X-Wing Miniatures is responsible for a lot of my paychecks in the last two years. I own at least one copy of everything produced. The game is great and rules the miniatures table. But oh do I love me some Star Wars Armada! I own at least one copy of everything Armada has produced as well. I hesitated at first thinking, “They made another X-Wing game but just made the ships bigger.” After I learned that the game is night and day different, I went all in. If X-Wing is checkers, this is chess. You have to think many moves ahead and position everything just so. The game is fantastically produced and simulates capital ship combat beautifully. I might even run some Armada games to teach those next year at Gamernation Con V if folks haven’t tried it. Just about everyone has tried X-Wing but I find not many have tried Armada. I won’t go into the basics of Armada, but if you’d like to know about what it is, and how it differs, Wayne Basta did a great write-up a couple years back you can check out.
When I heard the idea of the Corellian Conflict campaign expansion for Armada, I instantly knew that would change the game completely. Now, instead of a one-shot battle and there’s a clear winner, now each battle is won as part of the struggle to control the Corellian system. It takes many battles to conclude, and is something you and friends can play over the course of months. I will be playing this through entirely this summer, as I want my son and me to play the campaign while school is out. I have, however, played and set up the campaign game, so this is my guide to purchasing and playing the expansion.
Overall
It’s quite simply the best expansion Fantasy Flight Games has produced for their Star Wars games to date. For the low price of just $25, you turn your Armada one-shots into an ongoing chess match for control of an entire system. $25 is less than some of the ships they have put out! It’s one heck of a bargain. Armada becomes a different game with it. It’s just fantastic. So what makes it so fantastic…?
Before Buying
The Corellian Conflict campaign set needs some things before you start playing. Basically those things are more ships than just the core set. I haven’t checked it out to see if you really could play with just the core set or a tad more but, I can’t see how. Reason being, in a two-person campaign, each player controls two fleets each. The game is meant for four to six players, each with one fleet. But if you have just two players, you can run two each. If you and your friends are each controlling their own fleets and ships they bought, you’re might be ok with just the core sets and a little more. But if you’re sharing with family and friends like I am, you’ll need more. Just know that before diving in. I also recommend purchasing at least one Rebel and one Imperial squadron expansion pack each. Squads play a big part in the game and when you’re spreading them out across four fleets from two players (assuming sharing) you’ll likely want more variety.
During the game you also get to designate a flag ship with each fleet and 400 points to spend on building them. That’s a lot of possible ships on the table! You can share between fleets you own though, as only one fleet at a time will be on the table. If you’re sharing, that’s two fleets a piece or a total of 1,600 points worth of ships you need.
Just a quick warning for players new to Armada that will be tempted to, and should, pick up the Corellian Conflict because it’s so cheap. I just recommend a few more ships before diving in.
What You Get
The campaign comes with a lot of things while being in a small box. (I was surprised how small it was when it was shipped to my home.) It has a fold-out map of the Corellian system used to track the campaign, and stickers to mark whether Rebels or the Empire are in possession of a planet or station. It has more ID tokens and even new objective cards specifically designed for the campaign. It comes with sheet rosters as well for the players to track what ships are destroyed, damaged, or become a veteran unit in the campaign. One of the more fun aspects is that you pick your fleets ahead of time and keep them going through the campaign, making repairs and getting reinforcements as things go. More on that later. It also comes with new squadron discs and cards, changing existing squadrons for purposes of the campaign. This is one reason I recommend getting the Rebel and Imperial fighter expansions. There are some other things in the box but they are mostly token-related things you’ll use situationally.
What’s the Point
The point of the Corellian Conflict is to gain enough “Campaign Points” to win. In a game with four fleets (two or four players) you need nine campaign points to win. If you have six fleets, twelve campaign points wins you the game. You gain Campaign Points by winning battles. Each battle is worth one campaign point but destroying enemy bases might get you more. Rebels and Imperials take turns announcing attacks, resolving the battles with a game of Armada, and deciding who wins the planet or area. One fun part about this is you’re allowed to retreat and fight another day. Your opponent automatically wins the points for beating the retreating ships, but better to lose the battle but win the campaign, right? So, it’s first to the winning Campaign Point total that wins the whole thing.
Gameplay
Rebels and Imperials also can each announce a “Special Assault.” Rebels can announce a “Hyperlane Raid” on special targets allowing them to gain resources for battle as opposed to Campaign Points. Imperials can announce a “Show of Force” to do the same thing and gain resources instead of Campaign Points.
Both sides places bases on the map as well using the stickers that come to put on the poster. Rebels and Imperials each start with differing amounts and types of bases. Imperials get an a couple bases to start and both players know where the Imperial bases are. The Rebels get to indicate there is a “Rebel Presence” on a planet, but they and only they know if it an outpost, or a full Rebel base. Thus, the real Rebel base is hidden from the Imperial player. The fact they are outposts or bases make a difference in how they function and how much they’re worth.
The campaign breaks things up into a few more phases. By that I mean the things that you do between the battles. These things are summed up into a part of the game called the “Campaign Turn.” In the Campaign Turn, there are three phases: the Strategy Phase, the Battle Phase, and the Management Phase.
In the Strategy Phase, both teams determine what are they’re going to attack next, which are called “assaults.” They take turns declaring assaults with the player currently losing going first. This adds an interesting aspect because you have to declare assaults before the battles, which is before you know the outcomes. Then, the team that is going to be “assaulted” in an area declares which fleet will defend during that battle. This is what sets up the attackers and defenders all across the map for the next round of battles.
During the Battle Phase, the players play out the battles. This is the normal version of Armada we’re familiar with. This is where the dice rolling happens.
Lastly, the Management Phase happens. During this, the players spend resources, build new bases, repair and refit their fleets, and perform miscellaneous upkeep.
Some other fun things are “scarred” ships and squadrons and “veteran” ships and squadrons. A ship or squadron becomes “scarred” when they are destroyed during a battle. They are allowed to come back with a “scarred” token. If a scarred ship or squadron is destroyed, then it is removed from the campaign. Any ship or squadron that survives a battle, and destroys at least one enemy ship or squadron gets to become a “veteran.” A veteran unit gets some effects during games like changing their orders on the fly or re-rolling attack dice during its turn.
The phases keep going back and forth until one player gets enough campaign points to take the campaign.
So honestly, if you own Armada, get this expansion right away. For less than the cost of most ships, you can change Armada entirely and turn it into an ongoing chess match with friends, as opposed to a one-shot game. And if you haven’t picked up Armada yet, the Corellian Conflict just might be the thing that gets you into it. Imagine playing X-Wing, but make it bigger and more grand, then add a big campaign on top of it. It’s simply the best bang for the buck expansion that Fantasy Flight Games has made for any of its Star Wars games to date.
Scott Alden
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