My brother asked me to write an article on my thoughts
regarding this new game that he has discovered, Firestorm Armada. At first I
was inclined to roll my eyes and say, "Here we go again."
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| Randy Tested. Randy Approved! |
I remember the first time I saw a Warhammer 40k game. I
thought it was the coolest thing I had ever seen. We ended up obtaining some
models and playing from time to time. My brother picked up on the rules faster
than I did and enjoyed a little more success than myself. As soon as Battlefleet Gothic came out we
owned it. This was when my reign as supreme commander of ass kicking began in
our household. I never lost a single game of BFG. That was 16 years ago and my
record still holds today. Huzzah! BFG
eventually fell by the wayside along with 40k and we leaned more to video games
and the like. Years later we got a back into 40k a little but found that BFG
was no longer supported and was practically dead. Tears flowed like the rivers
of ancient Babylon. I just could not get back into learning the rules and
everything that went along with being proficient at 40k. Blaaahhh. I'm out,
sold my army and everything.
Fast forward a year or so and I am now sitting here
listening to my brother babble about something called Firestorm Who Gives a
Shit. Blah Blah Blah. The only thing that interested me was when he said that
it was similar to BFG. He kind of got my attention but I had been told about so
many miniature games that I really just didn't care anymore. Undeterred by my
lack of interest he ordered a couple of starter fleets, put them together, sent
me pics and TRIED to get me pumped about it. No luck.
I was bored tonight and invited my brother and my annoying
friend Kevin over and they brought Firestorm Armada (FA) with them. I had a
couple vodka and waters and decided to try my hand at this mess. I was surprised at the ease with which I picked
up on the rules for FA. In less than five minutes we were making our first
moves and I was firing a broadside from my Sorylian Battleship. The ship cards
are super easy to decipher and the movement rules are so simple it's not worth
mentioning. The firing is quick and easy and the damage is even easier to
assess.
There are few things that I dislike about the game. One
would think that the armor on the rear arc would be lighter than the front and
sides,, but it's not. This bothered me at first but once I got into the game it
just further simplified the process and made the game flow smoother. Smooth is
fast and fast is fun. We started out
swapping fire from long range which did not bode well for my Sorylian BS due to
the amazing rail guns on the Dindrenzi BS. I quickly closed the distance and
got into my optimum firing range. Once here I quickly evened the damage dealt
and started tightly maneuvering around his ship firing at his sides and rear. I
got his ship down to the point that he had no choice but to risk turning into
his own mines to take a shot at me with his forward guns to end the game.
Unfortunately for the men aboard his ship his mines were most effective. His
ship was destroyed by his own mines and I limped away, bloody but victorious.
Final thoughts: Firestorm Armada is a great game that will
suck you into a battle very quickly. You'll soon forget that these are bits of
plastic and start to feel very protective of your ships. The rules are simple
enough that you can pick them up very quickly. This has the added benefit of
allowing you to stop thinking about the rules and start thinking about tactics.
This is my favorite thing about this game. I have a lot of things going on in
my life and sitting around reading codexes just isn't happening. I just like to
move, turn, shoot and win; FA lets me do that.
In his free time, Randy enjoys alcoholic beverages and chasing car thieves down in his underwear. We may have convinced him into joining our new resin cult!
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