Howdy. I've been playing Armada for a few years now (non-competitively with my friends) and have been thinking about getting into X-Wing. I really enjoy the fleet-sized battles of Armada, but there are a few things about X-Wing that appeal to me. But before I make the investment and diversify my gaming dollar, I have a few comments and questions. I'd really appreciate the feedback and any answers or insight you X-Wing players have. Thanks !

Here are a few reasons I was thinking about X-Wing-

1. Smaller table size. Setting up on a 3' x 3' mat is easier and quicker. I like the idea of being able to travel and set-up and X-Wing game with a smaller footprint (I already have two FFG mats anyway)

2. Reduced play time. I've heard that the play time for a game of X-Wing is less than Armada. Is it ? By how much time for a standard or a small game ?

3. More players. I see a lot more X-Wing players and tournaments for X-Wing than Armada where I live (Central California, United States) and meeting new people to play might be nice.

4. I don't really care that much about "tournament scenes" or "the meta". I play non-competitively even when I play in competitive settings and I only want to buy ships that are in movies or maybe the TV shows. What ships in that group are pretty good (on both sides) for a new player to get a pretty good (i.e. fun to play) Imperial and Rebel squadron together ? How many ships will I need ?

Thanks again for your feedback and help, everyone.

A game of x-wing can last 30 minutes to almost 2 hours depending on rules familiarity and list types.

As far as what to get I usually recommend 1 of each core set (though the original is awaiting a reprint) and a copy of Most Wanted. That will give you access/insight to all three factions giving you an idea about what faction(s) are right for you.

Just my 2 cents.

The games are indeed much shorter. Setup alone being so much shorter makes a huge difference.

As for what to get... Both starter sets are good. The ships from the new movies are more in line power-wise with newer ships. The old stuff is still good when playing other ships from the movies.

As a keen player of both games, it's well worth playing both Armada and X-Wing as they offer very different game experiences. X-Wing games generally take about 45-75 minutes to play, although allow yourself a little extra time if you're learning the game.

I'd recommend picking up the Force Awakens starter set, then Heroes of the Resistance and Imperial Veterans to bulk out your collection. After that, the TIE/fo, TIE/sf, and the Ghost expansion packs give you some cool extra stuff to play with.

I haven't played Armada (that gaming dollar problem, but more time than anything) so I can't compare the two.

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I'd recommend picking up the Force Awakens starter set, then Heroes of the Resistance and Imperial Veterans to bulk out your collection.

Good advice from Jarval here. All fun ships to play with, perhaps a Tie Defender expansion to go with the one in Imperial Veterans.

RoV

Those are all good reasons for going into X-Wing.

Have you looked at your Imperial Assault community? Imperial Assault Skirmish is my favorite right now.

Welcome among us! I began with Armada too. I'm having so much fun with X-Wing that my poor Armada collection is collecting dust now. X)

For a start, I recommend one of each core sets. That way, you won't need to buy a dice pack, get the better damage deck (from the blue set), get a spare set of maneouver templates, and a few specific upgrade cards you can't get from anywhere else.

After the core sets, it's a good idea to buy expansion packs for the ships that come with those core sets, e.g. an X-Wing, TIE Fighter, T-70 X-Wing and TIE /FO packs. Then for casual play, it pretty much depends on what your personal favourites are. Millennium Falcon set comes with some very handy upgrade cards, and Han Solo is a pretty good pilot for casual play.

Another thing worth keeping in mind, is that if you buy aces packs (Rebel Aces, Imperial Aces, Imp Veterans, Heroes of the Resistance), it's a good thing to buy the separate ship expansions with them too (A-Wing, B-Wing, TIE Interceptor, Bomber, Defender)

If you've gotten to this point (two core sets and all ace packs with all the standalone ship expansions for them), then you have more than enough to make decent 100 point lists for both Imps and Rebs. After this, it's just a matter of what do you want to try out next.

19 hours ago, Nightmonkey said:

What ships in that group are pretty good (on both sides) for a new player to get a pretty good (i.e. fun to play) Imperial and Rebel squadron together ? How many ships will I need ?

Whilst most ships are - or can be - acceptably effective, I'd strongly recommend getting the Force Awakens era stuff; you're less dependent on buying the original plus 'fixes' plus this upgrade from one expansion plus this upgrade from that expansion* - the newer ships are a bit more selfcontained - Omega Leader literally has every card you need to field him in the TIE/fo Fighter expansion, and the new Core Set plus Heroes of the resistance can make a pretty good stab at a fully kitted out falcon.

* Buy an X-17 Turbolaser card and get a free Nebulon-B desk ornament!