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  1. #1
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    Default The Admirals Mess- Adventures in Armada

    Thought I would take a page out of Mystery's book and start up a thread where we can discuss Fantasy Flight's newest reason to work overtime: Star Wars Armada!
    A game of Space combat on a scale larger than X-Wing I am pretty keen on it (maybe because I actually win once and a while!), there are videos posted on how to play and I have been taking lots of pics, hopefully it has encouraged some of you to go out and try this game!

    Last weekend while making the rounds I picked up one of everything (well two of the Imperial Fighter Squadrons) and thought I would share the joy of ripping open a brand new packet starting with the Emperors finest...

    First up the Imperial Fighter Squadrons, you get two of everything in this box, Regular TIE, TIE-Advanced, TIE-Interceptor ans TIE-Bomber, with a unique squadron for each.
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    Not only does Mr. Mithel have the brace defense token but the scatter token will allow you to cancel all attack dice from one attack per turn(two if you want to discard it, it beats dying I guess). Use it wisely as he is almost double what a TIE Squadron clocks in at points-wise.

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    Finally an escort for the Imperials(maybe finally doesn't fit it is wave one after all) not only does your opponents squadrons have to attack them first, they 5 hull points to chew through. Guess Vader is stuck in his TIE-Advanced until he gets on a Star Destroyer in Wave 2.

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    For 3 points more than a regular TIE Squadron Interceptors have it going on! an extra attack die against squadrons,an extra move distance, not to mention the counter ability. And the Baron? Talk about an escort for your escorts engaged enemy squadrons will have to attack your escorts first, and every time they do its gonna cost them a damage and when they do get around to dealing with him you have brace and scatter to help you out and then a counter on top!

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    Last up is the Heavies, not a lot of anti-squadron weapons on these bad boys so be careful. Major Rhymer is confusing the hell out of me, I'm reading that he allows squadrons close to him to attack ships at close or medium range even though they normally can only attack ships at close range.

  2. #2
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    I'm loving this game. I have the new squadrons but my other Wave 1 ships are coming later this week! I read the Major Rhymer the same way. ie Any sqds within distance 1 of him can attack at either close or medium range.
    My Truescale Insanity
    http://www.lounge.belloflostsouls.net/showthread.php?48704-Truescale-Space-Wolves

  3. #3

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    Quote Originally Posted by Brenlak View Post
    Finally an escort for the Imperials
    What are you talking about? We got an escort for the Imperials in the starter box - there's just nothing for it to escort until wave 2!

    Edit: silly me, the pictures hadn't loaded and I thought you were talking about the Gladiator, and so what I was talking about was flanking an Imperial with a pair of Victories. I can't wait!

    But yeah, I guess having an escort starfighter is kind of nice. Have you modelled your Vader with two regular TIEs for wingmen instead of a trio of Advanced?
    Last edited by Houghten; 05-18-2015 at 02:53 PM.

  4. #4
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    Have you modelled your Vader with two regular TIEs for wingmen instead of a trio of Advanced?
    Haha, not as of yet but I am going to need a couple more sets of Imperial Fighter Squadrons just for the extra Interceptors and Advanced TIEs since I already have 10 squads of TIE-Fighters i am planning to not build them just so I can use the extra bits to set up my squads the way I want too.

    Then all my unique pilots will have boss squads then all that will be left to do is paint them!

    Hopefully 40kGamer will throw up some juicy pics and a color guide once the paint dries...

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by Brenlak View Post
    Haha, not as of yet but I am going to need a couple more sets of Imperial Fighter Squadrons just for the extra Interceptors and Advanced TIEs since I already have 10 squads of TIE-Fighters i am planning to not build them just so I can use the extra bits to set up my squads the way I want too.

    Then all my unique pilots will have boss squads then all that will be left to do is paint them!

    Hopefully 40kGamer will throw up some juicy pics and a color guide once the paint dries...
    I'll definitely get some squadron photos up this week... I'm trying to work up Vader with 2x regular ties but the ships come out pretty crowded on the couple bases I tested. Will have to see what I can work up to get the right look for the big baddy!
    Last edited by 40kGamer; 05-18-2015 at 08:25 PM.
    My Truescale Insanity
    http://www.lounge.belloflostsouls.net/showthread.php?48704-Truescale-Space-Wolves

  6. #6
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    Now on to the Victory Class Star Destroyer:
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    Never noticed the blue engine glow before, nice touch!

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    Might recognize these bad boys from the Starter set. The only difference between the two builds for the Victory Class is the die colors on the hull zones. For an extra 12 points The Victory II replaces its black, close range dice with blue medium range dice.
    Black dice: Blanks(misses) 2/8
    Hits 4/8
    Hit and Critical 2/8
    Blue dice: Accuracy 2/8
    Hits 4/8
    Critical 2/8
    The accuracy is nice for disabling defense tokens, but the Black dice look like they would really tear squadrons up, and if your like me you are going to get your Destroyers closer than you want to anyway.

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    Besides the ship cards (and weapon liaisons, expanded hanger bays and Assault concussion missiles) that's where the differences in the starter set stop. Admiral Motti looks amazing! but 24 points? I haven't played enough to know if that's worth the cost. Ysanne is nuts! (Oh excuse me I mean Director Isard), one enemy ship, no range stipulation for 3 points? Yep she's going on my classiest ship.

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    I didn't include the weapon liaison since she came with the starter set too but I should have so that everybody gets a feel of exactly what's in the set. Defense Liaison looks good if you get in a pinch(easy to do as Victorys plan there commands three turns ahead of time). And hey if you went for the longer range Victory II then those accuracy results combined with an Intel Officer looks like a great way to strip your opponent of there defense tokens.

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    Squadron value of 4 on my Victory class? Yes Please. Obviously the Concussion Missiles are better suited to the Victory I and the Overload Pulse to a victory II just think of the token denying ability of a Victory II with Overload pulse and an Intel Officer...

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    On a victory class this card equals 2 points per each blue die you add, cheaper if you expanded your fighter bays and lets face it, aren't you sick of X-wings one shoting you while you roll 3 attack dice and they laugh with there 5 hull value.

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    These cards are new in this set, Turbolasers are like regular lasers only turbo, great when your enemy enjoys reinforcing their shields. The Ion Cannons (again Victory II only) lets you choose and discard, always nice to choose...

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    The new Victory Class Titles are pretty specific take Corrupter if you take bombers and take Warlord if your a Victory II (the red dice have 1/8 Accuracy faces I don't like those odds for 8 points).

    There you have the Victory Class Star Destroyer, now on to the exciting one, the new one, The Gladiator!

    - - - Updated - - -

    I'm trying to work up Vader with 2x regular ties but the ships come out pretty crowed on the couple bases I tested.
    Tell me about it, those TIE-Bombers, I thought they would never fit!

  7. #7
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    Ah finally the Gladiator Class star destroyer, it's a cute little fella, but I am still trying to figure out how to best use the wee thing.

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    Well that's a huge improvement of movement over a Victory Class, Almost as good as a Nebulon Class and a command of 2 gives you a bit better reaction time than the big Victorys. So basically for an extra 7 points the Gladiator II gains red dice on either side an doubles it's anti squadron attack dice pretty nice.

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    The third Admiral for the Empire so far trades quantity for quality. you only have a 1/4 chance of a crit with a red die so why not guarantee it? Million dollar question: If I cancel my red die to switch a die facing to a critical the only dice left will be black. The only critical on a black dice also has a damage on it (2 for 1) would I then receive an extra hit? That being noted since you only roll the black in close range this ability is useless on a Gladiator at medium or long range. Chiraneau I will have to try out. Speed 2 is only enough to get you just out of engaged range, wouldn't the enemy just engage you again? I guess it's good for the TIE-Bombers.

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    Weapons Liaison is cheap enough but probably looks better on a Victory(Since it has a higher Command than the Gladiator) and I guess the sensor guy can help get rid of some of those braces the Nebulon has.

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    The Gladiator Class is the only Imperial ship so far that has support teams so there will be no moving these fellas onto a Victory. That's a shame as the ability to increase a yaw value on a Victory would be huge! The Engine Techs would be particularly useful on a Gladiator I seeing your going to want to get close and don't want to cause a pileup.

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    No Ordnance allowed on a Victory so these are both Gladiator exclusives. Expanded Launchers are very nice with black dice being pretty deadly, and those concussion missiles can start to prove useful against Braces and against ships with low shields (Lookin at you Corvettes).

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    And the titles. Insidious is cheap enough, imagine combining that with Expanded Launchers and the Engine Techs? I think it would be deadly zoomy. Demolisher seems expensive but all things considered if you are unable to make two attacks anyway why not make one that counts? Plus the Gladiator seems fairly maneuverable.


    Well that's it for now. Not going to get into the Rebelscum tonight, kinda ran out of time rambling on about all the great Imperial stuff. I am excited people are on here posting and replying! I did one of these when I first got Armada and no one even said boo on that thread! I thought Armada was on the down and outs, that it would never get the respect X-Wing gets, but now I see it's still early in the game and people will come around. Posting this helps keep me excited since no one around here has gotten into it yet its good to get this stuff of my mindgrapes. Now it's time for a traditional bachelors dinner of Hot Dogs and Gin, flavor country!

  8. #8

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    Quote Originally Posted by Brenlak View Post
    Might recognize these bad boys from the Starter set. The only difference between the two builds for the Victory Class is the die colors on the hull zones. For an extra 12 points The Victory II replaces its black, close range dice with blue medium range dice.
    We~ell, it also swaps the missile slot for a cannon slot.

    Quote Originally Posted by Brenlak View Post
    If I cancel my red die to switch a die facing to a critical the only dice left will be black. The only critical on a black dice also has a damage on it (2 for 1) would I then receive an extra hit?
    Until and unless they FAQ Screed to say "face with only a [crit] icon," I believe you would.

  9. #9

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    I'm still reticent about the game, but remain kind-of interested.....

    From the pictures I've been seeing online, the slightly ropey models I saw at the SciFi Weekender may well have been factory seconds for demo purposes only....but I dunno. I'm a definite 'twelfty of everything' gamer, and this is just looking a bit out of my price bracket.

    For now anyways!
    Fed up for Scalpers? https://www.facebook.com/groups/1710575492567307/?ref=bookmarks

  10. #10

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    Quote Originally Posted by Mr Mystery View Post
    I'm still reticent about the game, but remain kind-of interested.....

    From the pictures I've been seeing online, the slightly ropey models I saw at the SciFi Weekender may well have been factory seconds for demo purposes only....but I dunno. I'm a definite 'twelfty of everything' gamer, and this is just looking a bit out of my price bracket.

    For now anyways!

    Well, with the size fleets are meant to be, I don't think a fleet will run more than $150. If you're looking to get ALL THE STUFF!, then yes, it could run up the price. But seriously, didn't you just comment in another thread you're looking to get a book that's going to run something like $110 (I'm a bit rusty on the conversion at the moment)? And you get all kinds of GW stuff, where the armies make this game look super-cheap. So the only issue is that you're choosing to invest the vast majority of your dollars into another game(s), which doesn't leave much for this one. And that's fair enough, but come on, man, when you play GW games, you can't really call other games "pricey."

    The models aren't bad. You probably saw early prototypes or something, not sure. I got the core box, and the ships are pretty good looking. The paint jobs aren't bad, either. I'll probably end up doing some of my own over time, but for now, I'm content with how they look.

    My friend is wanting to do Imperials, so that leaves me looking at Rebels for now. Their ships are either $20 or $40, and that includes a decent model already painted, plus all the rules for the model and plenty of options (which often can be used for other models). Pretty good deal, really. Given the core game contents, I can probably grab another Nebulon B, another Corellian Corvette, and one of the Assault Frigates, and toss in some squadrons... at full retail it'd be about $100, but less if I go the Amazon route. If you think that's a bit much, imagine picturing all of that stuff sitting on a table beside a single Bloodthirster model (and toss in another Corvette or Neb-B to even it up). Helps put it in better perspective. Sure, you can also compare a VSD to a squad of Skitarii Rangers, but that still doesn't make the VSD look bad. (Quite nice, really. It's more comparable to a Space Marine Dreadnought or Razorback, but cheaper, already painted, and, again, has all the rules in the box.)





    (Note, this isn't a GW pricing rant. It's just making comparisons based on a baseline many people know.)

    - - - Updated - - -

    Oh, and the game is actually pretty fun. Lightweight rules, sure, but they give plenty of room for tactics and all. You really have to be careful with a ship's speed and maneuvering, too, so that adds a whole new element to consider (small ships going fast might seem nice, but when they can't get in range and keep skirting the edge of the table, you're losing effectiveness).

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