Hey all so we are looking to make a demo day here soon but are looking into making 150 point fleets so we can kinda show off a little more than just the starter set, any ideas on a decent fleet for both rebels and empire that will allow a pretty balanced game while showing off the mechanics? for this we are only using Wave 1 ships and squadrons

Id honestly stick to the learn to play guide from the core. Its what players should play the first 2-3 times anyway to get a feel and then move into the rules reference guide and the 300-400pt levels of the game.

That is my advice.

edit* as a PG for PP i do some demos, the idea of the demo isn't necessarily to teach them all the rules, its to make sure they have a blast and get fully addicted to the game. even if you do vette + x-wings vs VSD on a small table to show the basics shooting, moving, and commands its more than enough for someone to get a feel for the game and be like "this is the ****" where do i buy it.

Hey all so we are looking to make a demo day here soon but are looking into making 150 point fleets so we can kinda show off a little more than just the starter set, any ideas on a decent fleet for both rebels and empire that will allow a pretty balanced game while showing off the mechanics? for this we are only using Wave 1 ships and squadrons

If you want to show off a bit more than the starter set, I'd encourage you to consider 200 points. It allows the Imperial player to include a Gladiator, VSD, Commander, and some TIEs. Rebels might be able to squeeze in all three of their wave 1 ships as well, depending.

I'm going to disagree a bit with BergerFett - the learn to play rules skew in the imperials favor and the initiative switching is just bogus. Right around 200 points is a great way to get someone new into the game.

I've been running demo games with the core set, plus a GSD and an extra corvette for the rebels. None of the ships have upgrades (no commanders, no extra fiddly bits) and it gives players a good feel for activations vs heavy ships while creating value for squadrons - you really need to have your x-wing fulfill their role as bomber AND air superiority to make up for your overall weaker ships, while good use of ties can make a very effective screen for your heavy hitters. Breakdowns are below:

Empire - 195 points

VSD-II

GSD-II

Tie Squadrons - 6x

Rebel - 192 points

Nebulon-B Escort Frigate

Corvette A

Corvette B

X-wing Squadrons - 4x

I've gotten positive feedback on this setup from about 6 demo games so far. It's not a crazy pool of results but it's enough for our small community. You then just play a regular game to give them a feel for rounds, movement, and order of activation. No alternating initiative, no super slow but tanky imperials, and no extra abilities to start spinning the newbies heads. Just good old fashion ship combat

Of course the biggest downside is that you can't just use the core set, but i'd argue that the game changes significantly beyond the core set anyways so I'd rather they get a chance to play something that's both thematically cool (swarms of ties! Fast rebel ships! imps with overwhelming force! X-wings in action!) and teachable (all the basics are there and they can do cool stuff off the bat).

Let me know if anyone's used a similar setup or has any additional suggestions!

the reason im looking for a bit more is because the players we are demoing with are X-wing players so there are not that many differences between the 2 games. at least I feel

There are Numerous differences between the two games... I feel its a shorter list of what is similar rather than what is different...

I guess I would mean to say list building is the same, I understand mechanics have many differences.

So for my demos, I dont use Commanders, I use the 1 VSD, 6 TIEs and the 1 Neb-B Escort and CR90 A with 4 X-Wings. From there I use 4 obstacles and show them how basic set up works.

it gives a good easy to play version of the game.

So for my demos, I dont use Commanders, I use the 1 VSD, 6 TIEs and the 1 Neb-B Escort and CR90 A with 4 X-Wings. From there I use 4 obstacles and show them how basic set up works.

it gives a good easy to play version of the game.

What he said and I don't use the learn to play rules. I just went with the standard rules and let Rebels have initiative. Also let the person who wants to learn pick what side they want to play.

So for my demos, I dont use Commanders, I use the 1 VSD, 6 TIEs and the 1 Neb-B Escort and CR90 A with 4 X-Wings. From there I use 4 obstacles and show them how basic set up works.

it gives a good easy to play version of the game.

What he said and I don't use the learn to play rules. I just went with the standard rules and let Rebels have initiative. Also let the person who wants to learn pick what side they want to play.

In the second game I will add commanders and a random objective. Rebels still first player.

There are Numerous differences between the two games... I feel its a shorter list of what is similar rather than what is different...

When you are comparing only X-wing and Armada. As a lifelong 40k player who wanted to choose a more portable gaming system, X-Wing and Armada seemed very similar to me when I went for a demo game of both.

I chose Armada because the guys who were playing it were smiling. That seemed the biggest difference to me at the time.

When you are comparing only X-wing and Armada.

Which is exactly what was going on - Demos prepared for X-Wing players to experience Armada, and from that perspective, it is radically different.