I've had the pleasure of trying Armada at my FLGS, and we're giving a go at forming a tournament group(I already play Star Wars Destiny and Heroclix there), however I've been hesitent in getting Armada because of the scale of the game. So I thought it over, and decided to get Armada, however not on a tournament viewpoint, but rather within the constraints of getting the ships needed to make a solid stand-alone set for my game collection. So, while I have a pretty good understanding of star wars, and have had some fun with the game already, I saw no harm in coming here. Thought I'd run the ships I've made a list of, get some feedback on what will make the best standalone collection. So the obvious 3 core things that on my must get list are: The Starter, Playmat(which is a great addition to my overall collection, have several card games, and Star Trek Frontiers), and the Heroes and Villians squadron set. Overall focus here is getting the additional ships I need to have a solid overall roster of Empire and Rebel to allow for a number of different scale battles. Working on saving up, looking at a budget over the first 3 of about $200(US). So, here's the rough list I've thrown together of some personal preferences and overall balance. Thankfully my FLGS keeps most of it in stock, which means MSRP, but hey I'm supporting a local business.

Ok, so Rebel Side:

• Fighter Pack 2(Prefer the more diverse lineup, may get 1 down the line too)
• Phoenix Home
• Liberty/Home One(don't have a heavy preference of one over the other, but I'm sure you guys can give me a good viewpoint on which will add more)

A second Corvette, and maybe a Troop carrier are on my to consider list, because Corvette pairs are iconic, and the latter is fun on scenarios, but I don't think I need either

So Empire I'm thinking

• Fighter Pack 2(again also considering Pack 1, just depends on endpoint budget, and out of the 2 I'll start with 2)
• Cruiser, Raider, and/or Carrier(current budget allows for 2. was thinking Cruiser/Raider, but would like some thoughts on this)
• Gladiator(helps there's only 1 medium Imperial ship at the moment)

Well, that's what I'm looking at the moment. I know you guys have a lot more experience with the game than me, and can help me figure out what will work best as a stand-alone. Oh and I do plan to grab an extra set of dice. Also looking forward to the next wave announcement. Part of the focus on doing a stand-alone is that I'm going to moving on to another town by August, and don't know if there will be(or if I'll want to get into) a Competitive community there, and having something as a with friends option is definitely to my benefit. Well looking forward to some thoughts and Feedback

Rebels:

REGARDING HOME 1/LIBERTY CHOICE: the Home One is more difficult to use, and thats why it gets a bad rep. It is best used as a command ship and not as a "big firepower ship", because of its slow speed and lack of weapons team upgrade slot. hence why ackbar himself prefers assault frigates rather than the home 1 for his fleets. some lists use it as a tanky aircraft carrier/flagship to protect the admiral. the Liberty is a scary powerful offensive ship, but it has weaknesses and clever opponents can destroy it by targeting its flanks (which you must protect). Mon Karren title along with gunnery teams and double upgrades for turbolasers make it one of the most lethal ships in the game (probably *the* most lethal)

bottom line: if you want the Phoenix Home, Liberty is much better suited to it than the Home one. i would also be tempted to make the Phoenix Home the flagship , because opponents often focus fire everything on the Liberty. HOWEVER, i think the Nebulon pack is even better for constructing a list. consider the nebulon and the liberty instead of the home one/phoenix home.

the GR-75 is awesome. you will learn to love activation advantage(=having more ships than the opponent). 90% of your lists should contain a Flotilla. 10 of its 20-ish points are really "you get one more token of a ship, so you can delay the activation of your big important ship for when you need it".NOT talking about scenarios here. it doesnt look like it but this is not a scenario ship. its a decent solid ship.

Fighter Pack 2 is the pack to get if you dont want to build a dedicated bombing force.

Imperials:

Cruiser/Gozanti is what i advise. the Raider is an awesome ship but much of its use come from its anti-AA guns, and you intend to have a decent fighter screen. you dont need it that much. the Arquittens is a solid gunship with excellent upgrade cards than can be useful on a ton of ships. the Gozanti is a must. i think 90% of your lists should contain a flotilla.

Gladiator is awesome. with the Demolisher title, it is definitely in the running for "best ship in the game for its points". there was a time it held that spot easily, now there are other contenders. just amazing be careful; if you get cruel nough with its buids/combos, you can actualy destroy local metas.

imperial medium ships : there are two, not one. Interdictor and Victory class. dont buy Interdictor, it has its uses but is rather niche. the imperials have one large ship the Imperial class, and the other ships are small size (gladiator included, though some demolisher builds can arguably destroy medium and even large ships in 1-2 turns)

Fighter Pack 2: i like it because it is based on its aces, so you can buy just one. for most builds of fighter pack 1, you'd need 2 packs.

i hope this helps.

Does to an extent, didn't realize Gladiator was considered Small rather than Medium. I was thinking Victory was Large, and ISD was extra large. Main reason I didn't throw in another class of ship of that size range. Although I'm wondering if I might be better off in my collection to get a second Victory to round things off. ISD is too large for my tastes at the moment(Trying to keep the storage from being too big, I have another minatures game I do that takes up waaayyy too much space. actually I need to reduce that a bit, but easier said than done).

Was thinking Phoenix Home because it seems to have some unique abilities, but I wouldn't be adverse to hearing a comparison between it and the other 2 medium ships on the rebel side

Rebels only have one Medium base ship. The Assault Frigate Mk2. It is a multi-purpose ship that is pretty durable and newbie friendly.

If I was limited in budget I would do this.

Core

Rebels:

AFmk2

Fighter Pack 1

MC-30 frigate

Imperials:

Arquitens

Raider

Gladiator

Fighter 1

Rounds out both fleets well.

yes,if you dont want large storage and dont want large ships, the Home 1 and Liberty are equal size to the Imperial class. so dont buy.

i second what Tallgiraffe said, but i advise a second Nebulon instead of the mc30 because of the two title upgrade cards inside it, "Yavaris" and "Salvation", as well as other upgrade cards inside it like x17 turbolasers and intel officer.

1 minute ago, Kikaze said:

yes,if you dont want large storage and dont want large ships, the Home 1 and Liberty are equal size to the Imperial class. so dont buy.

i second what Tallgiraffe said, but i advise a second Nebulon instead of the mc30 because of the two title upgrade cards inside it, "Yavaris" and "Salvation", as well as other upgrade cards inside it like x17 turbolasers and intel officer.

TRCs, and APTs are much more important I think.

3 minutes ago, TallGiraffe said:

TRCs, and APTs are much more important I think.

true, forgot about those because TRCs are usualy used to upgrade corvettes APTs arent really that much more powerful than ACMs in the core set, but yes the Turbolaser Reroute Circuits(TRCs, for the original poster) are awesome to have.

Hunh, didn't realize. But I'm kinda flexible on Storage. Lets see, TallGiraffe's has me at $80 on Rebels, and $90 on Empire. I'm currently planning on 200(outside of Base, Mat(which I'm getting as much for my game collection as this game)... and well I'm getting the H&V pack for sure, may just leave it out of my outer total). so that puts me at $170. Note I will expand later on, especially if we manage to get a group going at the local shop, but I'm justifying getting in on a certian budget so I don't '"Need" anymore, for casual play.

Hmm, what if I went Neb-B and Pheonix home instead of the MC-30. I'm a huge EU buff(although I still need to watch after season 1 of Rebels. Read a ton of the books growing up) which is why I was leaning towards Fighter Pack 2's over 1's. Although, I'll be honest I'll get both eventually.

Although I'd kinda prefer a second corvette over a Neb-B. Also so you both agree Cruiser, but are split on Carrier/Raider

well it is a hard choice... the Raider is great, and i use it on all my casual lists and some tournament ones, but the flotillas are so awesome for all tournament lists it is hard to justify not buying one.

if you go Neb-B and Phoenix Home, you wont have an Assault Frigate, so your rebels will only have small size ships. though Yavaris, Salvation , a corvette, and phoenix home along with lots of squadrons can definitely build a good list. I can see you not needing the Assault Frigate, just saying maybe in casual play you want "equal size ships across both fleets", to better show in demo games etc, hence one assault frigate vs one victory class. just for demonstration; for "list power" for lack of a better term, you wont be lacking as assault frigates are usualy used just for admiral Ackbar's fleets nowadays anyway.

True, ok, help me balance this out a bit again, wasn't really thinking of the MC-30 as bigger than the PH with the MC-30 being the Victory equivalent. Trying to make a fun casual set(although I will also use it in Tourneys, but that's not the focus, and I'm creative)

13 minutes ago, MandoBard said:

Hunh, didn't realize. But I'm kinda flexible on Storage. Lets see, TallGiraffe's has me at $80 on Rebels, and $90 on Empire. I'm currently planning on 200(outside of Base, Mat(which I'm getting as much for my game collection as this game)... and well I'm getting the H&V pack for sure, may just leave it out of my outer total). so that puts me at $170. Note I will expand later on, especially if we manage to get a group going at the local shop, but I'm justifying getting in on a certian budget so I don't '"Need" anymore, for casual play.

Hmm, what if I went Neb-B and Pheonix home instead of the MC-30. I'm a huge EU buff(although I still need to watch after season 1 of Rebels. Read a ton of the books growing up) which is why I was leaning towards Fighter Pack 2's over 1's. Although, I'll be honest I'll get both eventually.

Although I'd kinda prefer a second corvette over a Neb-B. Also so you both agree Cruiser, but are split on Carrier/Raider

You aren't missing much from Season 1 rebels.

I say fighter pack 1 for both because all the fighters are iconic and your gonna want to use them more. E-Wings are meh, and Z-95s are a swarm fighter you need more than one pack for a lot of them. VCXs are cool and all, but you still want more of the staple A-Wings/Y-wings before those. Lancers hardly see any play here both casual and competitive.

I also recommend not getting the Pheonix Home because it is kinda slow for the Rebels, yet it is a good carrier and has some nice cards in it. I just feel you will have more mileage with the MC-30. (The torpedo frigate. The torpedo boat in EAWFOC for the rebels.)

But at the end of the day, get what you want most.

Just now, TallGiraffe said:

You aren't missing much from Season 1 rebels.

I say fighter pack 1 for both because all the fighters are iconic and your gonna want to use them more. E-Wings are meh, and Z-95s are a swarm fighter you need more than one pack for a lot of them. VCXs are cool and all, but you still want more of the staple A-Wings/Y-wings before those. Lancers hardly see any play here both casual and competitive.

I also recommend not getting the Pheonix Home because it is kinda slow for the Rebels, yet it is a good carrier and has some nice cards in it. I just feel you will have more mileage with the MC-30. (The torpedo frigate. The torpedo boat in EAWFOC for the rebels.)

But at the end of the day, get what you want most.

Well, or I go with your recommendation, but throw the Pheonix in on top in the $30 buck margin. and yeah, I can see why it'd be less useful in my casual, but it may be nice to have for some additional options. Although, I know I'll want a second corvette sooner or later, running a pair of them in tandem is somewhat iconic. Also I meant I haven't watched AFTER season 1. I've been meaning to watch Clone Wars before I jump back in(quit around the third season when it was live due to moving around, wanna say right around Ashoka's outfit change). Although knowing that they've revived the Quasar Fire class pleases me greatly.

Other thing is dependent on what my FLGS has for the most part. that and the some of the fighter packs 1 are scarce at the moment. Also I can tell Empire Fighter Pack 2 is definitely worth getting.

2 minutes ago, MandoBard said:

Well, or I go with your recommendation, but throw the Pheonix in on top in the $30 buck margin. and yeah, I can see why it'd be less useful in my casual, but it may be nice to have for some additional options. Although, I know I'll want a second corvette sooner or later, running a pair of them in tandem is somewhat iconic. Also I meant I haven't watched AFTER season 1. I've been meaning to watch Clone Wars before I jump back in(quit around the third season when it was live due to moving around, wanna say right around Ashoka's outfit change). Although knowing that they've revived the Quasar Fire class pleases me greatly.

Other thing is dependent on what my FLGS has for the most part. that and the some of the fighter packs 1 are scarce at the moment. Also I can tell Empire Fighter Pack 2 is definitely worth getting.

Check out MiniatureMarket.com as they have both pack 1s in stock. I REALLY recommend them. Imperial pack 2 is better bang for buck compared to the Rebel pack 2 I have to admit. So going for pack 2 for imps isn't a bad choice. I just find the stuff from pack 1 more fulfilling.

ok, now that we have a general idea, i'll write what you can expect from each ship to help you decide on the details.

the Nebulon class has a strong "for its points" front side, very weak sides, and has two titles that make it stand out: Yavaris and Salvation. I do not recommend using a nebulon without one of these titles.

the corvette is a small fast cheap gunship.

the Pelta class is an efficient "aircraft carrier" type of ship.(the variant with the large squadron value is typicaly the more useful one)

the mc30 plays like a submarine. can take down the largest ships in the game-if it can get close at the right timing. it is one of the few ships in the game where you really want to fill it with upgrades. fly this right, and people will cry cheese as it destroys half their force. fly this bad, it never gets to do much. the Admonition title makes it so tough compared to its cost its not even funny.

the Assault Frigate mk II, the rebel medium ship, is a solid aircraft carrier(equal to the pelta) that is also fast and has powerful long-range side cannons. famous synergy with admiral ackbar from the home 1.

the Cruiser is a solid gunship.

the Raider is a solid close range brawler that can greatly support weith antisquadron fire.

the Gladiator is in many ways similar to the mc30, but the demolisher title makes it much easier to use (and creates some other builds).

the Victory class has various uses. hard to use right due to its slow speed, but is a good aircraft carrier and its front guns can be a deterrent for the opponent. the opposite of the mc30 and glad, this ship should not be over-upgraded as much of its value is "raw stats/cost ratio".the more you upgrade it, the more you lose on that.

7 minutes ago, TallGiraffe said:

Check out MiniatureMarket.com as they have both pack 1s in stock. I REALLY recommend them. Imperial pack 2 is better bang for buck compared to the Rebel pack 2 I have to admit. So going for pack 2 for imps isn't a bad choice. I just find the stuff from pack 1 more fulfilling.

Oof, that Is a really good deal, especially if I go with the free shipping(I'm paitent). Sigh, I like supporting my FLGS, but with tax It wouldn't be worth the 10% back I get, and everythings MSRP(I'm in Wyoming, so tax isn't terrible, but still on a purchase that big. It's 176 vs 210). Going through MM I'd save more than that. Well, I could still get the mat, H&V pack, and maybe the starter there. Part of the reason I'm hesitant is because he's the main guy I play XD. But this is forward looking, I'm going to be elsewhere by August.

Also, I've played the Starter with the stores Demo copy(which also had Rebel Fighter pack 1 and AFMII). Think I'll think it over a few days. might decide friday, I've almost got enough to cover that on MM. Although I'd be saving up another week for the Starter.

1 minute ago, MandoBard said:

Oof, that Is a really good deal, especially if I go with the free shipping(I'm paitent). Sigh, I like supporting my FLGS, but with tax It wouldn't be worth the 10% back I get, and everythings MSRP(I'm in Wyoming, so tax isn't terrible, but still on a purchase that big. It's 176 vs 210). Going through MM I'd save more than that. Well, I could still get the mat, H&V pack, and maybe the starter there. Part of the reason I'm hesitant is because he's the main guy I play XD. But this is forward looking, I'm going to be elsewhere by August.

Also, I've played the Starter with the stores Demo copy(which also had Rebel Fighter pack 1 and AFMII). Think I'll think it over a few days. might decide friday, I've almost got enough to cover that on MM. Although I'd be saving up another week for the Starter.

Well I am only recommending it for things you can't get. Unless your store owner can get pack 1 of imps/rebels. I am sorry if I am pushing this too much, but I really think those will be much better choices.

1 minute ago, TallGiraffe said:

Well I am only recommending it for things you can't get. Unless your store owner can get pack 1 of imps/rebels. I am sorry if I am pushing this too much, but I really think those will be much better choices.

No prob. He did have them. XD, just not sure for how long. Yeah, I probably just stick with him for what I can get, there's a reason I'm saving up. Although may have to use MM for Destiny's SOR if I wind up moving before it releases.

Reason I've been a little slow on the response is I've had trouble falling asleep tonight, so decided to throw together something for the unnamed ship thread. Like I said, I used to be involved in the SWEAWFOC community.

On 3/7/2017 at 1:28 AM, TallGiraffe said:

Well I am only recommending it for things you can't get. Unless your store owner can get pack 1 of imps/rebels. I am sorry if I am pushing this too much, but I really think those will be much better choices.

Just discovered he ran out of Imp pack 1, he has rebels though. May just go with Imp Pack 2 for now though, although I'm still a couple weeks from picking things up for sure

Imp2 reb1 is the ideal choice for squads to compliment base set if that is all you are getting.

46 minutes ago, BrobaFett said:

Imp2 reb1 is the ideal choice for squads to compliment base set if that is all you are getting.

For now. decided to save up a budget of around $300 for a core stand-alone collection(excluding a playmat). I may get more further along the road, but wanted to set a certian amount and get a core set for the moment