Ok yes I know this could/should go in the List Building sub-topic, but there's not much life there....

So haven't played a game of Armada for around six months [too much X-Wing, Zombicide and that horrible thing called work]. I'm keen to get back into it and bring my main gaming buddy on the journey (he's only played 2 games), so we've both got a bit of learning and refreshing to do.

I'd be very grateful for some advice on building a Reb and Imp list that is fun, show cases their respective styles, but isn't full of nifty upgrade combos that we're both likely to forget in the heat of battle.

Here's what I've got to work with:

Core Set, Rogues and Villains +

Rebs: MC80, MC30, Assault Frigate, Neb-B, 2 x Corvettes, 2 x Fighter expansions

Imps: ISD, Victory, 2 x Gladiator, 2 x Fighter expansions [alas can't find Raiders in stock and the company my pre-order was with went bust :-/]

I'm keen to use both of the large ships as I'm yet to get them on the table - and they are f'ing awesome! I'd like to include some squadrons too, perhaps multi-role ones like X-Wing, A-Wing, TIE-Adv to keep things flexible. Aside form that I'm open to suggestions.

Some initial thoughts:

Rebs: Admiral Akbar with MC80 Command Cruiser, Assault Frigate MkIIB, 2 x CR90 and 88 points for upgrades and Squadrons

Imps: Darth Vader with ISD-II, Vic-II, Glad-II, and 97 points for upgrades and Squadrons

Very grateful for suggested simple ship/title/upgrade combos (or changes) that won't get too complicated. Thanks in advance!

Play EVERYTHING! Have fun.

I honestly can't really provide you with too much advice on list building other than the basics.

Don't go overboard on upgrades.

Keep your idea simple

Have fun

Test everything!

Everything has their place in the current state of things so all you can really do is watch the Twitch Streams, Armada Tactics News (link in signature), and test everything

So, one thing with the large ships : both of them are carriers and should be complemented with Fighters. Even with very powerful attacks, it's always more preferable to throw several attacks to mess up the enemy defense tokens or force damage through.

Due to their large bases and wide arcs, it's complicated for large ships to throw more than one Attack on a target except on another large ship. With 3 to 4 squadron activations base, squadrons allow to throw multiple attacks bypassing or forcing your opponent to use its defense token against 1 to 2 damage tops attacks.

I wasn't fielding enough squadrons with the ISD early on and was disappointed by its performance, then It all changed up to the point when my girl friend gets jealous when I kiss the Avenger good night.

On a less creepy note : here are a few suggestions off my mind :

1) Like Lyraeus said, try to not over spend for each ship. I try to limit myself to 1 upgrade for small ships, 2 upgrades for médium ships and 3 upgrades for large ships, excluding titles and commander. It leaves room for Squadrons, and to spread the utility around

2) Try thinking about your commanders as a fleet wide upgrade rather than a limitation to what you can field. Sometimes the upgrade isn't worth It with what you have in mind, so go for something else

3) I find that combis are very overrated and quite counterable, so try not investing too many eggs into one basket. I find that upgrades work well if they mitigate the weaknesses of a fleet rather than purely play to its strength (ex : we could way that ACM mitigates the fact that you are getting less optimal shots compared to longer range)

4) Take the MC30 Torpedo Frigate down as a top priority. This thing has got so much burst damage that it should be an absolute priority early on

5) Deploy and Fly your ship while assuming that your opponent will always counter your moves. Expect them to be perfect logicians, and set them up for uncounterable situations and jump on mistakes they make. But be careful, sometimes the latter is, indeed, a trap.

Here's the kind of list I use for Demonstration

+++ Showcase (398pts) +++

++ Imperial Navy (Standard) (398pts) ++

+ Gladiator Star Destroyer (73pts) +

Gladiator I-Class Star Destroyer (73pts) [Assault Concussion Missiles (7pts), •Demolisher (10pts)]

+ Imperial Star Destroyer (163pts) +

Imperial II-Class Star Destroyer (163pts) [Electronic Countermeasures (7pts), Gunnery Team (7pts), •Admiral Screed (26pts), •Relentless (3pts)]

+ Victory Star Destroyer (82pts) +

Victory I-Class Star Destroyer (82pts) [Assault Proton Torpedoes (5pts), Boosted Comms (4pts)]

+ Squadrons (80pts) +

Firespray-31 (18pts)

TIE Bomber Squadron (9pts)

TIE Fighter Squadron (8pts)

TIE Fighter Squadron (8pts)

•"Howlrunner" (16pts)

•Darth Vader (21pts)

+ Objectives +

Assault Objective [Advanced Gunnery]

Defense Objective [Contested Outpost]

Navigation Objective [Minefields]

Created with BattleScribe (http://www.battlescribe.net)

Basically it is a very general list, nice variety of abilities (most of which make it more friendly)

The Glad is easy and fun to use, pretty much point and shoot.

The Imp star is basically the Meta build, this version allows you to have a 2 command ISD that can ignore enemy accuracy's and shoot out of the same arc twice. Very powerful and easy to use

The VSD is a basic carrier, his job is to activate the squads which he can do at long range thanks to Boosted comms.

The only real "combo" in here is Screed+ Apt/acm to get garenteed Crits a

Awesome! Thanks Clontroper5.

I might give that a crack with a just a tweak to the squadrons.

How about this for Rebels:

Faction: Rebel Alliance

Points: 398/400

Commander: Admiral Ackbar

Assault Objective: Opening Salvo
Defense Objective: Hyperspace Assault
Navigation Objective: Superior Positions

[ flagship ] MC80 Assault Cruiser (114 points)
- Admiral Ackbar ( 38 points)
- Home One ( 7 points)
- XI7 Turbolasers ( 6 points)

Assault Frigate Mark II B (72 points)

CR90 Corvette A (44 points)
- Turbolaser Reroute Circuits ( 7 points)

CR90 Corvette A (44 points)
- Turbolaser Reroute Circuits ( 7 points)

1 Luke Skywalker ( 20 points)
3 X-Wing Squadrons ( 39 points)

Awesome! Thanks Clontroper5.

I might give that a crack with a just a tweak to the squadrons.

How about this for Rebels:

Faction: Rebel Alliance

Points: 398/400

Commander: Admiral Ackbar

Assault Objective: Opening Salvo

Defense Objective: Hyperspace Assault

Navigation Objective: Superior Positions

[ flagship ] MC80 Assault Cruiser (114 points)

- Admiral Ackbar ( 38 points)

- Home One ( 7 points)

- XI7 Turbolasers ( 6 points)

Assault Frigate Mark II B (72 points)

CR90 Corvette A (44 points)

- Turbolaser Reroute Circuits ( 7 points)

CR90 Corvette A (44 points)

- Turbolaser Reroute Circuits ( 7 points)

1 Luke Skywalker ( 20 points)

3 X-Wing Squadrons ( 39 points)

its good! I am inclined to drop the Mc80 to the command cruiser and put ECM on it, its kinda necessary for the large ships to be competitive (of course this is for fun so it doesn't matter much)

Okay a hack at a variation on Clontroper5's Imps list:

(albeit I've ignored the thought on too many upgrades/combos....)

Faction: Galactic Empire

Points: 398/400

Commander: Admiral Screed

Assault Objective: Advanced Gunnery
Defense Objective: Contested Outpost
Navigation Objective: Minefields

[ flagship ] Imperial II-Class Star Destroyer (120 points)
- Admiral Screed ( 26 points)
- Relentless ( 3 points)
- Gunnery Team ( 7 points)
- Electronic Countermeasures ( 7 points)
- XX-9 Turbolasers ( 5 points)

Victory I-Class Star Destroyer (73 points)
- Boosted Comms ( 4 points)
- Assault Proton Torpedoes ( 5 points)

Gladiator II-Class Star Destroyer (62 points)
- Demolisher ( 10 points)
- Engine Techs ( 8 points)
- Assault Concussion Missiles ( 7 points)

1 Major Rhymer ( 16 points)
1 Darth Vader ( 21 points)
2 TIE Advanced Squadrons ( 24 points)

Awesome! Thanks Clontroper5.

I might give that a crack with a just a tweak to the squadrons.

How about this for Rebels:

Faction: Rebel Alliance

Points: 398/400

Commander: Admiral Ackbar

Assault Objective: Opening Salvo

Defense Objective: Hyperspace Assault

Navigation Objective: Superior Positions

[ flagship ] MC80 Assault Cruiser (114 points)

- Admiral Ackbar ( 38 points)

- Home One ( 7 points)

- XI7 Turbolasers ( 6 points)

Assault Frigate Mark II B (72 points)

CR90 Corvette A (44 points)

- Turbolaser Reroute Circuits ( 7 points)

CR90 Corvette A (44 points)

- Turbolaser Reroute Circuits ( 7 points)

1 Luke Skywalker ( 20 points)

3 X-Wing Squadrons ( 39 points)

its good! I am inclined to drop the Mc80 to the command cruiser and put ECM on it, its kinda necessary for the large ships to be competitive (of course this is for fun so it doesn't matter much)

Thanks again! I'll drop the TRCs from the Corvettes, throw ECM on the Homeboy and then thrown something on the AFII - thoughts?

I would definitely look at taking Admiral Motti.. If you plan on running a ISD-II and a Vic-II then Motti.. that survivability is to awesome to pass up.

I would definitely look at taking Admiral Motti.. If you plan on running a ISD-II and a Vic-II then Motti.. that survivability is to awesome to pass up.

Thanks I hadn't considered that, looks like a good way to make life hard for the Rebels and further differentiate the character of the two lists.