HiI play casually with a friend and only ever played a handful of games. I've picked up the Rebel ships from the core set as well as Rebel Fighters 1, Assault Frigate, Home One, MC30c, Rogues and Villains, and Rebel Transports.Any tips on:1) best list/tactics to have using the above?2) recommended purchases?3) General Armada/Rebel tips?I feel I'm not getting the best out of this game, particularly at executing commands, ship synergy and especially with utilising squadrons beyond defending my ships from enemy fighters. I seem to do well at activation order and defensive manoeuvring although my ships have a tendency to either one get in one or two shots or just completely fly out of the action (maybe my deployment sucks?). Happy to admit I am a terrible player but basic pointers would be hugely helpful to get the most out of this game. I actually understand the rules completely, just don't seem to be able to engage properly. Not necessarily from a win at all costs perspective, just want to have fun without either half my ships seeing little action or my fleet getting wiped out by getting too close or going too slowly. Well, I would definitely be using Ackbar with the ships you have, just to start with.Don’t be afraid to engage the other ships and get close, it’s part of the game to lose ships, so don’t run from it.
- The third of the Rebel starship expansion packs in the first wave of Armada releases is the Assault Frigate Mark II Expansion Pack. Featuring one pre-painted Assault Frigate Mark II miniature and fourteen upgrades, this is the big Rebel expansion for admirals who want to battle the Empire’s Star Destroyers on more even terms.
- Also fighters are your friends, as the rebel fighters are generally better than their imperial counterparts and rebels rely on using these in conjunction with their capital ships to maximise the effects of both. Just getting used to the manoeuvre tool will help you massively, and getting practice with.
At the same time, suicide runs aren’t exactly recommended usually.It seems that you kind of like broadside fleets? If so, buying another AfMK2 or another MC30 isn’t a bad buy. Depends on if you want stand off fire or in their face. Or hey, another MC80 Home One type. 🤷🏼♂️ Pretty much, buy what you think is cool and go from there.
Star Wars: Armada is an epic two-player game of tactical fleet battles in the Star Wars galaxy. Massive Star Destroyers fly to battle against Rebel corvettes and frigates. Banks of turbolasers unleash torrential volleys of fire against squadrons of X-wing and TIEs.
Don't worry, using rebels effectively can be quite difficult! As so many other people on this sub do, I recommend having a read through the blog 'Can not get your ship out' (link in sidebar) as they know their shit and give good advice. As to your specific questions:1) You could get a decent Ackbar conga going with the Home One, AFMkII and MC30c. You also have a very good anti-fighter screen in 3x X-wings + Jan Ors if you so choose.2) Getting a Neb-B expansion is generally a good shout as it has:.XI7 Turbolasers - one of the better turbolaser upgrades.Yavaris - allows you to attack twice with squadrons activated by the Neb-B, extremely good when paired with b-wings and a couple of other upgrades (flight controllers, Adar Tallon etc.).But, as someone else has said, adding to your Ackbar strength with another broadside ship could also be fun. It all hinges on what kind of game you wanna play, I'm quite enjoying flying lots of small, rag-tag rebel ships and swarming bigger ships at the moment but you may enjoy wrecking up the place with the Rebel capital ships - it's up to you.3) In general their ships are less powerful and require careful piloting to make sure they don't get squished ineffectually. Generally you're aiming to get your smaller, more manoeuvrable ships behind the enemy's and hit them in their weaker areas.
Also fighters are your friends, as the rebel fighters are generally better than their imperial counterparts and rebels rely on using these in conjunction with their capital ships to maximise the effects of both. Just getting used to the manoeuvre tool will help you massively, and getting practice with what tokens to use and when.
If you're struggling with the latter then there are some officers which are quite forgiving in allowing you to switch out commands for more useful ones if the situation calls for it. Just a few thoughts.Ackbar with the Assault Frigate B, Home One (Assault version), and MC30 (scout version) is a nice list that wants to stay at long range. The basic strategy is to move your ships together, mutually supporting each other with red dice. Gunnery team on assault frigate, Ackbar on Home One with electronic countermeasures and engine techs and perhaps home one title, and either gunnery team or turbolaser reroute circuits on MC30 (if not gunnery team, ordnance experts and assault proton torpedoes).
Try to do a line where the ships can go around each other but move in the same direction. Include as many fighters as you can put in, probably Jan Ors and X wings. Transport if you can fit it in. Ideally, transport squadron commands, AF/MC80 primarily navigate and also engineer, and MC30 navigates. Maybe have all of them just navigate to get a feel for when it is needed and not.
You ideally want to circle and swirl around the enemy ships.You can also do a bomber list with what you have. The assault frigate is good at commanding squadrons, as is Home One, and the rebel transports. One option - Try putting flight controllers on the assault frigate and expanded hanger bays, an MC30 with ordnance experts and assault protons and the Admonition tile, and a rebel transport, and include Y wings, X wings, and Jan Ors. Include bomber command center on the transport.
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Make sure you don't include more fighters than your squadron command value plus say 2. So, AF and transports can command 6, don't have more than 8 squadrons. Either take a navigate token or squadron token on AF/transport, and then, probably rounds 2-3-4-5, do mostly squadron commands, maybe one navigate in turn 4 for the AF. For the MC30, it will want to run up and do ship damage (ideally avoiding a dangerous arc), and then run away, so navigate all the time. Dodonna would be a good choice for this idea.I think for your specific question, really think about how your ships can take some damage that they can survive, but then be into safer spots they can live in.
Let's look at the MC30. It can usually (with the Admonition title) take 1 really nasty shot from say an ISD's front arc. But then after it attacks, it wants to be a safer spot, often behind the ISD or in a side arc. Now it's moving away.you might only get 1 round of serious black range attacks (hope you got a double arc!). The Assault Frigate wants to be at red range, and constantly moving away from things chasing it. If you can stay at long range, red range of an ISD, you can probably live there the whole game. If the ISD gets close and shoots you, you need to be able to get past the front arc.
The Home One is a bit tankier, but try it with engine techs so you can go speed 2 + speed 1 again when needed.I would highly recommend taking navigate tokens on all your ships round 1. Then, try to guess what commands you need. The token will give you lots of flexibility, especially if you start out with a speed in the middle like speed 2.Don't be worried if your ships die, that's part of the fun of the game, and you'll learn how to best use them, so they contribute to your strategy.In general, the rebellion wants to use superior mobility to avoid dangerous imperial fire, less expensive ships to have more ships and more activations to help avoid imperial fire, and depending on your strategy use good mixed role fighter/bombers to win the squadron battle and bomb the enemy or just bomb the enemy. There are really many viable tactics and its more nuanced, but don't try to just mirror how the Empire is approaching their strategy!. Getting the hang of maneuvering is pretty important. When you deploy, you need to think about your speed/vector as well as that of your opponents.
You want to be able to estimate where your ships will be in relation to each other in the next couple of turns, so you can plan your dials (for 2 and 3 command ships).Managing speed takes some practice, too. When I started, I had a problem of flying past enemy ships waaaaaay too fast, meaning I only got 1-2 shots in before completely overshooting my target and being effectively disengaged for the rest of the fight. Having a nav command banked early on helps you slam the brakes on when you need to, so you can more effectively keep up the pressure.I think about 2/3 of winning in armada is about deployment/maneuvering. I would focus on those things, maybe even just spamming nav commands all the time, until you're confident about your ability to move your ships around.also has a great series of videos on how to use different Rebel and Imperial ships that you may want to check out. The best tip I can give you: Practice! If you find it hard to find local games, start your own group or join the Tabeltop Simulator and Vassal groups.
Practicing is the only way I ever get better against other people.Other general tips include: Read the Armada blogs. Snipafist has some great articles on how to use Commanders and Ships/reviews.Learn what synergies work - example - don't take the Yavaris title with the Nebulon-B Support Refit.
This requires some playing around.Some Commanders are easier to to field - Ackbar, Dodonna don't have to meet many moving parts to get their benefit, and are straightforward. Reikeen is an excellent Commander to get your feet wet with too.To help yourself learn the Commands, put on the LIasons/Officers that allow you to switch to what you need. Once you have enough game time under your belt, you'll learn what your opponent intends to do based on their Objective/fleet build and deployment and this will help you better pick commands.