Starting Firestorm Armada

I've written about the games that I'm currently doing or perhaps pursuing as a hobby, in short things I've already started and am either well into (Infinity, HoMachine) or have at the very least played, enjoyed and have a modicum of knowledge about (Malifaux, Anima Tactics). What I haven't done is talked through the process of picking a game up and how I go about deciding my factions or even what games to do. Not content with getting confused and muddled with the rules of the current crop of games I'm playing I have decided to screw things up even more by playing Firestorm Armada!!! I'm hoping against hope that I can shoe horn another set of rules into my befuddled brain.

So why did I choose to start Firestorm Armada... well apart from my general level of insanity that is. Its got a little something to do with me loving space sci-fi programs and space combat games. Quite frankly I never, ever got over the sad demise of Battlefleet Gothic, desite its flaws. Brings a tear to my eye!!! It also has to do with the fact that Spartan Games products are quite widely supported in my local gaming community and having plumped for the loveliness of Dystopian Wars steam-punk-victoriana-Jules Verne inspired miniatures and game, I trusted Spartan. In this hobby trust is a big thing, especially outside the big two, Games Workshop and Privateer Press, because they're so big you know the games will be supported at least. You see other space combat games haven't exactly fared all that well in the marketplace in the recent past for a number of reasons, and I won't bother expanding on them here.

Firestorm Armada seems like a safe bet to pump more of my money into, because Spartan are now 'established' or so it seems to me. There's also the friend factor, you see I think its fair to say that with Infinity and other games (not so much Warmachine) I have been the dynamic, thrusting and forceful power behind the take up of these products in my little gaming group, I'm the pioneer!!! Sorry I'm trying to act like I'm living in the 80's now we have a Tory Government in power and they've taken public policy back 30 years or more... ahem... but with Firestorm Armada things are slightly different. I wanted to start Firestorm Armada a while ago but my close gaming buddies weren't interested, so although I kept a watching brief on things I didn't force the issue with them as I'd already got them spending more money than they wanted to on new games (sorry guys). However people have taken to Infinity in a really big way round here now, and there are people who want to do some form of Infinity campaign, like we used to do 40k or Warhammer Fantasy campaigns... but we're missing a Space Combat element.
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