There is another possibility with the card expansion, one which may be too dark to contemplate.

What if the packs... are RANDOM BOOSTER PACKS??

Rather than try to figure out which cards are or someday will be "essential", FFG could just throw in a spread of 12 or so neutral upgrades from across all their previous expansions. They could also just update the variety as new cards are released. Maybe even throw in one or two of those campaign exclusive aces/objectives for people (like me) who didn't want to buy a whole box just for some aces. Maybe slide in a couple cards exclusively in the packs to really tempt people.

Eh, probably not.

18 minutes ago, Pikeman84 said:

What if the packs... are RANDOM BOOSTER PACKS??

People would stop buying Armada products en masse; I would be one of them.

10 minutes ago, Pikeman84 said:

There is another possibility with the card expansion, one which may be too dark to contemplate.

What if the packs... are RANDOM BOOSTER PACKS??

Rather than try to figure out which cards are or someday will be "essential", FFG could just throw in a spread of 12 or so neutral upgrades from across all their previous expansions. They could also just update the variety as new cards are released. Maybe even throw in one or two of those campaign exclusive aces/objectives for people (like me) who didn't want to buy a whole box just for some aces. Maybe slide in a couple cards exclusively in the packs to really tempt people.

Eh, probably not.

Hopefully not.

I have a fairly extensive collection of Armada, but there are still some cards that I need to proxy when playing at home when using larger fleets or MSU. And within the tournament setting, most (if not everyone) is willing to share upgrade cards if you need (esp. if you ask in advance). So the idea of this is probably lost on most players.

I don't think that would have the desired effect. I know for me, I would stay away from random packs because I find them distasteful (not in a game like MTG which was built on that mechanic from the beginning, but in a game like this where it would be akin to putting paid loot boxes into a video game that didn't have it prior).

However, I'm not opposed to the idea of new cards in these upgrade packs that are unique to the upgrade packs. I'm not completely sold on the idea either, but it's something that could be done right if given a little thought.

15 hours ago, XR8rGREAT said:

Just put the original core set objective cards in each of the fleet boxes. I never said anything about putting them in the card pack. And as for buying on Amazon the shipping to some countries can be prohibitive.

Making people buy the original core set for only a few bits and making the rest Useless if they only want clone wars content is likely just to put people off entering the game. The core set here in NZ is $150+ just for a few cards and tokens I think not.

It would make more sense to include the Objective Cards in the Upgrade Card Pack than the Fleet Expansions.

The Clone Wars Fleet Expansions are for ALL Armada players, not just new players. It doesn't make sense to include any Core set content in the Fleet Expansions.

(Admittedly, we are all speculating here because FFG hasn't revealed any real info about Clone Wars Armada yet...)

Presumably the Fleet Expansions aren't radically different than a traditional Ship Expansion. I believe it's just a combo box containing multiple different ships, which is intended to make it easier for Armada players to build a 200 point Republic or Separatist fleet.

Yes, 200 points, not 400.

My prediction is that a Fleet Expansion will contain ships that add up to 200 points when you include a Commander and some upgrade cards. So if you want a 400 point fleet, you'll need to buy 2. That seems rational from a business perspective. FFG introduced the 200-point Task Force Battle format a year or two ago, and a 200-point game is a good starting point, so it makes sense to design the Fleet Expansion to be around 200 points.

That would also keep the Fleet Expansion's price to a reasonable level; I predict $40-60. If the Fleet Expansion contained 400 points worth of ships it would probably be over $100, the same as a core set, thereby making it a high barrier for entry. Whereas if FFG prices a Fleet Expansion around $50, most Armada players will buy one, and some Armada players will buy two (or more).

If these rumors are true, then this is great, as I can collect Republic forces no problem and don't need to worry about getting Separatist ships.

On 5/6/2020 at 7:32 PM, Rune Taq said:

SSD thrawn and two Gozers need 11 dials

4 for SSD

2 for gozer

3 for Thrawn

2-3 for distribution to all ships (could get away with 2 if you use the one you revealed).

Anyways, the collection of a metric butt load of command and speed dials I have is crazy unnecessary.

4 VSDs commanded by Thrawn - 15 command dials.

I'll sell you armada booster packs!

Oh wow, how random they were ALL engineering captains. That is weird! Better luck next time! Buy another!

The important question nobody's asked yet: what did they charge you for the preorders?

2 hours ago, Formynder4 said:

The important question nobody's asked yet: what did they charge you for the preorders?

Lol. The shop doesn’t generally charge for pre-orders. They know me quite well. But I don’t know if they have an MSRP yet, either. I’d ask, but I’ll wait till I can do it in person.

On 5/6/2020 at 4:15 PM, Reavern said:

Assuming that this leak is accurate... it would appear there won't be a Clone Wars Armada core set. Instead, FFG will be releasing "Fleet Expansion" packs for the Galactic Republic and Separatists. It's unclear if these fleet expansions will be akin to Starter Kits and include everything new players will need to play Armada.

I believe that because they're named "Galactic Republic Fleet Expansion" and "Separatist Fleet Expansion", instead of specific ship names, each fleet expansion will contain more than one ship and different types of ships. For example, based on the Clone Wars Armada artwork released a few months ago of an Acclamator and two Charger C70 corvettes, I predict the Republic Fleet expansion will include an Acclamator and one or two C70s. I doubt the Republic Fleet expansion will include a Venator because it's too popular. I'm certain that the Venator will be a standard ship expansion because players (like me) are going to buy A LOT of them, so it's better if its a single. Whereas combining an Acclamator and C70 into the Republic Fleet expansion makes sense.

It'll be interesting to find out what ships the Separatist Fleet expansion contains. The CIS doesn't have any well-known small ships, so my prediction is it will have a pair of Munificent star frigates, since the Munificent was the ubiquitous CIS warship and they were always deployed in numbers. I suppose a Munificent could be paired with a Recusant light destroyer or a Providence destroyer, but the Recusant wasn't as common and the Providence is comparable to a Venator, so it'll probably be released as a single ship expansion.

I just hope we don't have to wait until Wave 2 for the Providence and Venator.

The Dial Pack is interesting. Some have speculated that it contains premium themed dials, similar to X-Wing. I don't believe that theory because the listing doesn't mention a faction. I suspect that it could be just a pack containing generic Command Dials and FFG will be omitting Command Dials from future ship expansions, starting with Clone Wars Wave 1. If that is true, it makes sense. I don't think one player needs more than 10 Command Dials for a 400-point match. (I believe the only build that exceeds 10 Dials is: 10 Hammerhead Torpedo Corvettes, Dodonna or Agate, and a GR-75 Transport, which is 398 points and requires 11 dials). I have at least 50 unused Command Dials stored away. I stopped punching out the cardboard and loading them into the plastic dials over 2 years ago. I think that FFG knows that most Armada veterans don't need more Command Dials, so they're not going to include them any more, which will save a little $. (I would be surprised if they even cost $1 to manufacture.) I believe the Dial Pack is intended for new players; so if they only buy Republic and/or Separatist ships, they'll need a Dial Pack.

I'm with ya on what to put in there the C 70's and the Acclimator would be great fleet builders and would make you want to get a few as would the Banking clan frigates. Drives me up a wall that the Seps don't have a true escort. The frigates look like they would make a great spear head, but leaves nothing for a flank guard. Leaves me wondering why once the Aquiten comes out they just don't spam them and use them to strike the flanks en mass while Acclimators and Venators sit there at long range trading turbo laser fire. Be the quick end to many a seps blockade / offensive.

3 hours ago, Aahz 1 said:

Lol. The shop doesn’t generally charge for pre-orders. They know me quite well. But I don’t know if they have an MSRP yet, either. I’d ask, but I’ll wait till I can do it in person.

That’s all good and well but if I were pre ordering I would want to know how much it’s going to cost me.

1 hour ago, XR8rGREAT said:

I would want to know how much it’s going to cost me.

4 hours ago, Spectre8174 said:

I'm with ya on what to put in there the C 70's and the Acclimator would be great fleet builders and would make you want to get a few as would the Banking clan frigates. Drives me up a wall that the Seps don't have a true escort. The frigates look like they would make a great spear head, but leaves nothing for a flank guard. Leaves me wondering why once the Aquiten comes out they just don't spam them and use them to strike the flanks en mass while Acclimators and Venators sit there at long range trading turbo laser fire. Be the quick end to many a seps blockade / offensive.

I agree that the Separatists' apparent lack of small ships could leave them vulnerable to flanking maneuvers. However, I expect that FFG will come up with a viable counter to this. Although I'm not aware of a canon CIS small ship, there could be one hiding in obscure EU content that FFG could find and turn into an Armada ship. Another possibility is that FFG could create a CIS small ship, similar to what they did with the Imperial Raider.

The Separatists' (presumptive) numerical advantage could be a natural counter against flanking C70s. For example, I expect it's possible to fit 5 or 6 Munificent star frigates in a 400-point build; 3 or 4 could form the spearhead to attack a couple of Acclamators or Venators head-on, while 2 more Munificents loiter in the rear to pounce on C70s maneuvering to flank the main attack force.

It's also possible certain CIS ships will be less vulnerable to flanking attacks. While the Munificent should be a forward-focused attack ship, I expect the Providence destroyer will be a broadside ship, similar to a MC80, making it more difficult to outflank. Then there's the Lucrehulk -- which I'm certain will be released eventually -- which will probably have well balanced firing arcs and shield coverage.

I'm not trying to diminish the viability of the C70, but I think Separatist players will be able to deal with it.

Have we seriously started talking Armada Republic and Separatist strategy/tactics without even knowing the ships/squads and their stats?

In the words of Obi-Wan, “Patience.”

15 minutes ago, Admiral Calkins said:

Have we seriously started talking Armada Republic and Separatist strategy/tactics without even knowing the ships/squads and their stats?

In the words of Obi-Wan, “Patience.”

No.

Also, it’s just a good way to burn some energy while waiting for real news.

53 minutes ago, Admiral Calkins said:

Have we seriously started talking Armada Republic and Separatist strategy/tactics without even knowing the ships/squads and their stats?

In the words of Obi-Wan, “Patience.”

Not just strategy and tactics but actual ship values and weapon arcs.

1 hour ago, flatpackhamster said:

Not just strategy and tactics but actual ship values and weapon arcs.

I predict an average of 4 arcs on most of the ships.

4 minutes ago, geek19 said:

I predict an average of 4 arcs on most of the ships.

I see an article coming out of this...

9 hours ago, XR8rGREAT said:

That’s all good and well but if I were pre ordering I would want to know how much it’s going to cost me.

Well, I suppose, if you're not serious about Armada, that would be your attitude. 😉

57 minutes ago, geek19 said:

I predict an average of 4 arcs on most of the ships.

Some ships will have more shields in some arcs than others.

13 minutes ago, flatpackhamster said:

Some ships will have more shields in some arcs than others.

Probably some anti-squadron armament too. Likely 1-2 dice. Heck, maybe even three if we see another huge ship.

6 hours ago, Admiral Calkins said:

Have we seriously started talking Armada Republic and Separatist strategy/tactics without even knowing the ships/squads and their stats?

In the words of Obi-Wan, “Patience.”

It's harmless speculation based on what I know from canon Clone Wars sources:

• The Charger C70 corvette was the Clone Wars era predecessor of CR90 and it was a fast, agile escort ship
• The CIS Navy didn't have any small ships comparable to the Republic's C70
• Munificent star frigates were relatively cheap and the Separatists deployed them in numbers
• The Munificent's primary armament was a pair of fixed-forward Heavy Turbolaser Cannons
• The Providence was depicted in RotS as a broadside ship
• The Lucrehulk battleship had 42 Quad Turbolaser Batteries equally spaced around the ship's equatorial bands and a whole flotilla of Republic Star Destroyers was needed just to bring down a Lucrehulk's shields

From those facts, I speculated how those Clone Wars ships could be depicted in Armada and what tactics they could use.

What exactly is the problem? 🤨

If you don't want to participate in the conversation, then don't, but don't try the spoil the fun for the rest of us.

1 hour ago, Reavern said:

It's harmless speculation based on what I know from canon Clone Wars sources:

• The Charger C70 corvette was the Clone Wars era predecessor of CR90 and it was a fast, agile escort ship
• The CIS Navy didn't have any small ships comparable to the Republic's C70
• Munificent star frigates were relatively cheap and the Separatists deployed them in numbers
• The Munificent's primary armament was a pair of fixed-forward Heavy Turbolaser Cannons
• The Providence was depicted in RotS as a broadside ship
• The Lucrehulk battleship had 42 Quad Turbolaser Batteries equally spaced around the ship's equatorial bands and a whole flotilla of Republic Star Destroyers was needed just to bring down a Lucrehulk's shields

From those facts, I speculated how those Clone Wars ships could be depicted in Armada and what tactics they could use.

What exactly is the problem? 🤨

If you don't want to participate in the conversation, then don't, but don't try the spoil the fun for the rest of us.

Thanks... for the ship facts. I never said there was a problem. My statement was simply to question if we (the forums) were actually having a SW Armada combat strategy discussion based on zero information, while acknowledging that this is what we have been relegated to. Lighten up; no need to get pissy about it.

8 minutes ago, Admiral Calkins said:

Thanks... for the ship facts. I never said there was a problem. My statement was simply to question if we (the forums) were actually having a SW Armada combat strategy discussion based on zero information, while acknowledging that this is what we have been relegated to. Lighten up; no need to get pissy about it.

Questioning the merits of discussing anything on a forum is completely contradictory to the literal purpose of a forum, and could be construed as an attempt to stifle topics that you disapprove of and being pissy , as you say. So please take your own advice and lighten up!

10 minutes ago, Reavern said:

Questioning the merits of discussing anything on a forum is completely contradictory to the literal purpose of a forum, and could be construed as an attempt to stifle topics that you disapprove of and being pissy , as you say. So please take your own advice and lighten up!

My attempt at de-escalation apparently failed miserably if this somehow led to a discussion about suppressing free speech. My apologies.