Where am I going wrong? Finding missions too hard.

[Captain Chris]

I have been playing strategy games for a loooong time, since the good old days of Command and Conquer (The original and best!) yet I find this game annoyingly difficult at times.
Since I really want to see the whole story I thought i'd try it on Normal first.....yeah, that went well!
Lost the first missions several times over!
Restarted on Easy (feels so wrong) and still im losing a lot of missions, especially the Assassination, Data Recovery and Planetary Bombardment ones. Cruiser Clash is fine though!

Assassination - If i send my Battlecruiser it can barely reach the enemy in time and I rely on Lightning Strikes which seem to fail about 80% of the time.
If I send the faster, lighter stuff it cant kill the enemy. So im literally relying on RNG or I lose.

Data Recovery - The enemy don't seem to be subject to the same restrictions as me, they can Strike back far faster than mine regens and again I'm relying on RNG.

Bombardment - Is totally RNG as far as I can tell. if they spawn close I win if not I lose, and mostly I seem to lose. Oh, but when I defending they always seem to spawn right next to the enemy.

Clearly I'm missing something here because on Easy it really should not be as frustrating as this.

[Ashardalon]

first mission or fist tutorial mission?
because you are supposed to warp out in the first tutorial
i tried fighting them, its not an option

assasination
torpedoes, they help a lot, you can reduse the enemy ship to 60% before even reaching it
then have enough small ships to prevent the warp out, dont autocast the boarding
just cruisers is small enough but LC's are helpfull
then if that isnt fast enough, ram
everything except orks can be rammed to death pretty quickly and easily just a brase and using imperial frontal armor

data recovery, dont bring big ships
keep your lightning strikes back, you dont need to hold the info, keep them for when the enemy tries to warp out so their warp drives are on cooldown
then its just a cruiser clash where the enemy focusses on the data carrier
vs orks you can try to grab and run, but imperials are to slow to do it with anyone else
so you have to use your lightning strikes to keep the enemy on the map and kill them

bombardment
yes its pretty rng
its a timed cruiser clash in my oppinion, they should be dead before you miss 3 bombardments
if one spawns close you can grab it for a time bonus but dont get distracted
you can avoid these on the overmap usually

[J.B.King]

One way to improve your success in campaign is to play a bit of Skirmish mode first - get used to how things work and test out how you want to upgrade your ships and what works for you and what doesnt.

Then after you feel more confident, start the campaign again, normal mode really isnt that hard if you know what you're doing.

[shadowsfm]

using shortcut keys help improve your reaction time

[XombieRocker]

That's cuz Assassination, Data Recovery, and Bombardment are 100% broken depending upon what faction you are playing as/playing against. There's just not much you can do in certain situations and is my main complaint about this game.

Hopefully this will be rectified in the sequel.

[Iceq]

Click on enemy ship set priorty of attacking it and can set what to attack, i like attack its motor or drive. You can select all your ships and attack that ship to damage it quickly and destroy it.

[GrenadeMagnet6]

Go watch FilthyRobot's playthroughs on Heroic difficulty. You'll pick up decent strategies for ship selection and all missions types. Note he loses the campaign but that was because he didn't understand the overall metagame strategy (i.e. avoid losing too many planets).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMHRPmQwl7M&list=PLQFX9B_9L4-k4GYGju3J_CxHuIz6tJwMF
If you don't want to spoil the single-player campaign then just skip the first part of the videos since each early part has a campaign mission, then the rest of the videos has the remaining skirmish battles for each turn, which can be viewed without spoiling the unique campaign missions.

FilthyRobot also produced two "tips" videos below that came out before the first game's major patch, so he refers a few abilities that no longer exist. But the overall ship and skill doctrine he used are still valid for the current version of Armada.. He's able to play without using Tactical Cogitators in most cases, but I would use TacCogs often.

Bascis Guide:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fe6dzDnBXN8
Favor Guide:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A18ZIMCxj3c
I used his techniques to get through the campaign on Hard difficulty.

I started out like you on Normal, then switched to Easy. But after watching FithyRobot's videos I got thru a third of the single-player the game's tactics finally clicked, so I started over on Hard difficulty.

Note, also it's OK to lose a few battles, as that doesn't end the game. Just try to learn what went wrong and do better in the next battle.

[Fendelphi]

Assassination:
- Dont be afraid to use your boost early and often(just dont run it empty) to get your fleets into position.
- You can deal with Assassinations with any class of ships, but depending on the amount of points available, you would want as much firepower as possible.
- Also, remember that your ships are very effective at ramming(and remember that you can stop the boost at any time by pressing the button again. As soon as you hit, stop the boost, reallign, then ram again. Ramming is most efficient if you have "Brace for Impact" command on).
- Deploy condensed in the middle of the map, so that you have a shorter distance if the enemy hides in 1 of the corners, and so that enemy interceptors would have to face the firepower of your entire fleet.
- Design 1-2 ships around assault actions and speed. This will come in handy for other missions as well. Personally I prefer a Daunless with Torpedoes. Make sure they have full Astropath crew upgrade, as this halves the jump time(from 15 seconds to 7.5 seconds).
- I cant remember which one, but there is a critical hit(I think Generator, Engine or Deck) that increases the jump out time for the ship, allowing a greater chance to get into range and board it(regular Boarding Actions are better at stopping warp out than Lightning Strikes, because you get more attempts).
- Use an escort to distract the enemy. It can sometimes divert several enemy vessels.


Data Recovery:
- Play it as an Assassination mission and just try to destroy the data carrier before it can warp out. If you are in position when it tries to warp, a single boarding action will steal the data. Usually that same ship will steal it right back, but it forces it to stop the warp(setting it on a small cooldown) and you can then continue to fire at it for something like 15 seconds before it will try to warp again(remember to ram!).
- When the main carrier is destroyed, focus the capital ships(anything but escorts) with the lowest amount of hull. It is important to remove as many Assault actions from the enemy as possible.
- Make sure you have 1 ship within distance of enemy capital vessels, in case they try to steal. But still make sure that you can focus all your firepower on a single ship(by setting priorities).
- Focus Generators or Engines to give you more kiting potential, in case it is needed.
- If the enemy take back the data and tries to run away, you fire a salvo of torpedoes and ram them(they are standing still, so should be easy), then board them if they survive.
- If you do this right, you will usually destroy all enemy capital ships, giving you an automatic win. No need to try and run away and warp out.
- If it does not look like you are able to win by destroying the enemy, make sure that your fastest ship(see Assassination) gets the data and try to get some distance. If you have disabled the enemy fleets engines and/or Generators, this should not be that difficult. Also, allied ships can cover your escape by using the Augur Disruption and Stasis bomb abilities.
- Again, try to use an escort to distract the enemy. Sometimes, if you fly close enough, they will even waste their boarding actions on it, immediately giving you an advantage.


Bombardment:
- Play it as a standard Cruiser Clash, so pick ships that can fight hard. You have 5 attempts, but if you destroy the enemy ships before the conclusion of the 3rd, you win(you dont need to destroy the platforms, although they are a nuisance).
- Keep your fleet together, deploy either to the extreme left or right, and move towards the nearest group of enemy ships. This will usually mean that you are engaging 1/3 of the enemy fleet with your entire fleet, and destroying them, before the first bombardment is specified.
- When a bombardment point is announced, make a judgement call. Is it worth sending 1 ship to get it(fast Dauntless), or better to move as a group and destroy as many enemy ships before the next bombardment coordinates?
- If you can get 1 early bombardment without taking too much damage(1 in 3 chance), you win a few more minutes to destroy the enemy, as you can potentially get a 4th and then a 5th bombardment.
- Once more, you can use an escort to distract some elements of the enemy fleet or make them waste their boarding actions(less chance of critical hits against your important ships). You can even make the defense platforms waste their stasis ability.



Some general things about ships:
The Dictator is, IMO, the most flexible cruiser available to the Imperium. It will provide you with an early fighter screen(active at the beginning of the mission), have torpedoes and bombers(ignores shield and some degree of armor) and have a decent affinity for ramming and boarding.
Combined with the Imperial Navy favour, you use "Reload" whenever it is ready, which shortens all your cooldowns(including "call reinforcement", torpedoes, bombers and Assault action skills, as well as replenishing your booster faster).

All this combined makes for a very flexible ship that can strike at long range and engage in knifefights as needed. Having 1 of these will help against enemy bombers and torpedoes(due to the fighter screen) and can bring in more Cobra Escorts for further damage and distractions.

Another ship to consider for a similar role is the Mars, but it is overall less flexible and is more expensive too. The Nova cannon is somewhat unreliable, but can be very effective against Escorts and unshielded targets. It can provide fighters and bombers just like the Dictator, but it is generally less efficient at ramming, since getting within that range means you cant fire the Nova most of the time. Also, it's broadside is less effective at close range(but have better range overall).

If you take both, consider an Augur Probe and Disruption Bomb for the Dictator, and a Beacon, Stasis Bomb and Micro-Warp Jump for the Mars. This gives you some pretty good scouting tools, control of the enemy's movement and allows your Mars to reposition for better Nova strikes(combining Disruption bomb with a minimum range Nova cannon shot is very nice).

The fast Dauntless:
It really is dauntless. Having torpedoes means that you can punch hole in things from long range or up close(like, right before a ram). The Adeptus Astartes Favour provides you with stronger offense and defense concerning assault actions.
I personally like to take the extra teleportarium and Assassin upgrades. This gives your Lightning Strike 2 assault actions(2 attempts of critical hits), with a -10 to enemy troop value(essentially +10%-point chance of success) and a chance for a mutiny on the enemy ship(a lot of penalties).
Other upgrades could be increased speed(giving you over 210 base speed), larger shields(recommended) or longer duration for special orders. Up to you.
Using either "Reload" or "Brace for Impact" depending on the situation, the ship can deal a lot of damage through torpedo spam, more lightning strikes/boarding and ramming(if needed), allowing it to "lurk", strike quickly, then disengage if the situation demands it.

Have fun!

[Captain Chris]

Wow, didnt expect such a response! Thanks very much guys, thats a lot of help to me, I will try and put it to use today!

[Ashardalon]

destroy generators for longer cooldown and ramp up on warping out
killing engines is nice if they try to run, but both assasination and intel its best to target generators
if it doesnt have voids its also easier to teleport in later if it does try to run

for extra damage with rams, dont just turn boost off but do a full stop, the enemy ship will continue to drift back for a tiny bit, that little bit of distance to get back up to speed when you boost again makes a decent differense in ram damage

[MisterCensor]

Yeah im playing right now and wow even the easy mode is hard... I totally relate to this...its unfair and broken. Ork ships too fast and eldar too fast...they recharge fast...it reminds me of homeworld except that one was way more manageable.

[Ashardalon]

its not about the speed
its about the maneuverability
orks are the same speed as imperials
but they cant high energy turn and once they boost they cant stop
use that
eldar, yea they are fast bastards
but they are fragile once you ram them
micro warp jump and boosting should make them die at a reasonable rate

you rarely do macro maneuvers
you are supposed to do the micro, use your boost to the fullest
use the slow time when your new to be better at doing this
homeworld you have a giant blob of ships that need to be approximatle kindof in the general vicinity of where you need them and thats good
BFG has a few ships but you need to tell them exactly where to go and how to go there
you have precise control, use it

[beamisnaha]

i like boobies and vegetables