Firestorm Armada PT 3: Building a Fleet

Seasons Greeting all! SeerK here with part three of my introduction to Spartan Games Firestorm Armada. We have had an overview of the major races in the setting and an overview of the game turn. We are now going to look at list building. Building a fleet in Firestorm Armada can be a little intimidating at first, but once you do it once or twice it becomes second nature. There are two things you must determine before you dive into list building. You must decide first what the point level of the game is to be, this is referred to as MFV or maximum fleet value. You then determine which mission you are playing. There are 6 missions in the main rule book. The real key to list building is that you know exactly what faction you are facing and also know the mission before hand. This means you can make a list that is properly kitted out for the game. I know 40K players will look at this and think “Oh Great List Tailoring”. You both get to do it and you do not know what your opponent is bringing other than the faction.

Once you have a point limit determined and you know what mission you are playing you can move into building your actual list. Firestorm Armada uses a “Force Organization Chart” style of list building. That is you have minimum squadron requirements and maximums. Each race has its own Fleet Composition Table. Vessels are divided into 3 different tiers based on its size. Tier 3 vessels are the smallest ships. This tier is made up of Frigates and Corvettes mostly. Tier 2 vessels form the bulk of your fleet. Cruisers, Gunships and other more specialized vessels make up this tier. Tier 1 vessels are the biggest. This tier is made up of Dreadnoughts, Battleships and other command level vessels. Your Fleet Admiral always occupies a Tier 1 vessel.

Firestorm Armada Pt 2: The Turn

Greetings! SeerK  from The WayGate here once again. Today I am going to be taking you through a turn of Firestorm Armada. Last time we covered the six core factions and gave a little background on each of them. Now its time to get down to business and talk about the game itself. We will walk through a typical game turn so you can get a feel for how the rules work and how a turn flows.

Before the game starts you typically decide which of the six missions in the rule book you are going to play. This can be done by mutual agreement or roll a D6. After the mission is determined you build your fleet. Thats right you get to build your fleet after you know what mission you are playing and what faction you are playing against. This is also when you determine the point level of your game. The composition of your fleet, IE the minimums and maximums you have to take and can take, is determined by the point level of the game. Players who have played 40K are familiar with the Force Organization chart. This is a similar concept. Games of 800 points and below are considered Patrol Fleet sized games. Games of 801 points to 1200 points are considered Battle Fleet sized games. Games 1201 points and larger are considered Grand Fleet Sized games.

Firestorm Armada: An Introduction

Greetings! SeerK here to initiate you into the world of Firestorm Armada. As some of you may or may not remember this is not my first appearance on Dark Future Games. I was, up until about a year and a Half ago, a long time 40K player and owner of Craftworld Lansing. The Craftworld is gone as is my 40K collection. It has been replaced by The WayGate and a rather large fleet of Firestorm Armada Ships. So what is Firestorm Armada? Lets take a look at the universe and story behind the game.

Firestorm Armada is a game of mighty fleets of space born war ships fighting in the cold depths of space. It takes place in the far future where mankind has been divided by oppression, rebellion and war in the wake of expansion into the far corners of the galaxy. Our game takes place during a time of war. The Terran Alliance, once the dominate power in the Galaxy finds itself besieged by the Mighty Dindrenzi Federation. The Dindrenzi Federation is made up of the old Terran Satellite Charter outer reach colonies. They fought for their independence under the hand of the Rense family. One hundred years after a hard fought independence, the Federation is expanding and exacting revenge on the Terran Alliance for their years of oppression and in remembrance of the Planet Dramos, which burned in nuclear fire at the Terrans hands.