Was thinking about the course of the game today. When it came out we were playing something like 180 points having only the core set. Wave 1 it was 300 points.... Wave 2 up to 400. I've played slightly higher, but recently I played an 800 point game. Very fun!

I can only go up to about 1200 points total, maybe as high as 1500 if I totally loaded up all my ships with upgrades, but I'm not sure I'd do that quite yet. I really did like the 800 point game but it took 4 hours. So what is your sweet spot? Is 400 the best spot for you? With waves 3 and 4 do you think bumping it up a little might be helpful? Would an eventual 600 point format work better for you?

I've only played 400 points so far, so i'm honestly not sure. I think 600 could definitely be a good time, but 400 definitely makes me make hard decisions on what to take.

Points we don't need no silly points. If I were to use them. I'm thinking 600 to 1000 points.

600 - above that and certain Admirals become very powerful (fleets worth of Ackbar/ Motti etc)

I dont know about that, I kicked Motti's butt with a Mothma fleet a 1200 points.

I've enjoyed the occasional 500 point game. I could see going up to 600 for funsies.

The official jump from 300 to 400 was a godsend. 300 points was too small and resulted in more of a tendency towards janky fleets because it was difficult to include a well rounded assortment.

Even an 800 point game seemed less like a real "armada" for me though.

I'm hoping that in the future we get more flotillas. Maybe next time we get flotillas that are more ship v ship combat oriented. I love having lots of ships on the battlefield, but with that, I also like having LARGE ships on the battlefield. You try to run multiple ISDs or MC-80s and it fills up your point cap awfully quick. Flotillas should help to increase the number of "ships" on the battlefield so it helps the visual aspect, but it seems the current versions have a heavy emphasis on squadrons.

More variety, more medium and large ships, and some lower point costs! By wave 6 I wonder if the point limit for standard games will go up or if there will be a new "epic" format for people who want larger games in a tournament setting?

450 would be good.

The couple 600 point games I've played have been very fun. I like 400 points for the tournament format because it forces some hard decisions, but I like to occasionally play with all the toys. 400 points also feels more like a skirmish than a fleet engagement. 600 points starts feels like a true fleet-sized battle.

I've played 600/700/800 point affairs with 4 players on 4x6. Makes for a fun time. It was actually also a good way to let those new to the game experience the rules and not get too crazy in ship upgrades.

The larger space battles seem like they tend to break down into various hot spots across the board. In those point ranges you can't jam everything into one space and it seems like (least for our group experience) Admirals with an eye to maneuver was rewarded with success.

I do like the 400 point limit for tournaments tho, least for wave 2. With wave 3, I'm having a real hard time jamming something together that I feel doesn't compromise too much. Just 50 more points ... just 50 ... how about 40 ? please? pretty please?

What are the chances of FFG creating a Super Star Destroyer that's gigantic, and it creates a new, larger scale of 650 points? Isn't that what they did with the Tantive IV and Gozanti in X-Wing Epic games?

I'd like to see it just to reinforce the asymmetry of the game.

I'm honestly hoping that games will be officially moved to 500 or 600 points once wave IV hits. This game is just so much more fun with bigger ships and more expansive fleets. The only crummy thing about this is that occasionally when using more upgrade cards it can get either confusing or they can be forgotten. I'm guilty of that even now at 400. XD

I really like 600pts and other than set up time it seems to take about the same time to play.

600, 15% max in squads (90 pts), setup zone is full 6' width. Less squads to lesson the mat clutter and constant bumping (part i dislike most about Armada).

Played a few big 4 player games, and do enjoy getting all (or most) of the ships on the table

Splitting the sides into two groups with an Admiral each I find helps keep things balanced (except the time my mate convinced me to let his side combine the effects of Ackbar and Mothma across their whole fleet... the horror... star destroyers burning everywhere... never again!).

Played a no-upgrade, 1 unique ship per side, 650pt game with my brother on the weekend (his first games, a learn to play, a 400pt then we went mega battle!). Was great fun, and turned into a very close game... (https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/topic/220602-1300pt-mega-battle-aka-my-brothers-first-game/#entry2229335)

400 definitely seems to be a sweet spot to keep it moving along, when going bigger, less upgrades seem to help. But at the end of the day, getting to push 6/7 ships and a dozen or so squadrons is epic!

500 points feels right. We've played a few games where you get 400 fleet points and 100 squadron. Feels very thematic

I don't think we'll end up with an expanded point total sadly. I do wish your squadron points would have been baked in separately though. It's not really a fleet battle in the star wars universe without fighters running around everywhere.

i think tournaments should stay between 400 and 500 points no matter what comes in the next waves. my reasoning is that tournaments already take 7 hours min. to do 3 games. if each game started taking 4 hours you would never get people interested in tournaments.

HOWEVER,

i love playing massive games outside of tournaments. I have played everything up to 1500 points, and i have enough ships to do 2k but not enough time lol

the best games in my opinion are between 600 and 800 points. this allows you to have an "Armada" and the game still moves fast enough to be fun.

I agree with thraug though. limiting squadrons makes everything move waayyy faster. (besides this is armada not xwing)

I vehemently oppose limiting Squadrons because "This is Armada and not X-Wing."

Carriers are an absolutely legitimate part of any Armada should you wish it.

Thematically, they have their part.

Game Play, they are little more than Ordnance tokens, really... Just something kind of cool and tacked on. The main rules Mechanics aren't there for them.

This is why you simply plough through them with ships.

They're already limited enough.

USSR - 3

USA - 4

The Miracle on Ice!!! USA! USA! USA!

Wait, what are we talking about?

No no, you're right, we're still talking about points. Funny, I thought I heard an echo yesterday saying, "seven-two, how sad for you." -smirks-

On topic, 600 is probably my favorite. It just feels a little more controlled than 750 and above while giving a little extra redundancy (I can easily play 1500 points per side, and I think 1750 with stuffed ships). The extra redundancy does make things a little less linchpin: the Demolisher triple tap eats up less points and has more of a gauntlet to run. On the rebel side, you tend to get a little beefier fighter groups and that extra 'threat ship'. That said, in anything over 500 we need to address the elephant in the room that is 'static points'. Victory tokens for things like firelanes, outpost, and int sweep in particular really get a downgrade, so after a certain amount they need to be readjusted accordingly.

That said, 200 point skirmishes sans admiral is awesome. And yet, I maintain 400 points is pretty much perfect for tournaments; I wouldn't want that to change.

I've played a few 500 point games and much preferred them to 400. Those extra 100 points buy another sizable ship, and this makes it feel much more like you have an actual fleet rather than a small gathering of ships It didn't really add to the game time either as I recall.

I think 400 points is a sweet spot, like most people when building my list I would love an extra 50 points here and there. But at what point do you stop? The current point cap means you really have to think when designing your fleet and means you need to pick a strategy for your fleet... do I go ship spam, fighters, bombers, big ships etc.. Also more points would effect tournament run time for rounds and set up and current the length of time is hard going over a full day as it is.

We've recently shifted over to playing 500 points for a few weeks. Everyone seems to be having a blast playing around with so much wiggle room.

But we will also have a throwback series to 300 points so you can really feel the difference.