Do you want to read a really long winded blog post on my opinions of the State of Armada?
Then please follow this LINK.
It's some interviews combined with my own inferences and opinions. Feel free to comment, argue, troll, or ignore as you see fit.
And in case you missed them I have posts from GenCon about:
and my experiences at the North American Championships - Day One and Two.
Nice, Shmitty, good info here, really appreciate the breakdown.
Tremendous article schmitty. Thank you.
Thanks for the good read!
Nice to hear and good to read.
Good info, thanks. What you said about the Wave 3/4 delays pretty much cements my thought on that as well. Production delays happen, but radio silence is still pretty frowned upon.
As for the balance, I think they're only moving into a good direction. So far, we know for a fact that Rhymer and Demolisher has been running rampant for a very long time. The answer from them is similar to their direction with X-Wing, or Netrunner, and that specific cards are not errata'd or faq'd directly, but more and more answers for them are released by waves. Their design approach is that by increasing player options and providing soft-counters to meta-dominant strategies, they'll add more to the game in the long run. I agree 100% with this style of balance approach, even though we know at the end of the day, the Demolisher will still be strong, but there will be more tools to deal with it.
I feel good that it is now a little past mid-year, and by the end of the year, we will have a much more diverse game than we have now. That's got me really excited about the game, reinvigorated my desire to write again, and all I need now is to get more events going in the area. I think once Wave 4 hits the stores, it'll be the start of something new again (much like when Wave 2 hit).
Oh, and the fact that the CEO doesn't even want to compare Armada to X-Wing because X-Wing is so astronomical is a bit surprising. I mean, I know that X-Wing was doing better, but I didn't know they were doing that well that they don't even use it as a benchmark. FFG must be rolling in dat cash moneys.
Great articles
Good post! Where is boss with his emotes. . .
Is it bad that I read the article in your voice shmitty?
Thanks, good write up Schmitty.
I mean, I know that X-Wing was doing better, but I didn't know they were doing that well that they don't even use it as a benchmark. FFG must be rolling in dat cash moneys.
Xwing is just ridiculously successful. As a long time Xwing player, I don't find it to have anything like the depth of Armada - but it's fun. Always fun. Fun when winning, fun when losing, fun when watching, fun when making sound effects.
There's a lot less frowning and thinking at an Xwing tournament, and none of that sense of impending doom when you know your incorrect Command will show up in 30 minutes and bite you. Armada is more serious, but I think that's what a lot of us really like about it.
Oh, and the fact that the CEO doesn't even want to compare Armada to X-Wing because X-Wing is so astronomical is a bit surprising. I mean, I know that X-Wing was doing better, but I didn't know they were doing that well that they don't even use it as a benchmark. FFG must be rolling in dat cash moneys.
Using it as a bench mark would be foolish to a degree since it is sort of the perfect storm of miniature games. We shall see though.
I can agree that it should be a benchmark in some regards and I think it is but just not in sales.
As for money, compare how many games they have put out from 2013 to now vs how many they have prior. That R&D budget really tells all.
There's a lot less frowning and thinking at an Xwing tournament, and none of that sense of impending doom when you know your incorrect Command will show up in 30 minutes and bite you. Armada is more serious, but I think that's what a lot of us really like about it.
Interesting how some of you feel that Armada is more serious. Around my area and some other communities I've spoke to, X-Wing is considered more "serious" when it comes to competitive players. Not sure if just more players so the certain "that guy" stands out more, but they all say that Armada is more casual.
Interesting how some of you feel that Armada is more serious. Around my area and some other communities I've spoke to, X-Wing is considered more "serious" when it comes to competitive players. Not sure if just more players so the certain "that guy" stands out more, but they all say that Armada is more casual.
Thank you for taking the time and initiative to create your blog and to post your thoughts. I think you asked intelligent questions that get to the heart of player anxieties, namely what is the FFG experience with Armada as a product. How are sales, what's up with the production timeline, how do you feel about the game?
I think FFG is very professional as a game company, maybe too professional. What I mean is that they are too good at not talking about their business. They can do a better job of humanizing themselves and advertising their affection for the product. That might reduce the anxiety within the forum echo chamber a little bit. And that's not for nothing. These games only live and grow if the player base feels the company creating the game view it as a long term commitment like the players themselves. The cone of silence before wave 3/4 was probably the most damaging thing to the game this year. A few human interest pieces, like your blog post, would have went a long way towards allieviating player concern.
In all, great posts from GenCon. Almost enough to make me want to go next year.
Dude.... you're a legend - thanks!
Didn't you hear Shmitty? Armada is dead. 
many many thx, shmitty.
Great article and it's awesome that the developers also read it!
Again I say Schmitty is to us what c3po was to the ewoks.
Great article again. Some good insights and commentary without losing perspective.
ARMADA is DEAD, I MUST SELL MY COLLECTION. DOOM,DESPAIR.......ECT.
Sorry, I had too do a Nelson moment when I saw this title. I have to admit that the other wave 3,4,and 5 stuff is cool and they'll get my money with those. I am completely focused on the Corrialian Conflict though. The ability to play weekly with something other than a pickup game is going to ROCK.
Great job on this article along with everything else you do for this community. Keep up the fantastic work.
A few more notes to support Shmitty and back up some of what he said post-gencon:
Production
A lot of the delays are outside of the control of FFG. Let's be clear: they are improving what they can, but they contract out production for pre-paints (FFG does not own the factories or control the schedule/reliability) and they are held hostage to issues that have hit other types of manufacturers as well. Beyond just the port strike, this is the peril of any global manufacturing enterprise, and I think people underestimate the complexity and pain of running this kind of thing at all, much less well.
FFG likes to keep customers informed, on average, and releases information early. Thus, we know when things are delayed because they have been kind enough to pre-announce products. Keep in mind the other way to avoid the appearance of delays is just never announce anything until it's already shipping to stores (essentially the GW model), so I would urge the community to be tolerant with FFG about delays because they are the cost of getting information early and having good playtesting and engagement from the company. The other option is they don't tell us anything until everything is done so there are no "delays". FFG's people do care here (I repeatedly discussed this with several sources), and they want to get it right, just not all of it is things they directly control. This is life in international trade.
Armada as a product line
I can't repeat everything I was told without just repeating a lot of what Shmitty said, so let's put it this way: it's doing well for FFG. If everything were held to the X-Wing standard, FFG would only ever produce X-Wing. That's obviously not the case, and they understand that being a one-trick pony or relying on outliers is a good way to hurt a company, so I expect them to continue to push a game for a community that is highly engaged and open-minded about the products. Armada is in solid shape - it's doing well in the independent retailer surveys, production runs are selling, and the game has a community that is quite notable (notable for what, given that all of us in this thread are part of it, on the other hand...).
Armada balance and design
I was lucky enough to have multiple conversations with Alex Davies on Armada balance and the complexity of creating this kind of game from a design perspective, so I want to stress the following things for the community:
Organized Play
This is another thing FFG clearly cares deeply about getting right for Armada (and the community in general). The commitment is there, will continue to be there, and is something that was called "integral" to the health of the game. Basically, if you like community support, expect it to continue.
FFG was running a ton of events, and still had more than enough in the tank to make sure everything went right. If anyone from FFG is reading this - give shout out to Brendan, Ian, and Alex for their work in running 3 days of Armada; everything went as smoothly as it could, and every single person from FFG I dealt with was both professional and clearly enjoyed engaging with the community and running a quality event.
Overall, I left Gen Con feeling more positive about Armada than I have about any other miniatures game I have ever played (and I'm old!). If you are part of the Armada community, you are in great hands going forward - the company cares from both a production and design perspective, and they intend to provide organized play and ongoing community support.
Edited by ReinholtDo you want to read a really long winded blog post on my opinions of the State of Armada?
Then please follow this LINK.
It's some interviews combined with my own inferences and opinions. Feel free to comment, argue, troll, or ignore as you see fit.
And in case you missed them I have posts from GenCon about:
and my experiences at the North American Championships - Day One and Two.
Excellent write-ups shmitty, and very good grammar!! Does your blog have a RSS feed? I couldn't find one.