Hi

I have just started on Armada and currently own the core, plus a Gladiator and a MC80.

My plan is to monthly add a single ship to my collection, trying to "balance" the power creep of both factions (in my town I am the only one with this game, so I have to have both factions at the same scale).

However, as I bought the MC80 I think I just made a step too far from my original "balance issue", so I am thinking about what ship should I get next: an ISD/Chimera or another VSD and a Gozanti?

Second, I just realized that Rebels seems more apt at bombing ships, and Empire at screening fighters and anti-fighter. Am I correct?

I would get the original ISD. It is still strong since you have only Wave 2 and earlier ships, and you won't need the "fixes" Chimera contains, and would balance with the MC80 you already have nicely. Plus who doesn't want the iconic ISD?

Rebels do bomb very well. B-wings can make scrap of ISDs quickly given support and planning. However, generally Rebel squads are more multi purpose. B-wings has decent 3 blue anti squads alongside it's great bombing. X-wings kill enemy squads, escort more important squads and can even contribute to the bombing. A-wings are great interceptors, but with a black anti ship ain't entirely outclassed. It's really only Y-wings of the core 4 which ain't multi purpose.

On the otherhand, Imperial ships are more specialised. The TIE fighter and interceptor are great... interceptors. Able to reach out at long range and hold down enemy squads for a turn or two. Advanced are escorts entirely, able to keep other squads alive longer but not as efficient for it's points in killing squads or ships. TIE bombers JUST kill ships. I have had much success with Imperial bombers in the past, and imperial squads are all about using them correctly for the job their made for.

You should just buy things in the Wave Order then, and relive the meta day by day! Provided you find those ships. So you should definitely go for the ISD to balance out the MC80, and get an Assault Frigate Mark II to counterbalance your Gladiator. There will be times when one side seems better than the other, as you slowly go through them, and your next two purchases should balance that a bit, or swing it the other way. If you really are just looking for fun and fielding both, that's what I would do. If you decide to get competitive, you can go out of order, but it's more or less the below, again, based on how it was released:

Victory Star Destroyer VS CR90 Corellian Corvette + Nebulon-B Frigate
Gladiator Star Destroyer VS Assault Frigate Mark II
Imperial Fighter Squadron VS Imperial Fighter Squadron
Imperial Star Destroyer VS Home One (MC80)
Imperial Raider VS MC30c
Rogues and Villains VS Itself (contains both factions!)
Inderdictor VS Liberty
Imperial Assault Carriers VS Rebel Transports
Imperial Light Cruiser VS Phoenix Home
Imperial Fighter Squadrons II VS Rebel Fighter Squadrons II
Imperial Light Carrier VS Hammerhead Corvettes
Chimaera VS Profundity (MC75)

1 hour ago, SuperMarino said:

You should just buy things in the Wave Order then, and relive the meta day by day! Provided you find those ships. So you should definitely go for the ISD to balance out the MC80, and get an Assault Frigate Mark II to counterbalance your Gladiator. There will be times when one side seems better than the other, as you slowly go through them, and your next two purchases should balance that a bit, or swing it the other way. If you really are just looking for fun and fielding both, that's what I would do. If you decide to get competitive, you can go out of order, but it's more or less the below, again, based on how it was released:

Victory Star Destroyer VS CR90 Corellian Corvette + Nebulon-B Frigate
Gladiator Star Destroyer VS Assault Frigate Mark II
Imperial Fighter Squadron VS Imperial Fighter Squadron
Imperial Star Destroyer VS Home One (MC80)
Imperial Raider VS MC30c
Rogues and Villains VS Itself (contains both factions!)
Inderdictor VS Liberty
Imperial Assault Carriers VS Rebel Transports
Imperial Light Cruiser VS Phoenix Home
Imperial Fighter Squadrons II VS Rebel Fighter Squadrons II
Imperial Light Carrier VS Hammerhead Corvettes
Chimaera VS Profundity (MC75)

This is how they were released, but I think if you are looking at what compares to what that is not the best list. Here is my idea of what matches to what with no regards as to when it came out.

Empire Vs Rebel [Basic thoughts]
Victory Star Destroyer VS Assault Frigate Mk II [Basic ship of the line for either side]
Raider VS CR90 Corellian Corvette [Small fast ship for each side]
Imperial Fighter Squadron I VS Rebel Fighter Squadron I [More of the basic fighter with some new ones added in]
Imperial Star Destroyer VS Home One (MC80) [Big ship for each side]
Gladiator Star Destroyer VS MC30c [Glass cannons for each side]
Rogues and Villains VS Itself (contains both factions!) [Some unique squadrons for each faction, and there generic counter parts as well]
Imperial Assault Carriers VS Rebel Transports [Flotillas, each can do the same thing more or less, Rebel more cost effective, Empire slightly
more combat ability]
Imperial Fighter Squadrons II VS Rebel Fighter Squadrons II [More and better squadrons for each side]
Chimaera VS Profundity (MC75) [More Big ships for each side (kind of just different versions of ISD for Empire)]
Light Cruiser VS Nebulon-B Frigate [Ships that do not follow standard fighting style for each side, Rebel shoots forward, Empire out sides]
Light Carrier VS Phoenix Home [Not a great match up a light carrier for the Empire, and a slow command and control ship for the Rebels]
Inderdictor VS Liberty [Again not a great match up, a specialized ship for the Empire and one more larger warship for the Rebels]
Nothing VS Hammerhead Corvettes [Bonus for the Rebels as they have more ships currently, one more small attack ship that can throw way
over its weight]

Guys, thanks for the input.

I personaly dislike the chimerae paint job, so I will go ISD to ballance with the MC80.

1 hour ago, Venshad said:

Guys, thanks for the input.

I personaly dislike the chimerae paint job, so I will go ISD to ballance with the MC80.

Now even though you dislike the paint job, you might still want to think about picking one up some time. It has some extras that are nice, two new ISD classes and some squadrons (I have never used the squadrons so can not say how effective they are or are not).

You get used to the Chimera paintjob and stop noticing it after a short while.

7 hours ago, Venshad said:

Guys, thanks for the input.

I personaly dislike the chimerae paint job, so I will go ISD to ballance with the MC80.

Same, I was fortunate to trade my Chimera model for a normal model.