Hi so i'm a big armada fan and that's the game that will mainly keep my focus. However since Armada requires more space then x-wing it's a lot harder to find places to play. So I figured why not try X-Wing, there's always games and tournaments of that going on and the ships seem like they are super easy to transport.

The thing is I don't have a massive budget and I want to concentrate on Armada.

My goal is to get ships that have synergy and are easy to mix so that I can slightly change my list every now and then. I'm a big fan of the Empire. What would people recommend I buy? I should probably do the same for the rebels so that I can play at home with a friend as well.

I imagine a core set is a priority?

I neeed this on copy + paste (so I did!)

for empire, the two best purchases are imperial veterans and the Tie/FO expansions w/the Episode 7 Core

Imperial veterans is just any Tie/x7 title defender with the included crackshot. Forgiving and powerful, perfect for every beginner, AND top tier competitive to boot

the Tie/FO gives you Omega Leader (juke + relay, optimal competitive build out of the box) and zeta Leader (weapons guidance and wired) and epsilon ace (no upgrades needed) for the two FOs from the core set

the four together (tie/x7 defender in this case being Mr. Steele) make an easy 100 point squad of perfection

and yeah, just like in Armada you kinda need the core set to play (comes with range ruler, damage deck, maneuver templates and dice)

Awesome! thanks! How about the Imperial Aces Expansion is that worth it?

Interceptors are still my favorite design for ties but are they at all viable in the current game?

He actually said Imperial Veterans... But Imperial Aces is also a decent set.

Force awakens core (2 Tie FOs)

Tie FO expansion
Your choice of Imperial Veterans or Imperial Aces + Tie Interceptor expansion.
$56 or $66 online.

These four will give you a very decent set to play with.

And you can easily add the other small ships at any time: +$10 each

Another Tie Defender

the Tie Adv Prototype Inquisitor

Tie SF Quickdraw

These are the two recommended large ships for different reasons:

Decimator - Comes basically ready to play out of the package (might want to borrow a copy of Engine Upgrade)
Lambda Shuttle - very hard to play, comes with Vader crew, but one of the core ships for imperial play. If you get serious later, you'll want to pick up the Raider and Palpatine, which will also give you access to the Tie Advanced and Vader pilot.

Any serious serious imperial needs these as must buys.

Other old cards you might want to ensure you get: Veteran Instincts, Engine Upgrade and Push the Limit.

I think Push comes in Imperial Aces, its also buyable as a promo card. Veteran Instincts available readily as a promo. Engine Upgrade you have to get form the Hounds Tooth or the Millenium Falcon.

Tadaa. packages for minimal buying all the way up to meta competitive on Imperial only! Fun included.

****... I'm convincing myself to buy this gift package for a starter...

Imp aces are far less self sufficient than imp vets

In fact, theyre prettyuch universally unused apart from carnor jax and even then interceptors are wedded to autothrusters (starviper expac only)

Plus, with a name like mine, i couldnt ever really reconmend em

Ebay ordnance and EPTs.

Step #1: Set a budget.

Step #2: Inevidably blow your budget.

Step #3: Admit you have an addiction

Step #4: Don't fight said addiction

Step #5: You have all the ships. YAY

Planning a budget is commendable, and the TIE/fo / Imperial Veterans is probably good advice, but you should accept that mistakes will inevitably be made.

That meme is probably a fact of life in this community...

I neeed this on copy + paste (so I did!)

for empire, the two best purchases are imperial veterans and the Tie/FO expansions w/the Episode 7 Core

Imperial veterans is just any Tie/x7 title defender with the included crackshot. Forgiving and powerful, perfect for every beginner, AND top tier competitive to boot

the Tie/FO gives you Omega Leader (juke + relay, optimal competitive build out of the box) and zeta Leader (weapons guidance and wired) and epsilon ace (no upgrades needed) for the two FOs from the core set

the four together (tie/x7 defender in this case being Mr. Steele) make an easy 100 point squad of perfection

and yeah, just like in Armada you kinda need the core set to play (comes with range ruler, damage deck, maneuver templates and dice)

This without a doubt. After that, look at the Inquisitor and something with PTL in it.

I recommend looking for buying lots of used ships. You can sometimes find sets for less than half retail cost on this Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/StarWarsXwingSwapandSell/?ref=bookmarks

There is also a Facebook group for buying and selling 2nd hand ships and even entire fleets. It also has Armada and Imp Assault.

Ninja'd!

If you are going to play in tournaments, just get the two jumpmasters and be done with it. That will be the cheapest way to get a top list. Palp aces requires Palp, which will set you back $30 on ebay or the whole raider expansion, $75 on miniature market, but you get the TIE advance fix. Then you are buying the shuttle and the Aces.

Outside of tournaments, the best value is probably slave one, HWK-290, y-wing, z-95 and most wanted expansions. That is a lot of versatility for the least amount of money. Add an original core set, Imp Aces and TIE interceptor and you have a lot of ships to play with. You can then later upgrade with a ghost (ugly model but lots of play options) or falcon and the decimator or lambda shuttle and the hounds tooth and mist hunter to get the party buses going.

Also think if you want to go old school or new movie ships for the core set. The new core set, the new Heroes of the Resistances, the TIE/FO and T-70 gives you a small TIE swarm and a good rebel base. You can the do the imperial veterans to round it out. Can later upgrade with the wave 10 shuttle and TIE/SF.

Planning a budget is commendable, and the TIE/fo / Imperial Veterans is probably good advice, but you should accept that mistakes will inevitably be made.

That meme is probably a fact of life in this community...

Nah, my budget includes getting all ships, I am not in a hurry to get them, but as long as the budget is bigger than what they release each year you should be fine with staying within your budget.

And they release not that much each year.

Though I really have to recommend going big into X-Wing at first, about 100 to 200 bucks deep, it buys you the kind of flexibility in your lists which you want when you go slow afterwards.

Coolstuffinc.com and miniaturemarket.com have fantastic sales a few times a year, where FFG Star Wars stuff is 60%+ off. That's where I scrounge deep into the pockets for the free shipping after $100 spent.

If you are on a budget, stay away from Interceptors, Tie-Advanced, Inquisitor's advanced and so on, as they require a lot of different packs to be useful.

Since the Imperial veteran and Tie figher FO has already been mentioned, ill throw in another one.

TIE Phantom is a very good budget expansion that gives you a super ace ready to fly from the pack. All you really need is veteran instincts, but you could borrow that (or buy slave 1 )

Then you can fly a list with Countess Ryad (fun K-turns), Omega leader (most annoying ship in the game) and a Whisper with Tactician and all the rest (Introduces cloaking, a hard mechanic but very very very very fun!)