Hey guys - Xwing player here who's been eyeing Armada for a little while. I'm interested in the game, but there isn't a huge scene where I live, just a few people who play occasionally, so basically my question is: is it possible to field a decent 400 point list without buying everything?

In Xwing, you entrap new players by telling them how cheap it is (), but as we all know, to field a remotely competitive list, you end up having to buy a lot of ships beyond the ones you're planning to run, sometimes even ships out of your faction, to field even a reasonable list. Is Armada the same? I'm not looking to win tournaments or anything, just wondering how far down the rabbit hole you have to go in order to field a solid list.

Could I, for example, buy the core and one or two other ships (say, Home One and a Mark-II Frigate, or Home One and one of the fighter squadron packs) and play without being guaranteed to lose?

Sample lists built around small purchases would also be most appreciated. Thanks guys.

How about this. It needs Home one, AFII and the Rogues & Villains pack. If you swapped the AFII for a Nebulon B-Escort you could make it even cheaper and could fit in a Scrugg bomber into the list.

396/400

MC80C 106

Boosted Comms 4

Defiance 5

ECM 7

Ackbar 38

AFIIB 72

Gunnery Team 7

CR90A 44

4 X-Wings 52

Jan 19

YT2400 16

Han solo 26

Advanced Gunnery, Contested Outpost, Superior Positions

Play a few games with this. It isn't fully tournament tuned but there is nothing bad in it and you can lean your craft. A Turbolaser Reroute Circuit card on the CR90 would be nice but involved buying a MC30 pack in pace of the AFII. Or if being frugal you could print one yourself for friendly games or try to get along to a spring tournament with the new prize pack contains 32 TRCs for players just for entering.

Thanks, Mad Cat - I'll give it a try! Good to know it's not totally out of the realm of possibility. Any other low investment rebel build suggestions?

find out if your local group allows upgrade card proxies

if they don't, they are doomed to die

as for purchases, core is the core part of the game so sadly non-negiotiable

Gr-75 pack is basically a must, as I cannot imagine a fleet you wouldn't put that little bugger in (super cheap and useful). Just slap Toyrn Farr (comes in the pack) and Bright Hope (ditto) on it and it's basically a fleet staple as is

for the ships from the core, the cr-90A is tip top competitive with just these babies:

but they only come in the MC30 frigate expansion, so you better be able to proxy. They make a world of difference, both for the ship's destructive power and imo overall enjoyment of the game (nothing worse than spending those long long rounds accomplishing nothing because your dice hate you)

the Nebulon, sadly, is probably the hardest ship in the game to fly. Honestly, I would never ever recommend using the base ship. The titles, Salvation and Yavaris (which only come in the Neb B expansion pack), make the ship as far as I am concerned. They absolutely skyrocket its ability to do damage

in short, if you're allowed to proxy, 1 Core + 1 GR075 + 1 Winged Turd + 1 Rogue/Villians gets you a very solid list as is

General "Big-D" Donna

CR-90A

-turbolaser reroute circuits (from MC30, proxied)

Nebulon-B Escort Frigate

*Yavaris (from Neb Expac, proxied)

GR-75 medium Transports

*Toyrn Farr (From box)

*Bright Hope (From box)

*Expanded Hangar Bay (From Core)

MC80

*Gunnery Team (from Core Set), an absolute must on ships this expensive

*Chart Officer (from box)

*Medical Team (from box)

*Mon Karren (from box)

4 X-wing Squadrons (core)

Jan Oars (R&V)

Nym (R&V)

SCRRUG! H-6 Bomber (R&V)

this will leave you with 13 points, easily filled by slapping "Spinal Armaments" onto the MC80 (Comes in the same boxy)

you can also (and I highly recommend this) proxy "Leading Shots" from the CR90 expansion

because when your 7/8 dice shot goes array, you'll want to re-roll it

the strategy is simple: you send the GR-75 and Yavaris with squadrons up in a ball into the enemy

the MC80 comes from the side (Avoid temptation of setting it in the middle of your fleet, because large ships die fast to focus fire)

cr-90 flanks

EDIT:

ah right, R&V only give you one of each

scratch that, get Rebel Squadrons

Wedge and Dutch in place of Nym and the H-6 should be alright; fill out points as you like

Thanks, ficklegreendice! The locals definitely allow proxy upgrade cards, so there's no problem there. I always prefer to use the real thing when I can, but yeah for starting out I will probably grab the core and a couple of expansions, and just proxy the upgrades I don't have until I can expand further. Thanks for the list!