Spartan Games is most excited to announce that Firestorm Armada has arrived and will ship to stores around the world on November 23rd. Following in the footsteps of our incredibly successful Uncharted Seas fantasy naval game, Firestorm Armada builds on the foundations of this game to bring you easy to master rules, superb multi-part models (with spaceships up to 170mm long) and exciting action in a war torn area of space we call the Storm Zone.

At launch Firestorm Armada brings you four exciting fleets to begin your space combat: the Dindrenzi Federation, Terram Alliance, Aquan Prime and Sorylian Collective. Supporting these models is a 96 page full colour rule book, punch out A4 tokens and templates and our first four upgrade ships - a Fighter Carrier for each fleet.

Over the next two weeks we'll detail availability and pricing, and we're sure our launch partners will be giving you plenty of information as well. Our Firestorm web pages will be completely replaced with new info and pictures, showing you the exciting work our 3D modellers have done. Watch out for images, data sheets, schematics and more.

Welcome to our view of futuristic space combat,
The Spartan Team



As the battle rages the Dindrenzi Battleship strikes home with a crippling blow, the effects of the critical hit felt along the entire length of the Sorylian Battleship. But the battle is far from over...several Sorylian Cruisers and two Carriers are heading into the combat - the Battleship may have taken a pounding, but there is plenty of firepower left in this fleet. We hope you like the combat scene created by our talented digital artist Josh Finney. Image Copyright © Spartan Games 2009.

Defence in numbers is the guiding doctrine of the Aquan Prime space fleet. Their sleek spaceships move as if one, lasers dancing from their hulls, slicing into enemy vessels. Orb like weapon systems litter the hulls of these vessels and this gives them an advantage in battle as they are able to link fire from multiple arcs, and use their point defence systems to overlay a web of defence against incoming ordnance.





The Dindrenzi Federation military utilises rail gun technology as the mainstay of its starship offensive capability, providing massive firepower to the fore arc of its ships. The Military favour promote ship designs based on a common superstructure, which has led to the distinctive hull shapes that characterises this race’s ships. The designers of these massive vessels think of them metaphorically as swords with which to smite their foes.

The Sorylian Collective will seek to dominate any space battle through superior numbers and swarming tactics, hence their large squadrons and increased use of Fighter Wings. Advanced engine technologies make these ships amongst the fastest of the Kurak Alliance, allowing them to outmanoeuvre their enemies. The use of banks of turrets gives these vessels excellent broadsides via flexible fields of fire. A large crew complement make these vessels dangerous to board.






Terran Alliance ships use mass driver technology which, when combined with devastating broadside batteries, makes them a match for any enemy fleet. Advanced shield technology makes their ships capable of withstanding a pounding in battle, and as a result the arrival of any Terran fleet during a battle with the Dindrenzi is a welcome sight for other members of the Kurak Alliance.

Looks interesting.....and good timing for birthday too.

I have been watching Sci Fi for way too long obviously, cause when I see those all I can do is go "Oh, the Aquan Battleship is a Mon Calamari Star Cruiser, and the Dindrenzi Battleship is a Agressor-class destroyer, and the sorylian battleship is a peacekeeper command carrier without the wings, and ......"

Anyone know how it plays, as it sounds like its based on the uncharted seas rules?

That fluff and the model design is so 70s.

the drindenzi ships remind me of those criminal battleships from dorces of corruption

I like the look of the Sorylian fleet and I'm gonna order the rule book later this week, this game looks brilliant.

knight

sorylian ships reminds me a little of the babylon 5 station

The terran ships are pretty much all Earth Alliance ships, the sorylian ships look like a hyperion class cruiser humped something from battlefleet gothic.

The aquans remind me of something but I can't quite put my finger on it... maybe the alien ships from Freelancer ?

Well after some sleuthing done on the forums I found out the following.
After the big 4 races are released their will be 4 more races being released after wards one of which will be the Oroshan. The others may be The Directorate and The Relthoza, the last I haven't found out yet.

Apparently fighter/bombers will come on bases of 6, this might mean that in the near future their might be moddels instead of counters.

Also its suggested in the rule book their may be rules for making your own ships but I haven't seen much on that at all.

Also its said that future releases will cover more eccentric and unique ship designs.

2 of the 4 initial races being released are human and after the last 4 releases their will be 3 human fleets. The Aquan are obvious and the Sorylian race is a race of reptilians. The Relthoza are Arachnid

Apparently in the future there will be an instectoid race however, a robot intelligence, saurians and rock creatures. But from what I can tell that's not gonna be for a while.

Also its said that the races background will make it harder to define actual good and bad races, so that despite the fact that some of the races are allies conflicts between them are possible and not eyebrow raising.

That's all Ive been able to sleuth so far. I cant wait till their released!
Knight

Here is some info:

The rulebook will contain 6 races, not just the 4 inluded in the first release. (Directorate, Relthoza)

There are two "sides":
- the Kurak alliance, comprised of Terran, Aquan and Sorylian
- the other team, comprised of Dindrenzi, Directorate and Relthoza

Background fluff

Quote
Terran Empire (Human)
Terran Alliance ships use mass driver technology which, when combined with devastating broadside batteries, makes them a match for any enemy fleet. Advanced shield technology makes their ships capable of withstanding a pounding in battle, and as a result the arrival of any Terran fleet during a battle with the Dindrenzi is a welcome sight for other members of the Kurak Alliance.

Dindrenzi Federation (Human)
The Dindrenzi Federation military utilises rail gun technology as the mainstay of its starship offensive capability, providing massive firepower to the fore arc of its ships. The Military favour promote ship designs based on a common superstructure, which has led to the distinctive hull shapes that characterises this race’s ships. The designers of these massive vessels think of them metaphorically as swords with which to smite their foes.

Sorylian Collective (Reptilian)
The Sorylian Collective will seek to dominate any space battle through superior numbers and swarming tactics, hence their large squadrons and increased use of Fighter Wings. Advanced engine technologies make these ships amongst the fastest of the Kurak Alliance, allowing them to outmanoeuvre their enemies. The use of banks of turrets gives these vessels excellent broadsides via flexible fields of fire. A large crew complement make these vessels dangerous to board.

Aquan Prime (Fishies)
Defence in numbers is the guiding doctrine of the Aquan Prime space fleet. Their sleek spaceships move as if one, lasers dancing from their hulls, slicing into enemy vessels. Orb like weapon systems litter the hulls of these vessels and this gives them an advantage in battle as they are able to link fire from multiple arcs, and use their point defence systems to overlay a web of defence against incoming ordnance.

The Directorate (Human)
The Directorate are a shadowy corporate empire, they are human, and form the backbone of the politics behind the invasion. The Dindrenzi Navy, and particularly their military is supplied with the fruits of robotic, genetic and viral research funded by the Directorate. The last few decades have seen the Directorate involved in attacks on Terran, Aquan and Sorylian colonists in order to bring a war between the Terrans and Dindrenzi.

The relthoza (Arachnean)
The Relthoza ominous? Enigmatic arachnids who rarely venture forth from their territory, their victims hardly ever escaping to describe their captors? Rumoured to be a society of duellists and warriors, constantly fighting each other for dominance, and rumoured to roam the quieter areas of space where they attack shipping and take slaves, ominous? No surely not.

Gameplay
Quote from: Spartan BrDoG
Armada remains true to the general ethos of Uncharted Seas in terms of keeping it simple, but instead of having lots of special rules for specific Ships it has some additional core rules that are common to most of the fleets. Torpedoes, Shields, 'Wings' of Fighter, Bomber, Assaulter and Interceptor craft, Mines, Point Defence, 4" ranged Boarding Assaults, 90 degree arcs of fire and such. Future releases will cover eccentric Ship designs that are specific to each fleet. It will take longer to get the hang of, just because there are a lot of options, but it still involves lots of carnage.

Quote from: Spartan BrDoG
That slots into the existing optional emergence from hyperspace rule, which at present is unpredictable [...]

There is a single Card pack of 52 cards, instead of a 26 cards' pack per faction. The pack seems the be common for both players, so only one would be needed to play. (Source)

Points comparisons
Quote from: Spartan BrDoG
The Terrans get 2-3 Cruisers and 2-4 Frigates.
The Aquans get 2-4 Cruisers and 2-4 Frigates.
The Sorylians get 2-4 Cruisers and 2-5 Frigates.
The Dindrenzi get 2-3 Cruisers and 2-3 Frigates.
The Relthoza get 2-3 Cruisers and 2-4 Frigates.
The Directorate get 2-3 Cruisers and 2-3 Frigates.

Battleships and Carriers are in Squadrons of 1 Ship (The Relthoza and Directorate are allies of the Dindrenzi).

The Carriers cost about 25 points less than a Battleship with a full complement of 'Wings', which represent 15 to 25 Fighter, Bomber, Assaulter or Interceptor craft. Tokens are provided in the rule book and with the Starter Fleets. You could field 2 Carriers in a 600-800 point game, and there is a separate fleet composition for each fleet, so if you got 2 Carriers you could quickly bulk up with a couple of blisters and field both.

Battleships average out at 185 points, Carriers at 115 points, Cruisers at 60 points, Frigates at 20 points and Wings at 5 points. The fleet limit on Carriers determines how many Wings you can field, although you can spend up to 30 points just on Wings in addition, largely to even out the difference in points cost of the Starter Fleets.

Why is part of me thinking about cross-breeding Terran and Dindrenzi ships to build a Kilrathi fleet with?

Love the Sci-Fi knowledge on display.

---

Here's some alternate paint jobs:

Im sold... Sorylian for me as they remind of the PC series -Homeworld. Now if only I can get hold of the Supercannon from Cataclysm..

Cool models, will wait for some rules before making a decision - I have a history of introducing games to my group, so a player-base is not something I have to worry about.

I just hope the rules take into account a more realistic 3d space, with vast distances involved and other such features of great space combat games such as saganmi island tactical simulator, but a bit (ok ok, a lot) easier to play and not just boats in space (only 2d space)
If it has some of these factors, I'll be picking some up!

I cann't say as I haven't read the rules- but the ethos of Spartan games is fast to play and spiced up with action cards. I would doubt any 3d element to it but let's hope for a surprise

Looks like I'm grabbing the Sorylian and Dindrenzi starters...

As for gameplay, I can't be sure, but the advertising I've been able to find seems to say that the game plays simillar to the companies other game, Uncharted Seas...I wouldn't be expecting any 3d elements.

Well for better or for worse I'm in it for the long run lol I put a pre-order down for the rulebook lol

tempted......

is there any reading material on how uncharted seas play like?

i ask so as to give me some inkling of how firestorm is going to be like

http://www.e-figures.com/store/FIRESTORMPhoto.php In the first two photos theirs pictures of the games being played. From those two photos my inkling is that its gonna be similar to BFG, but that's just a preliminary guess with no basis or grounding

Knight

Try the downloads area from here - there's a document there that describes a game.

seriously tempted - just working on an opponant

I really don't like games that have multiple races develop similar tech and Ship classes...

It shows they have rushed out the rules or couldn't be bothered developing the race individually. Most of the good games (minature and computer) have races that play differently...

very interesting and the ships are tempting. Kinda have some reservations tho in the same vein as BR above. Though I did read on the Spartan forums that individualised race rule decks will be out Q1 2010.

Full Thrust?

Best damned space ship miniatures game I've played.

The alien fleets of the Phalons, Kra'Vak and the Savasku were distinctly different. The human fleets all had the same technology, but each fleet was designed differently. Beautifully detailed, simple but still challenging game.

I miss playing it.

This does look good though, as long as the gameplay is good.

Well its good to know someone likes Full Thrust, we're starting a bit of it at my local games club and so far we're loving it. Couldn't find any decent FT forums ore the like, nor is there one here. Might give Firestorm a go, initially the minis really impressed me but i've gone off them a bit now and have bought some Full Thrust ESU ships instead.

You didn't go to star ranger forums?? Currently down at the moment, but otherwise the preeminent website for spaceship wargaming. Star Ranger

Yeah, we've been using Star Ranger, as it has good rules links etc, but as you said the message boards are down.

have prices been confirmed yet?

The Forge has had the pre-order prices up here.
http://www.phoenixforge.com.au/c/255678/1/...orm-armada.html

~Pip

I'm a fan too - got me a nice little japanese fleet. The think I really like about it is the design rules - you can use any fleet from any setting, just need to design them yourself!

*Que girlish squeal of delight*

EDIT: Here are the merits of staying up till 1:30 in the morning.

Spartan Games have updated the Firestorm Armada info with a lot of stuff. www.spartangames.co.uk/firestorm.htm

Sneak peaks Ive added here.

Directorate = Millenium Falcon?

Are there any BatReps for this game floating about?

Not yet only pictures of game play.

A tiny look into the rules: Link

It looks like a BFG clone really. Not sure if I'll bother with this one.

Although, they do look kind of cool.

Finally, some new information and fluff!

Link

Mins look cool. however Full Thrust rocks. More variety with Full Thrust fleets compared to this new system.

Hey Phoenix got an ETA on when you get the stock/ship out preorders?

The 23rd has passed, so Spartan will have shipped the goodies out.

I'm hoping we see the goods next week, but failing that it should be the one after.

Official Street date is meant to be Dec 4th.

A little late in the end - mine arrived today. Looks good