I am very new to Armada and I am just trying to understand how each dice color affects point cost when picking ship variants. How do people rank dice color vs points. Any helpful resources and opinions would be great!

I suppose the easiest way to look at the points is to examine the upgrade cards that add extra dice to your shots.

• Slaved turrets, 6 points = +1 red but only one shot per turn.
• Enhanced armament, 10 points = +1 red in both side arcs.
• Rapid Reload, 8 points = +1 black dice in both side arcs.
• Expanded Launchers, 13 points = +2 Black Dice in Front arc.

So as far as the game designers are concerned we can see

• Red dice are more valuable than black.
• Front arcs are more valuable than side arcs. I presume rear mounted weapons are even less valuable.
• There is probably a premium for adding more than one dice to a single arc.

You can then look at different variants of the same ship such as the GLAD-I v GLAD-II or the escort/support versions of the Neb-B. Watch out as occasionally there is also a change in the squadron value or number of defensive upgrade slots etc. We can probably infer that:

• The 6 point difference between the NEBs is mainly due to the extra blue anti squadron dice and maybe 1-2 points for the extra squadron rating.
• The 6 point difference in Gladiator variants is probably 1 point to increase a black to red on each flank and 4 points to add the extra blue anti squadron dice.
• The 9 point difference between the Assault Frigates is probably 4 points for the extra anti squadron blue dice, 4 points for the extra blue on the front, 3 points for the extra blue on the rear and -2 points for the loss of a squadron rating.

I look at what the dice offer.

Red is long range, has 2 blank sides, 2 single hits, 2 critical hits, 1 double hit, and a single accuracy. So 1 fourth of the time it will be blank, the rest will be useful, it has the much loved 2 hits. As yet there are no anti squadron attacks that roll Red. It is a good way to help strip shields off ships in the early stages of the game. If you can get a lot of Red dice against the same ship there is a very good chance that the ship in question can be destroyed, or at the very least very vulnerable.

Blue is Medium range, has no blank sides, 4 single hits, 2 critical hits, and two accuracy. With there being no blank sides this means that there is always going to be a result when rolled against ships. Bear in mind that if you can roll Blue dice against a target ship then it should also be in range of your Red dice. This is where the Accuracy of the Red Dice come in very handy. By itself it is a solid dice to roll, ship on ship it offers a great chance to put out hurt, and against fighters it has a 50 50 chance of causing damage.

Black die is short range, has 2 blank sides, 4 single hits, and 2 hit and a critical hit. Like the Red dice 1 fourth of the time it will be blank, the rest will be damage. Due to being short range Evade can not be used, also add in that if Black dice are in range then so are the other dice colours.

So with this in mind, when looking at what colour dice are on ship I look at what other colour dice it has to support them. I tend to prefer Black, not only for it meaning that all 3 will be used, but due to it having a very good damage output. Just means that you have to be close to the enemy to get the full benefit of it.

Hope this helps.