Battlefleet Gothic Armada 2

[Valiens Nantaris]

Just got this on the weekend and am really enjoying it so far!

Anyone else got it? Have you played any of the campaigns? What's your favourite race?

Spoiler tag any of the campaign story for any of us which haven't finished it though.

 

[Zark San Tekka]

I'm still just a short way through the Imperial campaign, just at the second sector, but am enjoying myself so far. There are a lot of improvements over the first in terms of balance and playability, but I'm still not sure how I feel about the gratuitous use of node capture objectives even for single player encounters.

I tend to fly AdMech/Imperial Navy, but have also tinkered some with Orks. So far it's surprisingly well balanced considering the number of factions and their distinct playsyles, which I think it probably owes a lot to the original tabletop ruleset and mechanics. Corsairs still suck last I checked, but all the other races are more or less comparable, with Tyranids situationally very powerful (re: as long as they can close the distance) and Craftworld Eldar dragging some behind the pack but still way better than Corsairs.

The graphics improvements have pushed the engine to my clunky old CPU's limits, so I have been a little afraid to venture more heavily into multiplayer.

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

[member="Zark"]
For the campaign I turned off point battles, making it all cruiser clashes which last until destruction or retreat of one side. I found that much more fun than chasing escorts to random dots on the map.

At this early stage Imperial torpedoes followed by ramming makes a potent attack force.

 

[Zak Amroth]

[member="Valiens Nantaris"]

Yeah movement disruption seems to be key, it's why I like Ad Mech so much because hnnngh nova cannon spam and also Space Marine escorts. I like that the kitey vs. brawler balance isn't so black and white, some races are better at ramming while others are boarding machines. Sniper roles like Chaos and dark eldar also have to manage their movement in very different ways.

I'm very fond of the Imperium factions just because I love high energy turn and it's hard to live without. Been meaning to branch out into more xenos filth. If you like Imperial Navy you would like orks, rokits work much the same as missiles and they are brutal at ramming.

I heard about the patch that added in the cruiser clash only option, it's tempting but so far I've been too lazy to fiddle with the settings. I don't hate node capture, it makes sense for multiplayer balancing, but I miss the large variety of game modes from the first, even if half of them were whack.

Edit: Woops wrong account, tis Zark

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

[member="Zak Amroth"]
I'm thinking of specialising my fleets so I can mix and match for whatever battle I need:

• Imperial: Brawlers to hit the enemy hard with torpedoes, ramming and close range fire.
• Space Marines: Boarding all the way. Boarding torps, lightning strike, honour the chapter.
• Ad Mech: Nova cannons and range.

Against Eldar who I'm about to fight I'm going to need range and disruption, so we'll see how that goes.

 

[Cyrus Tregessar]

Eldar are absolutely dominant in PvP right now, with the Deldar leading the pack I believe.

I am not a big fan of AdMech compared to Smurfs or regular Imps. Too squishy, too scared, and garbage troops.

Nids are super obnoxious to fight, though.

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

[member="Cyrus Tregessar"]
Agreed on AdMech, but for campaign they're useful as a backup.

 

[Lynn Nantaris]

[member="Valiens Nantaris"]

*Boops and runs away*

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

[member="Lynn Nantaris"]
Gah! My one weakness!

 

[Captain Larraq]

[member="Valiens Nantaris"]

I haven't tried Armada 2 yet. I did the original BFG Armada and found it to have a lot of... logistical and balance problems in terms of a multiplayer experience. In terms of gameplay itself, I actually enjoyed Battlestar Galactica Deadlock a bit better. Yes, that one's turn based instead of real time, but I enjoy the greater flexibility of maneuvering options. I'm also a big fan of the custom ship designs and the overall balance for that game. Sadly, limited gametypes and being restricted to only two factions drags the game down in comparison to BFG.

If you played the original, how does the new game compare?

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

[member="Captain Larraq"]
Didn't play the first.

I'm enjoying this one a lot though. Hoping extra campaigns for other races come out though.

 

[Arahael]

[member="Captain Larraq"]

There are certainly some unbalanced units, the orc's asteroid ship for example has a ludicrous amount of health, Tyranids are a new challenge. But sniper ships can be countered by going close enough, and nova cannons have a charge time now.
All the tabletop factions are available, and there's even subfactions within each faction. There's also not just an Imperial campaign now.
I would say player skill can still trump someone's OP fleet, and unconventional fleet combinations can sometimes be pretty effective.

 

[Captain Larraq]

In the first game, Eldar were a nightmare to try and play and long range races (like the Tau) just steamrolled the poor Eldar ships. There were also issues regarding the way in which ships were unlocked and the time it took to regain ships after losing a game. Add to that that the original game lacked "territory control" game modes, and the game boiled down to "whoever had the biggest ships won." Mostly anyway.

I've been watching videos for BFG Armada 2 and it looks like matches are much more evenly balanced, there is a great deal more customization to work with, matches themselves are about more than simply plowing through your opposition, and (possibly, hard to tell from replay videos) they've made it so losing a ship in battle doesn't keep you from using that same ship in your next match?

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

[member="Captain Larraq"]
Depends, do you mean in campaign? If you're just talking multiplayer then you can take what you want each game.

Generally though there are issues with balance etc they need to sort, but Eldar are annoying to fight in MP or campaign.

All ships for MP are unlocked at the start, but by going through each race you can unlock new upgrades and abilities.

 

[Captain Larraq]

[member="Captain Larraq"]
Depends, do you mean in campaign? If you're just talking multiplayer then you can take what you want each game.

Generally though there are issues with balance etc they need to sort, but Eldar are annoying to fight in MP or campaign.

All ships for MP are unlocked at the start, but by going through each race you can unlock new upgrades and abilities.

That's a big improvement from the first game and gets rid of the biggest hurdle I had when trying to enjoy the game. I'll definitely be getting the game then.