While at the not so LGS yesterday I was drooling over their large selection of X-Wing. As I've posted elsewhere, I've been overthinking my next purchase. So far I've only bought the TFA Core and trying to figure out the best way to grow from there. That however is the topic of another thread.

While I was there with my college-aged son, he mentioned that Armada had "all the cool ships Dad." My question is this: My son has only played a single game of X-Wing with me and had a fair amount of trouble figuring out the maneuvers. Unless he was physically behind the ship he was having a very difficult time visualizing the maneuvers. This sort of put him off. He is still willing to play but so far it is far from his favorite gaming experience.

Because he expressed interest in Armada I'm tempted to start looking at that game system. Can anyone give me a brief overview and comparison of the 2 game systems? Mechanics, play time, learning curve, cost, etc. Any help would be much appreciated. Thank You.

I cant really help but i will say that while i was 'tempted' by armada it lacked the two features that made me jump into xwing

1. armada seems comparatively pricey to get set up in

and more importanty

2. You have to paint stuff, i just dont have time to be painting stuff (same for imperial assault) and the attraction to xwing was well painted models that were good to go. I know you dont actually *have* to paint stuff but it seems a shame to have nice painted star ships and then use unpainted fighters.

Ill probably relent at some point if i see someone selling up and its cheap but i know im sturggling to keep up with xwing in terms of releases and card combinations.. not sure if my middle aged brain can take a new game at the mo

I would suggest that you stick with X Wing for a little longer before jumping ship.

One of the major skills required in X-Wing is ship placement, very few people will be able to master this skill in their first game.

As such, give X-Wing a fair crack and fly a few more games to improve both of your skills at piloting.

There are also TONNES of videos and articles on the internet providing guidance as to how to fly.

Hang in there, give it a fair go, and if neither of you are really feeling X-Wing after that.... Go for Armada.

Perhaps try to get an in store demo before buying? I have not played Armada, but I am pretty sure there is movement involved in that game too

Both games will cost a pretty penny. I don't have very many Armada games under my belt, but to me, Armada feels like "how would FFG make an x-wing 2.0?". The mechanics are more refined and the much randomness inherent in green dice is gone. So in a lot of ways, it has a level of polish that's nice.

Armada has an objectives system (I don't remember what it's actually called) that adds variance to the standard 100pt brawl. So there is a little more replay-ability with just the starter set.

As far as armada's movement, it kind of goes like this:

Every capital ship has an order stack, which could be stuff like shoot, adjust speed, etc. Every round, you add one to the stack, and play one in a first in first out basis. Larger ships (like the star destroyer), have bigger stacks. Which means you have to plan in advance. Rebels in this game are the swarmers. Every round your ship has to move it's speed, using the funky clicking dial. Each ship is allowed a certain number of clicks per segment on the guide, which lets smaller ships turn and move faster (with more flexibility) compared to the SD's. Prior to the move however, you DO NOT preplan your movement. Your speed is already set, but the final placement and bearing is decided then.

The fighters have movement range and they can move in any direction up to that range. If they're close to an enemy fighter, they're then locked in an considered engaged and must fight each other. There are rules to bypass this, but it's what lets a squad of tie fighters stop a squadron of x-wings from flying straight to the star destroyer and engaging it.

All and all, it's a pretty good game. Different, yet fairly similar mechanics. At the end of it, it's really if your son's interest can be peaked. The starter for armada is kind of steep though at $100 (65 on amazon) and like x-wing, it doesn't give you enough to fill a full squad/fleet. The rulebook (before any expansions were released) says it takes 2 starters to make a full sized game, but I've had fun with just the 1 baby star destroyer and 2 rebel ships.

I never made the complete jump to Armada b/c I'm too invested in X-wing. I can't afford to double my plastic-crack addiction.

Iy is all about money. Armada is much more expensive, the Starter is a joke, I purchased in February one of of each expansion and they are two different games. Armada is more akind to a wargame, more complex, long, and requires double game surface.

X wing is cheap, fast and easy to play, and you will play 10 x wing games for every Armada play. Unless your wallet is SSD Size, play x wing a couple of months, then you will see...

Important note. In my area there are no Armada players. So check your environment, perhaps you will need to buy both factions. So you will need 400 euros...

Equal money investment to X wing, but a larger time investment. If you can handle those things I would go for it.

I disagree about money. With 80 euros you can field standard 100 pts. To deploy 400 pts in Armada... over 200.

My son (almost 11) and I had a good time with just the core set of Armada. Then I started buying more.

The two games are different, but definitely share foundations. If you're mainly playing at home and using it to spend time with your son, then follow the one that's more interesting (or that will bring him to the table more often).

Both can be money-sinks, so follow the one you're most interested in or make careful purchases of both as the mood strikes and the finances allow. You don't need the super-competitive current meta lists to have fun with your son, and you can TOTALLY proxy any cards you don't have (or have enough of) yet when you're playing on your dining room table.

Thanks for the replies. I will probably hold off picking up the Armada starter until Summer Break rolls around for my son. By then I will hopefully be fielding at least 100pt. Rebs and Imps. in X-Wing. With some luck, my young daughter may even have a squad flying by then as well.

I actually picked up Armada first, because my group of friends already had x-wing at the time and figured I'd get "the other game". I do enjoy playing Armada, and we always have really good games when we play, but I find the customization and play with X-wing to be more enjoyable. I now have shifted my focus (and money) into x-wing. I just read the details of the new armada expansion, and probably will not be picking up those expansions. It's now more of an occasional play game.