Fleet-In-Being: Armada’s backbone
10th August 2025
[Edited 11Aug25)
Rosco
5 mins
[One quick thing before I kick off: I am not directly affiliated with any of the community groups, and these words are my own, with any other sources cited as required].
Previously… on Star Wars: Armada
When Atomic Mass Games (AMG) pulled the plug on Star Wars: Armada in mid-2024 (AMG, 2024; Evans, 2024), the community didn’t let the game drift into wild space. Groups like the Armada Ruleset Collective (ARC) have taken on the job of maintaining a living ruleset and keeping organised play ticking along, while the Armada Legacy and Nexus (Armada Community) teams continue to turn out new detailed content and expansions.
Source: ARC, Armada Community and AMG websites
But here’s the thing, though: the health of the game doesn’t rest solely on competitive players or headline events. It lives and dies by the average player base, that is to say, the ‘fleet-in-being’.
History time! (please, indulge me)
In naval strategy, a fleet-in-being is a force that influences the enemy by simply existing.
Alfred Thayer Mahan (1890) expanded on the idea in The Influence of Sea Power upon History. 1660-1783, describing it as a fleet that stays safe from destruction but remains ready to act, forcing the opponent to divert resources to counter the threat. The fleet shapes the battle without firing a shot, because its presence changes the other side’s plans, holding them at risk. The concept is also well represented in the Armada defensive objective card of the same name.
The casual or average Armada player base is much the same. They might not be at every high-level tournament, but their presence keeps the community viable:
People run events because they know there’s a steady group who’ll show up
Competitive players have regular opponents to practice against
New players find welcoming tables to learn the ropes
Remove that “fleet-in-being” and the risk is that the whole game environment becomes smaller, less vibrant, and harder to sustain… for all of us.
[Sorry, enough naval history and strategy nerdery from me… ]
Right. Want to know the probability of me using the data to back all this up? It’s high. Very high.
What the number-crunchers came up with
The 2024 State of Armada Survey (Chestnut, 2024) reached 710 respondents from 31 countries, making it one of the most comprehensive community datasets available for the game. In community research terms, this is a solid sample; large enough to capture a wide range of player types, playstyles, and regional differences. It also represents a decent increase over the 2023 survey (610 respondents from 27 countries), using the same questions, encouraging repeat respondents, and more engagement from the player base. People were super keen to help out last year!
While not every Armada player worldwide participated, the size and geographic spread of the sample gave us a good idea of current trends, particularly when the results are consistent 2023 to 2024. This level of participation is more than enough to identify major themes, such as the overwhelming preference for casual play, with confidence. The results are pretty clear (and very well presented on his site in these graphs):
So, to summarise the above for in-person games (I wont touch online games for now, maybe later):
90% played casual games in the past year — by far the most popular format.
Local tournaments were a distant second at 42%, with campaigns and world qualifiers well behind.
72% played in casual environments, compared to just over half at local game stores and 22% at large events or conventions.
Around half played 2–12 games a year, meaning most aren’t clocking in weekly games.
This is them. The backbone. The fleet-in-being. The players who enjoy a little bit of everything, from kitchen table or pub matches to the odd local event, without being fully invested in top-tier competitive play and stuff like ‘metas’.
What about the rest of the community? Well, I’m glad you asked…
These are our different mobs
From this survey, we get a look at the general breakdown of the major player groups in our strong, but relatively small, community:
Highly Competitive Players – The tournament core
Focused on fine-tuned strategies, balanced rulesets, and consistent competition.Average/Regular Players – The community backbone
A mix of casual and competitive games, keeping local scenes active all over the worldCasual/Home Players – The storytellers
Narrative battles, creative fleets, and house rules for maximum fun, probably with beer and pretzels (or a box of Shapes if you’re in Aus lol)
Special mention (and certainly not to be forgotten either):
New & Returning Players – Fresh recruits and old vets
Need clear rules, starter fleets/components, and welcoming communities to get onboard
Why This Matters for ARC and the Ruleset
Much like Legacy/Nexus, ARC is led by highly experienced competitive players, which brings strong knowledge of balance and clarity, but they are all still volunteers and sometimes even put their own money into it. The flip side is that decisions can naturally lean toward competitive priorities rather than the needs of the whole community.
Source: ARC
Take ARC01: a decent set of rules/points changes and new content released for organised play, not long after they took the reins. For some, especially those happy with the pace of the game, it felt too soon. Being expected to adopt a new ruleset and fresh content right away has rubbed some casual players the wrong way. That much is clear. I am confident that ARC has been reading the feedback coming in from all over social media, publicly and privately. I hope that a valuable lesson has been learned here, but only time will tell. I’m still pretty optimistic we’ll move forward, though.
In any case, this isn’t about avoiding change; it’s about making change with the whole player base in mind, not just the competitive meta.
And for the other side of the argument as to why the competitive circuit should adjust for casual players: Again, it’s not about the competitive scene “suffering”. It’s about recognising that it relies on the wider community for numbers, events, and the momentum that keeps it alive. Start chipping at the foundations, and the whole structure starts to crumble.
[Edit (11Aug25): In my attempt to stay objective, I wasn’t aiming to imply that ARC ignored the casual players, or that they instigated these changes purely for competition purposes. In my opinion, the content is still very positive for all play styles. My main point was to highlight that both the perception and timing of ARC01 have caused quite a stir across the community. Still, it’s tough to balance different audiences with limited avenues for feedback or even finding ways to reach everyone when they’re not always online in the various forums.]
Wrappin’ it up
So, after all this, my point is that the competitive scene is important, but it’s not the only scene. Armada is powered by the average players who gather at home, in the shed, hobby shops, and small events all around the world. If we forget them in the rush to innovate, we risk undermining the very foundation that keeps this amazing game alive and well. Community is everything in this game, and it is absolutely crystal clear that we have so many extremely passionate people. Just check the egos, learn to seek and accept valid constructive criticism, and build, not tear down. We’ll get there, eventually. We’re not the first game community to go through this (previous post).
Whatever you do, just keep playing the game we love - any way you want.
Cheers,
Rosco 🥃
References:
Armada Community. (June 2025). Armada Legacy Wave 0 Release. Armada Community. https://www.armada.community/blog/legacy-wave-0-release
Armada Ruleset Collective (ARC). (August, 2025). ARC01 is live!. ARC. https://www.armadarulesetcollective.com/news/arc01-is-live-jrJoi9
Atomic Mass Games. (June, 2024). Update on Star Wars: X-Wing and Star Wars: Armada. atomicmassgames.com. https://www.atomicmassgames.com/transmission/update-on-star-wars-x-wing-and-star-wars-armada/
Chestnut, M. (July 2024). 2024 State of Armada Survey Results. Slicer Tools. https://slicer.tools/survey/2024/results
Evans, A. (June, 2024). Atomic Mass pulls the plug on Star Wars X-Wing and Armada. www.wargamer.com. https://www.wargamer.com/star-wars-x-wing/armada-atomic-mass-ends-development
Linward, T. (July, 2025). Star Wars Armada lives on as players race to publish new, fanmade content. www.wargamer.com. https://www.wargamer.com/star-wars-armada/community-support
Mahan, A. T. (1890). The influence of sea power upon history, 1660–1783. Little, Brown, and Company.
