Musing about Star Wars Armada

[Saul]

Yo, so I just got done with a demo of SW: Armada at a new FLGS and 1.) the community there is the fucking tits 2.) the demo seems rigged and 3.) this game is pretty damn sweet.

I played as Rebels and have to say that I think the game is rigged. I've watched a few YouTube videos, read some stuff on reddit, browsed the wiki, and have a decent understanding of the rules. Figured the trick to winning was the X-Wings, hoped to use the Nebulon as a carrier, everything went tits up when I got to the table. I was there to sample the move tool and maneuvering as well as the order wheels. Left having lost my Nebulons to TIE's and slingshotted my Corvette around the VSD and couldn't catch up.

All the mistakes made were my own. I feel the learning curve for the rebel ships out of the box is high, and I'm not surprised that the store owner has never seen a rebel win a demo. Still, the rule set for this game is solid 10/10. I love how the ships have all the necessary information on them right there on the table top. The rules are pretty simple, the little switches on the fighters and the shield sliders for ships, all very nice. Overall, I like it and will be getting into the game.

Anyone else here play Armada and have anything to say?

 

[Elijah Brockway]

I've been considering it. Everything I've been told is that Armada is a bit slower and more strategic style of gameplay than X-Wing's tactical dogfighter sort of feel, with a lot less of a focus on the chance of the game and a lot more on your ability to plan things out.

Which is a lot more to my liking than X-Wing, tbh. Nice to know that there's still a lot of capacity for goofy BS in Armada, though, because if everything goes according to plans that almost makes it boring.

 

[Saul]

From what I've seen watching a game, it's definitely possible to move terrain around - like mines - including into the path of other ships. And ramming can be a serious threat. The movement of ships in Armada relative to each other definitely takes a bit of getting used to. I like that positional warfare is the key to succeeding in Armada, moreso than any dice modifiers and the like. Go too fast, your ships fly off the board, go too slow and you're outflanked.

I'm probably going to get the Core Set, but what to add on besides that is a bit intimidating. The fact that cards you need for a ship in your list is available in a box for a ship you don't want is interesting - I like and dislike it.