Hi all,

I'm a prospective buyer of the game and want to ask a couple questions before I dive right in:

1. What are the main similarities and differences between X-Wing and Armada? Which ones appeal to certain play styles?

2. Which should I get: The Force Awakens core or the normal core?

3. How many expansions are required to get decent-sized squadrons for both sides? How much does it cost? Which specific expansions would you recommend?

Thanks,

Ecthelion

You'll get lots of opinions ...

(1) Owning and playing both, but preferring X-wing, I find that X-wing is faster paced and rewards tactical play as well as the ability to estimate and think spatially. Armada is more strategic, is slower paced, and is more forgiving of positioning (and is the only game of the two that allows pre-measuring). One is focused on fighters dogfighting; the other is focused on maneuvering fleets of capital ships.

(2) Depends on which ships and factions you like. Both have ships and pilots that are still highly competitive, though I'd give a slight edge to the new core set since it has the latest version of the rules and damage deck.

(3) Again, depends on what ships you like and which factions you want to play. If you focus on one faction, you can build competitive lists with from 2 to 7 ships, with 2-5 being most common. You want at least enough to build a 100-point list for your faction (double that if you're playing casually and supplying ships for both sides). How far you go beyond that depends on how many ships you want to collect as well as how competitive you want to be. Want to play in and stay on the cutting edge of tournaments? Be prepared to spend more to get more upgrade cards to build highly synergistic lists (many of the highly competitive World Championship lists comprised $150-$250 worth of expansions and upgrades. If you play casually, though, it's very easy to keep the game on a budget and have fun.

And bear in mind that though Hawkstrike threw out a number like 150-250 bucks, many other minis games might require a $500-$1000 buy in to field something competitive. And I'm not sure about the Force Awakens core, but I'd start out with normal X-Wings and TIEs first. I'm sure there are updated rules in there as well. But it's nice to start out with the basics, and build from there so you have a firm foundation of the core styles of each faction.

Beyond that, I'd recommend getting a nice spread of ships once you figure out what it is you like. I'm a strict Buckethead myself, and there are no Imperial ships that I actually dislike flying (just some get used more often than others.) But it's important to see what you do and don't like to fly.

This game is well worth getting into though, I can tell you that much. It's fun, it's very engaging, there's a high level of reward for skilled play, and the community is gracious and helpful, both in person and on this forum. You will always find a slew of people willing to help you with absolutely anything game related here, as I'm sure you'll no doubt see for yourself.

Thanks for the prompt replies!

I don't want to go anywhere near tournament level; I'm just looking to play casual with a friend or two. The majority of my gaming budget is going into LOTR.

What are some specific expansion packs that are great just to round out the core set for bigger battles and more options?

Couple more noob questions:

Are the dice included in the core set enough, or should I buy a supplementary pack?

This may sound really dumb, but do the expansion packs contain the base and pegs and all the stuff needed to throw the ship right into a list?

Thanks for the prompt replies!

I don't want to go anywhere near tournament level; I'm just looking to play casual with a friend or two. The majority of my gaming budget is going into LOTR.

What are some specific expansion packs that are great just to round out the core set for bigger battles and more options?

Standard replies are:

Millennium Falcon and Slave 1 expansions get you a lot of bang for your buck, while also staying very iconic.

Imperial Aces and Rebel Aces both get you 2 ships in an expansion, as well as great pilots and upgrades.

But really, the best answer is "Does this ship look fun to you? Buy it".

One of the truly elegant things about the X-Wing game system is that, even though Tournament play is set at 100 point fleets, you don't need to do that in casual. If you can only reliably hit 60 points a side, it's still fun and balanced if you set the point limit at 60.

Same for 34. Or 300.

Couple more noob questions:

Are the dice included in the core set enough, or should I buy a supplementary pack?

This may sound really dumb, but do the expansion packs contain the base and pegs and all the stuff needed to throw the ship right into a list?

3 green and 3 red are included in both core sets. You probably want more, as these are exceeded in normal play with just the ships in the core sets (X-Wings at Range 1 throw 4 reds, TIE Fighters at Range 3 throw 4 green).

Every expansion comes with models, with enough bases and pegs to support those ships.

With the sole exception of the "Most Wanted" pack. (While it does contain all the stuff for the models in the expansion, it also includes pilots, dials, and base placards for models assumed to already be in your collection, vis a vis Slave 1)

If you don't want to budget for large ships, I'd go for:

Rebel side- A-wing, Y-Wing, (B-Wing optional). They offer very drastically different methods of play. Helps you figure out what you like to do.

Imperial side- Interceptor, TIE Bomber. Again, two diametrically opposed play styles, with very different abilities and tactics.

I'd actually hold off on Large base ships until you think you know what you're doing, even just having a few games under your belt. Whatever is enough to make you decide if you really like the game. Reason being, simply, that they're more expensive than normal ships and you may wish to solidify your enjoyment of the game's base mechanics before making that commitment.

Thanks for the prompt replies!

When I said the community was supportive, I really meant it...

Honestly, starting out, you can really get started with one core and 2-3 other ships for each side. Some caveats apply, of course. If you get the TIE Fighter or Z-95 expansions, you will need to get more.

Honestly, $100 is a nice start up per Core faction. A Core set + a combination of $60 for other ships. Competitive, no. But it gives you a good taste and an idea of where to go from there. So, $160 for two factions to have some variety.

Just getting in, get the ships that you like. That's why we are here in the first place, isn't it?

How does Slave I/Scum & Villany work? Is it a third standalone faction?

How does Slave I/Scum & Villany work?

There is a Boba Fett card for Imperials, and a separate one with a different ability for SaV.

Prices based roughly on Miniature Market, specifically with shipping to US.

1 Core Set $27. Recommend the NEW (Blue) core set. Newest rules, and both factions get usable ships (no one flies old X-wings).

1 TIE Interceptor $10.

1 Imperial Aces $20. (Yes, you now have 3 Interceptors. That's ok, they're pretty awesome.

1 A-Wing $10

1 Rebel Aces $20

That's roughly $87 to start, and gives you options. To break $100 and get free shipping, add:

TIE Phantom $10

E-Wing $10

Those last two fly differently than any of the other ships in the other expansions and will make the two sides feel even more distinct.

How does Slave I/Scum & Villany work? Is it a third standalone faction?

Slave I, out of the box, is an Imperial ship.

If you purchase the "Most Wanted" expansion, you get three OTHER ships, AND cards to convert the Slave I and the HWK to Scum ships.

To be honest, as far as value goes, it's worth buying both core sets. The original core comes with some good pilots and upgrade cards, plus between the two sets you'll have 6 of each dice, two damage decks and two sets of templates. Combined with the 4 Imp and 2 Reb ships between the two sets, you'd actually be set to start some small games at home and learn the basics.

After that, I'd agree with the suggestions to get the two 'Aces' packs to flesh out both sides.

I think I'm gonna have to throw the Ghost/Phantom into the "Good options for new players" list.

It's got a large ship, and it's got 2 ships, and it's a good tie-in to a fun TV show.

TC, if you can resist the temptation of buying everything after you get the Core Set(s) and a few earlier expansions for Rebel Imperials... well, I'll be impressed. This game has a strange pull on anyone who even wants to casually dive into it.

As someone mentioned earlier, I'd highly recommend both Core Sets. This gives you a nice variety to choose from and you can really see, somewhat canonically (if you're into that thing with Star Wars), how different the T-70 and TIE/fo are from the T-65 and TIE/ln, respectively. Two Core Sets also gives you 6 offensive and defensive dice, which is nice to have with some future purchases...

Bombers and Interceptors add a ton of fun for Imperials, while A-Wings and Y-Wings are almost too iconic not to purchase for Rebels. That should put your order right around or just under $100.

The Aces packs, as also mentioned earlier, are also a good choice. With Rebels you get TWO ships, while Imperials only offer Interceptor Aces. Keep in mind, though, that these packs were designed to augment the earlier Interceptor / A-Wing / B-Wing expansions, so you may not use their full range of options without the original expansions as well.

Which... just means you have to buy more! And buy everything.

I would recommend one of each core, then pick one other ship you like. After a few games with those you'll start to see which tactical questions you need help answering and that will point the way towards future expansions.

To be honest, as far as value goes, it's worth buying both core sets. The original core comes with some good pilots and upgrade cards, plus between the two sets you'll have 6 of each dice, two damage decks and two sets of templates. Combined with the 4 Imp and 2 Reb ships between the two sets, you'd actually be set to start some small games at home and learn the basics.

After that, I'd agree with the suggestions to get the two 'Aces' packs to flesh out both sides.

This is a rarely used, but very underrated option. It's what I always advise for new players.

Buy one of each core set, and be set for hours upon hours of fun at home. You won't need to buy anything else until you're comfortable with the rules and have some grasp on which direction you want to go. You'll have the standard number of dice without needing to buy the dice pack, you'll have both damage decks which is nice to have, having two decks prevents you from needing to share one in your friendly games, you'll have both sets of asteroids, and you'll have a spare set of templates which is great because the cardboard can start to deteriorate after a while.

Hello, everyone! Just like the TC, I'm looking to get into the game as well and was wondering which core sets to get. I was wondering if the cards/rules in the original set have been updated to reflect the changes in the Force Awakens set? Thanks!

Shop smart if you are buying Armada.

I bought the core game for 25 bucks

Victory Star Destroyer exp for 22

Assault Frigate Mk2 for 16

Gladiator for 20

CR-90 for 15

Imperial Star Destroyer for 32

(all free shipping)

All by watching and waiting for deals to pop up in various places. I gotta stretch those dollars because i'm buying everything for my bros to play with me.

Raider and Imperial Squadron exp for msrp from a local game shop. Including sales tax. Oh well! I plan to start playing there sometimes. Mostly just play with my bros at home.

We got started a month back with one of each core set, to see how we like it (we watched the Table Top episode with X-wing, and I was pretty sure my boys would be into it). It allows a mini-swarm v. 2 X-wings, very thematic, and it plays really nice. Then, Most Wanted was deeply discounted on Amazon.ca, and I figured a very basic turret would help my sons work around their positioning mistakes while they were learning.

This doesn't get you 100pts list, but it allows you to run a variety of battles, picking a different 2 sides each time.

(then, the slippery slope of plastic crack got me, we shall pretend this did not happen)

First of all, welcome to the forum and welcome to an addictive game!

After losing 7 times in a row and still having tremendous fun I decided to buy into the game.

Casual, I told myself, no large ships, I said.

But I also used it as an original source for birthday presents if people asked me what I wanted.

Now?

20 ships, inluding the millenium falcon and slave 1.

Don't play a lot lately, but never regretted it and will keep on playing

Another complete newb here. As you have already seen, the amount of help and support you get here is fantastic. So far, I only have the new (blue) Core and have been having fun running the missions included in the box. Not everything has to be furball death match. Even though I know it won't get me to 100pt. my next planned purchase is 1 old (red) Core. As others have said, it is the best deal going for getting ships, includes the extras you will want, and lets you start basic list building.

Let me state the obvious. One Core set will give you hours of fun and you don't NEED anything else. However, most people will outgrow it and start looking for more plastic crack.

I can't speak to Armada as I haven't played. Hope this helps.

Great point on the missions side of the game - rarely discussed but there are some great ones out there - those that come with the Raider are my favourites.

Also be sure to check out the fan-made (but you'd never guess it) Heroes of the Aturi Cluster - it's a really tasty conversion of the game into a cooperative campaign where you each fly, and level up, a rebel ace, is a series of progressing missions, represented in a mission deck of cards. Great great game design by Josh Derksen, and a real asset to the game imo ... http://dockingbay416.com/campaign/