Hi all,

I spent a long time creating a grand campaign for X-Wing and whilst it had some brilliant points it struggled a bit with the feel of "galactic conquest" as it lacked capital ships - so I have spent the last few months re-vamping it for Armada!

This is a HUGE persistant campaign, inspired by the likes of the Total War PC gaming series, It is designed to be played against a regular opponent over the course of several play sessions, so would be idea for people who have a regular buddy they play against and want to add a bit of variety in.

The game works off a galactic map (placeholder supplied - its not pretty sorry!) with each commander you own having their own force underneath them, as you move the commander on the map, their fleet goes with them. You can chop and change forces from fleets during the game and request reinforcements from nearby fleets mid-battle.

It includes options for both Permadeath for heroes and non-Permadeath, depending on your liking, and rules for fleeing battles by jumping to hyperspace.

It includes rules for planetary defense systems, but no models are included at this point.

Likewise it has a couple of mission types beyond a straight out invasion, but no models are included at this point (though small ship bases are suggested as a proxy at this point).

Edit: It also includes carrier rules for squadrons that do not have hyperdrives, which changes up the game significantly. (basically 1 squadron per ship card squadron value, swarm squadrons count as half a squadron)

This is a work in progress, but it would be great to hear what other players think as they test it

Here are the resources you need:

Main campaign rules

https://drive.google.com/open?id=185oM9TYKDWyuddcfQc0oXch0DnRajOloyu4Sd8ssJkg

Galactic Map

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B6kiDa2E9hicQnVxVlhlT2U4RHc

Imperial starting planet list with bonuses

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1pUKxfS4lOAujPhCVBYRYB5WnC18xJIGY0UjWYRHTgnY

Rebel starting planet list with bonuses

https://docs.google.com/document/d/17qrmV5JlKa0EK4ceNU3KKtJ4w_cDgk3hugfVwRlUADU/edit?usp=sharing

All planet cards with bonuses

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1P6wthCwerSIOPHZ1q5imf6z2mXV5wAkZGSbLzhL_tFc/edit?usp=sharing

Imperial Roster (make a copy of this)

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Vt8DB09uckcaEaQhZu2yXgLA-heigLVAG3CMJg8Sxvo

Rebel Roster (make a copy of this)

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1ZNjxIw9hveP_USshWTqmRFOmmjPVI_xsCs4ksDOedZs

SAMPLE Imperial Roster (for demonstration purposes)https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Eqj-ZOCBQ8gPFTj54JqHQWAc7QJNAgk8dBJJDsDMmms/edit?usp=sharing

Reserved for comments

Changelog: 1/11/15 Uploaded inital resources

3/11/15 Clarified Commander movement - either to an empty allied system or an adjacent enemy or neutral system. Added a delay to reinforcing fleets of 1 turn for each enemy held system they must cross to reach the battle. Clarified, Commanders cannot be sent to reinforce other commanders, only forces from a commanders inactive fleet roster can be sent.

9/11/15 Updated master rosters and added sample Imperial Roster. Added multiple attacks to turn order

12/11/15 Updated carrier rules - Squadrons now can deploy only during the squadron phase or off a squadron command during the carrier ships activation. Squadrons can be retrieved automatically on moving into base contact with the carrying ship as the result of either a squadron phase movement or a squadron command movement.

16/11/15 Updated Hyperspace retreat rules to clarify squadrons.

18/11/15 Updated Commanders rules/clarification around fleets, commanders in battle and commander deployment.

19/11/15 Updated roster templates to move hero cooldowns to front page rather than individual commanders.

Looks really interesting. I like the bonuses.

looks like a lot of fun. Have you play tested it? How does having upgrades not count towards fleet points effect the balance of fights?

And I am not sure if this is a balance thing or thematic decision but I always thought TIE Bombers had hyperdrives.

looks like a lot of fun. Have you play tested it? How does having upgrades not count towards fleet points effect the balance of fights?

And I am not sure if this is a balance thing or thematic decision but I always thought TIE Bombers had hyperdrives.

I have playtested a lot with the X-Wing version but have only just started play testing the Armada version. So I know the campaign mechanics work, but what will need tweeking is the reward points per turn and the mission points caps etc.

With regard to the upgrade points not being counted in battles, what we found with X-Wing, and I expect also with Armada is that the balance is dramatically different when you are working across a campaign and allow ships to withdraw (by hyperspace). As opposed to creating a 180/300/400 point normal game list where you are trying to cram as many things in as you can within the points.

Two things happen, firstly players are more reluctant to upgrade individual ships to the teeth, because a) they are spreading points across their entire fleet and vs buying new ships, and b) since when a fully kitted out ship gets destroyed its a much bigger points loss. Having said that, if a player did choose to bling out their Admirals flagship, then it should be a terrible force to reckon with, and making players "double pay" at both the fleet level and the battle points cap level was just a bit rough, as it meant you might not get to use these awesome ships in favour of low cost generic plebs. So yes, its more tempting to bring your biggest baddest ship to a fight when its loaded with upgrades that arent counted under the points cap, but it's also a big risk that your opponent might sieze the chance to throw everything at it to destroy it. (especially when its a title ship with heroes onboard whilst playing the Permadeath rules). It also makes allocating forces and getting battles started ten times easier, as you only count the ship costs, so list building takes all of 60 seconds to cut and paste the forces to the active roster.

As for the TIE Bombers, they dont have a hyperdrive as standard according to the wiki http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/TIE/sa_bombermaybe thats something that the Imperials could buy as an optional upgrade..hmmmm

Is there options for create a Commander?

Is there options for create a Commander?

Not at the moment, all the commanders are FFG commanders, which given how many there are currently still gives quite a bit of choice, however there is no reason that if people playing it wanted to (and agreed) they couldnt create their own commanders to throw in with the others.

Another thought stemming from that (particularly if playing on permadeath mode) is the idea of adding some low level generic commanders, so that if your Screed and Motti etc get killed off, that you can still field more than just one fleet - they just wont be very good thats all. (possibly even a negative effect for really green forces?)

Screed effect who only works on half your ships your choice

Screed effect who only works on half your ships your choice

Or just the ship he is on perhaps?, or for a really cheap newbie commander something like, Green Captain (Commander) 5 points. The number of command dials your flagship must have allocated to it is increased by one. - So if you really need a commander then you can have him, but he is a real pain.

Would need a method for the gaining of experience then. . . Hmmm

Would need a method for the gaining of experience then. . . Hmmm

The campaign system already allows for this in a way - you can pay the points difference to "upgrade" any generic unit to a hero version, so it would just be the same if you wanted to start with a generic very low level commander and then upgrade him to say Screed later - could always say it was Screed before he was famous if you like

The upgrade system's only restriction is that you cant upgrade heroes to other heroes, only generics to a hero.

Thanks for the response, those are all very good points I had not considered. Have you tried this with multiple people? I wonder if it could work for a gaming group where each player takes on the role of a commander with their own fleets and resources are distributed/traded amongst players. would be cool to have a friend jump in with reinforcements as the battle progresses. This may be too clunky to actually work. This campaign looks pretty awesome and I cannot wait to try it out. My group is currently playing through an imperial assault campaign but I want to convince them to do this or heroes of the Aturi cluster next.

If you have not checked out Heroes of the Aturi cluster you may want to look at the Printable terrain, stations and turrets they provide. IT might be good inspiration for your own stations.

I have a question about the damage and repair rules.

At the end of battle my ISD has 3 damage cards, or 3 points of damage. While in the Inactive fleet, 1 point of damage goes away at the end of the campaign turn. The next point of damage would be repaired at the end of the next campaign turn; is that correct? I did see that up to two points can be repaired at some planets.

In other words, damage is repaired 1 point every campaign turn sitting still in the inactive fleet?

If that's true, that may be a bit slow. Why not use resource points to repair a ship? Maybe places with shipyards and other bonuses can repair ships at a cost of 1 or more resource points per damage point?

Thanks for the response, those are all very good points I had not considered. Have you tried this with multiple people? I wonder if it could work for a gaming group where each player takes on the role of a commander with their own fleets and resources are distributed/traded amongst players. would be cool to have a friend jump in with reinforcements as the battle progresses. This may be too clunky to actually work. This campaign looks pretty awesome and I cannot wait to try it out. My group is currently playing through an imperial assault campaign but I want to convince them to do this or heroes of the Aturi cluster next.

If you have not checked out Heroes of the Aturi cluster you may want to look at the Printable terrain, stations and turrets they provide. IT might be good inspiration for your own stations.

I haven't tried it with multiple people, because (like I found with Imperial Assault), getting a group of 4-5 people around on a regular basis enough to progress just isnt possible with the completely varied scheduels of my friends, hence 1 vs 1 mode. However, you most certainly could spice things up a bit if you had "extra" friends over, whom could take command of incoming reinforcements etc, or individual ships in a battle.

Cheers for the heads up, I need to make (or find a volunteer to make) some stations etc - I probably wont have the time till new years though.

I have a question about the damage and repair rules.

At the end of battle my ISD has 3 damage cards, or 3 points of damage. While in the Inactive fleet, 1 point of damage goes away at the end of the campaign turn. The next point of damage would be repaired at the end of the next campaign turn; is that correct? I did see that up to two points can be repaired at some planets.

In other words, damage is repaired 1 point every campaign turn sitting still in the inactive fleet?

If that's true, that may be a bit slow. Why not use resource points to repair a ship? Maybe places with shipyards and other bonuses can repair ships at a cost of 1 or more resource points per damage point?

You have it correct, the planet bonus isnt for ships based at the planet, it is an empire wide perk for the faction that controls that planet. So if the empire controls it, then all Imperial ships would repair 2 damage cards per turn. The reason there is a double up on some of the planets is to give a fairer chance to capture one to get the perk - its a lot harder to hold both but can seriously hurt your opponent.

The key reason is exactly to slow down the usage of single ships, specifically for hero ships. Basically its to stop the likes of H9/Warlord spam in every single battle. This was a huge reason why the campaign was made for X-Wing originally, because otherwise every single battle saw the millenium falcon, wedge, etc again and again and again. By making you hyperspace out valuable hero ships that get damaged, and then repair them over several turns it makes you use more generic ships in the meantime and try different strategies and combinations you might not have used otherwise. I.e. you might find both of your ISD's in the repair dock and have to look at what creative force you could make with raiders or gladiators if you are desperate to attack. In the end it promotes a much richer and deeper number of forces for both factions. It also means that you dont get upgrade spamming on ships as much, as you have to weigh against that ship will 20 odd points of upgrades being either destroyed, or out of the fight for a few turns and leaving bare bone rookie ships in its place. You can of course field damaged ships and spam repair commands the first few turns to clear the damage if you are truly desperate, but no token banking then, and that could make a big difference

Hello!

I really like this campaign ruleset. I really want to test it with my wife as soon as possible!

Just a couple of questions:

- have you decided the overall campaign victory conditions? How can a player "win" the campaign?

- why the choice to make the imperial player start with more systems (and with better bonuses on that systems)? I can see that this is very thematic but is it good for the campaign balance?

Sorry for my bad english and thank you for your reply and your great job!

Hello!

I really like this campaign ruleset. I really want to test it with my wife as soon as possible!

Just a couple of questions:

- have you decided the overall campaign victory conditions? How can a player "win" the campaign?

- why the choice to make the imperial player start with more systems (and with better bonuses on that systems)? I can see that this is very thematic but is it good for the campaign balance?

Sorry for my bad english and thank you for your reply and your great job!

Hello! Thanks for the feedback and questions!

I hope you will share how it goes with your wife, I will be very interested to hear. If there are any parts that are not clear, then please do ask for a further explantion

The overall campaign victory would be when a side has either no commanders left, (in the case of the permadeath rules), or does not control any sectors. While the campaign does allow for quite a bit of back and forth, we did find in the X-Wing version that one side can eventually win a few battles with devestating wins, which can force their opponent to run out of points to continue fighting.

The choice of sectors is thematic indeed, and is one of the reasons why the players 'income' is not based on the number of planets they control, as that would be very unfair. You do need to look at the abilities of the planets and the galactic map though to get the full picture. The Rebels control several planets that give types of bonuses that the Imperials do not have - for example, the Imperials do not posess any planets that can perform covert actions in the beginning, whilst the Rebels control two - Tatooine and Bothawui. The Rebels also control Yavin IV, which is the only planet that gives a discount on hero pilots (squadrons - for those nasty rebel fighters/bombers), new commanders (which both players will be wanting to buy to expand their fleets), and other hero personnel cards like Raymus Antillies or Leia etc.

When you look at the map, the Imperials are solidly entrenched in the galactic core, with only Mandalore and Thyferra as neutral sectors within invasion distance. Meanwhile, the Rebels can easily contest much of the galactic rim, with Nar Shaddar, Kessel and Bespin all being close neutral targets and Geonosis and Kamino being ideal remote territiories to cut off and conquer - I mean liberate, from the Empire.

If the Rebels can hold Yavin, Kashyyk, Bothawui and Thyferra, then they can control the gateways to the core and would be free to dominate the rest of the outer rim at their leisure.

Conversely the Imperials need to stop the rebels from doing this - either by by prioritising the capture of Bothawui and Kashyyk, to link with Genonsis or Kamino, or capturing Thyferra and Sullust and linking the empire that way.

Either way, the Imperals may hold more territory at the start, but they have some much harder tactical choices of how to break out of the core to address the rebellion.

I hope that clarifies the intention behind the starting conditions a bit?

Update - added multiple battles into turn order

Adjusted master spreadsheets so that active fleet totals do not add upgrades.

Added Sample Imperial fleet list (To show how it works)

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Eqj-ZOCBQ8gPFTj54JqHQWAc7QJNAgk8dBJJDsDMmms/edit?usp=sharing

Updated carrier rules - Squadrons now can deploy only during the squadron phase or off a squadron command during the carrier ships activation. Squadrons can be retrieved automatically on moving into base contact with the carrying ship as the result of either a squadron phase movement or a squadron command movement.

Good about time someone did this, I could never see the point of tourneys..............they may be fun, but come-on I like the option to play a real game with real objectives........IE don't throw out objective markers or bidding for objective cards. Design a big game with real objectives and then play with your mates. I hate a big room crammed with hundreds of people............hot noisy and very distracting. And since there are dedicated designers making new ship cards etc. I am willing to try them out. Better to play to enjoy than to have a business dictate what you use and how to use it. If I use the objective cards I select one as a a guideline.

Most plans last as long as the first move or die roll.

16/11/15 Updated Hyperspace retreat rules to clarify squadrons.

18/11/15 Updated Commanders rules/clarification around fleets, commanders in battle and commander deployment.

Commanders and battle: In order for a commander to be used in a battle there must be at least one available ship in the commanders fleet. A commander may choose to send his fleet into battle without him, however they will not gain any bonuses from his ability during the battle. Commanders points do not count under deployment points for battles. There is a limit of 1 commander per faction, per battle. No commander may enter a battle that already has an allied commander present, or that started with an allied commander’s fleet. (Because by reinforcing another commanders fleet they would end up a member of the original commanders fleet at the end). If a fleet with a commander is entering a battle from another sector (e.g. to defend an undefended system, or to contest an attack, or to reinforce their own troops that are in battle - when they chose not to initially deploy) then the commander and accompanying forces may automatically pass the deployment roll on the first turn that they are eligible to arrive. Forces that arrive as a later turn will need to roll for deployment as normal.

19/11/15 Updated roster templates to move hero cooldowns to front page rather than individual commanders.

This provides greater visibility of when unique cards will be available again, means only one place needs changing each turn to reduce the cooldowns (rather than upto 5 places), and is easier to ignore/remove if you want to play permadeath rules.

19/11/15 Had a great first game of a new campaign today, which immediately led to some tweeks.

Planetary bonus - Mandalore, changed from a free deployment to a discounted hire.

Supply convoy mission tweeks - freighters must start on a neutral edge of the setup area and cannot hyperspace until turn 4. Freighters activate after all other ships and squadrons.

Economy balancing - changed to 100 points per campaign turn, not after each battle.