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so I have halo fleet battles but for some reason am really struggling to make it through the rulebook. I don't know if it is written weird or im just not feeling it enough but man am I having a rough time...
I was thinking of trying out firestorm armada using the halo ships but have heard mixed reviews on that as well.

do any of you have any dealings with either to help steer me in the right direction?

Easy. Firestorm Armada.

They're supposedly rewriting the rulebook and stat cards already. It wouldn't be Spartan if they didn't try to push s second edition out so quickly. FWIW, I thought the rulebook was well laid out and clear and, while not perfect, preferred the mechanics alot more than Firestorm' s.

Thanks guys.
Yeah, I can't say why I'm having a hard time with it.
Maybe I'll take a break and try again later.

Watching some video gameplay of both games might help with your decision and/or getting through the rulebook.

Rulebooks tend to exhaust me, and I prefer watching a demo of a game - helps a lot in going back and properly digesting rulesets.

I play Halo FB but not Firestorm. Have to admit I have been tempted by Firestorm as it gives you a lot more factions to play around with.

That being said HFB is a really enjoyable game. It doesn't take too long to play, a problem with GW games IMO.

I learned the rules in various stages. Played without wings or borders first, then added borders and finally started playing with wings.

I find with most games it takes a while to get into it, but with HFB I would say it is definitely worth it. The fleets are balanced and adhere to the fluff.

I hope you get into it and enjoy :-)

Boarding actions IMO are the most wtf? part of the game. It's only a single roll (with plenty of modifiers) but the mechanics of that interaction are drastically different than everything else in the game. It's just weird. The fighter/bomber phase needs a bit of a buff IMO as well as they're basically useless except taking down the last box of damage on the smallest ships in the game. YMMV. I don't know if they're addressing that in the revamp of the rules and stats.

Just to add one more option:

Have you considered Dropfleet Commander from Hawk Wargames? Comes out in August of this year. Co-designed by Andy Chambers (of GW fame- he also wrote a few other little games for them like BFG and Mordheim...). Looks very promising.

I was on the fence between Halo and FA but decided to pledge for Dropfleet Commander and now I'm waiting - should be out in a month!

Thanks guys, I hadn't thought about drop fleet. Any insight as to whether or not they'll offer free rules?
It's pretty much the main reason I was looking at fa as an alternative.

I think you can still do a late pledge for Dropfleet.

I didn't realize (or think to ask if) you were open to other company's games but I'll second the Dropfleet idea. Hawk has shown that they know how to support and develop their games well so hopefully should continue the trend. While I myself chose Halo (it was a year ago though and dropfleet is still far away) and prefer it over Firestorm, it hasn't exactly lit the gaming world on fire due to some typical Spartan style blunders.