Getting into 2 different campaigns and it's been awesome! How are people doing and what's some friendly tips for new guys?

I for one found it effective to have each list focused on a role. If everyone is too generalized, they got hit hard when facing an objective-only fleet.

Do not underestimate the Interdictor or the Pelta. Both struggle a bit at the 400 point mark, but really come into their own as the fleets get bigger. The Interdictor has enough buffer to be the tanking, healing jack ass that we always thought it could be, while still having a solid fleet around it. The Fleet Command upgrade on the Pelta scales really really well as you get more ships.

Having ships you are happy to run naked gives a lot of flexibility. You can leave them scarred in favour of expanding your force, worst case you have to pay full cost later rather than half cost twice.

For Turn 1:

Rebels do very well with single upgrade small ships. TRC90s and MC30s (title only) are doing quite well.

With so few upgrades on ships but no restriction on squadrons - the squadron meta is also very important. You can have a flotilla with BCC supporting a pile of bombers. You can have a great anti-squadron compliment.

One player in our current campaign fielded an ISD 1 with Flight Controllers plus a pile of squadron hunters. It was brutal.

Subsequent Turns:

Sky is the limit. With a maximum of 500 points, some ideas that weren't viable in smaller fleets begin to shine: Grand Moff Tarkin, Interdictor, multiple ISDs, etc.

@Democratus.

Squadrons are still limited to 1/3 of your available fleet points, so if your max fleet value is currently 450, then you can only have 150 in squadrons.

@Democratus.

Squadrons are still limited to 1/3 of your available fleet points, so if your max fleet value is currently 450, then you can only have 150 in squadrons.

True. But in a fleet where you can only have 1 upgrade per ship, squadrons are even better. They are as effective at the begining of the game as in later stages.

Our local group is thinking about altering the campaign rules next time around to allow only generic squadrons to start - and using the veterancy rules to promote them to unique suquadrons.

@Democratus.

Squadrons are still limited to 1/3 of your available fleet points, so if your max fleet value is currently 450, then you can only have 150 in squadrons.

This is one interpretation of the rule. Others are using the after the first round, 500 points is the fleet maximum and therefore you can have a total of 167 points of squads. I say this is one thing that your group should discuss and agree on before playing.

@Democratus.

Squadrons are still limited to 1/3 of your available fleet points, so if your max fleet value is currently 450, then you can only have 150 in squadrons.

This is one interpretation of the rule. Others are using the after the first round, 500 points is the fleet maximum and therefore you can have a total of 167 points of squads. I say this is one thing that your group should discuss and agree on before playing.

My rulebook is at home, but I seem to remember that it states that your current squadrons can only be 1/3 of your current fleet total when you buy them. If you have some ships that are destroyed after being scarred, your squadrons can go above the 1/3, but you cannot buy anymore until that ratio is restored.

Anyway, one thing I've found is that unique squadrons are much better then generic ones because they can become veterans. Squadrons being able to reroll any of their attack dice twice a game and being much tougher to kill cannot be stressed enough. I've been running Corran Horn, Shera Bey, Rogue Squadron and Ketsu Onyo and they've been golden.

I am finding that this is less about ships and more about the objectives and the tactics you are using to achieve the objective and minimize losses. So from that view point, good tactics with a strategy is what is effective.

I am finding that this is less about ships and more about the objectives and the tactics you are using to achieve the objective and minimize losses. So from that view point, good tactics with a strategy is what is effective.

More so in Turn 1 because many "killer combos" can't be loaded onto a ship due to the upgrade limitation.

The single-upgrade play is so different and interesting we are even using it for many of our non campaign game nights.

I am finding that this is less about ships and more about the objectives and the tactics you are using to achieve the objective and minimize losses. So from that view point, good tactics with a strategy is what is effective.

More so in Turn 1 because many "killer combos" can't be loaded onto a ship due to the upgrade limitation.

The single-upgrade play is so different and interesting we are even using it for many of our non campaign game nights.

A couple of my friends and I are pretty new to Armada, so I've been suggesting we play using the "First Fleet Build Rules" from the campaign. It stresses basic improvements, good flying, and objectives rather than more complicated synergies. It's fun, too!