Ok, I need a 400 points rebel fleet easy to pick up and fly for tomorrow. Any recommendations?

He is a beginner in Armada but he is not a beginner in wargames, so something not discouraging but also not boring would be cool.

Thanks!

I made a simple 200 point fleet that I've used a few times to demo the game that might be a good basis. It has some simple upgrades and fighters but nothing too crazy for a player's first time out and has the added benefit to be based primarily on the core box's content:

Faction: Rebel Alliance
Points: 199/200

Commander: General Dodonna

Assault Objective: Most Wanted
Defense Objective: Contested Outpost
Navigation Objective: Dangerous Territory

[ flagship ] Nebulon-B Support Refit (51 points)
- General Dodonna ( 20 points)
- Spinal Armament ( 9 points)
= 80 total ship cost

CR90 Corvette A (44 points)
- Dual Turbolaser Turrets ( 5 points)
= 49 total ship cost

GR-75 Medium Transports (18 points)
= 18 total ship cost

4 X-Wing Squadrons ( 52 points)
= 52 total squadron cost

It's not good but it's simple and has some concepts to get him thinking:

Assault: Blockade Run
Defense: Hyperspace Assault
Navigation: Minefields

MC75 Armored Cruiser (104)
• Garm Bel Iblis (25)
• Caitken and Shollan (6)
• Electronic Countermeasures (7)
= 142 Points

MC30c Torpedo Frigate (63)
• Lando Calrissian (4)
• Ordnance Experts (4)
• Assault Proton Torpedoes (5)
= 76 Points

CR90 Corvette A (44)
• Turbolaser Reroute Circuits (7)
• Jaina's Light (2)
= 53 Points

GR-75 Medium Transports (18)
• Expanded Hangar Bay (5)
• Bright Hope (2)
= 25 Points

Squadrons:
• Han Solo (26)
• Luke Skywalker (20)
• 2 x Y-wing Squadron (20)
• A-wing Squadron (11)
• Rogue Squadron (14)
• X-wing Squadron (13)
= 104 Points

Total Points: 400

Maybe for a completely new player, try a game with just unupgraded ships first. That way, they can get used to just moving the ships around, shooting, command dials, defense tokens, etc., without overwhelming them with options. Once they're used to that, add in squadrons. Then, upgrades and objectives. That way, they have a nice learning curve.

Playing Deathmatch (as described in the manual) is actually pretty fun. You just alternate first player every round, and play until one side forfeits or loses all ships. It's a good way to teach someone new.

27 minutes ago, vercingex said:

Maybe for a completely new player, try a game with just unupgraded ships first. That way, they can get used to just moving the ships around, shooting, command dials, defense tokens, etc., without overwhelming them with options. Once they're used to that, add in squadrons. Then, upgrades and objectives. That way, they have a nice learning curve.

For sure this. Maybe squadrons with rogue on the first go.

5 hours ago, vercingex said:

Maybe for a completely new player, try a game with just unupgraded ships first. That way, they can get used to just moving the ships around, shooting, command dials, defense tokens, etc., without overwhelming them with options. Once they're used to that, add in squadrons. Then, upgrades and objectives. That way, they have a nice learning curve.

5 hours ago, bleezy said:

Playing Deathmatch (as described in the manual) is actually pretty fun. You just alternate first player every round, and play until one side forfeits or loses all ships. It's a good way to teach someone new.

5 hours ago, Captain Ordo N-11 said:

For sure this. Maybe squadrons with rogue on the first go.

Great suggestions. I would also maintain the same number of activation on both sides.

7 hours ago, Chamberlin said:

I made a simple 200 point fleet that I've used a few times to demo the game that might be a good basis. It has some simple upgrades and fighters but nothing too crazy for a player's first time out and has the added benefit to be based primarily on the core box's content:

Faction: Rebel Alliance
Points: 199/200

Commander: General Dodonna

Assault Objective: Most Wanted
Defense Objective: Contested Outpost
Navigation Objective: Dangerous Territory

[ flagship ] Nebulon-B Support Refit (51 points)
- General Dodonna ( 20 points)
- Spinal Armament ( 9 points)
= 80 total ship cost

CR90 Corvette A (44 points)
- Dual Turbolaser Turrets ( 5 points)
= 49 total ship cost

GR-75 Medium Transports (18 points)
= 18 total ship cost

4 X-Wing Squadrons ( 52 points)
= 52 total squadron cost

Oh man, this would have no chance against Motti/Jerry ISD + Gunnery Team at 200pts... but then not much does, I guess.

The biggest issues I have with the 200pt format is the same issue the Core Set experience had: the less points on the board, the less ships/guns on the board, and the less chance either side has of sinking a larger ship on the opposing side of the table. Making larger ships more and more like points-lockboxes as the size of the game decreases.

The ISD can theoretically one-shot any of these Rebel ships on a given turn (or two, with Gunnery Team). But the Rebel fleet has next to no change at killing an ISD that doesn't want to die and flies very defensively as needed.

6 hours ago, AllWingsStandyingBy said:

Oh man, this would have no chance against Motti/Jerry ISD + Gunnery Team at 200pts... but then not much does, I guess.

The biggest issues I have with the 200pt format is the same issue the Core Set experience had: the less points on the board, the less ships/guns on the board, and the less chance either side has of sinking a larger ship on the opposing side of the table. Making larger ships more and more like points-lockboxes as the size of the game decreases.

The ISD can theoretically one-shot any of these Rebel ships on a given turn (or two, with Gunnery Team). But the Rebel fleet has next to no change at killing an ISD that doesn't want to die and flies very defensively as needed.

I agree that this fleet would lose to any even semi-optimized fleet. The idea was to provide a fleet that showcased some additional concepts such as upgrades and squadrons without being overly complex or overwhelming, which I think it accomplishes. With that being said it is just as important to build your opposing fleet to not steamroll the demo fleet that your new player is using.

I would keep it simple. When I've done this I tend to use fleets with very few upgrades, have at least 3 ships, and no more than 5-7 squadrons with at least one of them being an ace. I try to make it feel thematic, but balanced and to make sure there are plenty of cool things on the board while avoiding fiddly or complicated things like Interdictors.

Could even limit it to 300 points so you can have a good number of ships/squadrons but not go overkill on the upgrades. Also choose the objectives that don't dramatically alter the deployment (e.g. no Solar Corona, no Blockade Run) but provide a variety of different ways to play. Like "Most Wanted", "Hyperspace Assault", and maybe "Sensor Net". The goal should be to showcase as much of the game mechanics and gameplay as possible, not to show top-tier, current-meta lists. Plenty of time for that later!

Here's my beginner Rebel list:

Beginner Fleet
Author: SQUIDwarrior

Faction: Rebel Alliance
Points: 399/400

Commander: General Dodonna

Assault Objective: Most Wanted
Defense Objective: Hyperspace Assault
Navigation Objective: Sensor Net

CR90 Corvette A (44 points)
- Jainas Light ( 2 points)
- Turbolaser Reroute Circuits ( 7 points)
= 53 total ship cost

Nebulon-B Escort Frigate (57 points)
- Yavaris ( 5 points)
- Adar Tallon ( 10 points)
= 72 total ship cost

GR-75 Medium Transports (18 points)
- Bomber Command Center ( 8 points)
= 26 total ship cost

[ flagship ] MC80 Command Cruiser (106 points)
- General Dodonna ( 20 points)
- Home One ( 7 points)
- Chart Officer ( 2 points)
- XI7 Turbolasers ( 6 points)
- Overload Pulse ( 8 points)
= 149 total ship cost

1 Luke Skywalker ( 20 points)
4 X-Wing Squadrons ( 52 points)
1 Norra Wexley ( 17 points)
1 Y-Wing Squadron ( 10 points)
= 99 total squadron cost

On 8/5/2019 at 4:53 PM, vercingex said:

Maybe for a completely new player, try a game with just unupgraded ships first. That way, they can get used to just moving the ships around, shooting, command dials, defense tokens, etc., without overwhelming them with options. Once they're used to that, add in squadrons. Then, upgrades and objectives. That way, they have a nice learning curve.

Can't emphasize this enough - go for two fleets that lack upgrades! I'd add in some basic squadrons though; playing without them essentially eliminates one of the four command dials and removes an important concept entirely.