Okay in spirit of the more strategy topics in between articles let's start a topic on our best advice to the newbies out their.

Me I have found Navigation commands get the best milage out of your attack dice.

@geek19 and I have a lot of advice for newer players over at the blog .

Advice for newer players tends to vary depending on exactly how new they are. The big gap in my mind is going from starter box games (which are fairly straightforward) to playing 300-400 point "real" games, which is more fraught with new concepts and a larger scale. There's a lot of advice for that kind of player too .

I do agree with the basic advice that when in doubt, go for a navigate command. It's the best default command in the game given how important maneuvering is in Armada.

Practice practice practice...

I try developing fleets with this in mind:

1.) What do you want to do
-damage via ships (big)
-damage via ships (MSU)
-damage via squads
-objective focused
2.) How will it work (synergy)
3.) What objectives will enhance it
4.) What formations can you use


After that it's all about playing and learning how everything works together.

If you put something in your fleet, remember it is there. If you put something in your fleet and forget it, no matter good it is in theory, bench it next time you play.

There are enough things to remember in this game without stressing you out trying to remember every little piece and part and upgrade. Ahsoka might be great, but if you go "**** I totally forgot I could have Ahsoka'd that!" three times in a game but don't use her once, then you have too much on your plate.

20 minutes ago, Snipafist said:

@geek19 and I have a lot of advice for newer players over at the blog .

Advice for newer players tends to vary depending on exactly how new they are. The big gap in my mind is going from starter box games (which are fairly straightforward) to playing 300-400 point "real" games, which is more fraught with new concepts and a larger scale. There's a lot of advice for that kind of player too .

I do agree with the basic advice that when in doubt, go for a navigate command. It's the best default command in the game given how important maneuvering is in Armada.

Indeed I have read several articles on your blog.

Resist fully upgrading everything. The first games are better played with no upgrades. My oponent since game 1 insisted fully upgrading everything and taking 500 points. He still doesnt know the basic rules.

I do it the same way I introduce people to battletech. Smaller games with the more extraordinary/niche equipment and rules left out. Individual units with less on each one. Once basics are covered, then introduce the goofy stuff.

A TR90 is an excellent ship to start with. Flexible and with a single upgrade to track. Loaded Admonitions and Demolishers are not good starter ships. Maybe an MC30 with just OE. An MC80 Liberty with GT/LS and a Home One with ECM/X17s.

Let them learn autocannons before showing RACs.

If I coud give only one advice it eould be this:

Assuming you already know the rules sit over the cards a looot. Try to figure out combos and buids. You'll learn a lot from realizing by yourself thst a GSD can equip APT and ET and what potential it has then. Or how can a VSD be countered by an X-Wing swarm.

I have 4 suggestions for every new player learning to play well, in Armada but also in any miniatures game.

1: Read and understand the core concepts of the United States Principals of War

2: Observe. Orient. Decide. Act. Understand the concept of the OODA Loop and how it interlocks with the above link.

3: Fighting Fair is for Losers, Winners Stack the Deck. In Rogue One, the Rebel fleet wins the initial engagement by out-activating, out gunning, and out-maneuvering their opponents, then pulls a b******t special upgrade out at the end to simultaneously destroy 2 ISDs in trade for a Hammerhead corvette. The Imperials win anyway when they drop a fresh ISD right where it's supposed to be and make a Demolisher-style triple tap against all the important targets. In short, those abusive combos are there to be used and when both players use them the game will be wild, fun, and challenging. Use them. If you're against an opponent who doesn't understand them, explain them. You'll both emerge as better players.

4: Some ships and ideas aren't as good as we'd like them to be, on both sides. When you get frustrated, try something new and different. Even something you might normally not like or think is too powerful (or not powerful enough). Seeing how the game works from multiple perspectives will make you a better player.

1. Keep it simple: Limit yourself to just a few upgrades, and don't have too many different/unique squadrons where you need to learn all the different rules.

2. Never underestimate the power of the Navigate command.

Discuss what's going on with your opponent as much as possible during a game and defiantly after a game.

It's quite normal for me and the guys I play with to pause mid turn to discuss a "what if" scenario or to confirm if we understand the rules for a move we want to make - usually comes up when someone is trying something new.

After a game we'd usually talk about what worked, what didn't and why, followed by what might work better next time. I usually ask my opponents what they might have done differently if they were playing my fleet too - you can get some interesting answers

Pro Tip:

Have Fun.

7 minutes ago, CaribbeanNinja said:

Pro Tip:

Have Fun.

Best tip ever

Also a good site for beginners is the Steel squadron http://xwingtactics.blogspot.com/ check out the Academy and Commanders guide tabs.

Keep the squadron game simple. A few X-Wings or TIE fighters. A mistake I made was trying to put together an awesome multi purpose squadron setup and then mixing it with sub-par carriers that were focused on ship to ship combat. Heck, I would even recommend using rogues at first, but you should get used to squadron commands and filling out a squadron loadout with rogues can be expensive. Start mixing up the squadrons after a few games. For example, as a rebel player:

Start with X-Wings. They are (imho) one of the most versatile squadrons in the game. Good health, average speed, good anti squadron and the red bomber dice is ok vs ships.

From there decide if you like bombing or intercepting enemy squads the best. If you like bombing, add some Y-Wings (NOT B-Wings, they require some complicated combos to make up for their awful speed). If you like intercepting, add some A-Wings.

From there, start adding aces and eventually start playing around with the full squadron game.

And also another lesson I learned. Do not try to netlist. There are 2 reasons for this. First, a lot of "high level" lists require a complex understanding of the combos and interactions. Second, Armada does not necessarily lend itself to netlisting the way X-Wing does. Totally off the wall builds can be surprisingly good. Play what you like and have fun!

For new players there is only one thing to do...

KISS

K eep

I t

S imple

S tupid

Simple hack for tools(unless you like having all the pieces of the different ranges of ruler and maneuver tool):

flip your range ruler. If measuring distances for an x-wing squad to move, place the "3" band at the centre of the squad and then just shift to the end of the ruler for its maximum distance(do the same with other measurements).

Flip the order of your number tokens inserted in your maneuver tool. Then when flying ships, notch the tool at the speed it is currently at, then fly it to the pointy end(to the "0").

The benefit of doing these is that you avoid any unneeded portion of your tools colliding with units or pieces you might be moving towards(e.g. If I notch the flat bottom end of my maneuver tool to my HMC80 going at speed 1, then all that extra tool out front is gonna swipe those ISDs in front of me with our ongoing bazillion-squadron ball battle), which most of the time is the scenario you face, and thus this saves you some of the trouble and time in making maneuvers and measurements.

Takes a bit of getting used to, but worth it

Learn to fly the nebulon-b and victory star destroyer.

In other words, the game doesnt change too drastically from the skills required for the above: knowing not only where you want a ship but when (and with which command!) is the core skill of the game. Being some of the most difficult ships to fly will only help you later on.

Beer.

Ignore the FFG forums...

4 minutes ago, emsgoof said:

Ignore the FFG forums...

Can't we at least rate a nice verse of " Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate " ?