I literally just started today. I played my first game at my friend's house. Does anyone have any general tips?
Like the best ships currently out, list ideas, tactics, and just general tips.
I'm probably only going to play very rarely, and I'm not considering buying anything, I'm already getting into X-Wing.
Thanks for any help.
Currently the great thing about this game is that every ship is viable. If you like a ship in the game then there is a list out there in which it will work. The first question is how do you want to fly? Squadrons? Bombers? High actuvation? Big ships? Everyone of these tyoes of fleets will work. Take a look at the fleet sub-fourm and therw are of a ton of ideas there. But be careful, this game is addicting.
As a new player starting right as Wave 5 kicked off and spending hours upon hours catching up on all the waves and what the "meta" was for each wave, I blew a huge sigh of relief when I saw Wave 5 shook so many things up in a fantastic way. I've spent HOURS in the fleet builder trying to figure out several different lists and the hardest part is trying to pick one to actually start playing and learning ha!
What a great time to get into this game!
Try whatever you want. You may find things that work with your play style that other "net lists" do not.
I'm lucky to have a Cuthawolf to play against and some of our most fun games are the ones where we try completely new combinations of ships and squads.
If you're not buying it, then yeah, grab whatever seems fun. Try to make it work. I like to keep things "thematic" (and so avoid things like freighter-swarms), but really try whatever.
but fighter swarms are thematic.
I'll echo what everyone else has said virtually everything in this game is viable. So play what you like. Don't listen to the loud minority on forums though when it comes to the meta we/they are usually wrong. Especially when a wave just comes out.
There are many great contributors in the community with checking out;
Schmitty not only has a blog and does a video series that you may find helpful he also compiles all of the regional tourny data which is an amazing undertaking and a great resource.
BiggsIRL has a great blog breaking down each aspect of the game and he has put some videos or as well.
Crabbok has some well put together unboxing videos.
there are other blogs that are escaping me right now cause its late and my little guy has decided sleep is no longer allowed.
O and one more big contributor especially to the rules forum Drasnighta so much to say so little time. I'm sure you'll meet him soon enough 
If you're not buying anything, what ships does your friend own that you're able to borrow?
If you've just played your first game I would suggest practicing just with ships first and getting to know how the manoeuvre tool works and where it sends them. Also to drill yourself into Shoot then Move. Then introduce the basic squadrons.
You can can have fun in many ways though. The last game I played was with a friend who hasn't played before and we played the tutorial scenario then went to a bit 8 ship brawl on a 3x3 table. It was a right mess but it was fun.
Messing up - especially messing up maneuvering - can be really entertaining. Until you get the hang of it (and even after, from time to time), just enjoy the absurd situations that can happen.
Welcome to the game! Other have already given you the lie of the land with regards to the current state of the game (spoiler: it's excellent).
What I would heartily recommend is that you reconsider your inclination to not buy anything, but instead make a few small tactical purchases to drastically improve your enjoyment of the game. I know that you asked for tips, and not buying advice, but just give me a minute to pitch this to you.
The Corellian Campaign that has just been released has seriously shaken up how the game can be played. A significant number of people have expressed the opinion that this is how Armada is *meant* to be played. Instead of just flying your fleets at each other with no consequence beyond that game (apart from maybe a bruised ego), you can now craft your own continuing story, like your own Star Wars saga playing out before your eyes.
You wouldn't have to buy very much to make this work either. You could run the campaign ona 'Combat Patrol's format at half fleet points (starting the initial fleets at 200) and if there's only 2 of you (for now) then you could control 2 fleets each and share some models between them.
For this you would need to pick up the Corellian Campaign box (about £22 or $22 I believe, now). Plus a few extra models. Because this is a half sized campaign you would probably only want a few small and medium ships between you, or one large ship and a couple of small ones. Plus a couple of squadron packs each to flesh out the squadron game.
You can just print and proxy cards you don't have (including the excellent ship titles for the Corvette and the Neb-B in the core box.
You might even be able to get just the ship models cheap from someone who just wanted the cards.
Giving games a story arc has totally changed the feel and emotional investment of the game for me, for the better. Our group has only played the first round of the campaign and we're all chomping at the bit to get the next round played.
If you genuinely don't want to consider any other purchases and are set on X-Wing then I should point you towards an alternative campaign option: Heroes of the Aturi Cluster, a homebrew cooperative campaign for X-Wing.
I e not played it personally as I don't have access to an X-Wing collection but everything I've heard has been positive and others in this forum can wholeheartedly vouch for it.
Whatever you choose, have fun and welcome, again!
Edited by ManInTheBox7 hours ago, Tirion said:but fighter swarms are thematic.
I'll echo what everyone else has said virtually everything in this game is viable. So play what you like. Don't listen to the loud minority on forums though when it comes to the meta we/they are usually wrong. Especially when a wave just comes out.
There are many great contributors in the community with checking out;
Schmitty not only has a blog and does a video series that you may find helpful he also compiles all of the regional tourny data which is an amazing undertaking and a great resource.
BiggsIRL has a great blog breaking down each aspect of the game and he has put some videos or as well.
Crabbok has some well put together unboxing videos.
there are other blogs that are escaping me right now cause its late and my little guy has decided sleep is no longer allowed.
O and one more big contributor especially to the rules forum Drasnighta so much to say so little time. I'm sure you'll meet him soon enough
As another new player here, can you provide links to each of these contributors? I've found a couple of YouTube channels, including Crabbok's, but just trying to find things about Armada I can absorb while I'm waiting for renders at work 
6 minutes ago, RStan said:
As another new player here, can you provide links to each of these contributors? I've found a couple of YouTube channels, including Crabbok's, but just trying to find things about Armada I can absorb while I'm waiting for renders at work
concentratefire.blogspot.com/
http://xwingtactics.blogspot.com/2017/01/corellian-conflict-strategy.html
I'm just starting out myself, and I can really get behind a learn how the ships fly idea. My first game (the tutorial), both my opponent and I flew ships off the edge of the play area
Alright! Thanks for the help! I tend to fly whatever I want to, and it's good to know I can do that.
And sorry ManInTheBox, I wish I could, but I don't have the money to get into a second miniatures game. And I know I won't be playing often.