Hey Guys and Gals,

I'm new to table top games, and Armada is my first go at it.

I decided to go with a Rebel's and currently have three Corvettes (I purchased Turbolaser Reroute Circuits for each) and run them with my profundity and Neb-B's. I run the corvettes in a tight and fast formation (as to shoot and scoot around my enemy ships. The Neb'B's fly just ahead of the Profundity to it's outer flank, with the profundity just behind them to follow Neb-B's initial volly.

My Build:

A1 (397/400)
Rebels

Commander: Mon Mothma

[flagship] MC75 Ordnance Cruiser (100)
- Mon Mothma (30)
= 130 total points

CR90 Corvette A (44)
- Turbolaser Reroute Circuits (7)
= 51 total points

CR90 Corvette A (44)
- Turbolaser Reroute Circuits (7)
= 51 total points

CR90 Corvette A (44)
- Turbolaser Reroute Circuits (7)
= 51 total points

Nebulon-B Escort Frigate (57)
= 57 total points

Nebulon-B Escort Frigate (57)
= 57 total points

I mistakenly ran the Corvettes at speed 2, instead of speed 4 and they were blown out of the proverbial sky - lesson learned, go faster!

My Question:

My opponent is super into Armada. I'm not. And not because I don't like it, I'm just not as into it is all - BUT! I like winning and I have yet... win...

Help - Please!

What could I do to better this build? What strategy or cards should I try? The ships listed are the only one's I own at this time. Those ships, the core set and the cards they come with. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated!

Thanks again!

What’s your opponent’s fleet like? My guess is that you need some squadrons (maybe not, but probably). Otherwise, your fleet looks okay enough. It’s probably in how you’re using it. But knowing what you’re up against can help us know what you need to do against it.

To expand some...

I don't know if Mon Mothma is the best Commander for the fleet. She works very well with most of your ships, but does nothing for the Ordinance Cruiser. If you have the core set, you'll also have Dodonna, who would work better with the Ordinance Cruiser and do fine with your other ships. The Turbolaser Reroute Circuits would let you change a die to a critical, if you wanted Dodonna to go fishing for a good one.

If your opponent is not bringing squadrons, or brings only air-superiority ones, then your fleet is fine enough. If he's bringing bombers or anything that can go after your ships, then you need some squadrons of your own. You can drop one CR90 and get four X-Wings (maybe not the best choice, but if they're all you have they are good enough).

However, whatever your fleet makeup is, you are definitely going about your tactics wrong. Don't lead with the Nebulons. They have long-range, front-facing guns with a narrow arc. They're snipers, with weak sides. The Ordinance Cruiser has short-range armaments. Lead with it, then follow with the Nebulons to protect is flank and clean up wounded ships in the later rounds. If you need to, you can use them to flack enemy squadrons your X-Wings have tied up.

Your Ordinance Cruiser is the hammer blow. The CR90s are flankers. The Nebulons are clean-up. X-Wings are your fighter screen, if you need them.

What are your commands? With this fleet, you should navigate almost constantly, occasionaly concentrate fire, when 1 of the corvettes is in range. Navigation lets you turn better, constantly changing the speed to use the most of them.

I recommend you check out the Cannot get your ship out blog they have a tremendous amount of super useful information for starters

I am only "ok" at this game, but to me I think you need Admiral Ackbar. The "Home One" expansion is only $25 on Amazon right now. Or you could buy the Upgrade Card Pack that was just released and for $25 get 1-2 of every upgrade card ever. Home One / MC80 is a great ship and Ackbar a great commander. He adds 2 red dice when you fire out the side (if you fire side arc only).

The key is to think in terms of "force multipliers"... take what you've got and add things that make it better. Imagine those 3 corvettes throwing 3 red dice each with TRCs! And Home One (or your MC75) is almost (though not quite) a Star Destroyer when firing out the side with Ackbar and a couple of upgrades.

I would also at least think about "Leading Shots" with your big ship since it lets you reroll some dice. Imagine lining up a perfect shot with your majestic battle ship, the one big shot it will get this game, and rolling nothing but blanks and accuracies. You want a little insurance against that since you put all those points into having a battleship. And while you're at it, I would suggest a defensive upgrade like ECM so that the inevitable Star Destroyer coming at you doesn't lock down your brace token while inflicting a million damage.

With Ackbar enhancing both your battleship and your corvette strike force, you can kind of divide your fleet, with the battleship and its escort (you probably have to scale back to 1 Neb to add in the extra upgrades, which is fine since they're pretty terrible) going one way and the corvettes running out to a flank. If the opponent turns into your battle line, he is allowing the corvettes to shoot up his rear. If he goes after the corvettes, then hopefully you are either winning the mission objective or raking his fleet with your broadsides. That's the theory anyway... obviously that kind of thing rarely plays out perfectly in practice.

He's been brining a Rebel fleet as of late (listed below) However, when he brings his Imperial fleet he'll include Vader (seriously F*** that guy - lol) and he'll fly the Gladiator with Demolisher making giving him an extra firing ability after he's moved <- we refer to it as cheat codes

(400/400)

Rebels

Commander: Admiral Raddus

Objectives: Advanced Gunnery, Fleet Ambush, Solar Corona

[flagship] MC80 Command Cruiser (106)

- Admiral Raddus (26)

- Defiance (5)

- Reinforced Blast Doors (5)

- Leading Shots (4)

- Strategic Adviser (4)

- Engine Techs (8)

= 158 total points

MC75 Ordnance Cruiser (100)

- Reinforced Blast Doors (5)

- Ordnance Pods (3)

- External Racks (3)

- Ordnance Experts (4)

= 115 total points

MC80 Liberty Star Cruiser (96)

- Heavy Ion Emplacements (9)

- XI7 Turbolasers (6)

- Spinal Armament (9)

- Gunnery Team (7)

= 127 total points

OP, make sure that your opponent is using the latest FAQ/errata information on those cards. Demolisher has been nerfed more than once I believe, and currently is much more limited than its initial capabilities. Also with the latest updates to the rules, Strategic Advisor has been removed and has no function. His Rebel fleet is still nasty though it would probably be hard-countered by bombers.

We're playing by the old rules simply because none of use have really upgraded yet - we're casual players, but I hate that I'm constantly losing and I don't want to purchase more ships without knowing which to get, and more importantly how to fly strategically. Know what I mean?

Any recommendation would be appreciated? I'll work on getting us on the updated set, but I wouldn't even know where to go to get that either

33 minutes ago, rrasho24 said:

We're playing by the old rules simply because none of use have really upgraded yet - we're casual players, but I hate that I'm constantly losing and I don't want to purchase more ships without knowing which to get, and more importantly how to fly strategically. Know what I mean?

Any recommendation would be appreciated? I'll work on getting us on the updated set, but I wouldn't even know where to go to get that either

Sure, go here for the updated rules and cards: https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2020/12/1/new-rules-of-engagement/

or direct link: https://images-cdn.fantasyflightgames.com/filer_public/3a/13/3a13aa9c-7857-4b98-8a08-5ba9aaaedd89/swm_rules_reference_guide_150.pdf

On page 24 you'll see that Demolisher doesn't work quite the same way anymore. That should help.

If you don't want to buy new ships, the Upgrade Card Pack is a no brainer. 1-2 of every card from every ship expansion. You'll get Ackbar and all kinds of fantastic upgrades for your current fleet. Plus you'll have all the most up-to-date versions of the cards so you can read them for yourself.

Bluntly though, if the answer is "I don't want to buy anything and I want to keep playing by rules that even the developers thought were broken" then get used to being disintegrated I guess.

11 minutes ago, Requete said:

Sure, go here for the updated rules and cards: https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2020/12/1/new-rules-of-engagement/

or direct link: https://images-cdn.fantasyflightgames.com/filer_public/3a/13/3a13aa9c-7857-4b98-8a08-5ba9aaaedd89/swm_rules_reference_guide_150.pdf

On page 24 you'll see that Demolisher doesn't work quite the same way anymore. That should help.

If you don't want to buy new ships, the Upgrade Card Pack is a no brainer. 1-2 of every card from every ship expansion. You'll get Ackbar and all kinds of fantastic upgrades for your current fleet. Plus you'll have all the most up-to-date versions of the cards so you can read them for yourself.

Bluntly though, if the answer is "I don't want to buy anything and I want to keep playing by rules that even the developers thought were broken" then get used to being disintegrated I guess.

No, no... we'll be updating soon enough, we're just casual gamers and just getting into it is all Thank you for your help! Happy holidays and a Happy New Year!

54 minutes ago, rrasho24 said:

We're playing by the old rules simply because none of use have really upgraded yet - we're casual players, but I hate that I'm constantly losing and I don't want to purchase more ships without knowing which to get, and more importantly how to fly strategically. Know what I mean?

Any recommendation would be appreciated? I'll work on getting us on the updated set, but I wouldn't even know where to go to get that either

You should definitely be playing by the 1.5 rules, if only for the Evade improvements.

You have plenty of activations but too few opportunities to reroll on your big ship. Leading shots, ordnance experts, whatever works. It doesn't need to be decked out like a Christmas tree (except tonight of course) but ECM in particular will increase its survivability and an ordnance cruiser without both its black slots filled is no good. Drop a Nebulon or CR90 to give you the upgrades you need. Ordnance experts absolutely mandatory on the Ordnance Cruiser.

And against that Raddus list, if you can out-bid him for first player he’ll be in trouble. Demolisher likes the first player advantage, too. If you can outbid him, use your larger number of ships to save your big hitter until the end of a crucial turn. Set it up in a good position. Then, on the following turn, activate it first. I bet you’ve seen him do this to you.

I appreciate everyones help here, thank you! We don't get back together for another couple of weeks (holidays and all) then we'll be back at it. I'll keep you guys in the loop, thanks again!

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

On 12/26/2020 at 10:08 AM, rrasho24 said:

I appreciate everyones help here, thank you! We don't get back together for another couple of weeks (holidays and all) then we'll be back at it. I'll keep you guys in the loop, thanks again!

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

Definitely want to echo some of the points the others have made here. Beyond that...

There is no hard-and-fast rule about how many of each ship’s upgrade slots ought to be filled when you build a fleet, and there’s certainly something to be said for not overloading ships that don’t need it. But there are certain ships which want certain slots filled, depending on how you want to use them.

CR-90A’s are probably the best ship in the game to carry Turbolaser Reroute Circuits, and are (I find) much better with them equipped. The Corvette also doesn’t need much else to be useful, and given their propensity to simply popping when they do get caught out, they’re often best flown with ONLY Turbolaser Reroute Circuits. So you’re doing that right. As for faster = better? That depends. If faster takes you right into the teeth of an Imperial Star Destroyer, then no. Ships which rely heavily on the Evade defense token for survival want to practice careful range control, so sometimes SLOWER is better. This is also why Ackbar is a good Commander for this fleet; he makes the side arc of a CR-90 as dangerous as its front arc, which means you can run perpendicular to the approaching enemy, broadsiding from long range, and occasionally shimmying away, maintaining maximum range while punishing the attacker from afar. Remember: unless the defender has Evades, red dice are every bit as dangerous at long range as they are up close, so never let your CR-90’s get close, because it hurts you far more than it hurts the opponent, especially against big bruisers with no Evades.

Neb-B Frigates are without question one of the most finicky, difficult-to-use and least forgiving ships in the game. One maneuvering mistake with them usually means they’re dead. On top of that, their guns are pretty unremarkable without expensive upgrades, and I adamantly do NOT recommend Turbolaser Reroute Circuits on them; they need that one Evade on defense far too often to be spending it on offense. That said, they have potential as specialist ships in the fleet. I recommend looking into their unique Title upgrades for starters... Vanguard, Salvation, and Yavaris are all awesome cards which totally alter these ships at a fundamental level. Redemption is not recommended for beginners. Too pricey.

Do note that Yavaris has VERY recently received a complete overhaul to how it functions (because it was, and has long been, beastly overpowered). Those changes will be reflected in the new Rules Reference Guide which @Requete linked above. Seriously, go download the newest rules and card changes and start using them, they will vastly improve and rebalance your games. In addition to changes to busted cards—like Demolisher and Yavaris—they also change the way Evades work to be much more powerful, and also make going first/second less of a decisive factor. All the card changes are in the rules, so you don’t strictly NEED to get the new upgrade card pack, but I’d still recommend it. But I digress...

Back to the Neb-B. The Titles make these ships function very differently, as I said. Yavaris probably won’t be of immediate interest, because it only helps if you bring squadrons. Vanguard pairs very well with Auxiliary Shield Teams, and I like a Turbolaser upgrade of some stripe, too. Salvation is great, but pricey, and probably also wants a Turbolaser Upgrade. If you DO plan to run any of these guys, Titles or not, consider using the Support Frigate version, rather than the Escort Frigate. You’re not worried about commanding squadrons, and while they do add an extra anti-squadron die, the points might be better spent on upgrades that help kill opposing ships faster.

As for your MC-75: This is a ship which probably wants a few upgrades. Your Flagship probably wants Electronic Countermeasures, for starters, or at least Reinforced Blast Doors... something to give you a bit more staying power. You also pretty much always want at least one, if not both, of your Ordnance upgrade slots to be filled. Assault Concussion Missiles, Assault Proton Torpedoes, and External Racks are all good starting points, and I’d probably suggest ExRacks with either one of the other two (I’m partial to ACM).

Obviously, all of these upgrades mean making some cuts. My gut says drop one of the Neb-B’s, add in a bunch of the things I suggested, see where that puts you. If you’re still too far from 400, have a look at some Officer upgrades. Leia on a CR-90 can be fantastic for changing your big ship’s command dials on the fly. Aspiration (MC-75 Title) is really cool, too. And if you really want to steer clear of other upgrades and you have a few dozen points left, you can certainly explore adding in a few squadrons. X-Wings aren’t the best standalone fighter screen (A-Wings get better mileage in that role), but throwing 3-5 of them in “just ‘cause” isn’t the worst move at your level of casual. I wouldn’t go less than three, if it can be helped, or you risk just handing your opponent points.

Also: you’re new, so you may not know, but the game has been moved from the FFG studio to another company under the same corporate umbrella, and the forums here are closing at the end of January. For future questions, I might refer you to Boardgamegeek’s forum... I know a lot of us are hoping to land somewhere together, and BGG seems to be the front runner for a rallying point.