So I've been lurking for a while in general discussion and list building trying to figure things out with Armada and I have questions I haven't found answers for. This forum seems dead compared to XWing so hopefully my questions will get some discussion going.

What is flak? Is that jargon for the anti-squadron attack?

How much do people upgrade their ships? In XWing most people don't load out their ships to the max. There are so many options for the larger ships in Armada. Where do I start?

What do people usually try to do with their ships? What is the meta? Do people go for dice rerolls? Adding extra dice? Removing defense tokens? Squadron activation?

Is there a base tactic or upgrade that is applicable to most ships?

What are your favorite upgrades?

26 minutes ago, Skitch_ said:

What is flak? Is that jargon for the anti-squadron attack?

Yes, flak is jargon for a ship’s anti squadron attack.

26 minutes ago, Skitch_ said:

How much do people upgrade their ships?

It depends. Sometimes people want a fully loaded SSD with all upgrade slots filled. Sometimes you want a barebones ship to save points. It all depends on your particular strategy.

26 minutes ago, Skitch_ said:

Where do I start?

Start with one or two upgrades per ship. Don’t try to have a fully loaded ship until you understand what all the upgrades do. @BiggsIRL and @shmitty recently published a great starter scenario on their blog:

http://www.steelstrategy.com/2020/06/teaching-someone-to-play-thematic.html?m=1

26 minutes ago, Skitch_ said:

What do people usually try to do with their ships? What is the meta? Do people go for dice rerolls? Adding extra dice? Removing defense tokens? Squadron activation?

All of the above. It depends on your play style.

"How is this upgrade beneficial to my fleet?"

If the answer isnt very very useful, dont bring it.

A good starting point is to not spend more than 40 points total on upgrades for your fleet.

Sorry if my previous answer was vague and non-specific. Upgrades are a key part of the game, like X-wing, but there is a huuuuge amount of variability in what people run. For your first couple of games, keep it simple with only 1 or two upgrades on each ship, and make sure they complement your fleet’s strength.

As far as reroll vs added dice, that’s a hotly debated topic. Adding dice is more likely to add damage than rerolling, but upgrades that add dice also tend to be more expensive, are a modification, and/or have a serious downside. For example, enhanced armament adds 1 red die to side arcs only, but costs 10 points, more than a TIE bomber. Slaved turrets adds a red die, but you can only attack once. Linked turbo laser towers(LTT), however, lets you reroll a red die on any attack without restriction.

Most lists will include some sort of dice fixing, either through rerolls (Vader admiral or officer, ordnance experts, leading shots, LTT, etc) or by setting the die to the face you want (Turbolaser reroute circuits, Intensify Firepower, etc).

My biggest piece of advice for upgrades in Armada is to not bring any that you might use. Only bring upgrades (or try to) that you will use. Every upgrade should support your overall strategy going in to your match. Light on squadrons? Don't waste points on squadron upgrades. Are you going to equip something like Boarding Troopers or Jyn Erso? Then you better be able to get in close to your opponent's ships and have the right command queued up.

6 hours ago, shmitty said:

A good starting point is to not spend more than 40 points total on upgrades for your fleet.

While you and I ascribe to this, is that really the best plan for brand new people? How would you prioritize total upgrades? Would you run upgradeless on any ships?

IF ONLY THERE WERE A PODCAST WHAT COULD ANSWER THIS!

7 minutes ago, geek19 said:

While you and I ascribe to this, is that really the best plan for brand new people? How would you prioritize total upgrades? Would you run upgradeless on any ships?

IF ONLY THERE WERE A PODCAST WHAT COULD ANSWER THIS!

God that looks like a great podcast topic.

On 6/23/2020 at 1:52 PM, Skitch_ said:

So I've been lurking for a while in general discussion and list building trying to figure things out with Armada and I have questions I haven't found answers for. This forum seems dead compared to XWing so hopefully my questions will get some discussion going.

What is flak? Is that jargon for the anti-squadron attack?

How much do people upgrade their ships? In XWing most people don't load out their ships to the max. There are so many options for the larger ships in Armada. Where do I start?

What do people usually try to do with their ships? What is the meta? Do people go for dice rerolls? Adding extra dice? Removing defense tokens? Squadron activation?

Is there a base tactic or upgrade that is applicable to most ships?

What are your favorite upgrades?

Gotta try getting my feet back in the water here.

I think as far as upgrades go, you're asking questions in the wrong order.

Unlike in X-Wing, where the standard play format is "blast each other to smithereens and tally up who blew up the bigger list total by the game end" Armada is a game about defined objectives. Playing Armada without objectives can be fun, but it will rarely lead to a satisfying outcome because so many of the ships are meant to win objectives instead of a straight up knock-out fight.

So the first question is: "What sort of objectives do I want to run? If my opponent picks or provides objectives where I'm at a disadvantage, what do I want my ships and squadrons to do?"

This is the most crucial question, because it's going to define what your ships need to DO. Once you know what they need to do, you can start to determine which ships, squadrons and upgrades help you achieve that goal.

For example, a good rule for carriers like the Quasar is: "Focus on things that make squadron activations better." This will typically limit you to a small set of cost-effective upgrades that do only that. You will also save points because you aren't investing in unnecessary upgrades.

On the other hand, sometimes you want a really decked out super ship. I used to run an Imperial Star Destroyer-2 to kill enemy large ships. It had every slot except the Offensive Retrofit filled in and when I played it right, it would delete multiple expensive enemy ships off the board by itself while the other player was trying to chase down objective points.

Don't forget to also consider squadrons a form of ship upgrade, because they usually rely on ships to get their most efficient usage. You won't get much use from a squadron that can't be commanded by your larger ships.

On 6/23/2020 at 7:16 PM, Rmcarrier1 said:

My biggest piece of advice for upgrades in Armada is to not bring any that you might use. Only bring upgrades (or try to) that you will use. Every upgrade should support your overall strategy going in to your match. Light on squadrons? Don't waste points on squadron upgrades. Are you going to equip something like Boarding Troopers or Jyn Erso? Then you better be able to get in close to your opponent's ships and have the right command queued up.

On 6/23/2020 at 4:52 PM, Skitch_ said:

So I've been lurking for a while in general discussion and list building trying to figure things out with Armada and I have questions I haven't found answers for. This forum seems dead compared to XWing so hopefully my questions will get some discussion going.

What is flak? Is that jargon for the anti-squadron attack?

How much do people upgrade their ships? In XWing most people don't load out their ships to the max. There are so many options for the larger ships in Armada. Where do I start?

What do people usually try to do with their ships? What is the meta? Do people go for dice rerolls? Adding extra dice? Removing defense tokens? Squadron activation?

Is there a base tactic or upgrade that is applicable to most ships?

What are your favorite upgrades?

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/steel-strategys-un-named-armada-podcast/id1489631967#episodeGuid=steelstrategy.podbean.com%2F74752033-96db-5033-8843-0c557132926a

We've made the podcast in question.

On 6/23/2020 at 4:52 PM, Skitch_ said:

So I've been lurking for a while in general discussion and list building trying to figure things out with Armada and I have questions I haven't found answers for. This forum seems dead compared to XWing so hopefully my questions will get some discussion going.

What is flak? Is that jargon for the anti-squadron attack?

How much do people upgrade their ships? In XWing most people don't load out their ships to the max. There are so many options for the larger ships in Armada. Where do I start?

What do people usually try to do with their ships? What is the meta? Do people go for dice rerolls? Adding extra dice? Removing defense tokens? Squadron activation?

Is there a base tactic or upgrade that is applicable to most ships?

What are your favorite upgrades?

Flak typically refers to the anti-aircraft fire coming at one from anti-aircraft guns , derived during World War II from the German Fl ug a bwehr k anone , for "aircraft defence cannon." In armada, it's used to refer to a ships "anti-squadron armament".

Depends on what your plan is - most ships in Armada benefit greatly from upgrades, like Engine Techs on the large MC80s, or Assualt Proton Torpedoes on the Gladiator, MC30...but most ships don't *need* *every* slot filled. List building is like 49% of the game, and I think a really fun part as you try to figure out what will work and how to command it. I would start with the Imperial Star Destroyer Expansion Pack, it's the most forgiving of the large ships and great to learn on. Watch out, she goes fast.

People go for what they build for. Maybe a lot of squadrons/bombers, or may e a fleet designed to maximize on objectives. Many players build to go first, with a lot of activations so they can pull a last/first attack against their opponent. Try many strategies and find a play style that fits you.

I would argue that Electronic Counter Measures is mandatory for any ship that can equip it, but that's it really. One tactic I see a lot of folks try to do is to 'out-deploy' your opponent until you see where his most important ships come down and you can position yourself in the best possible way.

Some of my fav upgrades are:

Mon Karren

Ravager

Engine Techs

Heavy Ion Emplacements