So like a lot of people, I buy just about everything FF. I've got a thousand sunk into x wing and imperial assault, starting up on mansions of madness, own rebellion ect.

got a copy of the core armada for $40.

I just want an experience with armada that I can casually play a few times a year that is relatively balanced between the factions, that is more than the core, but buying not that many expansions.

More of a rebellion kind of game. can pick it up, play a few things and have a good time.

Lets say I only want to spend another $60 at mm/csi prices...

I've come up with so far:

-need a pack of the fighter squadrons for each side.

What other things to keep it relatively balanced? home one? another corvette?

I will proxy cards, so I don't need an expansion just for a card...

I've looked at buying guides but they are usually, just buy one of everything kind of deals, and not geared towards what I'm trying to get out of the game.

Thanks!

I started out with the same plan, but wound up dumping waaaaaaay more into it just for the variety (and the awesomeness).

• You need more squadrons. Squadrons are cool.
• Rogues and Villains​ adds some interesting mechanics, and is very thematic.
• I like having small ships for Rebels and​ if you shop around you should be able to find them very cheap. Another Corvette. Another Frigate. Maybe an MC-30.
• I like having big ships for Rebels. I think an Imperial Star Destroyer is an absolute must-have. Beyond that, grab a few ships that you think look cool. I wouldn't get another VSD unless you really​ want one (and even then...).
• Flotillas are mechanically neat​, and look great on the table. They're relatively cheap. Grab some later, maybe.
• The Mon Cal Cruisers (Home One or ​Liberty​) are potent and interesting. I don't think they're a "must have" for casual Rebels play, though it can be nice to have one of the bigger ships.
• I forgot the Rebel Assault Frigate even existed for a minute there. It's easily one of my least favorite looking​ ships, but it's a good buy at some point.

I started out trying to keep them "balanced" by buying the Rebels a big ship (to counter the empire's VSD), and the Imperials a small​ ship (to match them up better to the rebels). It... kind of​ worked. Not sure I'd recommend doing that though.

That's a pretty tight budget: my advice, though, is just pick the ships that look pretty to you. You can reconfigure them with upgrade cards to your heart's content and still keep the game pretty darn fresh! You can make pretty much anything work with a little creative thought and the right upgrade card combo.

If you're trying to keep the game "Star-wars-y" then I'd recommend the following:

ISD (because, come on... you have to)

1 of each squadron pack, maybe don't have to get wave 5.

MC30c OR just get a couple GR75 transports if you're trying to stay canon.

Past that, you could sell your victory SD on ebay and put those funds into another star destroyer

Just buy the ships you want and ignore the cards.

When it comes time to build a fleet, use one of the excellent online fleet builders and print out your fleet instead of using the upgrade cards.

If you're only playing casually, then the upgrade cards are unnecessary. And if you don't need to worry about which upgrades come with which ships, then you can just buy whatever ships take your fancy!

good idea about the list builder. and thanks for helping guys!

question,

Will a ISD and the core VSD (I didn't realize the core was different...) plus the 2 imperial squadron packs (1 and 2), and rogue pack

be balanced vs

core ships, plus the rebel squadron packs (1 and 2) and

another corvette, transport flotilla?

i'm guessing no. So if that is what I get for the imperials, what would balance against it and I'm going to limit myself to non EU/legendary stuff... even possible?

good idea about the list builder. and thanks for helping guys!

question,

Will a ISD and the core VSD (I didn't realize the core was different...) plus the 2 imperial squadron packs (1 and 2), and rogue pack

be balanced vs

core ships, plus the rebel squadron packs (1 and 2) and

another corvette, transport flotilla?

i'm guessing no. So if that is what I get for the imperials, what would balance against it and I'm going to limit myself to non EU/legendary stuff... even possible?

I would get a big ship for Rebels: Liberty or Home One instead.

And I would get Nebulon expo, instead of CR90 expo.

Imps:

coreVSD

ISD

1x Fighters1

(I would wait on Fighters2)

(Gladiator??)

Reb:

core Neb CR

Liberty (or Home One)

1x Fighters1

1x Fighters2

(Can wait Neb expansion??)

1x Rogues

--

That's barebones. And I'd get the "wait" ones next

The core Vsd/corvette/Nebulon-B are only different in that they don't have the extra cards the ship packs do. If your proxying then ithe doesn't matter.

The ISD is throughly comparable to either of the rebel MC80s, or 2 of the mid-sized ships. Unlike xwing there aren't really any garbage unplayable units (imo) so you can get what seems cool. I find the mc30 and Pelta interesting ships to build around and customise. Or get what's cheap to fit your budget, an MC80 is probably the budget option.

One of each fighters an ISD and a Liberty that is about it maybe a flotilla for the rebels

Also do you play bassoon?

I got the Home One MC-80 when I was starting out in large part because it filled so many points for the Rebels (being effective was a bonus), and made it easier to balance my meager Rebel fleet against a real (if also meager) Imperial fleet.

well since liberty is sold out and going for far too much on ebay, homeone will be a good place to start!

is the raider worth it? I have the xwing raider and was curious.

yes I play bassoon professionally, as my full time job.

the only true way to experience Armada is to be thrust into a tourney on your first play and have some obnoxious, overbearing, snide talking bunghole jam Demolisher down your throat, laughing at you the whole way and calling you names!

Do you want you life to be complete? Moff Jerjerrod can make that happen for you for the low low cost of one Arquitens

I've already had that in x wing and netrunner...

For imperial, ISD, Raider, GSD, original squad pack

For rebels, an MC80, maybe a medium or small ship, either another NebB or the Assault Frigate, and its original squad pack.

Throw in the not scum squadron expansion and combined with your core set you'll have plenty of fun battles

Minimum:

ISD, Squadron 1

MC30, Flotilla, Squadron 1

Scum & Villany

This gives you a fleet of Reb small ships & fighter/bombers against the Star Destroyers experience, plus lets you play with squadron combos.

Next (if/when you get bored):

Gladiator/Raider (to give ship options to the Imps)

MC80 (to give the Big Ship option to the Rebs) and AFII or Pelta

It's not going to fit your proposed budget, but beyond the fighter packs, I couldn't see myself playing without an ISD (or 2) for the Empire and Home One, Liberty, and a GR-75 flotilla for the Rebels. Rogues and Villains is also a must. That's a good start to recreating RotJ and Rogue One battles.

Personally, I'm holding off on the purchase of a second ISD until the next announcement for Armada. I have a suspicion that they may re-release the infamous ship with a pristine white paint job.

Hi everyone!

I don't mean to try to hijack the thread, but I'm in a similar situation, so I figured I might as well ask this here rather than make yet another one of these topics in a couple of months or so when I'm ready to buy something.

So, I recently got into Armada with the core set plus an MC30 and a Gladiator. I will only play casually, and I know everything's viable and I could just get whatever looks nicest, but I'm a bit concerned about keeping the power levels and the amount of options balanced between the two factions. I'm pretty sure I'll eventually get a whole bunch of stuff, but it's going to be slow since I don't have the income to buy very much at once.

The next step, I reckon, is some squadrons and one more ship for each faction. I think I want to wait a bit on the big ships and the flotillas, and more variety is priority one so extra copies of the core set ships will have to wait as well.

That means that for the Rebels, it's between the Assault Frigate and the Pelta. I've loved the look of the Pelta since I first saw it, and it seems to fill a very interesting role as well, but I'm wondering whether I'll be able to use it that well with my very shaky strategic abilities at this point. The AFII, on the other hand, seems to be just a decent ship all around and more straightforward to use, plus more firepower which I wouldn't mind having. Unlike many people, I actually really like how it looks too.

For the Empire, that leaves the Interdictor, the Raider and the Arquitens. I'm not yet sure whether or not I'm a fan of the Interdictor's movement shenanigans, and on top of that the smaller ships seem to add a bit more variety to the playstyle. Between the two of them, I'm drawn slightly more to the Arquitens for some reason but I really don't know.

As for the squadrons, the Wave 5 ones seem more interesting than the Wave 1 ones (and while I guess Mauler and Wedge look sort of fun, I really doubt I'll ever need another pair of X-wings and regular TIEs) but am I just getting ahead of myself? Are the first ones the much more sensible option, or even a must-have? Or I could just get Rogues & Villains, which not only looks really fun and thematic but also has the benefit of having a little something for both factions for half the price – but is it enough on its own?

So my questions are:

- With the Core + MC30 + GSD already in, will things stay fairly balanced if I get any combination of Pelta / AFII + Raider / Arquitens? Or is there some sort of trap here that will cause either side to benefit much more?

- Is the Pelta difficult to utilise correctly? Does it really add enough with a fleet this small, or should I just get the Assault Frigate first to have something bulkier?

- Raider vs. Arquitens: anything special to consider here, or do I just go with my gut and pick one?

- Is there enough meat in Rogues & Villains to keep things interesting with only the core squadrons to back them up? If not, am I completely crazy if I get the Wave 5 squadrons over Wave 1?

I'm sorry for rambling on like that, I tend to do that with these things. I know that's a lot of questions, but I'd really appreciate it if you guys could spare a bit of advice.

Answering questions

-I'd do Arquitens and AF2

-Rogues and Villians would be fun and economical, IMO

-I'd do the initial squadron packs ahead of the wave 5s, but YMMV.

Af2 and Arquitens for sure. Arquitens provides a lot of options.

corellian conflict plus squad packs, imo, do just as much for the squadron game and you get objectives!

I don't think 60$ is enough to balance both sides.

1) Core Set

2) Imperial squadron pack 1

2) Rebel squadron pack 1

3) AFmk2

3) Arquitens

3) Raider

This is perfectly balanced and has enough variety to keep it interesting. To carry on from here, you can buy the following pairs or groups in any order and it will always stay (mostly) balanced for both sides.

GR-75

Gozanti

Rougues and Villains

Gladiator

MC30

MC80 (whichever type you prefer)

ISD

Rebel Squadrons 2

Imperial Squadrons 2

Rebel Squadrons 1

Imperial Squadrons 1

Correllian campaign

1) Core Set

2) Imperial squadron pack 1

2) Rebel squadron pack 1

3) AFmk2

3) Arquitens

3) Raider

This is perfectly balanced and has enough variety to keep it interesting. To carry on from here, you can buy the following pairs or groups in any order and it will always stay (mostly) balanced for both sides.

GR-75

Gozanti

Rougues and Villains

Gladiator

MC30

MC80 (whichever type you prefer)

ISD

Rebel Squadrons 2

Imperial Squadrons 2

Rebel Squadrons 1

Imperial Squadrons 1

Correllian campaign

This post nails it as far as equivalence between faction goes. I fully recommend getting more than just $60 worth of stuff, and I image you'll agree after playing a couple matches.

Answering questions

-I'd do Arquitens and AF2

-Rogues and Villians would be fun and economical, IMO

-I'd do the initial squadron packs ahead of the wave 5s, but YMMV.

Af2 and Arquitens for sure. Arquitens provides a lot of options.

Cheers, that's really helpful! That's definitely what I'll go with for the ships then. I'm now leaning towards the Wave 1 fighters first and R&V after that, but it's good to know it'll be fine either way.