as a newer player just seeking some generic information. Each point I listed does not have to be extremely detailed or time consuming either.

No pressure or anything, but if you embark on this journey to bring forth the video, you will be my hero!

For the moment, there is nothing quite like Autothrusters, where you buy the Starviper because otherwise your A-Wings and Interceptors are worthless. Assault Proton Torpedoes would be really nice on Gladiators, and you can only get them through MC30s...but it's not like the other option (Assault Concussion Missiles) is bad .

I was just thinking the same thing. I think right after I bought a StarViper solely so my A-wings could stay competitive that I questioned my investment in X-wing. I still play for fun, just not competitively anymore.

For the moment, there is nothing quite like Autothrusters, where you buy the Starviper because otherwise your A-Wings and Interceptors are worthless. Assault Proton Torpedoes would be really nice on Gladiators, and you can only get them through MC30s...but it's not like the other option (Assault Concussion Missiles) is bad .

I was just thinking the same thing. I think right after I bought a StarViper solely so my A-wings could stay competitive that I questioned my investment in X-wing. I still play for fun, just not competitively anymore.

Yeah, it has been a little easier for me to overlook this in X-Wing because I started small and just eventually collected at least one of everything. If I bought multiple ships it was to practically use that ship. For example, I am interested in running 4 Green Squadrons with PTL + Wired and all the trimmings, but I do not want to purchase 3 more Ep 7 core sets...that just seems CRAZY. But I bought (and play with) my two starvipers from time to time as well as my three cartel marauders.

Now, there was a guy I played against in an ad hoc game once. I had arrived ahead of time and set up my stuff, just keeping my actual build out of sight. I put out a few conspicuous cloak tokens that I happened to have, among the other neatly arranged tokens and movement templates. The guy totally fell for it: built against the TIE Phantom, and got clobbered by TIE Bombers slinging ordnance. Much fun.

You devious Sith Lord you!

For the moment, there is nothing quite like Autothrusters, where you buy the Starviper because otherwise your A-Wings and Interceptors are worthless. Assault Proton Torpedoes would be really nice on Gladiators, and you can only get them through MC30s...but it's not like the other option (Assault Concussion Missiles) is bad .

I was just thinking the same thing. I think right after I bought a StarViper solely so my A-wings could stay competitive that I questioned my investment in X-wing. I still play for fun, just not competitively anymore.

The first was that I found that I didn't enjoy playing autoceptors much. The other was that the introduction of the Autothrusters diminished the use of fat turrets in the meta, making autothrusters much less valuable for me to use. Furthermore, I just don't play scum, criminal or rebel.

But I still play the game competitively, even if I've stopped with out-of-faction purchases.

Now is true that I've been paying a lot more attention to Armada, and am thus a bit behind the curve on X-Wing these days. (Got clobbered by Twin Laser Turrets last weekend at a little tournament in Minneapolis.)

For the moment, there is nothing quite like Autothrusters, where you buy the Starviper because otherwise your A-Wings and Interceptors are worthless. Assault Proton Torpedoes would be really nice on Gladiators, and you can only get them through MC30s...but it's not like the other option (Assault Concussion Missiles) is bad .

I was just thinking the same thing. I think right after I bought a StarViper solely so my A-wings could stay competitive that I questioned my investment in X-wing. I still play for fun, just not competitively anymore.

I also bought the Starviper for this same reason, and I also questioned my investment afterwards, but for a combination of slightly different reasons.

The first was that I found that I didn't enjoy playing autoceptors much. The other was that the introduction of the Autothrusters diminished the use of fat turrets in the meta, making autothrusters much less valuable for me to use. Furthermore, I just don't play scum, criminal or rebel.

But I still play the game competitively, even if I've stopped with out-of-faction purchases.

Now is true that I've been paying a lot more attention to Armada, and am thus a bit behind the curve on X-Wing these days. (Got clobbered by Twin Laser Turrets last weekend at a little tournament in Minneapolis.)

You barely get games in for Armada!

You just mean you put what little game time you make into armada. Which I cant fault you for. It is obviously the better game.