But this is what I mean by having a mercenary faction. Scum is its own faction in X-Wing, but having mercenaries makes sense for Armada. Some of these scum factions have capitol ships. Sometimes they need to work together. Sometimes they aren't "scum", but still aren't on the level of the Empire, or even the Rebellion. A player could field just ships from the mercenary faction, or field some alongside the Empire or Rebels with restriction. Scum ships may be free to ally with either side, but CSA ships would only show up alongside Imperial ships. The Hapes Cluster ships could only show up alongside the Rebels. Of course, you could just be the weirdo with a CSA or Hapes only fleet, with some scum help.

A merc faction would be a balance nightmare. Every vessel would have to be balanced around every combination things from both rebels and Empire, and would therefore have a heavily constrained design space and not much room for uniqueness.

I doubt that? I'm basing this merc faction off the merc faction from Warmachine, which while I never played heavily, it was notable that certain normal factions often relied on the use of certain mercenary units and characters. It's doable, I'm sure.

I think it is more likely to see TFA and later movie/new EU ships in Resistance/New Order factions before we see anything like Scum and Mercs.

Well yeah, I don't think anyone here is saying otherwise, but speculation is part of playing a game with ongoing content releases....

I am seeing the exact same arguments against a third faction here as what I saw in X-Wing (except there it was applied to EU ships in the Rebels and Empire as well). "They are not known enough and won't sell" and "they would never be able to compete with the Empire or Rebels on any scale". And despite both of those, S&V has been a huge success and only helped X-Wing as a game.

...

The Decimator was Wave 5, the intro to Scum was 6. And yes they got bigger waves to catch up to the other two factions that already had 5 behind them.

Now that they are caught up, everyone is on equal footing. And releases slowed before S&V (once again wave 5). As much as I like the Hunter (my 2nd favorite Tie design after the Phantom), The Tie Punisher was going to be in wave 7 regardless, it was a bomber themed wave.

Scum in X-Wing at least has the excuse of, "Well, the bounty hunter ships". I wouldn't be surprised if half the impulse to get Scum being playable is to get those ships to the table, with some escorts to make viable lists (as well as re-fit Bobba fett, who was a disappointment for the Empire). What scum or rogue starship in the EU draws as much want and attention as the bounty hunters? Errant Venture doesn't count (as an ISD), and the only other special flashy desired spaceship I could think of was the ride of Mr. Mary-Sue, the Merciless. And that's a stolen Imperial ship.

...

So X-Wing's Wave 5 was only one ship for each faction and wave 6 was four scum ships. You can practically rope both releases into one, because that's distribution has been X-wing's release schedule since. The only reason this past/current wave is balanced now is because they threw Force Awakens X-Wings and TIEs into the mix... because they had to for marketing. Without them it's still 1/1/2 for three waves. Since Scum still hasn't caught up (12/12/8), we'll probably see another wave of scum favoritism for X-Wing to bring down the Imperial and Rebel releases... and still no sign of some very popular Imperial/Rebel craft. This is not a future I want to see for Armada.

If this "third faction" became mercenary ships that either side could use, I feel that would be much better. Because now in a 1/1/2 distribution wave, each Rebel/Empire is really looking at receiving three ships per wave. There would be players that want to do scum-only lists, but I'd be okay with them being a little more challenging to play compared to the fleshed out factions. I think only the Keldabe would be a challenge for balance, but I can also see them being options only to pure scum lists.

Honest, serious question for scum faction supporters:

Name me one capital class ship a scum faction could get that would not be in use by the Rebellion or Empire. If you can, explain why neither side would use it yet it could still be a threat to either

The reason that Scum makes sense in X-Wing is because X-Wing is about the ships that pirates, smugglers and criminals actually use. Freighters, blockade runners, the sort of stuff that can flit by undetected or escape notice when the big ships start fighting. And as NorseHound stated above, as a player interested in getting back into X-Wing I feel like my options are very limited by Scum because I want to collect Rebel and Imperial factions, but the new ships for both are being released at a snails pace, and what is released has been forced to reach deep into the dark recesses of semi-canonical comics, games

I think a Scum faction would be interesting to see in the game, granted a Republic or CIS faction would directly work better but there may be issues with demand from players on that front. As for how the factions are set up I think the Empire should be the behemoths that go around crushing opponents, while the Rebels have a few large ships supported by smaller ones, and the Scum could have a focus almost entirely on small ships.

Honest, serious question for scum faction supporters:

Name me one capital class ship a scum faction could get that would not be in use by the Rebellion or Empire. If you can, explain why neither side would use it yet it could still be a threat to either

The reason that Scum makes sense in X-Wing is because X-Wing is about the ships that pirates, smugglers and criminals actually use. Freighters, blockade runners, the sort of stuff that can flit by undetected or escape notice when the big ships start fighting. And as NorseHound stated above, as a player interested in getting back into X-Wing I feel like my options are very limited by Scum because I want to collect Rebel and Imperial factions, but the new ships for both are being released at a snails pace, and what is released has been forced to reach deep into the dark recesses of semi-canonical comics, games

Seeing how clever FFG designers are, I'm sure they can write some rules to incorporate different gameplay mechanics for the Scum faction almost like an expansion pack (Scum starter).

For example:

- Scum would be able to deploy differently than the existing factoins.

- Scum might be able to use different ships from both Imps and Rebels but pay a premium.

- Scum might have larger squdaron allowances (200 vs. 134).

- Scum might have ambush rules that allow ships to hyperspace assault more regularly as part of their faction design.

- Scum might introduce new objective cards that favor them in a big way.

I can go on, but I'm sure Scum can be incorporated, and incorporated in a big way.

I am seeing the exact same arguments against a third faction here as what I saw in X-Wing (except there it was applied to EU ships in the Rebels and Empire as well). "They are not known enough and won't sell" and "they would never be able to compete with the Empire or Rebels on any scale". And despite both of those, S&V has been a huge success and only helped X-Wing as a game.

...

The Decimator was Wave 5, the intro to Scum was 6. And yes they got bigger waves to catch up to the other two factions that already had 5 behind them.

Now that they are caught up, everyone is on equal footing. And releases slowed before S&V (once again wave 5). As much as I like the Hunter (my 2nd favorite Tie design after the Phantom), The Tie Punisher was going to be in wave 7 regardless, it was a bomber themed wave.

Scum in X-Wing at least has the excuse of, "Well, the bounty hunter ships". I wouldn't be surprised if half the impulse to get Scum being playable is to get those ships to the table, with some escorts to make viable lists (as well as re-fit Bobba fett, who was a disappointment for the Empire). What scum or rogue starship in the EU draws as much want and attention as the bounty hunters? Errant Venture doesn't count (as an ISD), and the only other special flashy desired spaceship I could think of was the ride of Mr. Mary-Sue, the Merciless. And that's a stolen Imperial ship.

...

So X-Wing's Wave 5 was only one ship for each faction and wave 6 was four scum ships. You can practically rope both releases into one, because that's distribution has been X-wing's release schedule since. The only reason this past/current wave is balanced now is because they threw Force Awakens X-Wings and TIEs into the mix... because they had to for marketing. Without them it's still 1/1/2 for three waves. Since Scum still hasn't caught up (12/12/8), we'll probably see another wave of scum favoritism for X-Wing to bring down the Imperial and Rebel releases... and still no sign of some very popular Imperial/Rebel craft. This is not a future I want to see for Armada.

If this "third faction" became mercenary ships that either side could use, I feel that would be much better. Because now in a 1/1/2 distribution wave, each Rebel/Empire is really looking at receiving three ships per wave. There would be players that want to do scum-only lists, but I'd be okay with them being a little more challenging to play compared to the fleshed out factions. I think only the Keldabe would be a challenge for balance, but I can also see them being options only to pure scum lists.

Actually, right now the spread is 11/11/9.

Next wave will make it 12/12/11.

The only thing throwing the Rebels and Empire ahead at this point is the new starter.

And I truthfully do believe that without scum the X-Wing release would be 1/1 right now rather than the 1/1/2 it is now and the 1/1/1 it will be in the future. There is only so much you can give to one faction in a given period of time before it becomes overly bloated and independent figures lose their identity. It happened with GW, it is happening with PP right now, and even at the slower pace, with a 3rd faction for diversity, it has already begun creeping into X-Wing (though nowhere near the extent of the previous 2).

Also, you could already field Fett (the biggest bounty hunter from the movies) in Empire. All the other ships (minus Y-Wing), including the ship of the only other bounty hunter at launch, are EU. So I think there was more to the factions success than just bounty hunters (for me it was star vipers though ).

Honest, serious question for scum faction supporters:

Name me one capital class ship a scum faction could get that would not be in use by the Rebellion or Empire. If you can, explain why neither side would use it yet it could still be a threat to either

The reason that Scum makes sense in X-Wing is because X-Wing is about the ships that pirates, smugglers and criminals actually use. Freighters, blockade runners, the sort of stuff that can flit by undetected or escape notice when the big ships start fighting. And as NorseHound stated above, as a player interested in getting back into X-Wing I feel like my options are very limited by Scum because I want to collect Rebel and Imperial factions, but the new ships for both are being released at a snails pace, and what is released has been forced to reach deep into the dark recesses of semi-canonical comics, games

The Aggressor Class Destroyer.

Why Scum would use it and not Empire? It does not fit the Empires military doctrine and is far removed from their standards.

Why not Rebels? Well truthfully Rebels would use any ship they could get their hands on...including Imperial Star Destroyers. However Rebels are far more likely to be seen with Mon Cal and donated ships they retrofit because it is hard to take enemy capital ships intact.

Also, the galaxy is a big place where alot of things go undetected, especially in the outer rim. And that is where such skirmishes would likely take place.

Honest, serious question for scum faction supporters:

Name me one capital class ship a scum faction could get that would not be in use by the Rebellion or Empire. If you can, explain why neither side would use it yet it could still be a threat to either

The reason that Scum makes sense in X-Wing is because X-Wing is about the ships that pirates, smugglers and criminals actually use. Freighters, blockade runners, the sort of stuff that can flit by undetected or escape notice when the big ships start fighting. And as NorseHound stated above, as a player interested in getting back into X-Wing I feel like my options are very limited by Scum because I want to collect Rebel and Imperial factions, but the new ships for both are being released at a snails pace, and what is released has been forced to reach deep into the dark recesses of semi-canonical comics, games

Seeing how clever FFG designers are, I'm sure they can write some rules to incorporate different gameplay mechanics for the Scum faction almost like an expansion pack (Scum starter).

For example:

- Scum would be able to deploy differently than the existing factoins.

- Scum might be able to use different ships from both Imps and Rebels but pay a premium.

- Scum might have larger squdaron allowances (200 vs. 134).

- Scum might have ambush rules that allow ships to hyperspace assault more regularly as part of their faction design.

- Scum might introduce new objective cards that favor them in a big way.

I can go on, but I'm sure Scum can be incorporated, and incorporated in a big way.

And scum would have all these advantages to help them while the Reb/Emp have to contend with "standard" rules? No thanks. If they're a true faction they shouldn't have any perk advantages over the standard factions, at least, not without severe pentalties (300 points maximum for instance).

Honest, serious question for scum faction supporters:

Name me one capital class ship a scum faction could get that would not be in use by the Rebellion or Empire. If you can, explain why neither side would use it yet it could still be a threat to either

The reason that Scum makes sense in X-Wing is because X-Wing is about the ships that pirates, smugglers and criminals actually use. Freighters, blockade runners, the sort of stuff that can flit by undetected or escape notice when the big ships start fighting. And as NorseHound stated above, as a player interested in getting back into X-Wing I feel like my options are very limited by Scum because I want to collect Rebel and Imperial factions, but the new ships for both are being released at a snails pace, and what is released has been forced to reach deep into the dark recesses of semi-canonical comics, games

The Aggressor Class Destroyer.

Why Scum would use it and not Empire? It does not fit the Empires military doctrine and is far removed from their standards.

Uhm... you're forgetting that the Empire designed the Aggressor in the first place? Why would the Empire design something contrary to their military doctrine? It's only out of magical plot hand-waving for the Mary Sue faction that the Empire just happens to "forget" the plans they "lost" at Yavin for Zann to steal and have for their own faction that the Empire doesn't field real Aggressors of their own.

Star Destroyers are already forward-fire nightmares to face in this game, so big guns that vaporize things in front of them fit well at home in the Empire. If you mean giant weapons attached to Star Destroyers not being a part of the navy well... at least in Legends, it wasn't the first time. And it is just as ridiculous as the Aggressor.

I can't see a strong case to say the Aggressor should not be an Imperial ship and must be scum. Not unless you were desperate for ships to populate a Scum faction that you didn't need.

Actually, right now the spread is 11/11/9.

Next wave will make it 12/12/11.

The only thing throwing the Rebels and Empire ahead at this point is the new starter.

And I truthfully do believe that without scum the X-Wing release would be 1/1 right now rather than the 1/1/2 it is now and the 1/1/1 it will be in the future. There is only so much you can give to one faction in a given period of time before it becomes overly bloated and independent figures lose their identity. It happened with GW, it is happening with PP right now, and even at the slower pace, with a 3rd faction for diversity, it has already begun creeping into X-Wing (though nowhere near the extent of the previous 2).

Also, you could already field Fett (the biggest bounty hunter from the movies) in Empire. All the other ships (minus Y-Wing), including the ship of the only other bounty hunter at launch, are EU. So I think there was more to the factions success than just bounty hunters (for me it was star vipers though ).

Mmh, I did overlook the extra ships out of the Scum and villainy pack. The Releases listed on BGG are only the expansions, not the individual ships. Even so, in relation to Armada, I'd wouldn't be happy to see an entire wave release be nothing but scum ships you could only field with a scum faction. That's four slots I could have been excited over for my main faction, but now I have to spend more effort building for pirates I don't think should even be in this game.

Honest, serious question for scum faction supporters:

Name me one capital class ship a scum faction could get that would not be in use by the Rebellion or Empire. If you can, explain why neither side would use it yet it could still be a threat to either

The reason that Scum makes sense in X-Wing is because X-Wing is about the ships that pirates, smugglers and criminals actually use. Freighters, blockade runners, the sort of stuff that can flit by undetected or escape notice when the big ships start fighting. And as NorseHound stated above, as a player interested in getting back into X-Wing I feel like my options are very limited by Scum because I want to collect Rebel and Imperial factions, but the new ships for both are being released at a snails pace, and what is released has been forced to reach deep into the dark recesses of semi-canonical comics, games

The Aggressor Class Destroyer.

Why Scum would use it and not Empire? It does not fit the Empires military doctrine and is far removed from their standards.

Uhm... you're forgetting that the Empire designed the Aggressor in the first place? Why would the Empire design something contrary to their military doctrine? It's only out of magical plot hand-waving for the Mary Sue faction that the Empire just happens to "forget" the plans they "lost" at Yavin for Zann to steal and have for their own faction that the Empire doesn't field real Aggressors of their own.

Star Destroyers are already forward-fire nightmares to face in this game, so big guns that vaporize things in front of them fit well at home in the Empire. If you mean giant weapons attached to Star Destroyers not being a part of the navy well... at least in Legends, it wasn't the first time. And it is just as ridiculous as the Aggressor.

I can't see a strong case to say the Aggressor should not be an Imperial ship and must be scum. Not unless you were desperate for ships to populate a Scum faction that you didn't need.

I thought the Aggressor was contracted out to Mandal Motors and they built it for Zahn? But as I said before, the consortium themselves were awful (including Zahn), but their ships were really cool.

Really, it was just the first ship that popped into my head. There are plenty of other capital ships out there held by pirate / merc / private military factions in the EU.

And going forward, Armada is going to have to dip into even more obscure EU than X-Wing. We have the Liberty and Executor left from the OT, that is pretty much it. I think the Interdictor, and Finalizer are both pretty much a given as well as the remaining Rebel and Empire craft from X-Wing. But honestly, that's only 2 waves max at the current release rate.

The only reason they needed a whole wave dedicated to them (plus a bigger allowance in the preceding waves) was because of how deep into the game they were released. If they had only come out with only 1 or 2 ships to the (at the time) 9 of the other factions, they would have struggled both on the table and the shelf of whatever store they sat in. They needed a big wave that got them on a field where they could compete and have a fair number of options compared to the existing factions. But this is pretty normal behavior for any minis game that grows and introduces a new faction.

As to having to build in preparation for something you don't like. I always hated Tau in 40k, always hated Dwarves in Fantasy, Cryx in Warmachine, but my biggest hate is Rebels in X-Wing and Armada, and I still have to put up with them . The world would truly be a better place if every one played the Evil Space Triangle Faction.

I don't play X-wing, but there, it makes sense in lore.

However, even the biggest collection of smugglers (Karrade) has 1 ship as big as a Neb-B, and some freighters about the size of a corvette. (Some have been armed, none as heavily as a corvette, oh, and they are slow.) Their entire fleet might come out to a standard fleet size. Karrade wasn't setup for fighting, and the one time they did, was because they expected the Imperials and Rebels to be far away (and fighting.) They did help out a lot in the battle, but mostly because they were already there. (Even a CR90 with half it's guns would be annoying starting out behind your Imperial fleet!) Pirates are around the same scale, or smaller.

Ship sizes that most smugglers have work great for RPGs, or X-Wing but not so much for a whole fleet action.

The Hapans have ships which would be small (Nova) and medium (Battle Dragon - though they could be argued to be small.). You could use Star home as a lightly armed Large base. They would be somewhat unique, with all around fire from 2, and a Neb-B like arrangement for the other. They have their own starfighters which add uniqueness to them. They would also have more blues than anyone else.

The other thing that can come from the EU would be the Corporate Sector, but they mainly use Victory class ships as their largest (useful) ships. They would have a large ship as well, but it isn't too interesting, and as I recall they were... crap, except for dealing with pirates, and smugglers. The rest of their stuff is basically out of the clone wars. So, if going that route, you might as well add in the Old Republic/CIS Clone wars, which are more complete factions. I think they have one unique capital ship (Marauder?).

The crime syndicate crap... is just that: Crap. No where that I'm aware of do they have anything more powerful than Nebulon-Bs, and that's a rare thing, and generally wasteful of them. Consider a parallel in real life. The mob/cartels/etc, might be able to spend untold sums of money on transport, or operations. Or even build some of their own ships. However, these are all tiny things, and if they tried to build larger ones, there would be problems. (Interestingly some of the cartels have been building actual (tiny) submarines.) Even millions of dollars, and if they built anything to resemble a modern warship, it would simply be eliminated or seized.

If they go for another faction, my vote is with the Resistance/New Republic and First Order, followed by the Clone wars stuff. But I think what will happen is that we get the EU stuff first (Interdictor, Lancer, Carrack, Liberty class, Rebel Transport (not sure if ship or squad, I think a small really cheap ship), Dreadnoughts, AFM1) which would be good for 2 waves followed by the new stuff. (For which I expect that the new SD will be large base, and shown not much bigger than an ISD.)

Possibly why the shields go up to 6, is for the new stuff. (Right? )

I feel a 3rd faction for Armada would be:

1) Factions like Hapes who maintained standing armies during this time. Although they were still pretty small.

2) Hutts (being a little liberal here since most of the Hutts fleets no longer exist after the Empire takes over)

3) Some faction from unknown space (Chiss, Srii-ruk, some random new faction the new cannon introduces).

Long before it was a general 'Scum and Villany' faction. Hutts come close, but aren't quite the same and are very unlikely in any event.

Most likely scenario: No official 3rd faction (beyond Resistance and First Order of course).

Honest, serious question for scum faction supporters:

Name me one capital class ship a scum faction could get that would not be in use by the Rebellion or Empire. If you can, explain why neither side would use it yet it could still be a threat to either

The reason that Scum makes sense in X-Wing is because X-Wing is about the ships that pirates, smugglers and criminals actually use. Freighters, blockade runners, the sort of stuff that can flit by undetected or escape notice when the big ships start fighting. And as NorseHound stated above, as a player interested in getting back into X-Wing I feel like my options are very limited by Scum because I want to collect Rebel and Imperial factions, but the new ships for both are being released at a snails pace, and what is released has been forced to reach deep into the dark recesses of semi-canonical comics, games

Now hold up, aren't there Scum ships in X-Wing that originally belonged to one of the other two factions? I know of at least two.

If they did make a third sort of faction, I'm sure it would include things like a Scum CR 90, or a CSA VSD, with their own unique flavor. Though I'm still of the mind that they shouldn't be a standalone faction all their own (even if it is a balancing "nightmare").

There are plenty of reasons that a Scum faction would fly ships that neither the Rebellion nor Imperials fly. The first and most obvious: the ships/designs are old. Weaker/no shielding, less potent weaponry, that sorta stuff.

But in Armada, that's an easy fix: make the ships cheaper and modify the stats so that they're still competitive, but not toe-to-toe competitive. Off the top of my head:
- Give them ships with no shields (or bare minimum) but lots of hull
- No (or few) blue dice
- Slow but maneuverable

And so on.
Give them repurposed freighters. Obsolete older designs: stuff from the Republic fleet before the Separatist war. Stuff that neither the Imperials nor Rebels consider "viable", and then give them a clear purpose.

Or, hey, make it so that they have a much, much higher allotment of Fighters (say, 50% of their points can be fighters), and a couple fast, nimble carrier ships to support wave after wave of Z-95s (or whatever).

This doesn't sound at all unreasonable. Probably *unlikely*, but not unreasonable.

I still don't get it.

People are seriously making "real life comparison" arguments for a game based on flying pizza slices and lazer sword wielding space wizards flying tiny single man fighters that can travel inter-stellar distances.

Why is no-one talking about the real issues: What would a third faction bring to the strategic balance of the game? What would this third faction look like from a tactical perspective?

If those answers are clear, the rest of all this is farts in the wind because you can bet your balls FFG is looking at this game from a long-term health and mechanics point of view and if it turns out this helps those goals, they WILL find a way.

Despite the already existing depth of choice in this game, it is quickly falling into min/max ruts because its strictly a two point decision tree. We have rock-paper. A third faction (with good game design) will potentially bring rock-paper-scissors. There should be very difficult decisions when building a list, the more things you need to worry about, the less you are able to min/max along a particular axis and be consistently successful.

Can these problems also be solved by continuing to add depth to the existing factions? YES! quite possibly! I'd like to hear all your thoughts and ideas on that.

Personally, I think this game is about 2 waves away from really needing another faction

I still don't get it.

People are seriously making "real life comparison" arguments for a game based on flying pizza slices and lazer sword wielding space wizards flying tiny single man fighters that can travel inter-stellar distances.

Why is no-one talking about the real issues: What would a third faction bring to the strategic balance of the game? What would this third faction look like from a tactical perspective?

If those answers are clear, the rest of all this is farts in the wind because you can bet your balls FFG is looking at this game from a long-term health and mechanics point of view and if it turns out this helps those goals, they WILL find a way.

Despite the already existing depth of choice in this game, it is quickly falling into min/max ruts because its strictly a two point decision tree. We have rock-paper. A third faction (with good game design) will potentially bring rock-paper-scissors. There should be very difficult decisions when building a list, the more things you need to worry about, the less you are able to min/max along a particular axis and be consistently successful.

Can these problems also be solved by continuing to add depth to the existing factions? YES! quite possibly! I'd like to hear all your thoughts and ideas on that.

Personally, I think this game is about 2 waves away from really needing another faction

Yup. I agree with the 2 waves. 3 at most. Right now what I would like to see is a small Sqd 3 ship with double offensive retrofits but no real attack power. I think something like that would encourage a new style of play personally.

As for a scum faction, we have to remember that this is all in our imagination and that the physics behind this universe are not even a real thing.

I am not sure I agree with your Rock Paper argument, from my experience I think this game is a bit in depth for that.

Really, it was just the first ship that popped into my head. There are plenty of other capital ships out there held by pirate / merc / private military factions in the EU.

And going forward, Armada is going to have to dip into even more obscure EU than X-Wing. We have the Liberty and Executor left from the OT, that is pretty much it. I think the Interdictor, and Finalizer are both pretty much a given as well as the remaining Rebel and Empire craft from X-Wing. But honestly, that's only 2 waves max at the current release rate.

There are also plenty of ships out there for our current factions without having to resort to scum, and plenty of those that can be pressed into one faction or another. All the former CIS stuff can find a home in the rebellion and all the former republic ships are Imperial surplus. You can have an entire former clone-wars wave for the current factions (Recusant/Providence for the rebellion vs Venator/Acclamator), which is another wave of kicking a scum faction down the road.

To say nothing of other ships that could be pulled from the EU. Off the top of my head, the CR-92A Assasin corvette, Nebulon-B2 frigate, the MC40a Light cruiser, the Ton-Falk escort carrier, the Quasar-Fire converted carriers... many of those come from the TIE Fighter flight simulator, and are long overdue for some kind of attention outside of their original source. There are also plenty of craft from the Rebellion computer game that we could get, like Bulwarks and the CC series.

Why is no-one talking about the real issues: What would a third faction bring to the strategic balance of the game? What would this third faction look like from a tactical perspective?

If those answers are clear, the rest of all this is farts in the wind because you can bet your balls FFG is looking at this game from a long-term health and mechanics point of view and if it turns out this helps those goals, they WILL find a way.

This is an excellent point, and I think we can all agree that there's plenty of design space in Armada for totally different fleet designs. And I think they've done enough to differentiate the Rebellion and Imperial fleets that the addition of a 3rd (and/or 4th) fleet would work pretty well.

I don't know if it will specifically be a Scum/Mercenary faction, of course, but there's plenty of option! Still holding out for a Separatist Faction myself... I loved the designs of their starships.

I still don't get it.

People are seriously making "real life comparison" arguments for a game based on flying pizza slices and lazer sword wielding space wizards flying tiny single man fighters that can travel inter-stellar distances.

Have you heard of Star Wars? it's this fictional universe some of us like. Some people tell stories in it. It's got some popular appeal, and there's some merchandiser. Are you sure you haven't heard about it?

OK, so you've heard of it. If a game is to be built upon a fictional universe, it must STAY in the fictional universe. You can't break the rule of the universe. You can't do **** that makes no bloody sense in the universe. If you do, it stops being a Fictional Universe game, and just becomes a Generic Setting Game. For some games, that's OK. For some, it's not.