Okay guys, I figured I would pick your collective brain on this one........

Every year, my mother in law gets started with her Christmas shopping around this time of year, and she asks the kids (her son and daughter and their spouses) and the grandkids for ideas. This year, it was an easy choice for me: Armada! (Hey, last year, it was Imperial Assault). The good news: I have 4 months (and a trip to GenCon) to prepare! The bad news: I gotta wait 4 months to play! lol

This year I'm doing it far differently than I did with Imperial Assault last year.......I'm watching YouTube videos and checking out as many builds as I can, get as up to speed on how to play as I can, and even going as far as to pick up ships ahead of time. So come Christmas night, there's a 400 point build for each side ready to go.

The tl;dr version: I have 4 months to get enough that, combined with a Core Set, will get me to a 400 point Empire build and a Rebel build.

Here is what I have thought up for picking up:

EMPIRE:
ISD (I already have this)
Light Cruiser (maybe a couple)
Interdictor

REBELS:
Liberty
CR-90 (two, maybe even three)
MC-30 (this is a maybe)

I also have the Rogues and Villains pack (found it on clearance at Barnes and Noble for FIVE BUCKS)

For the Empire, I THINK I'm pretty solid for having enough to do at least one 400 point build, if not more. It's the Rebel side of things that I'm still on the fence about with some stuff, particularly the MC-30. One thing I have read and seen a lot of is about TRC's going on CR-90's (even with the nerfing). Okay, great. Also, a buddy of mine is hooking me up with some TRC promo cards (enough that if I were getting the MC-30 JUST for a TRC, I could skip the MC-30 entirely).

Here's my conundrum for the Rebels: which would be the better bang: a CR-90 swarm OR not so many CR-90's so I can fit in a MC-30?

Get squadron pack 1 for both sides.

Instead of the interdictor, get a Gladiator or Raider + Gozanti.

For Rebels MC-30 is great. Hammerheads are also a good buy.

Like TG said,
First priority:

Rebel Squadron I
Imperial Squadron I

2 of each if you can swing it.

Imperials:
Gladiator
Gozantis

Rebels:
2 CR90s
2 MC30s (if you can swing it)

The MC30s are solid. Good cards in the pack and good ships on the table.

Some other things to think about:
Rebel GR75
Rebel Assault Frigates
Rebel and Imperial Squadron II
Imperial Arquitens

I second that. Don't get an interdictor at first. It's a cool ship and I enjoy finding effective way to fly it but it's fleet point cost is too expensive and it's a mediocre ship. It is much more useful in the corellian conflict campaign.

I suggest:

Rebels: Squadron 1, Hammerheads, Mc30, gr75

Imperial: squadron 1, 2 light cruisers, gladiator, light carrier, gozanti,

I love the light cruisers, keep them at long range and send in red dice all day, also Moff jerjarod is the best admiral for the light cruisers and VSDs.

At the end of the day, if you don't plan to play competitively any time soon, get what interests you and what you think will be fun to run. With the interdictor I love playing with them but they are not great competitively.

Honestly I'll probably cop flack on this my imp build would be light carier arquitens gozanti imp sqaud 2 and imp squad 1x2... But I love the carrier game.... I would say a vic pack as well but you get one in the starter and their aren't much better cards from the vic pack.

Rebels, medium transport cr90x2 mc30 1-2 "nebulon b title cards" rebel squads 1x2 rebel squads 2x2

2 minutes ago, akenatum said:

Honestly I'll probably cop flack on this my imp build would be light carier arquitens gozanti imp sqaud 2 and imp squad 1x2... But I love the carrier game.... I would say a vic pack as well but you get one in the starter and their aren't much better cards from the vic pack.

There is ONE card that makes the VIC pack a requirement for the squadron game....... Flight Controllers, currently found no where else

12 minutes ago, slasher956 said:

There is ONE card that makes the VIC pack a requirement for the squadron game....... Flight Controllers, currently found no where else

True, but it's probably more efficient to hunt the singles online of bitsellers than to just buy the pack..

For Imperials I would go Squads 2 before Squads 1. Defenders are awesome and shuttles highly useful.

I'd suggest a flotilla for both factions as well.

Other than that get what you like, unfortunately most packs have that one card you will find wanting but if you are just playing casual at home you can always proxy. For example I only have 2 Nebulon B's for the Yavaris Title, I have never flown 2 in a list, kinda wish I had just bought the single online even if it was half the cost of the pack.

12 minutes ago, Thrindal said:

For Imperials I would go Squads 2 before Squads 1. Defenders are awesome and shuttles highly useful.

I'd suggest a flotilla for both factions as well.

Other than that get what you like, unfortunately most packs have that one card you will find wanting but if you are just playing casual at home you can always proxy. For example I only have 2 Nebulon B's for the Yavaris Title, I have never flown 2 in a list, kinda wish I had just bought the single online even if it was half the cost of the pack.

Squad pack 1 is a solid purchase for both factions. The Corellian conflict gives super solid upgrades for those squads. Squad pack 2 tends to have more specialized squads, but I agree the relay/strategic units are nice.

Salvation is a pretty good title. Basically you can't go wrong just getting everything lol.

Squadron I packs for both factions is a must.

Gladiator & Gozanti is your best bet for bolstering your Imps.

MC30 a CR90 (or 2) and a GR75 for the Rebels.

If you are only playing casual, head over to KDY, and print up some proxy cards to try things out. http://kdyards.com/index.php

They prompted me to pick up another VSD, Neb B, and MC30, so I could repeat my test build a in tournament play. My collection has snowballed from there, but it is still nice to try before you buy.

The first 2 ships you should get for rebels have got, got to be the MC30c Expansion Pack, and the MC30c Expansion Pack. If you can afford it, I definitely suggest the MC30c Expansion Pack as the 3rd ship, it's a solid ship and very useful when combined with ships #1 and #2.

A bit more seriously, @Snipafist and @geek19 have made articles suggesting a 400 point Imp Fleet and a 400 point Reb Fleet on a budget.

If you just want to play casually, getting whatever seems cool (aesthetically, tactically, etc) is always a fine way to go about it.

I did have an eye on the Squadron 1 for both sides, but what those were going for online really steered me away from them. They seem to crash when I can't afford them (like right now when I'm saving my money for GenCon this weekend!), but then when I COULD afford them, they spike back up lol. BUT, like I said, I have 4 months to pull that off! I think I can time that one right and peg them both by then......maybe even this weekend at GenCon?

You guys said about MC-30's and either the CR-90 or Hammerheads (I'll probably do one type of Corvette or the other, likely not both right away).......is that INCLUDING the Liberty? Or should I skip the Liberty and go for those smaller ships?

(Sorry, had an internet outage last night when I typed this, so it's a little late to the party!)

The lib is a solid ship, i love them quite a bit. Be careful with the MC-30, it's biggest issue is that it's meant to be close range and those can be tough ships to fly initally whereas a corvette is going to be reasonably forgiving and the hammerheads are semi meant to die anyway. No one really mentioned it but i find the pelta to be a solid carrier so i usually fly one alongside my lib. One thing i do think about this game, for now at least, is that no matter what fleet you fly if you learn to do it well then list building isn't SUPER critical. There are, of course, advantages and disadvantages to every ship and certain builds may help but understanding the ships and using them correctly is far more important.

One recommendation i don't see on here is finding a fleet builder. They can help dramatically if you're wanting to figure out which upgrades to get and from where. I use Armada Fleets designer for android (it's free, though can be a pain to get, link at the bottom).

https://plus.google.com/communities/109814116029534233094

13 hours ago, akenatum said:

True, but it's probably more efficient to hunt the singles online of bitsellers than to just buy the pack..

That's why I was kinda psyched when my buddy said "Dude, got ya covered on TRC's". If I CAN skip ships that I really didn't want anyway and find the cards out of them instead, I will.

At first yeah, I'm just gonna be playing casual. My entire goal is that when Mrs Deogg and I get in the door that night, I have a 400 point build for each side. They don't have to set the world on fire, they just have to work. Just on a quick run-through on Fab's Fleet Generator (WAY ahead of ya dominosfleet!), I already have a 400 point Empire build licked JUST with the Core Set and what I already have (R&V and the ISD). So for the Empire, I COULD just sit back and not pick up anything else........yeah right, like I would REALLY do that! lol. The Rebels, the best I can do just on what is coming and what I have in hand is 300 points on the nose, so for that side, I do have some work to do yet, hence why I'm getting this awesome advice from you guys!

Now it's just a question of what I pick off of my shopping list at GenCon!

In which case.... pick the ships that you like the look off......

& then use a list builder (my preference is Fabs, link below) most have the cards in the builder so you can print them off... you generally only need the physical cards when playing in tournaments/ offical events

http://armada.fabpsb.net/extensions2.php?lng=en

ps that link goes to the card viewer not the list builder/ fleet generator....

I would advise caution in overwhelming new people with too much stuff at first. I can get my wife to play sometimes, but her number 1 issue with the game is that there are so many details to keep track of. Maybe play a couple learn to play games first with no upgrades, then play some games with more ships but no upgrades. Then 1 upgrade per ship, then slowly work your way up from there. If you drown somebody in the full glory that is Armada right off the bat, it may be a turn off if they aren't naturally inclined to enjoy lots of intricate details like the rest of us nerds.

10 hours ago, Matt Antilles said:

I would advise caution in overwhelming new people with too much stuff at first. I can get my wife to play sometimes, but her number 1 issue with the game is that there are so many details to keep track of. Maybe play a couple learn to play games first with no upgrades, then play some games with more ships but no upgrades. Then 1 upgrade per ship, then slowly work your way up from there. If you drown somebody in the full glory that is Armada right off the bat, it may be a turn off if they aren't naturally inclined to enjoy lots of intricate details like the rest of us nerds.

It's much the same way with when I showed Mrs Deogg Attack Wing, X Wing, and Heroclix. With Heroclix for example, to teach her how to play, we started with NO special powers, just the stat numbers, and whether they have ranged attacks; basically, move and punch/shoot. X-Wing/Attack Wing is a lot the same way, just adding in the firing arc. I'm sure Armada will be a lot the same way.

16 hours ago, slasher956 said:

In which case.... pick the ships that you like the look off......

& then use a list builder (my preference is Fabs, link below) most have the cards in the builder so you can print them off... you generally only need the physical cards when playing in tournaments/ offical events

http://armada.fabpsb.net/extensions2.php?lng=en

ps that link goes to the card viewer not the list builder/ fleet generator....

I haven't looked at that link YET, but the one thing I want to see with a card list is not JUST what the cards are, but what stuff they come with. I'm gonna check out Fab's card viewer regardless, but knowing what cards come with what expansions is a huge help.

If you want squads on the cheap(ish)

Rebel Squadron 1

Imperial Squadron 1

Corellian Conflict

You end up with a lot of the key aces on both sides.

For ships: Use the rule of cool. Buy the fun looking stuff. Worry about cards and tourney-ready later. You will also get more value out of buying one of a kind of each expansion. Variety over redundancy.

6 hours ago, deogg said:

I haven't looked at that link YET, but the one thing I want to see with a card list is not JUST what the cards are, but what stuff they come with. I'm gonna check out Fab's card viewer regardless, but knowing what cards come with what expansions is a huge help.

thats exactly what that link does ... Its split down into types tells you which expansion the card is in and how many you get in each one.

12 hours ago, deogg said:

I haven't looked at that link YET, but the one thing I want to see with a card list is not JUST what the cards are, but what stuff they come with. I'm gonna check out Fab's card viewer regardless, but knowing what cards come with what expansions is a huge help.

Armada Warlords does that as well

On 8/16/2017 at 2:48 AM, slasher956 said:

thats exactly what that link does ... Its split down into types tells you which expansion the card is in and how many you get in each one.

To quote Matt Hardy, "WONDERFUL!" (Yes, I watch wrestling too!)

And in an update:

I'm a terrible son in law!

In preparing for December, I decided at minimum to add another set of dice and a maneuver tool to my shopping list (just for good stuff to have around) and some upgrade cards here and there. Then, with how much I would've spent on this "other" stuff, it happened:

I found a used Core Set for $51 shipped on eBay. 100% complete, and without any of the legwork of popping out all that cardboard!

There's the dice set (about 10 bucks), the maneuver tool (another 10 bucks), and knocks a CR-90 off my shopping list (another 20 bucks). I hated to just buy the Core Set on my own, but figuring in what I was going to get anyways, and with what it woulda cost, AND the cost of this Core Set, it woulda been stupid not to.

Just means that in less than 3 months, I'll happily accept the new additions to the Deogg Shipyards!

In the meantime I'm gonna fill in some holes:
-The squadron packs I for both sides are a definite
-I wasn't initially gonna get a Nebulon B, and even though I will end up with 3 by the time the dust settles, I'm thinking of getting one so I can get the cards
-I'll probably get an MC-30 (mainly for the cards)
-I'm done with CR-90's. After Christmas, I'll have three (2 cores, 1 retail), so I think I'm good there.
...................and THEN there's the Chimaera!