After giving it some thought, I've decided to take the plunge into Armada in the coming months (as soon as X-wing wave 8 is fully spoiled, so I know if I want 1 Mist Hunter or 5 ), and decided to go Imperial.

Thing is, I need some guidance in the initial purchases, as I pretty much have no clue what I'm doing.

I've decided to go Imperial (fell in love with the looks of the ISD) so I'll be getting the core and one ISD for sure, but what next?

My 2 main concerns would be:

-Getting a list that's good (local Armada meta is pretty competitive)

-Not go overboard with purchases. As much as possible I'd like to stick with cards that come with the ships in the list, but I'm open to buying some stuff just for the cards if they make the list radically better.

Any help greatly appreciated

Core plus ISD is a really good start as you probably already know. I'd say a imperial fighter pack and either a second VSD or pick up a gladiator. You can easily make a competitive list with those.

Yeah Your next buy should be the fighter pack hands down. Then probably a VSD for MOTTI. That Admiral loves to keep those ISD's in the fight. Then probly a gladiator, so you too can experience the crazy that is a well executed Demolisher activation. I would round out with eventually getting a raider, if for nothing else the upgrades. Followed by Rogues and Villians, then probably swing back and get a second ISD.

So, I take it out of the commanders that come with the ships being discussed (Motti, Screed, Tarkin and Vader), Motti is the best choice for running with an ISD?

Also, why the fighter pack? The core cimes with 6 TIE squadrons, fighter pack with 8 more. I assume 14 squadrons shouldn't be fielded at the same time (never saw that many on a table), so what's there in the fighter pack that's really good?

fighter pack gives 4 additional special characters, that are all amazing:

Mauler Mithel

Soontir Fel

Major Rhymer (lynchpin of many imperial builds)

Darth Vader

Also, to get Motti, you will need a VSD expansion pack. He does not come with the core set. And to get Screed, you'll need a gladiator expansion pack.

Also, to get Motti, you will need a VSD expansion pack. He does not come with the core set. And to get Screed, you'll need a gladiator expansion pack.

I know. What I meant: I'm getting core and ISD anyway (giving me Vader and Tarkin), then people have recommended VSD or Gladiator expansion, so I'm trying to understand which commander would be a better choice. For example, I'd rather buy a gladiator than a VSD, in order to get a feel for more different ships, but nit if Motti is by far the best commander for a list with an ISD.

He helps a lot. 3 extra hit points makes a huge difference. I would say it depends on play style, but Screed doesn't really alter play style, he just alters how much you get to mitigate a bad roll, or urges you to choose upgrades that depend on crit effects.

Ne t question then Is it worth paying the extra points fir Victory II and Imperial II

Has to be the squadrons pack, imo. Yes, you get quite a few basic Ties in the core set, but some of those variants are great fun to play with. Tie Bombers, Interceptors, Tie Advanced... I correct myself - all of those variants are fun to play with.

Ne t question then Is it worth paying the extra points fir Victory II and Imperial II

Can't answer for the Imperial Class as I don't yet own it, but I have often found a Victory I sufficient. It really depends how you intend to play it in a given game. The extra points are a fair price for what you get... but you should have a strategy in mind before you pick your list and if the gains don't bolster your strategy, spend them elsewhere or on your bid. The choice of going first / choosing objective selection has won me more than one game.

I have ONLY, repeat ONLY found a Vic 1 useful if I plan to stay back and command fighters with it. If I want to move forward and do actual damage, a Vic 1 doesn't cut it. Vic 2 is deadly, Vic 1 is...not. It just never gets in range to use those black dice.

Imp 2 is better than an Imp 1, but I don't think Imp 1 is useless. Same number of dice, just three of them are black over a red and two blue. But at speed 3 and better maneuverability, I feel like it could use them more often. Biggest difference between Imp 1 and Imp 2 is the defensive upgrade the Imp 2 can take, such as electronic countermeasures (to be able to use your brace token more often), redundant shields (to repair 4 shields a turn if you command it and use wulff or Tarkin), or others. Really nice.

Both 2 upgrades are "worth it" over the 1 variants, but the 1 variants aren't complete trash. Except the Vic 1. Seriously - ONLY as a carrier.

After giving it some thought, I've decided to take the plunge into Armada in the coming months (as soon as X-wing wave 8 is fully spoiled, so I know if I want 1 Mist Hunter or 5 ), and decided to go Imperial.

Thing is, I need some guidance in the initial purchases, as I pretty much have no clue what I'm doing.

I've decided to go Imperial (fell in love with the looks of the ISD) so I'll be getting the core and one ISD for sure, but what next?

My 2 main concerns would be:

-Getting a list that's good (local Armada meta is pretty competitive)

-Not go overboard with purchases. As much as possible I'd like to stick with cards that come with the ships in the list, but I'm open to buying some stuff just for the cards if they make the list radically better.

Any help greatly appreciated

I would probably go with:

Core, ISD, Raider, Glad, Raider, as the buy order. You will need at least +1 Rogues and Villiains for Dengar and +1 Imperial Squadrons expansion as well.

Onto the list itself, I think you will have good success with: ISD, Glad, Raider, and squadrons to taste.