Hey folks! Long time FF enthusiast of all types and played xwing for a while but didn't really stick with me or my group. I got to play test some armada last night and was instantly hooked. I know that I will need the starter but was curious as to a good starting point for rebel based ships. I will eventually pick up all of it (Rebal and Imperial) but was hoping for some pointers to building that first solid fleet. I don't really care about a super competitive but wanted to get enough starting minis for variety and be fun to play (and maybe win a few games along to way) So what should be the best couple purchases after the starter?

Assault Frigate Mark 2

Rebel Fighter Pack

Either a Nebulon expansion or a CR 90.

At that point your solid.

Tournament lists say that the Assault Frigate Mark 2 X2 plus support is great,

Awesome to hear you liked it!

If you want it easy, get the Assault Frigate and a Fighter Pack. If you want a challenge, get another Neb B and CR90 and the fighter pack. That's a good place to start for roughly $45.

All the above is good advice. If you just want to dip your toes and learn the basic nuance of Rebels in Armada you only need buy an Assault Frigate and a Squadron expansion.

At this point you will have all the Rebel ships and Squadrons.

The reasons to buy additional ship expansions is for Upgrades (only available in those expansions) and additional ships that *you're fond of and/or that feed your need to explore variety/flexibility.

Welcome and good luck.

*Editted Typo Bits

Thanks so much for the advice! Hopefully I will get some games in this week with the suggestions provided!

Thanks so much for the advice! Hopefully I will get some games in this week with the suggestions provided!

Welcome to the game!

And remember to stay out of those imperial front arcs!

Don't forget to pick up rebel squadron packs for those A-wings!

Heh, but in all seriousness, neb b is great and as everyone else mentioned, AFM2 (at least one, but 2 seems to be the magic number). You're also entering just as Wave 2 is about to hit, so keep in mind that strategies are going to change.

Another vote for the Assault Frigate, I personally run 2 with A-Wings and XI7 turbolasers (which are only in the nebulon B expansion). However with the new Mon Cal ships coming I would also be buying an MC80 for Ackbar (who really buffs Assault Frigates), but may not want to run an MC80 and 2 Assault Frigates, so perhaps start with one for now?

The Nebulon has some great upgrades - specifically the single XI7 turbolaser card which looks like it will continue to hold weight into wave 2, but also the Salvation title is brutal for rebel lists with the Hyperspace assault objective. Overall though this is my least played ship due to its very fragile side arcs. Once wave 2 comes out and the points go up to 400, maybe more ships on the board will give it opportunities to skulk at long range and be useful without being popped, we shall see.

The CR90 is worth getting 1 for Mon Mothma, but I wouldnt buy more than that at this point - again the talk of Ackbar making CR90's with Enhanced Armament throw out 4 red dice each side is tempting once wave 2 arrives.

The Rebel fighters have some good stuff in them, and there are some particularly nice combos between Yavaris, (neb B) Alder Talon and fighters like B-Wings. You only get 2 of each type though so if you want to run 4 A-Wings as an interceptor screen or something then you will need 2 packs. The Rogues and Villains fighter expansion comes out in wave 2 though so it might be worth getting one and seeing if some of the rogues might help fill your needs instead of buying 2 packs.

The big thing with the Rebels at the moment is that they are built for long range combat - which will change slightly with the MC30 coming out with its black dice attacks, so the rebels will see some huge changes before Christmas.

Basically if you buy one of each you cant go wrong (at least in terms of upgrades), and after wave 2 you should be able to get a clearer idea of what is worth getting more of.