Hi all. I'm new to the game. Hopefully I'll be getting stuff from my wife for Christmas. That being said, my son and I will likely be playing the game together. I understand that the core box isn't balanced all that well, so what would you guys recommend for someone just getting started but still wanting to get into the tournament scene? I need a new user friendly fleet for my son and I to learn with.

Well, the general consensus for new players is "grab 1 of everything, figure out what you like, grab more of that", but if you're on a budget the key ships for each side are the Imperial and Gladiator for the Imperials, and the Assault Frigate and probably MC30c for the Rebels - that'll get you started off pretty and give you 3 Imperial and 4 Rebel ships to work with, and a general idea of how a lot of the ships play for each side.

Getting into the tournament scene just means you have 400 points to play with - easy enough to do with just 3-4 ships and some fighters. Frankly, I'd suggest doing so to help learn the game - I don't know about your locality, but from everything I've seen people have been patient and understanding getting a new player up and running - new players turn into regular players after all. If at all possible, join a league - more games against opponents of all skill levels is about the best way to improve your game.

If you want to read about the basics, I've got a blog (check my signature) that goes over the various ships, what they do, and what roll they can fill in your fleet. It's also got links to a number of other blogs and sources of good information about the game (the right hand side of the page has links). Check out my Commander's Guides and Academy in particular - plus there are after action reports to look at tactics in action.

There aren't many local players here in Memphis, unfortunately. I'm hoping I can get some vassal games or something to help me practice for tournaments and such.

There aren't many local players here in Memphis, unfortunately. I'm hoping I can get some vassal games or something to help me practice for tournaments and such.

I'm a huge advocate of practicing against yourself too. Before Gencon I used vassal extensively just to play through the first half of tons of games. That gave me familiarity of how to react to different types of fleets or deployments.