Hi All,

I'm thinking of getting into Armada on a casual basis. I've done the research and I know that most buying guides suggest getting the faction squadron packs as the first or one of the first purchases. However, the Imperial Squadron packs aren't available (for reasonable prices) and the selection of Imperial ships is also a lot more limited compared to the Rebel ones.

Some questions I have for veteran players:

1) Would getting a Rebel Squadron pack unbalanced games in their favour without the Imperial equivalent?

2) is the above imbalance mitigated if I got the Chimera that comes with the two Fang Fighter squadrons?

3) Would getting a Core Set + Rebel Squadrons + one large or medium Rebel ship + the Chimera expansion be a decent start for both sides?

4) Or would it be better to go all in on the Rebel side by getting the Core Set plus a handful of Rebel ships and play Rebels: Civil War (despite the thematic incongruity), at least until the Imperial stuff becomes more readily available again?

Sorry for the long post and thanks in advance for the advice!

How interested are you in having thematic imperial vs rebel games? Personally I'm not bothered but I know many are.

Depends.
1) If you can get the Imperial Squadron Pack II, it will be fine as well. Same with the Scum Squadron pack. There are quite a few good ones, that can compensate the missing Imp I squadrons.
And when it comes to casual play, you can even try to use the TIE fighter from the starter box as other squadrons. It even helps, when you buy the Campaign box. There are the squadron plates, that you need. In this case it is only the models that are missing. But for casual game it would be fine.

2) sadly not really. The Fang Fighters are by far the worst squadrons of all. No one is really using these anymore (to expensive, to bad).

3) Well, the Imperial side would have only one VSD, one ISD and 5 TIE Fighters. This is fine for the start, but it does not allow so much diverty. But same count for the Rebels, beside the bigger squadron choice. If you can, try to get the mentioned Imp squadron II pack. This would at least give the imperial player a bit more flexibility.

4) Currently both sides have a shortcut on ships. Imperials just a bit worse. But the MC30 is hard to find as well. I would play with both at the beginning. And see what ships are better for you. If you play rebel vs rebel it will be really one sided.

Not that I am particulatly a "veteran", but for my two cents:

17 minutes ago, Bjorndre said:

1) Would getting a Rebel Squadron pack unbalanced games in their favour without the Imperial equivalent?

It may be, depending on how many you get. With 2, it would probably (almost certainly?) be unbalanced. With only 1, possibly not. However, in both cases the Imperial player would have to be using all of his available fighters. If you can find an Imp Squad 2 pack the inbalance would be off-set a little, and the Imperial player could hold his own and may even be able to come out on top.

Another alternative, since you are playing casually, is to get the Corellian Conflict campaign pack. It comes with hero squadrons for all the fighters in the Fighter 1 packs, and so it lets the imperial player use those, but with a TIE Fighter model. Not the greatest solution, but it is something. . .

17 minutes ago, Bjorndre said:

2) is the above imbalance mitigated if I got the Chimera that comes with the two Fang Fighter squadrons?

No. Fangs aren't great. . . A squad from the Imperial Fighters 2 pack or Rogues and Villains would probably be better.

17 minutes ago, Bjorndre said:

3) Would getting a Core Set + Rebel Squadrons + one large or medium Rebel ship + the Chimera expansion be a decent start for both sides?

I would recommend a standard ISD if you can find one. If not, yes. I think a large would be better for the Rebels. You can find Victory SDs for $13 on Amazon, it may be worth getting a second to enable some fleet change-up (an Assault Frigate on the Rebel side would be an equivalent purchase, or an MC30), as otherwise your games may get repetitive pretty quick, like playing the learning scenario over and over. . .

That being said, a Large and Medium on the Imperial side is a decent matvh for a Tebel large and 2 smalls.

17 minutes ago, Bjorndre said:

4) Or would it be better to go all in on the Rebel side by getting the Core Set plus a handful of Rebel ships and play Rebels: Civil War (despite the thematic incongruity), at least until the Imperial stuff becomes more readily available again?

I never care too much for blue v blue. Besides, if you then are able to get Imperials, you'd have invested quite a bit more into Rebels. I would recommend getting into both, despite it potentially taking a bit more time.

(Tokra just posted: Ninja'd! :D)

Well the first thing you have to decide is competition or just playing with buds. Playing with buds get whatever you want and have fun. Competitive...might be at a disadvantage.

The frustrating part is that the supply situation is unlikely to change for a very long time sonwhat you are really asking is...is it worth getting into this without being able to get everything. Only you can answer that. I just play and avoid organized events and have a blast when I play and never read a meta article or list idea.

Thank you guys for the replies!

I'm purely planning to play casually, so I'm not looking to optimise either or both sides.

Based on what I've seen available online and in my flgs, it seems like the Imperials will get locked into 2 large and/or medium ship lists, whereas Rebels can play an all large/medium list, a swarm of smalls or anywhere in between. I don't think I've seen any small Imperial ships available anywhere at the moment.

That could leave it fairly unsatisfying to play Imperial after some time?

Also, are there any ships that I should completely avoid because it would be really hard for an opposing list to deal with, with only a limited number of ships?

21 minutes ago, Bjorndre said:

That could leave it fairly unsatisfying to play Imperial after some time?

Not really. I quite enjoy flying mediums and larges. Smalls are useful, but not essential, I think. The only exception may be Gozantis, but even then, you can build fun fleets without them.

Edit: Additionally, by the time you may get tired of not having smalls, you probably would have found some at a proper price.

Quote

Also, are there any ships that I should completely avoid because it would be really hard for an opposing list to deal with, with only a limited number of ships?

The SSD. :D Probably also the Starhawk.

1 hour ago, Bjorndre said:

Thank you guys for the replies!

I'm purely planning to play casually, so I'm not looking to optimise either or both sides.

Based on what I've seen available online and in my flgs, it seems like the Imperials will get locked into 2 large and/or medium ship lists, whereas Rebels can play an all large/medium list, a swarm of smalls or anywhere in between. I don't think I've seen any small Imperial ships available anywhere at the moment.

That could leave it fairly unsatisfying to play Imperial after some time?

Also, are there any ships that I should completely avoid because it would be really hard for an opposing list to deal with, with only a limited number of ships?

Gozanti should be available.
But all other small ones (Gladiator, Raider, Arquitens) are hard to find.

But even with Gozanti, Quasar, VSD, Interdictor, ISD (old and Chimeara) there are quite a few fleets that can be build. Combined with Squadron II and Scum, and you can do some good fleets.

I would avoid the SSD right now. because this one really is hard to take down, unless you have good fleets. Same with the Onager and Starhawk. I would not buy these two right now. These are a bit special and for new players not so good.
The only reason to buy these 3 ships would be to have them, before they are out of stock as well 😉. Reprint for the SSD will take some time i guess.

Small quibble, Chimera comes with two Gauntlets, not Fangs.

14 minutes ago, Formynder4 said:

Small quibble, Chimera comes with two Gauntlets, not Fangs.

I thought something was off with that. . . :)

FWIW, there is a Star Wars Games Swap & Sell FB group that is super active - folks selling off Armada collections pop up pretty frequently, there. Better prices than eBay, almost always.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/StarWarsXwingSwapandSell/

(But of course eBay is another option, too. Depending on the size of your local game store, they MIGHT also have a selection of used/trade-in ships for sale. I know Portland had one or two stores that sometimes did for Armada, X-Wing, or Star Trek Attack Wing.)

2 hours ago, xanderf said:

FWIW, there is a Star Wars Games Swap & Sell FB group that is super active - folks selling off Armada collections pop up pretty frequently, there. Better prices than eBay, almost always.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/StarWarsXwingSwapandSell/

(But of course eBay is another option, too. Depending on the size of your local game store, they MIGHT also have a selection of used/trade-in ships for sale. I know Portland had one or two stores that sometimes did for Armada, X-Wing, or Star Trek Attack Wing.)

Great recommendation, man. There are several groups like that, in a local Pittsburgh armada group, I scored a core set and all of waves 1 and 2 including 2 packs of each sides squadron 1 packs and 2 packs of rogues and villains for a total of $40. Didn’t really need anything from those waves but $40 was too good to pass up. He even dropped it off at my work for me. These groups can sometimes be a great place to get hard to find expansions. I now have 4 glads, 4 raiders, 5 victories and 5 ISD’s which is too many. Still need one more kitty for my imperial fleet.

3 hours ago, xanderf said:

FWIW, there is a Star Wars Games Swap & Sell FB group that is super active - folks selling off Armada collections pop up pretty frequently, there. Better prices than eBay, almost always.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/StarWarsXwingSwapandSell/

(But of course eBay is another option, too. Depending on the size of your local game store, they MIGHT also have a selection of used/trade-in ships for sale. I know Portland had one or two stores that sometimes did for Armada, X-Wing, or Star Trek Attack Wing.)

I admin on this group, it's a great place to find Armada stuff. I've picked up several really good deals over the years (all 3 FFG SWRPG core books for just $60perfect condition, a ton of X-wing and legion stuff priced at crazy low prices.)

Just make sure to read the rules.

31 minutes ago, Darth Sanguis said:

I admin on this group, it's a great place to find Armada stuff. I've picked up several really good deals over the years (all 3 FFG SWRPG core books for just $60perfect condition, a ton of X-wing and legion stuff priced at crazy low prices.)

Just make sure to read the rules.

You admin there? Cool

Thanks again everyone for the help!

As an update, the Rebel and Imperial Squadrons Pack 1 and the Gladiator SD were available from FFG's website. So I quickly placed an order. Guess that's sorted!

Now I can take my time to randomly pick up the ships I want to get.

If something is in stock/available (from a shop or second hand), buy it if you don't already have one. Some are worth having multiples of.

The availability issue can be very frustrating. I'd also suggest getting an SSD if you can afford it, because it might not be available later.

The best fleet for defeating an SSD, by the way, is 5 Nebulons (each with Turbolaser Reroute Circuits and Auxiliary Shield Teams) led by Leia in her CR90a (also TRC, plus Jaina's Light title). Proxy the cards unless you really want to buy 3 copies of Rebellion in the Rim!

1. Buy some custom ships, proxy cards.

2. Get a 3d printer, proxy cards.