Greetings illustrious admirals!

I'm jumping back in to Armada, having stopped playing just after wave 2. The campaign and the glut of new shiny toys has lured me back in - I know, I know, I'm a fairweather admiral!

I do have a bit of a problem, though. The squadron side of the game has really snowballed as far as I can see - not so much their use (they were always present in my area) but in the combinatory options at your disposal, and more importantly, at your opponent's.

So might I ask if one of you could point me in the direction of an up-to-date thread or guide to knowing your way around the little devils?

For example, Jan withX-wing escort, A-wing swarm and Rhymer balls were the hotness when I last played. How are these classic builds set to change?

Thanks in avdvance for any guidance.

Welcome back! Well, just a couple of days passed since the available options just doubled literally. At least there arent much new keywords: snipe (allows you to shoot from range 2), relay (works as an 'extension' of your ship and you can command squadrons in its range 3), strategic (allows you to move object tokens). If you have 4-4 of the old squadron packs, youre good, 1-8 rogues and villains (depends how much you want to troll with YT-2400). Of the new wave... well, 4 is the imp youd want, mostly becouse of defenders, but the rebels are in a harder situation, depending how much do you like the headhunters: you can field up to 19 if you go crazy, but that would mean 10 packs... if you dont want to go crazy, 2-3 is fine.

About the compositions: in 80-90% of the cases, youll want intel squadrons around, bombers, and something with escort to protect the intel ship. On the other hand, if you dont like this option, be prepared to kill 1-2 intel squadrons: on the imp side Mauler, Saber squadron(interceptor in Corelian conflict) Ig88, and Boba will be your best friends. On the rebel side its E-wings, and Ten Numb. Depending on your taste, youll spice it with more anti squadron units, or more bombers, while there are hybrid opcions like Tie Defenders, Tempest squadron, E- and X-wings. What really can get you up to date is to go out and play in your local or on vassal, but you can find some discussions here about the new stuff.

Superb stuff, thanks coldhands!

"headhunters: you can field up to 19 if you go crazy, but that would mean 10 packs..."

Previously I ran rebels pretty exclusively, but I'll be going imperial for my CC campaign.

The squadron side of the game was always a mixed bag for me - I loved the theme, the game within the game, and the high cost-reward it introduced, but I disliked the 'sloppiness' of maneuver and 360 arc, compared to the main ships (and, to be frank, the vicious precision found in X-wing).

Interesting to see range two in play - that presumably messes with a lot of previous tactics? So a Rhymer ball would have to sneak past snipers at range two before its own range two attacks on large ships would trigger? And Rhymer could be headshotted, as escort doesn't trigger? Am I reading that right?

And Rhymer could be headshotted, as escort doesn't trigger? Am I reading that right?

Yes. But most situation, you will want to go for the intel squadron first, then the engagement will prevent ryhmerball from shooting your ships, Then youll need just to mop up the 'rest'.

ewings can still be forced to target escorts while using the snipe rule, however only if the escort has you engaged, if not you can shoot right past them

Okay, cool. Looks like the squadron game is getting more rock/paper/scissors elements to it?

Is there anything to be said for air superiority units anymore? 3 Interceptors and an advanced, alongside iggy, for example?

And I can't help noticing that hangers are now a thing! Obviously, that's a beautiful fact in and of itself, but do you guys think this is going to tip the game one way or another? A VSD1 kitted with a jumpmaster and 3 bombers in the hanger would be a fairly cheap, scary close-range beast...

I would say that the first thing you need to do to wrap your head around squads is decide their role. Start when fleet building to decide if you want balance, anti ship or anti squadron in your mix.

This goes hand in hand with your overall fleet building. Decide on your ships and what squads would be best for that combination.

Also important is practice. Learning the new squads and keywords will require practice. I suggest sticking with a few new squads in combination and learning them very well. Then replace and add a few new elements. This is especially true now that there are so many synergies to exploit.

Last, have fun. Enjoy the nuances of the squad game. It is 1/3 of the fleet for a reason.

I would say that the first thing you need to do to wrap your head around squads is decide their role. Start when fleet building to decide if you want balance, anti ship or anti squadron in your mix.

This goes hand in hand with your overall fleet building. Decide on your ships and what squads would be best for that combination.

Also important is practice. Learning the new squads and keywords will require practice. I suggest sticking with a few new squads in combination and learning them very well. Then replace and add a few new elements. This is especially true now that there are so many synergies to exploit.

Last, have fun. Enjoy the nuances of the squad game. It is 1/3 of the fleet for a reason.

I agree with this 100%. Wave 5 added so much that I'm only adding one or two new things in per game just to make sure that I learn how to play each one before I completely shake up my established fleet building.