And wow, you don't realise how much more refined the Armada play experience is and the little tweaks to the common mechanics help make hte game flow.

Some examples

Shield management - It was frustrating as hell remembering little tokens over on the card, dials are so much more intuitive

On the board tokens - there are SO many in X-wing, target locks, focus, evades, ions, stress, weapon disabled. And they all have to go on the board, as the bases are so small. with armada, at most you have several command tokens that sit comfortably on the rear arc of your base.

Base weight - The extra weight of the Armada bases helps prevent slip and slide gameplay. X-wing ships just need a fresh breeze for them to start drifting all over the place

Weapon selection - the abstractness of the different coloured dice is so much more efficient then the secondary weapon method. There are far too many steps involved in just getting a torpedo shot off, and bombs are clumky as all get out.

Points cost granularity - 100pts seems far to coarse for 2-5 ships on the board, each upgrade is a big chunk of your points. with 400pts, upgrades are nice little enhancements but do not eat up huge percentages of the original ships points cost.

Objectives and round limit- Why are we fighting? Just playing deathmatch over and over again until someone was tabled got very repetitive, particularly next to the end of the game when you were down to 1 ship each and just jousting/running rings around each other. Armada provides context to each battle, and the impetous to get as much damage done within the round limit.

I bought into X-wing first, but only in November. The Armada bug bit me over the holiday break, and I really haven't looked back. Granted, X-wing is still fun for a shorter game, especially with a casual feel for it. Still, Armada holds my interest better.

Only playing X wing because a buddy is trying to get into it, but I am secretly converting him over to Armada. I think lessons were learned from X-wing and you can see the benefits with Armada. Really looking forward to this game since I am new to it.

Armada ruined X-Wing for me. I thought I would enjoy both when Armada came out. But X-wing is just too small for me to truly enjoy anymore. X-Wing definitely helped Armada be great from the beginning.

I love both games, and am not sure why I should have to pick one or the other.

Armada, in my mind, is a harder game to master, and more nerve-racking to play. Maybe that means it's tactically deeper, but sometimes I want something else.

Ironically, I also think that X-Wing is more strategic, because you have to out guess your opponents more frequently, rather than mostly during deployment and planning.

I still play both, and with the lack of Armada products, I'm able to catch up with X Wing. Honestly, it's the only way I can get out and enjoy gaming because nobody wants to Armada at the LGS (yet).

I do prefer Armada, but X Wing provides a snappier game that can be set up and played, and torn down a hair faster than Armada (mostly).

I find x wing dumb down abit like checkers it forces you to move a to b to c. While armada give you more choices on which ship goes 1st and lets you adjust your movement as the battle unfolds with only the commanfs locked in

As an aside, I always put armada tokens on the ship card as opposed to the base. Makes moving it much easier when you have 2-3 banked tokens.

Anyone else keep their tokens on the card as opposed to the base?

I haven't played or bought anything xwing since armada arrived at my door. Xwing is good and I enjoy it, but not good enough for me to spend my limited time playing it as opposed to armada. I'm also a big fan of imperial assault and play that over xwing as well. Ahhhh ffg, enjoy my money, you have too many good games (as if that's possible)!

Honestly, I think the only thing that needs to be added to X-Wing are scenarios/objectives. The deathmatch style with no turn limit really does get boring sometimes. It scratches a very different itch, though. It's faster with more guessing than strategy. You can react instantly (on a turn-by-turn basis) to what's going on. In Armada, you have to plan turns in advance (unless you're running a corvette spam list).

I also find the dice rolls in Armada tend to be much more reliable.

Sometimes I feel like Armada is a perfected form of Warmachine/Hordes. I love the synergy and strategies of Warmahordes, and the ability of your Warcaster/Warlock to make drastic changes to the way your units operate. But I hate the fact that you can kill a single model and the game ends. I think of your commander in terms of the Warcaster, but their death only means their ability stops working, not an auto-lose.

Those stupid green dice.

There's some definite evidence of learning with the Armada rules. They use a lot more dice. A big attack in Armada can be 8 or 9 dice. In X Wing, it's only four or five, so a couple of 'unlucky' dice in any given throw is much more likely to ruin your day in X Wing than in Armada.

Armada also uses better dice. Having different dice for different weapon types is a much cleaner and easier to implement mechanic than the ordnance or secondary weapon mechanics in X Wing. Of course, neither option is as good as just using a regular D6, but FFG has to be all special.

I think there are negatives to both games. There's a LOT of extra stuff to keep on the table in both cases. One of my regular Armada opponents just uses a printed list for his fleets, and it makes the games much quicker to set up and tear down, as well as keeping the table clear.

EDIT: I felt a bit mean leaving my post there. I think in both games, the positives outweigh the negatives. I think the tournament format for X Wing is utterly lame and boring, but 150 point games, epic games and narrative scenarios really make the game shine. Which is another area where Armada has improved on X Wing because the objective system is much better than the boring 100 point deathmatch game.

I love both games, and am not sure why I should have to pick one or the other.

Armada, in my mind, is a harder game to master, and more nerve-racking to play. Maybe that means it's tactically deeper, but sometimes I want something else.

Ironically, I also think that X-Wing is more strategic, because you have to out guess your opponents more frequently, rather than mostly during deployment and planning.

Those stupid green dice.

As an aside, I always put armada tokens on the ship card as opposed to the base. Makes moving it much easier when you have 2-3 banked tokens.

Anyone else keep their tokens on the card as opposed to the base?

I haven't played or bought anything xwing since armada arrived at my door. Xwing is good and I enjoy it, but not good enough for me to spend my limited time playing it as opposed to armada. I'm also a big fan of imperial assault and play that over xwing as well. Ahhhh ffg, enjoy my money, you have too many good games (as if that's possible)!

I never put my tokens on the ships, only on the ship cards. Each manipulation, for me, means moving the ship a bit. Unnecessary, cards do just fine, and together with defense tokens give me better overview of the state of my ships.

I love both games, and am not sure why I should have to pick one or the other.

Armada, in my mind, is a harder game to master, and more nerve-racking to play. Maybe that means it's tactically deeper, but sometimes I want something else.

Ironically, I also think that X-Wing is more strategic, because you have to out guess your opponents more frequently, rather than mostly during deployment and planning.

You just want to win more.

I'm not sure where you're taking that argument. If I won more in one game, then wouldn't I prefer that game, rather than loving them both? Also, I'm not sure my incentive to win is any greater (or much less) than anyone else's...

...except in defense of the Empire, of course.

I've been playing X-wing for a few years now, but just got into armada recently. My biggest struggle with armada has been putting a satisfying list together within the 400 point limit. I came for the big ships, particularly the ISD, but aside from dual ISD lists I can't seem to find the ratio of big hulls and squadrons that I'm looking for. In my house games we have been playing 400 points with 50 additional points that have to be spent on squadrons and it is just enough to strike that balance, but that's definitely not an option at tournaments and I'm not about to walk into casual games at a FLGS asking people to play by my house rules.

The initiative bid in armada is a bit annoying too. In X-wing I just avoid designing lists that struggle when losing initiative choice and thus never really bother with making a bid, but in armada the first activation feels like a really big deal. This might be less of an issue as I get more familiar with the game though. I really don't like the initiative bidding system in either X-wing or armada, it was just easier to ignore in X-wing.

Otherwise armada is a pretty fun game and I am having fun exploring new territory. The thing I like the most in armada is the 6-round limit and the strategic considerations it entails, but I also miss the preplanned hidden maneuvers in X-wing, plotting command dials in advance doesn't have quite the same impact.

I would definitely say that Star Trek Attack Wing should have waited a bit longer before licensing an FFG game system for their capital ship combat game though

I would definitely say that Star Trek Attack Wing should have waited a bit longer before licensing an FFG game system for their capital ship combat game though

I'm glad they didn't, because Armada helps burn away Attack Wing and expose it as the glued-theme cash-grab that it really is.

I feel FFG have done a great job in differentiating the two games. Where X-Wing is tactical, Armada is more strategic, and the difference creates an entirely distinct gaming experience.

For my money, the big win for Armada is game mechanics that capture the true sense of scale for fleet-level combat.

- Three ship sizes that allow for variance in firepower, durability, and maneuverability.

- Steering from the back-end, so even the swiftest and most responsive of ships take time and distance to turn around.

- Having to judge your engagement range to maximise attack potential/minimize return fire (important in X-Wing, but so much more vital here)

- Decisions made last turn, three turns ago, and in the moment all affect the outcome of the battle.

I love both games, but Armada's the one that makes me feel smart.

I feel FFG have done a great job in differentiating the two games. Where X-Wing is tactical, Armada is more strategic, and the difference creates an entirely distinct gaming experience.

I made the opposite point in an earlier post. How do you define the difference between 'tactical' and 'strategic', in order to make such a distinction between the two games?

I feel FFG have done a great job in differentiating the two games. Where X-Wing is tactical, Armada is more strategic, and the difference creates an entirely distinct gaming experience.

I made the opposite point in an earlier post. How do you define the difference between 'tactical' and 'strategic', in order to make such a distinction between the two games?

I define them thusly:

- Strategy is a plan of action designed to achieve a long-term or overall aim.

- Tactics are the methods one uses to achieve said strategy.

It is true that both games have strategic and tactical elements. In my opinion, the "scale" of the two games (a product of their respective mechanics) is what delineates them as being either predominantly tactical and strategic.

I find X-Wing to be constantly about tactics, implemented turn to turn in order to win. There will be an overall strategy, of course, relating to how one can best inflict the most damage while taking the least, however the immediacy of each action, and the constant goal of winning through annihilation, is what makes the game tactical to me.

By comparison, the different scoring objectives, ship order dials, and the ship activation system give Armada a greater strategic depth.

- A player doesn't have to destroy their opponent's ships in order to win, nor do they need their own ships to survive.

- Setting dials two or three turns in advance of their reveal means a player must formulate a long-term plan in order to achieve the best possible outcome.

- Whether a player brings two ships or six to the table, activating them in the correct sequence can often mean the difference between salvation and destruction, or even victory and defeat. Often, the decision of which ship to activate when is made in the turn(s) prior, as you've positioned your ships and set their dials in anticipation achieving maximum effectiveness in the coming turn. A player who is making the choice in the moment often does so out of necessity because their opponent has caught them off guard.

Because of these aspects and more, I regard Armada as a game of strategy, distinct from the more tactical game of X-Wing.

I hope this answers your question satisfactorily.

X-Wing has far more make-or-break guess moments and luck than Armada. There are always things you can do to manage that luck and guesswork in X-wing (and the best players do), but it's still there.

Almost all outcomes in Armada can be rationalized, with just enough luck to not make it chess.

I heartily agree with that first sentence. In Armada, if you don't have a banked Nav token and you don't have Ozzel or Engine Techs, I can reliably predict (not guess) where you will be next turn based on your speed and your ship's maneuverability. In X-Wing, you could be anywhere from speed one to speed five, with an extreme turn to the left or the right or anything in between, irrespective of what you did last turn. Now, I can make an educated guess based on the placement of our fighters and obstacles, but there is a much wider range of ending locations and no limitations on how you can maneuver (well, unless you have a Stress token).

Is either better than the other? No. Like I said, I enjoy both for different reasons.

Token below next to the ship card and not on the card so you opponent can see them better. They get lost on the card. I don't get why people put them on the ships.

I am going to give a dissenting opinion.

Armada is more luck based than X-wing. There. X-wing has dice modification built into the game. Not via one mechanic, but two fundamental actions. Nothing in Armada comes even close to Target Lock and focus in terms of efficiency (unless you're counting Ordnance Experts on missile-only shots). Shooting with TL+f in X-wing is 15/16 success for each die. In Armada the fundamental mechanic lets me add or reroll one die, wow. Oh but in X-wing you have those fickle green dice someone will say. Oh the horror! On Soontir Fel, you only have focus + focus + evade + Autothrusters + Palpatine to help you out if you make a bad roll.

In Armada dice modifications are few. It averages out on multiple shots. But you don't get a lot of shots. The game only has 6 rounds, 1 or 2 of which are crucial and will perhaps decide the game. The MC80, with those big guns, gets to fire them what, 3 times? In X-wing, you get 2 damage on Soontir, you get away, find a good position and reengage. With shield regen lists the same. In Armada, if the opponent makes a really good roll at a crux moment, he's pulled your pants down and you still have to run with it.

Let's not forget that big part of clontrooper's success was also non-reliance on dice. Ordnance Experts and Screed on blue/black or plain black dice is currently the best modification in the game. And no, Ordnance Experts alone doesn't cut it.

Also, the dice themselves are far lower quality than X-wing, I'm saying this because someone else mentioned the opposite. Have you looked at them? Mine have faces that are semi-caved in, and I'm not the only one to have those. I have never seen that with X-wing dice.

Now, I try as much as I can in both games to not complain about dice in a game, and I don't. But more often than not, I find that I need those ships in Armada that come with most dice modifications (why I'm steering away from Ackbar, who is the prophet of RNGesus). You could argue that I am just a bad player at Armada and I need dice to save me and I don't have a counter-argument for that.

I think the same issues keep coming up in discussion.

green dice and firing arcs. In X-wing, any combination of poor maneuvers (even with turrets if you land on a rock) and red vs green dice matchups can devastate you. That can really put off some players.

Armada ships can fire at least some dice in every direction, and with the ability to 'attempt' different maneuvers with the tool before you lock in and commit, it mitigates really bad moves.

People will use words like: strategic, deliberate, majestic, epic to describe armada.

people will use words like: fast, random, exciting, frustrating to describe x-wing.

X-wing is like the fun, crazy, hot chick that you love going out with. But you wish she had more depth and could be serious sometimes.

Armada is like the intellectual, witty, educated girl that you love having conversations with. She is just very opinionated and always wants to talk about politics or religion.