(Part 2) Top products from r/StarWarsArmada

Okay FIRST! You should know, you can play any faction in Armada, Empire VS. Empire, Rebels VS. Rebels, Rebels VS. Empire.

Also the Thrawn expansion won't be available for another couple of months. Probably end of November - end of December.

If you want something to counter Thrawn's ISD Chimaera that really depends. This is a point game, you can have five Corvettes or one STar Cruiser, it's up to you. Do you mean a ship of a similar size? Then there's the Home One Cruiser and Liberty Cruiser, but there's also the Profundity Cruiser coming out with Thrawn. I feel you should also know the Chimaera will come with inferior cards, the regular ISD comes with the normal ISD-I and ISD-II cards. You won't have a fun time playing without the ISD-II card. I suggest finding a way of getting one.

Someone asked this a couple days ago. I'm just going to copy my answer over, you might find it useful.

Is this on a budget? Or just wondering what to get first? I'll link everything I name to Amazon, just so you can see what they look like and to see the rough pricing. You might have to change the url to your respective country's though.

It might look like a wall of text but I'm very brief on each ship here. The bottom will give you the best explanation. Please feel free to ask any questions about the various ships. I own at least one of each ship I name and have used them all at least once.

You could first invest in Squadrons. Rebel Fighter Squadrons Expansion Pack I, and Imperial Fighter Squadrons Expansion Pack I. Then there's also the Rogues and Villains Expansion Pack which includes ships for both factions. Such as the Millienium Falcon and Slave I.

For ships, it all depends on what you want your fleet to work as. Want large capital ships? Go for an Imperial-Class Star Destroyer, and a Calamari Cruiser, to which there are two options. The Home One Cruiser and the Liberty version. Easiest way of differentiating the two? Home One is slower and fires from it's flanks, Liberty is faster and spews out its attacks from it's front hull. All three are of course super fun to play, though they take a little more skill to manuever effectively. I rarely use fleets that lack my Star Destroyer Basilisk or my Home One Cruiser Allusis. My two favourite ships to use.

Want something smaller? Try an Assault Frigate or two. Great ships. They can lead fleets well as Flagships or support larger capital ships. Another invaluable Rebel ship is Mc30c Frigate. Fast, and deadly at close range. I rarely play Rebels, but when I do I always use this ship, along with the Assault Frigate or the Home One.

For the Empire you have lots of options. You can add a second Victory-Class Star Destroyer to your fleet, along with the core set Victory. They work pretty well, are easy enough to move around, and look cool. Want something up close and personal? The Gladiator-Class Star Destroyer is one of the most popular medium sized Imperial ship. Manueverable, deadly at close range, and very effective title cards.

Now lets talk Corvettes and Cruisers. Out of everything here I'm going to 100% suggest you buy at least one Arquitens Light Cruiser. Comes with great cards, works well as a Squadron carrier, picket ship, you name it. One fun and easy fleet I play is two or three Arquitens with a Gladiator, or two Arquitens and two Gladiators. They all fire from their flanks, so you line them up in a conga line like a convoy and fire salvos into your enemy. For something smaller the Raider-Class Corvette moves around the board fast, can move squadrons around, but is kind of hard to use unless you have experience with it. Still a very cool ship to own, I like using at least one when I run larger Capital ship fleets. Allows me to manuever my ISDs into space while also having something really fast to close gaps and push fighters around.

For the rebels there's options, depending on which flank you want to fire from. Front? Get another Nebulon-B. It comes with the Salvation and Yavaris title cards, which perfect the Nebulon-B. Corellian Corvettes are also good options. Side arcs? The MC30c Frigate.

Lastly lets quickly talk more speciality ships. I don't have any experience with Rebel Squadron dedicated carriers, but I do with the Imperial Quasar Fire-Class Cruiser Carrier. This thing exists solely to push Squadrons around the board. Know how to use it and you can wreck enemy fleets, make a bad move with it and it'll get torn to shreds ruining your strategy.

There exist two ships called Flottilas, they are very cheap and also exist solely as Squadron movers. They are the Gozanti Cruisers and Rebel Transports respectively.

That's the bulk of most of the ships. There are a couple others like the Hammerhead Corvettes and the Second wave of Squadron expansions, but these are harder to play with (in my opinion) and I'll let someone else tell you about them. Bottom line, it depends what kind of fleet you like playing. Squadron heavy? Look at Carriers and Squadron expansions. Classic ships? Go for a Star Destroyer or Star Cruiser. Want lots of ships in your fleet with lots of options? Get a bunch of Light Cruisers and Gladiators, and the various Rebel Frigates and Corvettes.

Edit: Forgot about the Interdictor-Class Star Destroyer. A personal favourite for casual games, but really hard to use competitively. A very expensive ship point-wise, and not very powerful attack wise. It has some cool abilities, like forcing enemy ships to change speeds, but that's about it. Shame really, this is by far my favourite looking ship.

If you'd like a more assertive answer. Buy the two Squadron expansions I. They come with classic ships like TIE Advanced, Interceptors and Bombers. And The Y-Wing, A-Wing, and B-Wings. Get one or two Light cruisers and one or two Nebulon-Bs. And if money isn't a problem get a Star destroyer and a Star Cruiser.

Just dive right in. I had never painted miniatures prior to Armada. I've found it to be much easier than I was expecting. It really doesn't take long before your results start to surprise you. A couple of tips:

Prep

• Use acrylic hobby paints (trusted brands include Vallejo, Citadel, and Army Painter). I only have experience with Citadel but by all accounts the other manufacturers are equivalent in quality. I'd go with whatever is readily available at your local game store or art supply store.
  
  
• Choose a good brush (in person, if possible). Army Painter and Citadel make great brushes that should be stocked by your FLGS. Local art supply stores should additionally carry brushes made by Winsor & Newton. You'll want a size Small brush (Citadel and Army Painter) or a size 0 brush (W&N) for detail work. Focus on picking out a brush which has a good, sharp tip on it. Avoid brushes which have strands splaying outward - this is why I recommend picking up a brush in person. You should also pick up a larger brush for basecoating (size Medium for Citadel/Army Painter or size 2 for W&N).
  
  
• Try not to let paint soak up more than halfway up the bristle. Your brushes shouldn't be saturated with paint, you only need a little ink at the tip. If your brush does soak up too much paint you should clean the paint out in your cup of rinse water. Otherwise you risk the paint drying where the bristles meet the handle which can ruin your brush's clean tip.
  
  
• Pick up The Masters Brush Cleaner and use it to thoroughly clean your bristles after every painting session. It's inexpensive will help your new brushes last a long time.
  
  
• Use a wet palette to both help thin your paints (more on this below) and to help ensure your paint doesn't dry before its applied. Mine consists of a shallow tupperware container with a wet paper towel lining the bottom topped with parchment paper. Cheap, easy, and quick to make.
  
  Painting
  
  
• Don't apply the paint directly to the model from the bottle. Model paint is designed to be diluted - usually with water - before application. This means when you do apply paint you'll usually need to apply two to three diluted coats of paint rather than one single coat of thick paint. As a rule of thumb the paint should have the runniness/consistency of milk before you paint with it. This adds some time to your process but the results are inarguably better. This video helps illustrate why.
  
  
• A nice benefit of thinning your paints is that mistakes don't show up as vividly and can be covered back up with ease. I make tons of mistakes when I paint. Simply paint over the happy little accident with your base coat and move on.
  
  
• For additional tips, the Warhammer Youtube channel has tons of helpful tutorials on painting. A lot of the mystery of painting is taken away when you can actually follow along step-by-step.
  
  
• /r/Minipainting also has lots of tips/inspiration. If you have Facebook join one of the many Minipainting groups for similar tips/inspiration.
  
  If I think of anything else I'll edit my reply. I hope this is helpful. Please be sure to share your painted squads when your are done with them!

DON'T HINGE IT. Trust me, read, I'll explain.

Here's what you do. Get a good 8' by 4' piece of whatever you want. MDF is fine. Get it with a good finish on it.

Cut two 3 foot wide sections. Now you have two 4' by 3' sections. When placed together, it's a 4' by 6' table which is your bare minimum that you want. Once you mark off your 3' by 6' area (or place a mat down) then you will have 6 inches of space on either side of the playing area for your cards, etc.

On the underside of the table top you are building, secure some bumpers that allow you to line up the table top to the table you are setting it on (screw in some small pieces of wood). I suggest 3 per half, so you can slide the table on or set it on gently. Then secure 2 window locks to secure to two top sections together. The small little flip locks are perfect for this. Now you can lay two separate table toppers on using the bumpers to line them up, then secure them with the window locks. The entire thing will be very snug this way and will NOT shift.

If you want to get fancy (like I did), you can use the remaining 4' by 2' section on the end to have a flip up extra space area. I attached 1 foot sections to each side. So the tabletop sits on the table all the time (for the most part), but I fold the wings down. When I'm using the table, I pull the wings out and they snap into place. Use REALLY good restaurant table hinges for this. The ones that fold into a 1/4 circle when folded up, but then extend into 2 intersecting half circles when extended. I use two for each flap, but 1 is probably good enough if you are only doing 1 foot sections. If you want a bigger table without the flaps, just cut the 8x4 into 2 sections.

Why should you not hinge it? Because a piece of plywood is like 65 pounds. Add hinges, pumpers, and other hardware and you have a gigantic, hinged, 70 pound table topper that is a pain in the arse to pack install, remove, pack away, etc, even with help. It will be nearly impossible alone. Were if you leave them unhinged and just have them connect with window locks, you have 2, smaller, more manageable sized pieces that you just hook together.

window latch: https://www.amazon.com/Prime-Line-Products-2620-Spring-Action/dp/B00DS4D5UM/ref=sr_1_7?keywords=window+latch&qid=1550700170&s=gateway&sr=8-7

table hinges for wings: https://www.amazon.com/Table-Hinge-And-Leaf-Support/dp/B0006L39JC

My table is two 4'x3' segments with 3 bumpers. Connected with the window latches underneath. This makes standard 6'x4' table. Each large segment has a wing that can be pulled out that locks into place. that provides more space for dice, measuring tools, a larger playing area, etc.

It takes 5 minutes top to get it out of the closet, set it up on the table and lock it into place all by myself.

I coated the entire top with a textured coating of black plastidip (although any kind of spray truck bed liner or flexiseal or whatever would work). I painted the sidelines, and painted very subtle deployment lines. Then I splatter painted with a wire brush to create a colorful cluster of stars. It looks awesome, and any game mat you put on it won't budge at all due to the texture. It's also easy to handle and put away/deploy.

I have an army painter line laser, and got one because I saw two other people using them (in a fully lit room). The price seemed a little high. The non-line thing, the crossover x, really? That sucks. The word is that they are finnicky - the QA must suck because some are fine and other aren't. I've heard about other laser line levels having a curve to them perhaps because the lens was mismounted. I haven't heard about the non-line ones, but people were talking about how even with fresh batteries the line didn't work very brightly on some of them.

I had a similar issue, bought mine, tried it out same day, worked great. Left the batteries in there, came back to play with it a week later and, same as you, working, but barely. Just mega-dim.

So, I got new batteries. Tried them, they work fine. Now I store the batteries next to the laser in a snack bag. When its game time, pop in the batteries, then take them out hours and hours later when the games are done. I haven't needed to buy a third set of batteries after the first mistake of leaving them in there for a week straight. I have RC things as well, and those batteries are way more problematic. Storing the batteries out of the device isn't a big deal.

The army painter target lock laser works fine if you're good about battery care. Can we get a pic of the X thing? I bet if you send that pic to army painter they'll help you out.

A quick googling shows that this is being talked about on the FFG forums. Here's some things I found:

• http://tabletop-laser.com/
  (germany)
  
  
• https://www.harborfreight.com/laser-marker-93242.html
  (remove the saw attachment, best deal, same quality as army painter)
  
  
• ebay "green laser", some of them come with several caps, some of those have a cap with many straight lines. Or buy a lens on amazon
  
  
• use home depot or amazon for a real laser level
  ($15)

I keep all of my stuff in the Stanley Click n Connect, but the SSD is just way too huge to fit in any reasonably sized carrying case. We were looking for a solution for a while until our group stumbled upon This ukulele case. It fits the SSD perfectly. You can keep dials and other accessories in the front pocket. It's great.

Honestly, don't bother with either of those compressors. You REALLY want one with a tank. For precision painting, the tank ensures an even air flow, while the kind that don't have a reserve tank sometimes can't keep up with consistent spray.

I have this one: http://www.amazon.com/AIRBRUSH-COMPRESSOR--Airbrush-Published-Exclusively/dp/B001738DXU/ref=sr_1_1?s=arts-crafts&ie=UTF8&qid=1449878332&sr=1-1&keywords=airbrush+compressor+with+tank

YES, it's more expensive, but honestly if you want to do it, I highly suggest you do it right. Had several friends buy those starter kits and they always wound up replacing both the compressor and brush it comes with, thus spending more.

Speaking of brush, those brushes are pretty bad. They aren't precision machined, so they use O-Rings all over the place. Those are hard to clean and a point of failure.

I have two airbrushes that I adore: an Iwata Revolution and a Grex (I forget the model)

You have a few different kinds of grips: a pistol grip and a pen grip. I have one of each and use them for different applications, but have found that I mostly prefer the Grex.

I think this is what I have: http://www.amazon.com/Grex-Tritium-TG3-Trigger-Gravity-Airbrush/dp/B002XQ2K5W/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1449878477&sr=8-2&keywords=Grex+Airbrush

Someone can probably recommend a cheaper alternative-

I recommend a gravity feed. Side feed and vacuum feed are both more of a pain to clean, and don't work so well with small amounts of paint for miniature work.

Anyways, just my opinions and observations. YMMV!

great tips..

thank you ..



What is a good counter for the Empire side for the added squadrons?



Is the Star Wars: Armada - Imperial Light Carrier A tie fighter launcher?

I'm really set on getting the hammerheads and Falcon to play with..

Play the basic starter game from the box a few times... If you and your friends dig it, then consider some accessories and extra ships. (Sticking to the accessories here, I'll let others give tips on the ships, since now just buy 2 of everything).

• Extra Dice. 1-2 sets of extra dice. - FFG has a bad habit of not providing enough dice. One extra set gives you enough dice to roll for almost any attack. 2 sets of extra dice allow you to keep separate dice pools for each player to move things along quickly. $5-$10 per set.
  
  
• Playmat. You could get 2x of the official FFG 3' x 3' mats. Or a large 3rd party 6' x 3' mat. Alternatively, people get a large piece of black felt for very cheap. Or even a large Yoga Mat.
  
  
• Card Sleeves for protection with frequent play. - Mayday's Armada Kit or Official FFG (See the bottom of the Armada box to know which ones to buy)
  
  
• Storage - I use a couple of these 25 and 10 bin storage compartments, along with binders for the cards. http://www.amazon.com/Stanley-25-Removable-Compartment-Professional-Organizer/dp/B00005QWYF/

I played Warhammer Fantasy before they killed it, so I had my share of painting miniatures and thought the same as you. Then I read where someone used fine-tipped sharpies to "color" their fighters, and I tried it out and it's awesome and easy and so much less messy. I bought these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0003WN0CA/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I don't do any kind of basecoat, just immediately start drawing on the fighters out of the box and it looks good enough.

Here ya go I got it for my son for Christmas it's really good. Better than TFA one IMO.

VELCRO Brand - Sticky Back - 5/8" Coins, 75 Sets - Clear https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001ASD850/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apap_k8TPBquZeKOKP

Axe Sickle 1 inches (50-pcs / 100-pcs / 200-pcs) Natural Schima superba unfinished round wood,These round wood coins The limitations are endless!(50-p https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CSV14JE/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apap_YA9H1Csn8ANJA

I bought a 48"x72" black yoga mat. The bases grip the surface beautifully. I used a white paint marker I bought from Michaels to make stars on it. Here's a link to what I have. I'm using mobile so not sure if it will work.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002PA1KWK/ref=ya_st_dp_summary

ISD $40 - https://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-Armada-Destroyer-Expansion/dp/1633441180/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1523465012&sr=8-1&keywords=imperial+star+destroyer+armada&dpID=51B2BxG991L&preST=_SX300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

Core set $80 - https://www.amazon.com/Fantasy-Flight-Games-SWM01-Armada/dp/1616619937/ref=sr_1_3?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1523465039&sr=1-3&keywords=star+wars+armada+core+set&dpID=61PKz%252BZAp9L&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

Liberty $30 - https://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-Armada-Liberty-Expansion/dp/B01FZAF0YK/ref=sr_1_2?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1523465056&sr=1-2&keywords=home+one+armada&dpID=51G5dDjrQtL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

Rebel Fighters I $19 - https://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-Armada-Squadrons-Expansion/dp/1616619996/ref=sr_1_1?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1523465076&sr=1-1&keywords=rebel+fighters+armada&dpID=51uXlYiE5hL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

rebel transports $19 - https://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-Armada-Transports-Expansion/dp/B01D1GR4SK/ref=sr_1_1?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1523465103&sr=1-1&keywords=rebel+transports+armada

Imperial Raider $18 - https://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-Armada-Imperial-Expansion/dp/1633441172/ref=sr_1_1?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1523465123&sr=1-1&keywords=imperial+raider+armada&dpID=51WkElfD9AL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch


Total - $206

Edit: This is USD. I'm not sure about Canadian money

Helix Document Tube, Expands from 28 to 49-Inches, Large (61500) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0056HRKDW/ref=cm_sw_r_other_awd_dBD1wb8VRWTWA

I got this, it's worked well

Nothing special. Its one made for finish nailing.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000AQK78/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Its fairly quiet and anything with a tank helps with moisture and pulsing.

Can you recommend a decent setup? I have looked around and read reviews but have not decided. I was looking at these two but do not know if I should spend more for something that is not a beginner level.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001TO578Q/

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006HJCP8S

https://www.amazon.com/Stack-PR-19-19-Inch-Tool-Black/dp/B000KKQUV8/ref=mp_s_a_1_6?qid=1557013093&refinements=p_89%3AStack-On&s=power-hand-tools&sr=1-6

I use a box similar to this one it’s deep enough to have an ISD stay on its base and wide enough to keep my entire empire collection in there and fighters and extras in the top part. Only reason I have it is it was given to me for warhammer years ago. There’s also a bigger version not sure which I have.

I think most people go by this guide

http://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/04/gear-up-for-battle-armada-peripherals.html?m=1

These are the ones I use you can find them on Amazon

For the book?

https://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-Rogue-Ultimate-Visual/dp/146545263X

This is what I have. Weber Odorless Turpenoid, 473ml Bottle, Clear https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000YQENFI/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_XC7sDbHW571QE

I washed the entire superstructure and let it sit for a few minutes. Then I wiped it down with paper towel.

To break it down there are a few screws hiding under the engines and a couple panels that pop out of the structure. I ended up having to do some prying apart with a screwdriver too.

Star Wars Armada: Dice Pack https://www.amazon.com/dp/1633440664/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_YkLsyb954AF2A

Star Wars: Armada Maneuver Tool Board Game https://www.amazon.com/dp/1633441288/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_ElLsyb2SGDD47

Star Wars Armada: Gladiator-class Star Destroyer Expansion Pack https://www.amazon.com/dp/1616619988/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_.lLsyb19Z9A09

Star Wars Armada: Assault Frigate Mark II Expansion Pack https://www.amazon.com/dp/161661997X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_KmLsybNX34KDG

Star Wars Armada: MC30c Frigate Expansion Pack Board Game https://www.amazon.com/dp/1633441199/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_9mLsybWRYC8M5

Star Wars Armada: Rogues and Villains Expansion Pack Board Game https://www.amazon.com/dp/1633441210/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_EnLsybTWV1HXT

Added the mc30 in there just because its fun too. Alternatively, get the ISD and MC80.