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As this is kind of an Armada and Firsts thread, I'd like to ask for some advice for the first game of Armada at home. (not club setting)

A little bit of background: the reason I first started playing X Wing is because my Dad and I found it at a Barnes and Noble and we were bored and the Core set was only $40. We both really loved it and bought some more expansions. I quickly grasped all the more advanced rules and tactics as well as getting advice here on Dakka and I ended up winning most if not all of our first games and he got discouraged and doesn't play anymore.

I'd like to avoid this situation with Armada. I'd like to hand him some exciting victories to build his confidence and get him interested in the game so that way when we build up the fleets he'll still want to play whether he wins or loses and I'll have another opponent to play against that's a little more casual.

I'll be getting the Core set either this week or next and we'll probably have time for some games as soon as it gets here

Any tips on subtly tipping the balance in his favor? Is it as simple as a small points advantage? Or maybe a tactic I can employ with the VSD or the Rebels to make for a handy win (or loss for me) without being too obvious?

IMO the VSD is a bit easier to use than the Rebel ships when you first start playing. And if you want to give him a subtle advantage don't try too hard to stay out of his front arc. After your learning games, you could also go through the objective cards and pick ones you think favors whichever side he wants to play.

I played a round with the starter set as the imperials yesterday. My vsd pounded everything to pieces. We're still a bit shaky on the rules so sure we missed some stuff. Enjoyed having the rebel player accidentally crash into me though!

The game seems very promising. Looking Foward to the deck building part as I really enjoy that with xwing.

I had a game yesterday at club and I was good, I had the killing blow to a Nebulan B and won the game.

and that was with four players.

I had my first experience with Armada last Saturday - a 3 x core set battle with three guys on each side and it was awesome. I like X-Wing as a one on one game, but I have to say the epic scale of armada makes it feel much better for large groups of people to play.

I also really like the balance - Imperials are very strong (a VSD one-shot'd my corvette at one point!) and resilient (the rebels only managed to take down one VSD by game end) while the rebels are very mobile (hit speed three and run circles around those big slugs!) and their fighters are superior (10 dead TIE squadrons to 2 X-Wings).

We (the rebels) lost in the end but only by 5 points so a very close game.

Great fun all-round, beer should be considered an auto-include equipment upgrade.

I really look forward to a four-person game sometime. I'm quite excited to get Wave 1 tomorrow (hopefully).

 Manchu wrote:
I'm quite excited to get Wave 1 tomorrow (hopefully).

I will be picking it up on my way to work tomorrow evening. Right now, I'm thinking on just sticking with Rebels and will most likely be holding off on Imperials for now (of course, my willpower is nothing so I expect that to change). My friends and I are having game night this Saturday and while I would like to continue out Imperial Assault campaign, it will be hard to not get some Armada time in, especially if my buddy gets his in the mail before then. I really want to play a 300 point game on a full 6'x3' surface...

 Iapedus wrote:
Great fun all-round, beer should be considered an auto-include equipment upgrade.

I don't show up to game night without it.

Yah, I'm waiting to hear the reviews on wave 1 before I go hog wild on buying. Interested to see what you guys think.

I only played my first games last weekend with 1 starter set, and seem to have had the opposite experience with the starter's balance. In both games, the Rebels won, the first narrowly but the second being not close at all.

In neither case was this due to luck of the die (though Luke played a huge part in the victory of the first game). In both, the Rebel ships completely avoided the front arc of the Victory and looped around to its back. The Victory was then helpless, being unable to turn at all effectively, and only throwing a pitiful number of die. The only kill the victory managed in the second was when the CR-90 was forced to move into its front arc when going at high speed, but it had just done 4 hull damage to the Victory, and the Ned finished it off right after.

Overall, it seems to me that if the Rebels play it properly with maneuvering, the Victory will have no chance to roll those 6 front arc die against them...

 General Seric wrote:
I only played my first games last weekend with 1 starter set, and seem to have had the opposite experience with the starter's balance. In both games, the Rebels won, the first narrowly but the second being not close at all.

In neither case was this due to luck of the die (though Luke played a huge part in the victory of the first game). In both, the Rebel ships completely avoided the front arc of the Victory and looped around to its back. The Victory was then helpless, being unable to turn at all effectively, and only throwing a pitiful number of die. The only kill the victory managed in the second was when the CR-90 was forced to move into its front arc when going at high speed, but it had just done 4 hull damage to the Victory, and the Ned finished it off right after.

Overall, it seems to me that if the Rebels play it properly with maneuvering, the Victory will have no chance to roll those 6 front arc die against them...

I agree with this for the Core especially if playing with 2 cores. At the tournaments I've run at the 180 level in a 3x3 space, the Imperials can not keep up with a 3 rebel ship build if the rebel player is good at maneuvering. I suspect though that Wave 1 will blow the meta wide open to new possibilities with it's 3x6 playfield and 300pt Fleets. Then Wave 2 will bump it up to 400pts changing it even further.

Just picked up my core set from the FLGS for about $75/50 quid, super excited to get it home.

That's quite a good price for Hong Kong (should be $100/75 quid) so was wondering is it worth getting two core sets?

With Wave 1 now out, it might be better to start buying toward the specific list or theme of lists you want to try out.

 Iapedus wrote:
That's quite a good price for Hong Kong (should be $100/75 quid) so was wondering is it worth getting two core sets?

I think the common consensus is no, it isn't worth it. In my opinion, you would be better served to just pick up the expansions that just came out this week.

Great game, a blast to play. I'm not into star wars to put it lightly but will probably end up with a fleet anyway.

Prices are ridiculous though, some gw stuff looks like a bargain next to it. Still loads of people want to get in, that's what proper tactical rules get you I guess. Take a hint Jervis.

The advantage of armada is that the miniatures are already painted, they come with all their own rules, and require no glue to assemble. Also, one generally will require fewer models for a typical gaming experience.

Plumbumbarum wrote:
Great game, a blast to play. I'm not into star wars to put it lightly but will probably end up with a fleet anyway.

Prices are ridiculous though, some gw stuff looks like a bargain next to it. Still loads of people want to get in, that's what proper tactical rules get you I guess. Take a hint Jervis.

Argonak is right your paying for the pre-painting, squadrons being the onlt unpainted models so far. You'll typically need less models than a GW game when the Moncal cruiser and ISD are released theyll suck points down like crazy. Squadron packs have 10-12 squadrons they ar worth every penny.

Plumbumbarum wrote:
Great game, a blast to play. I'm not into star wars to put it lightly but will probably end up with a fleet anyway.

Prices are ridiculous though, some gw stuff looks like a bargain next to it. Still loads of people want to get in, that's what proper tactical rules get you I guess. Take a hint Jervis.

This game is truly excellent, and I reckon is also pretty good value for money. Absolutely cannot agree that it makes any GW stuff look good in that respect (I'm not sure that is actually possible anyway!)
I have a 300 pt. Imperial fleet from half a starter box, a Star Destroyer addon, and a squadron pack - roughly £65. Still having great fun with it, and can't wait for the Monster Star Destroyer to be released
Even our all black 6" x 3" piece of a galaxy far, far away was knocked up for less than a tenner from Proper Job - no way can that be said for the game board and terrain we use for 40K / Warhammer.