I've been playing Armada for less than 2 months so I acknowledge that skill level will factor into my experience. I have had the benefit of watching campaign rounds played by more seasoned players and seen more than a few discussions on this in an active Armada discord community which has been insightful to say the least.

My observation is that between players of similar average skill levels (in this format) large ships are oppressive and tough to crack. With the map size, commander skills and sheer firepower making it hard for MSU's to compete with or outmaneuver.

I've seen the suggestion that RitR would be better played with house house rules banning large ships and unique cards but to me that feels a very restrictive approach. I think the imbalance only comes from the interaction of a few things: those that break the normal 'economy'. By that I mean things such as an ISDII, with gunnery teams, strat adviser and master navigator being able to spin on a dime, always have it's arc in focus and have the firepower to take out multiple smalls in one to two volleys. Further tipping the scales is that a large ship task force could just pick all 4 tier 1 upgrades relating to dials to become a super murder machine. Destiny and Veteran feel like they have more impact on these ships too for that reason.

Has anyone else had similar experiences or different opinions?

Thoughts that have crossed my mind is house ruling the Tier 1 Gunnery, Navigator, Squadron and Engineering skills so that they only affect small/medium ships so that a fleet with a Large flagship would still need to invest in Tier II and therefor only able to focus in 1 or 2 areas. Or banning a few cards such as gunnery teams and strat advisor. Or perhaps making all upgrade cards on large ships cost more in fleet value (but not purchasing) to limit the support/squadrons you can also bring. These are just initial thoughts on what would still let people field Large Ships but allow small/mediums a better chance to stand up to them.

Maybe you think i'm completely wrong and are in a campaign where smalls are wrecking. Either way i'd be interested in hearing your thoughts

The very first rule of engagement you have to learn in the core set is to outmaneuver the powerful arc of a big ship. That's why there was a VSD against two small ships in the core set. There is no ship that doesn't have a weakness in Armada. Even the mighty ISD, where the major shortcoming is its price and the reliance of the proper upgrade combos.

On a 3x3 map full with obstacles with only 250 points to spend on a whole fleet, outmaneuvering the big guy is even easier. Sure you get a bloody nose but that big ship is going to step on obstacles in every odd round, or it won't be able to maneuver as effectively as it should.

A Squid Sqad (3 MC30s), a pair of Gladiators can deal with a big ship. And not forget the value of raid tokens which can totally cripple it long enough to lose the match.

Funnily enough I saw a post just yesterday saying that RinR is too harsh on big ships. I guess metas can vary wildly.

3 hours ago, Norell said:

On a 3x3 map full with obstacles with only 250 points to spend on a whole fleet, outmaneuvering the big guy is even easier. Sure you get a bloody nose but that big ship is going to step on obstacles in every odd round, or it won't be able to maneuver as effectively as it should.

A Squid Sqad (3 MC30s), a pair of Gladiators can deal with a big ship. And not forget the value of raid tokens which can totally cripple it long enough to lose the match.

In my eyes the point with the obstacles is quite overweighed. We did a test-game for RitR and I played a Kuat -and- Glad -round-1 list with Master Navigator I commander at the Kuat. I had absolutely no problem to navigate and though the Kuat overlapped an asteroid (what could have been easily avoided) the 11 hull of the beast laughed about that damage card, which I repaired a little bit later.

I had read before how bad the big ships should be in the 200 pt. format and was shocked, how good the Kuat performed. The smaller play area makes it way harder to stay away from a brawler! The ships of my opponent -- a GR75 and a Pelta -- didn't get a bloody nose but evaporated in round 2 and 3. Only the MC30c got away with 1 hull. (We played it through. In RitR the MC30c would have jumped end of round 4.) Two TIE Interceptors were enough to keep Luke and the A-wings of the rebels busy. I may have been lucky but in the end the Kuat had 6 damage cards and has never been in danger to go down.

I'm not sure the 3- MC30c list is such a valiant option for RitR, at least for round 1. You pay 189 pts. for the ships. You can then decide if you want to upgrade 2x Ordnance Experts or an A-wing...? You will need Rogues later if you want to have a fighter screen. That sounds very risky to me.

I played last week in our RitR campaign against two MC75, and I was running a VSD and two Gladiatiors. I tabled my opponent and only lost one Gladiator. I think it's too early to be making any changes.

We're about to finish Act 1 tonight, and my small ship list struggled in the first two games against large bases, but by the 3rd game I had all the tools I needed to take down an MC75, even with it's Concealment 1 Ability.

I made some crap choices and didnt kill it, had it at 2 Hull left but all the right tools are there now.

FYI - Kittens with Wulf, LTTs

Raider - II with WBT, DCaps, HIEs

Gozanti - Boosted Comms

Squads - Vader, Jonus, TIE/ln (had a TIE/i but sold him for scrap)

Our only house rule is to count half points if you manage to put half or more hull damage on a large.