Space Din-O-Pinions | RIP to Star Wars Armada and X-Wing (Season of Scenery 2024)

This will be a sort of weird hybrid post. I'll be talking about my thoughts with the recent announcement that Armada and X-Wing are ceasing development, but nobody likes a wall of text, unless you're into books. But this isn't a book, and pictures are required, so I've gone ahead and interspersed my ramblings with photos of my painted Armada squadrons. So it does double duty for the Season of Scenery challenge as well.  

First off: welp that sucks. I hadn't quite filled in all the gaps in my collection, and for a time there I was being responsible with my spending. Then suddenly, a mad scramble to get the last bits before the game disappeared, maybe forever, and I could sit on my hoard of plastic, like a strange nerdy dragon. Luckily, I was able to get about 90% of the way there, other than a pesky second Venator-class Star Destroyer. I know, I know, I'm lucky to have one, but I always wanted a second. At least 3D printing is a thing, and I have a proxy on order. 

I am sad though that from a design perspective, there are still things left on the table. Armada was close to being a "complete" game, at least to me. They just needed to round out the prequel factions a tad more. Again, 3D printing really helps here, but the biggest factor here is buy in. Getting the community to agree as to what homebrew will be the "official" source of new models is a task that, quite frankly, won't have everyone seeing eye to eye. 

Yes, I know, it really only matters that my local group agrees. But will the local group survive? It was just barely getting off of the ground, and I was the player with more of a complete collection. Now, we're gonna struggle getting all the parts that are needed. As nice as 3D printing is, one of the draws of the game is that I can literally play the game right out of the box. 

As for X-Wing, at least that system was getting some re-prints and new content. I do really like the scenario packs that they were releasing, and I had hoped that there would be more stuff like that for Armada. The campaigns were a big commitment, but a scenario that you can play in an afternoon? That would have been a blast. 

But no more, the game is dead, from a development standpoint. Will that stop me from playing? No, not at all. I managed to keep going with Pirates CSG long after it passed, even if nowadays it spends more time sitting in a box than out in the open. But that's ok, the game is always there for me to pick up and play again. 

Besides, future kids may want to try out the game with me in the future, and they'll have to accept whatever version of the game I force them to play. If the game isn't resurrected at that point, or if some new fangled space battle/dogfight game hasn't taken their place. 

Anyways, just a bit of venting and rambling as I yell at the clouds as another game sunsets. It was a good time, even if I was never there from the get-go. Some other players have invested more time and money than I have, and understandably are not having the greatest time right now. I appreciate the time I got playing the game while it was supported and I could easily find the models I wanted. But nothing lasts forever, so I say goodbye to official support and I'll have a good time with what I do have.

-The Space Dinosaur