Mantic Games have recently released a Taster (not toaster) set for Armada, their game of naval warfare in Pannithor. If that has drawn you in they have a bundle of bundle deals now available for pre-order that supplies your admiral with a complete fleet in a box for each of the current crop of races.

Basileans Complete Bundle

Patrol the high seas with Basilea the greatest nation of men in Pannithor, and possessing arguably the best human navy. Their ships are certainly a sight to behold, painted brilliant white, with
sculpted golden prows proclaiming their devotion to the Shining Ones.

Characterised by massive ships of the line, supported by an array of smaller, more specialised vessels, Basilean fleets are unlike any other human war fleets in both appearance and battle tactics.

Much like on land, the Basileans dedicate all they do to the gods. Some liken the Basilean ships to floating temples, which in the case of the larger vessels is literally true.

Orcs Complete Bundle

Fight everything that sails (and if it doesn’t, fight it anyway) with the orcs. The orcs could never be considered a seafaring race, but from the day they gazed out across the sea and saw two warring fleets ablaze as cannons roared, their greatest Krudger declared: ‘Yessssssss!’ And so began the orcs’ naval adventure.

All Orc vessels are designed by goblin Gadjits and built by a swarm of brow-beaten goblin workers. They vary hugely in design, cobbled together out of whatever raw materials lie close to hand, or from whatever enemy ships they can commandeer.

To more civilised eyes, an Orc flotilla resembles nothing more than enormous piles of wreckage floating merrily along on the tide. Only when sails unfurl and the motley
mountains of detritus change course and head directly towards them do most sea-captains start to worry.

Dwarfs Complete Bundle

Full steam ahead with the Dwarf Fleet. It is only due to lack of numbers that the dwarfs are not renowned as a sea power, for their ships, known as ironclads, are amongst the strongest in the world – wrought with the meticulous precision of the Warsmiths, powered by steam, and bristling with the most accurate cannon on the high seas.

Unusually, dwarf ships are not often commanded by sea captains, but by Warsmiths who have spent their long lives dedicated to the study of naval engineering. Their officers are also novice Warsmiths, who train as apprentices.

With their thick armour plates and lack of reliance on the wind, dwarf fleets often eschew the simple line of battle tactics that other races are compelled to employ. Instead, dwarf main battle ships are autonomous fighting machines, acting independently and opportunistically in battle.

Empire of Dust Complete Bundle

Raise the sails (and also the dead) with the Empire of Dust. Raised from the depths by bale-eyed High Priests, the great war-barges of the Ahmunite Empire serve their unloving masters once more. Their hulls now built from the polished bones of the Mighty Dead, their crews silent, tireless, the war fleets of the Empire of Dust prepare to restore glory to Nehkesharr.

The sight of a fully arrayed war fleet upon the ocean is enough to strike dread and awe in even the most hardened heart. Upon decks of bone, golden statues gleam in the sunlight, the Jewels of Shobik crackling with barely contained energy.

Empire of Dust fleets relies upon a combination of wind, oar power and sorcery to drive their fleets onwards. They form lines of battle much as they did in olden times, though once battle is joined their oared galleys are highly manoeuvrable, allowing them to make the most of the short-ranged weaponry and magic.

Salamanders Complete Bundle

Raid out of the Three Kings with the Salamanders. If any race could be said to rival the elves, it is the Salamanders. In ancient times when the elves first bartered their way beyond Ophidia and into the strange lands of the east, they happened upon an established empire of reptilian and amphibious races, who already possessed warships and vast sea-faring knowledge, and they were happy to give trespassers to their realm their first taste of naval warfare.

To-day, the Salamanders possess a small but elite navy, with large, powerful ships. Their crews, often commanded by mysterious arkosaurs, are well drilled and indeed through a form of racial memory, many salamanders are born with the knowledge of sailing and naval strategy in their fiery blood!

Though their navy is small, they have taken it upon themselves to be the self-proclaimed guardians of the Three Kings and the surrounding Infant Sea. With thick hulled ships and wielding elemental weaponry, the fleet is one of the most fearsome sights on the seas of Pannithor.

Northern Alliance//Varangur Complete Bundle

Be ready to plunder the Frozen Sea. Many tales of woe are told by survivors of the attacks heralded by the arrival of dragon-headed ships, and the cold-hearted raiders they bear. In huddled dockside taverns across the northern provinces, men speak in hushed tones of the Varangur berserkers, who arrive in their longships, razing ports and pillaging all before them in the name of their god, Korgaan.

The Northern Alliance often get tarred with the same brush by those ignorant of the ways of the North. Their fleets are similar in appearance, and their ferocity in battle is near equal. To those who fall prey to the dragon ships what does the identity of the conqueror matter?

The fleets of the northern clans share designs- ones that have served them both well for centuries. Their sleek vessels often eschew heavy guns in favour of manoeuvrability and boarding equipment, swiftly striking into the heart of the enemy fleet so that their hardy warriors might get to grips with their foes face-to-face.

Elves Complete Bundle

Glide across the waves with grace and style. It is said that the elves first learned their modern building techniques from the Celestians, but had explored much of the known world before the other races had dared leave the safety of their coastal waters. To the elves in those early times, mastery of the ocean was not vital for power, but for knowledge. Yet war was never far away.

Over the millennia, elven ships have changed very little in their design and construction - a testament to the incredible seafaring knowledge possessed by the forebears of the Sea Kindreds. Through magical rites, elven shipwright sing living trees into the sweeping curves with which to build their sleek, twin-hulled vessels.

Like organic beings in their own right, each elf ship is individually crafted, the artisans of Therennia Adar eschewing uniformity in favour of aesthetic beauty. Yet similarities exist in their tried and tested designs.

Twilight Kin Complete Bundle

Despoil the Infant Sea with the Twiglet Kin. The tyrants of the Infant Sea, a scourge to all noble races from the Eastern Reaches to the Golden Horn itself. From the Hellish home around the Mouth of Lieth, these raiders have become the stuff of nightmares - the terror in the night whose name old seadogs barely dare whisper.

Unlike their hated cousins, the Twiglet Kin have taken to seafaring fairly recently. Exiled to the land for so long, it was only with the defeat of Winter and the coming of the great flood that opened the accursed home of the Twiglets to the ocean.

They cannot yet draw upon the massive hulk-like vessels of other navies, lest they attract the wrong type of attention. However they have steadily increased the number of vessels beyond the small, nimble ships that formed their original fleets of pirate and slaver vessels that plied their trade along the coasts of the Infant Sea.

Fleet Construction

All of the bundles consist of every available unit for the current fleets. The starter and booster sets have the additional fliers from the Seas Aflame supplement and were applicable the main battleship as well. There is a saving of around 20% over picking them up separately so if you want to support the company directly this puts it roughly on par with the discount you'll find with other online retailers.

If you're thinking about getting into Armada these are terrific one-stop shops and give you all the tools to vary your games up across the seas of Pannithor and one that is definitely worth exploring. Armada is a cracking game based on Warlord Games Black Seas system and I like what Matt and the others at Mantic have done to streamline the game and add fantasy without making it unrecognisable.