An app version of CC would be ideal.

The ISD isn't effective? ... What?

This is how I make sense of "balanced" fleets. "Balanced Fleets on the Table" is not the same thing as "Equally Powerful Factions In All Respects".

Given that starfighters and ships mostly use blue for their anti-squadron, it makes sense.

My local store doesn't really carry Armada, and is notorious for being super slow for running special orders.

Sounds like some people have a lot of spare Jerjerrod's.

Great. Now I like the stupid things even more.

Oh god. Is that how that works? Oh god, if that's true, I've been playing everything so, so wrong.

So, I have a soft spot for "stealth" and cloaking ships and fighters, and I like the Phantoms... in theory. How viable do you think they are in play? I haven't gotten to do much with mine, and I only have the one Imp 2 pack so far. Are they something I can spam (for style and theme, mostly, but I'd like it to be minimally effective)? Sprinkle? Should I just avoid them? Will other people want them? Will they be fairly easy to trade for more?

I think it's an interesting (and potent) design space, but I feel like people don't fully grasp what it could do. I, too, expect (and hope) that we'll see it at some point. I don't think it'll end squadron play. But I also don't think it'll be suitable to being your only answer to squadrons, either. I suspect it'll end up synergizing really well with squadron play, and maybe make it more dangerous overall, but still not really facilitate "all ships" play.

I suspect such massive area-denial for squadrons is more of a challenge (to squadron play) than the area denial of an ISD's front arc. Beyond using it defensively, consider how someone can use it offensively. Drive in bombers. Use your red-anti-squadron ship to take pot-shots at potentially every single one of your opponent's screening squadrons. At that point, are you making things "better" or worse? EDIT: And I'll add, after an evening of looking, I've been unable to find any examples of Star Wars fleet-size battles where starfighters (and bombers) weren't a major component of them. Heck, the descriptions of starfighter strategy and military theory are, essentially, descriptions of the existing squadron game. "You need to bring squadrons to prevent enemy squadrons from wrecking your capital ships, as they tend to do."

I got the Home One MC-80 when I was starting out in large part because it filled so many points for the Rebels (being effective was a bonus), and made it easier to balance my meager Rebel fleet against a real (if also meager) Imperial fleet.

Wanting to just play Big Ship Battles is cool, options are great, play how you want and all. But squadronless lists feel completely foreign to the "star wars" I know. I know the actual films are a small snapshot of the universe, but... is that even a thing anywhere? In the extended universe?

I started out with the same plan, but wound up dumping waaaaaaay more into it just for the variety (and the awesomeness). You need more squadrons. Squadrons are cool. Rogues and Villains​ adds some interesting mechanics, and is very thematic. I like having small ships for Rebels and​ if you shop around you should be able to find them very cheap. Another Corvette. Another Frigate. Maybe an MC-30. I like having big ships for Rebels. I think an Imperial Star Destroyer is an absolute must-have. Beyond that, grab a few ships that you think look cool. I wouldn't get another VSD unless you really​ want one (and even then...). Flotillas are mechanically neat​, and look great on the table. They're relatively cheap. Grab some later, maybe. The Mon Cal Cruisers (Home One or ​Liberty​) are potent and interesting. I don't think they're a "must have" for casual Rebels play, though it can be nice to have one of the bigger ships. I forgot the Rebel Assault Frigate even existed for a minute there. It's easily one of my least favorite looking​ ships, but it's a good buy at some point. I started out trying to keep them "balanced" by buying the Rebels a big ship (to counter the empire's VSD), and the Imperials a small​ ship (to match them up better to the rebels). It... kind of​ worked. Not sure I'd recommend doing that though.

Coming from the WotC SWMiniatures game, this was one of the easiest concepts for me. That game made strong use of very similar mechanics, and even had options that specifically played around with it (like characters that gave you even better activation control, and characters - Thrawn! - that gave you greater control over initiative).

Irregular Squadron Strategic Intel

I want a U-Wing squadron. I don't expect to get that for a (looooooong) while, given that we just got another wave of squadrons. Someday. Someday. I'm hoping for Rogue One related ships, though. I'm guessing only a couple of them. Maybe more Flotilla options, with a release date a while off?

I have two concerns with anti-squadron stuff. On one hand, the ideal state of the game as a whole needs to support as much variety as possible. Strong anti-squadron ship options are good in this regard. But on the other hand, I like the game to remain as "star wars-ey" as possible. "Fleet Combat" that doesn't require squadron support just feels... off. Star Wars isn't realistic space battles or even fantasy naval battles, it's star wars space battles. And Star Wars seems to show capital ships consistently weak against squadrons when not adequately supported by their own.

My impression, after joining this forum a few days ago, is just that y'all are... kind of bored. And tired. I've seen so many worse "offenses" in so many other forums (I go on 4chan for god's sake! I was on the WotC boards during the worst of their "edition war" glory days!), the "trolling" doesn't even phase me. But I just like to talk about things, even if they're dumb, and even if they're issues usually associated with "trolling". Ignore the troll, engage the issues, wait for problematic posters to post problematic things and then report them. Eh. I'm weird. Forums are my thing, probably even moreso than Armada actually is (though I certainly like Armada more).

If it has that and is a good squadron-command-ship, then the quasar will be my very best friend.

I'm limited by my collection (specifically not having a lot of ships that I should, and not having the upgrades that I would need for real competitive play), so the CC restrictions are really appealing to me. I was going to build a Rebel Aces fleet for our little casual CC campaign, but I'm a little bit worried about it being too much for my other (very casual - moreso than me) players I've conned into CC. I feel like it's something that can start strong and, if it's successful, really snowball out of control as you add points and deny points to your opponents.

I think the Z95 is the literal only AA red dice, even if it is squad to squad. Red dice are terrible against squads though. Yeah it has a doublehit but it has the lowest hit chance of all the dice. Doublehits would be nice but highly unpredictable. I think the Z95 is the literal only AA red dice, even if it is squad to squad. Red dice are terrible against squads though. Yeah it has a doublehit but it has the lowest hit chance of all the dice. Doublehits would be nice but highly unpredictable. Ship anti-squadron fire follows the normal rules for range though, right? Red-range anti-squad seems like it could be interesting, at the very least. Red+Blue could be very effective.

For all of its faults, I did enjoy Pirates. I still have all of the punch cards somewhere. I loved the game, and grabbed up boatloads of it during college. I still remember our "screw it, let's use hundreds of points worth of ships (when the default was... 40?) in one massive battle that fills the entire livingroom of one of our apartments" engagements very fondly. I still have all of mine stored away in the garage, like so many other miniatures and collectible games I've gotten deeply into in the past. I think the only game that I've actually gotten rid of was the Star Wars Miniatures Starship Battles from WotC. And that was only because that game was absolutely and completely garbage.

Do we have any Red anti-squadron yet?

The game Pirates of the Spanish Main was a casual fleet-battle (naval ships) that effectively had "move and shoot" as its base rule (it was tied to an "upgrade", but one that every single combat ship would have in every game because of course you would). It was faster, it was deadlier, and it made the game feel much less strategic. I don't think that fits with Armada's design (or appeal for most people) at all. The current setup certainly felt weird to me, personally, because of my experience with Pirates, but after a few games it became pretty obvious why it works how it does in Armada. Positioning is vital. Timing is vital. Planning is vital. The ways that navigation, speed, and shooting work all contribute to the general feeling of mass and momentum that Armada captures well.