Armada?

[hyv3mynd]

I saw Grub and Krad mention this but don't know much about the game.

The armada scale interests me more than X-wing. I really miss BFG but pre-painted ships are a big appeal to me as I have 10,000pts in 40k models waiting paint.

What are the first impressions of the game? Will it be as popular as Xwing? Will there be continued support with new ship expansions like Xwing?

The effort I put into building new armies for brawl and daboyz always lands me in burnout by December. It would be nice to have armada as a fallback.

[grubnards]

Armada is a lot of fun. Fantasy Flight is really good with supporting their games, especially if they are making money and right now with 6 Star Wars movies in the works they will continue to churn out new product.

It does play a lot differently than x-wing so don't try to compare the two. Capital ships move and behave differently than the ships in x-wing and while this game includes the small ships, think of them as annoying bugs flying around you. Many of the upgrade packs offer neat cards and upgrades that allows you to customize and build different lists.

However, unlike x-wing, I see this as a more casual game rather than a tourney game. x-wing is the perfect ship count and turn sequences to make it so that 100pt games can (and usually do) finish in an hour. Armada is best played around 300pts and that takes much longer. Just so you know, that the starter set gives you enough ships and upgrades to start each side between 150-180 points.

If you want to check it out just let me know and I can stop by one night and show you how to play it.

[hyv3mynd]

I just want to make the most informed decision that fits what I know about myself.

The scale of Armada appeals more to me. 1hr vs 2-3hr games don't matter much to me. Competitive support matter to me because it's much easier for me to get 3-4 games in on a tournament day, than to try for single casual games.

With X-wing out and established, I feel like I'll be behind the curve forever maybe while Armada is still new with only a few ships right now. Will they expand it to make for huge battles like the opening sequence of Episode 3, or the battle over Endor? Or will X-wing's popularity demand the attention and resources of FFG forever?

I loved Battle Fleet Gothic with a passion. Fleets/armadas could be huge and diverse, with maneuvering and movement that mattered and effected the outcome.

X-wing is appealing for sure and I can see myself getting into it, but 100pt tournaments seem a bit small to me. Just enough to be a tease of enjoyment, but I want 20 TIE's on the table not 4-5.

I have a friend who's willing to delve into a pre-painted system. Maybe buy 2 starter sets and each take a faction, buying a few expansions as well.

I'd love for Armada to get the same support and treatment as X-wing, even if it takes a couple years. But if X-wing is the golden child of FFG, I might as well go with the flow.

[grubnards]

Take a moment and read through fantasy flights forums on both games and see what players are talking about. The one thing that I think you will like about both systems is building your fleet. With all the upgrades and pilots available you can spend hours fine tuning a list. Check out this site: xwing-builder.co.uk/build

This site has all of the current ships and upgrades available for xwing and they generally have all options for the unreleased ships so you can determine if you need to buy those ships.

While x-wing is popular at 100pts because of the tournament format, fantasy flight does have rules for epic play which generally runs up to 300 points and allows you to field the big ships like the transport or tantive (and the soon to be released raider) most of the time we play 100 point games but there are also formats for escalation games where you start at 60 points and increase by 30 points each round.

As for a learning curve, the mechanics in xwing are simple to learn in a couple of games. Armada a little bit more but it comes quickly after a few games.

Best bet is to check out the forums and watch a few games on YouTube. Regional games are fun to watch and let you see how different players make use of their ships and upgrades.

If you and your friend want to try out either game before you make any investments I'd happily help you guys run through some games.

[grubnards]

For those of you who are concerned about x-wing waves petering out, check these:

www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2015/7/31/xwing-out-of-hiding/

Imperial Assault Carrier (Epic Ship)
www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2015/7/31/lying-in-wait/

They are ships from the current Rebels TV show plus some bounty hunter ships. This game, plus the other Star Wars games will have plenty of life in the years to come.