Armada does look to be on the funeral pyre. Well the pyre is erected and the game is taking the long walk. The reality is, nothing survives forced hibernation except animals with an evolutionary imperative to, certainly not in retail anyway.
AMG barely bothered to recognise its existence in their “mini-stravaganza” (probably better titled “Marvel-Stravaganza”) and X Wing or Legion did not get much time in the spotlight either (little past the already leaked Razor Spine, with some outlines for the future-at least it has one). They did announce some rules amendments and campaign ideas, that have mixed (read apathetic) responses. Bit hard to lay down “the law”, when there is a suspicion you don’t care about or even fully understand it.
AMG have the distinction of effectively killing a miniatures game that has managed to be in most top five lists for most meaningful measures for the bulk of its short life. Another company could possibly survive on this game alone, but AMG seems to have no interest.
Shame.
The dedicated will talk and play it for a good while, possibly longer than most would believe and some ships and even a few cards will become semi collectors items. Maybe this will be the ideal experiment for a “self sustaining game community functioning in a creative vacuum”.
I bought another Venator, because my GAR fleet just felt a little thin, especially against a huge swarm of separatist fighters and two large base opponents (these things deploy in battle lines and they are a little short of being full ISD style intimidators).
I may even get another GAR Pelta, again to balance the points disparity (although at a pinch I have my Rebel one), but I am really trying to resist building up the fleets to a similar size to my Imperial and Rebel ones, because there is just not the variety available. So no duplication of the two base sets…..yet.
I lament the lost opportunities for both prequel factions, especially the fighters and small ships that did not make the launch window and maybe an earlier CR-90, but most characters are represented in what is for me a less well known universe. Job done well enough I guess.
Ironically I first bought into the prequel factions to avoid doing them in X Wing. I tried to kill two birds, but ended up getting the earlier period Armada stuff anyway, because I really like the game. For the amount I eventually spent on Armada, I could have easily covered both factions in X Wing including the LAAT/i, Eta-2, Nimbus and Sith Infiltrator, that they are not now doing for Armada. Hindsight is a bitch.
Armada was always the aloof one, hiding in the corner, loved deeply, but only by a few who bothered to look.
TFA era fleets? Would have been nice.
The game is of course, not dead and never will be as long as people keep playing it (see the grand experiment above). I had decided I was cool with what I had anyway, but the thought of future scarcities did make me grab a couple of bits, especially as I have the lovely updated cards (Chimaera, Profundity, the second Venator and lastly the Interdictor, oh and that Starhawk was just added….and maybe another CR-90…. and a Gladiator…….). I will keep an eye out for the promised “re-prints”, because I would like another Raider or pair of Aquitens.
Despite gloomy forecasts, my own Armada interest is again healthy and still relatively fresh, so no real harm done, but it leaves me with similar feelings to those I had after the Olympus change of hands. I feel that I will likely move in another direction at some point, but milk what I have for as long as I can.
Maybe things will change. Maybe AMG will sell Armada to someone who (a) cares, (b) knows what they have and (c) knows what to do with it.
Maybe.