I was thinking the other day about how 2 months ago there we droves of people who seemed seriously concerned about the future of Armada. Oh, how a few months change everything!

With wave 3 on the boat, wave 4 in production and Ciena Ree lurking out there somewhere, I have to think there is hardly a person who is on these boards who is worried about the future of Armada.

Now to find some money to buy all this great stuff.

Look at what is available with X wing that has not crossed over yet.

I have always believed. It has been hard but one has to stick through it.

At the end of the day, Fantasy Flight prints cardboard and plastic in order to make money, which we happily oblige them with since they make awesome games. I can understand some of the hard feelings about the length of time it took for an update for our plastic crack of choice in comparison to their other lines, but the massive feeling of entitlement that some folks displayed was a bit ridiculous. FFG owes us nothing, we owe FFG nothing. if they make something cool we value enough to trade some of our dollars for, then we will **** sure hand over those dollar bills for some plastic. And as for the recent news:

I am super happy to hand over some dollar bills.

The doom and gloom wasn't exclusive to us though. i was hearing it from store owners too. A miniatures game without new miniatures doesn't really exist. It doesn't bring in new players, and in tabletop games a title that doesn't actively add players is losing players. Look at what is, or at least was, happened to Warhammer.

The wave 4 announcement timing was no accident. How many hours passed between announcing product was on the boat and the new info going up? I don't believe it was even 2 days. They knew **** well that with eyes back on Armada they needed to make a big announcement or it wasn't worth anything.

That said, with a clear path through the end of the year, Armada is going to be sticking around at least through the next film. And once that raises interest in Star Wars again, they'll be able to release new ships when the interest has peaked.

The State of Armada

-according to its fans

Perfect summary of the past couple of months!

It has been an emotional rollercoaster. I think even for the hardcore believers (a group in which I would include myself) Wave 3 was underwhelming. Whilst, yes, it would make some changes to the game, it was also just some space trucks with mediocre models and a few neat upgrades. Then Wave 4 came along and it was as though the game designers had literally shaped it to match our hopes and dreams - the ships we wanted, on a rapid schedule, with beautiful models.

I think some people went a bit overboard with their sense of doom for the future of Armada when Wave 3 was announced. But, I can definitely empathise with their position - the flotilla packs simply weren't an indication that the game was growing in a direction that I wanted it to grow, and I was definitely feeling less excited about playing Armada after Regionals and Nationals. I'm now pretty familiar with Wave 2, and I didn't feel that Wave 3 would do enough to sustain my passion for the game for what could well have been another 12 months - and so, whilst cries that the game as a whole was "dead" were rather melodramatic, Armada was certainly not far off dying a little for me personally. If we'd only had Wave 3 this year, then after tournament season I could easily see Armada becoming "a game that I used to play" - and I certainly wouldn't have been expanding my collecction.

Wave 4, though? That has got me excited. It's got me excited enough that I'm already working out lists in my head where I'm feeling inclined to buy twice as many Wave 3 flotillas as I was originally intending, and I'll definitely be getting a minimum of one each of the Interdictor and Liberty upon their release. Even if these ships weren't going to shake the game up as much as Wave 3 (and I think they will), they tap into my inherent enthusiasm - I play the game because I want to command awesome-looking ships around in dramatic and tactical battles, often times making "Pew! Pew! Swooooosh!" noises, and Wave 4 contributes directly to that appeal.

TL:DR -Yes, some people got carried away with their doomsaying after Wave 3, but I can understand why, and understand why they're now so excited about Wave 4.

I have to say, I for one never stopped believing in Armada, but that may have more to do with the fact that I played Tau in 40k, and waited something close to 3 years for a new codex. This few months stuff if kids play when looking at that type of timeframe.

Let's be honest. Flotillas should be useful tools if you want to segregate your ship killer and squadron roles plus buff you're activations. But past that, you could probably live without them.

More ships to chose from...well, that's just exciting for everyone.

I am happy to know we have releases that should cover us into early 2017. Now it's on FFG to hit the targets it is setting. I'm not saying they owe us, but don't rush to announce something if you can't hit a release date.

I think they have a plan...it just sucked having those huge gaps between releases. It made me feel like I invested in something they did not intend to support.

I have to say, I for one never stopped believing in Armada, but that may have more to do with the fact that I played Tau in 40k, and waited something close to 3 years for a new codex. This few months stuff if kids play when looking at that type of timeframe.

Only 3 years for a codex? I play 40K, want to know my army? Sisters of Battle, don't complain to me about waiting for a codex!

In Armada, I was content with wave 3. I could see alot of new options with it, wave 4....mind blown.

Maybe because I got into the game as wave 3 was announced, but nothing felt wrong about the release frequency to me. I already had a huge climb to catch up with the first two waves, and I'd really rather not see anywhere near the volume of releases for Armada that X-Wing has. Small changes make huge waves in this larger scale game, so moderation and careful consideration for expansions definitely appeal to me here.

I have to say, I for one never stopped believing in Armada, but that may have more to do with the fact that I played Tau in 40k, and waited something close to 3 years for a new codex. This few months stuff if kids play when looking at that type of timeframe.

Ha! Right, and the "codex" before that added only a few things while attempting to fix the whole "Fish of Fury" which only came into existence as a way for Tau players to try and figure out a way to survive the whole Grey Knight/Space Marine face stomping.

Let's be honest. Flotillas should be useful tools if you want to segregate your ship killer and squadron roles plus buff you're activations. But past that, you could probably live without them.

You underestimate the power of the flotilla. If you will not fly it, then you will meet your destiny.

I have to say, I for one never stopped believing in Armada, but that may have more to do with the fact that I played Tau in 40k, and waited something close to 3 years for a new codex. This few months stuff if kids play when looking at that type of timeframe.

Only 3 years for a codex? I play 40K, want to know my army? Sisters of Battle, don't complain to me about waiting for a codex!

In Armada, I was content with wave 3. I could see alot of new options with it, wave 4....mind blown.

Ja yeah, I remember the Sisters of Battle, that wait was/is just ridiculous.

If anything I like the two item two times a year approach. One of the annoying things in Xwing, for me that is, is the huge amount of new ships released that seem to invalidate older ships. That is the kind of power creep that originally turned me away from GW, and something I don't hope Armada will fall prey to.

I have to say, I for one never stopped believing in Armada, but that may have more to do with the fact that I played Tau in 40k, and waited something close to 3 years for a new codex. This few months stuff if kids play when looking at that type of timeframe.

Ha! Right, and the "codex" before that added only a few things while attempting to fix the whole "Fish of Fury" which only came into existence as a way for Tau players to try and figure out a way to survive the whole Grey Knight/Space Marine face stomping.

Tau shouldn't be able to resist Space Marine assaults. Nothing should!

Let's be honest. Flotillas should be useful tools if you want to segregate your ship killer and squadron roles plus buff you're activations. But past that, you could probably live without them.

You underestimate the power of the flotilla. If you will not fly it, then you will meet your destiny.

I met 5 GR-75s yesterday...with a MC30...and 10 X-wings. Yes, you read that correctly. 10 X-wings. Now, 5 flotillas was probably overdoing it, but it was really fresh. Fun to fly against. Demo got one with it's front arc (lucky Accs + APT killed it) and my ISD RAMMED one to death after it had hit a mine. I love this game. And wave 3+4 will make it much, much better

I have to say, I for one never stopped believing in Armada, but that may have more to do with the fact that I played Tau in 40k, and waited something close to 3 years for a new codex. This few months stuff if kids play when looking at that type of timeframe.

Ha! Right, and the "codex" before that added only a few things while attempting to fix the whole "Fish of Fury" which only came into existence as a way for Tau players to try and figure out a way to survive the whole Grey Knight/Space Marine face stomping.

Tau shouldn't be able to resist Space Marine assaults. Nothing should!

Hahaha, true, but ISDs shouldn't be afraid of CR90s with a tiny pew pew upgrade, but here we are!

VADER: Finally, we have the rebel scum's MC80.

DECK OFFICER: Lord Vader, it appears two CR90s just hyperspaced in. Should I order the retreat?

VADER: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO--

DECK OFFICER: So we are staying?

VADER: --OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO--

DECK OFFICER: So confused right now

VADER: --OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I never considered anything about Wave 3 as a "bad thing"

Hahaha, true, but ISDs shouldn't be afraid of CR90s with a tiny pew pew upgrade, but here we are!

I view situations like that as the ISD is not really destroyed, but if the CR90's lived long enough, they shot off taregting and shield systems that the ISD is essentially out the fight more then a David killed Goliath.

Think of it as a big bouncer type got hit in the eyes and temporaraly blinded, he's not gone, it's just that he can't fight so withdraws.

You are all wrong, everyone knows Armada is dead. Dead. Dead, DEAD! Stone Dead Armada is no more, it is. It is definitely deceased, une!quivocally, irrevocably, Dead, dead, Dead. If you hadn't nailed it to the perch, it'd be pushing up the daisies. It's metabolic processes are now history. It kicked the bucket, shuffled off it's mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleeding choir invisible!

You are all wrong, everyone knows Armada is dead. Dead. Dead, DEAD! Stone Dead Armada is no more, it is. It is definitely deceased, une!quivocally, irrevocably, Dead, dead, Dead. If you hadn't nailed it to the perch, it'd be pushing up the daisies. It's metabolic processes are now history. It kicked the bucket, shuffled off it's mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleeding choir invisible!

Let's be honest. Flotillas should be useful tools if you want to segregate your ship killer and squadron roles plus buff you're activations. But past that, you could probably live without them.

You underestimate the power of the flotilla. If you will not fly it, then you will meet your destiny.

I met 5 GR-75s yesterday...with a MC30...and 10 X-wings. Yes, you read that correctly. 10 X-wings. Now, 5 flotillas was probably overdoing it, but it was really fresh. Fun to fly against. Demo got one with it's front arc (lucky Accs + APT killed it) and my ISD RAMMED one to death after it had hit a mine. I love this game. And wave 3+4 will make it much, much better

I have been running with a list very similar to this, but from the empire standpoint. I was running 1x tricked Demo, 4x Gozanti w/ expanded hangers and 1 ea of slicing, coms, repair, and jamming. Tagge sits on the coms Gozanti to replace scatters, Yularen on the repair crews, suppressor title on the slicer tools, and vector on the jamming field. The rest of the list is Dengar, Howlrunner, and 12 tie fighters.

I have yet to test it against an opponent other than myself, but it has been incredibly fun to fly and proven really flexible. It is the ultimate definition of the death by a thousand papercuts. I will have to try the X-wing variant next, see how it works,

I don't want to rain on everyone's parade or interrupt the FFG back patting, but:

Wave 4's SKUs place them before Wave 3.

I feel like that means that Wave 3 was intended to be the 2 ships and the flotillas. Which is more in line with what people were expecting post-wave 2.

Somewhere along the way they decided to split the release into two waves.

And they only announced Wave 4 after a leak on facebook, and did so pretty **** quick. I thought maybe they were already prepared, but the copy-paste of the Wave 3 release timeline and the fact that the new ships are not even listed on the upcoming products page yet tell me that they weren't really ready to announce the new wave yet.

All of that being said though, I was not disappointed with Wave 3 and I am very excited with the idea of Wave 4. I just don't want all of you to go so overboard all the time. This emotional roller coaster on the forums is stressful

FFG is making rational business decisions, which puts them above GW in my book, but that doesn't mean you should trust them

FFG is making rational business decisions, which puts them above GW in my book, but that doesn't mean you should trust them

Han: 'He's a cardplayer, gambler, scoundrel. You'd like him."

Leia: "Do you Trust him?"

Han: "Nooo"