Secret Fleet is a Variant ruleset for Star Wars Armada – where equipped titles and upgrades are kept secret until revealed.
You are in command, deep in the outer rim… when suddenly you encounter an enemy fleet. What are they doing out this far? What is their mission? How are they equipped? At this range, all you can tell is the general make of each ship class. “Admiral, incoming transmission!” your comm officer tells you. The enemy commander insists you surrender…. but you aren’t scared. They don’t know what you’ve brought to this battle either!
How to Play
To play “Secret Fleet”, follow all standard Armada rules, except one: simply keep all non-commander upgrade cards hidden from view, until they get used, and then reveal them. Generally, this should be beneath each ship card, so as to ensure that upgrade cards don’t get mixed up between ships accidentally.
Once a card gets activated, exhausted, or otherwise has an impact on the game, it’s time to reveal it. For cards that improve your attack, reveal them at the same time that you declare that you are attacking. (For example, you cannot wait until after the opponent spends defense tokens to retroactively go back and reveal a special critical effect card. ) All other cards get revealed as soon as they are used for the first time. All cards once revealed, stay revealed.
A Starting setup might look like this:
Some cards will allow for you to set-aside ships or squadrons before the game starts. These “Set Aside” ships and/or Squadrons will also be kept secret. Try and keep them out of view.
The Honor System
Obviously this mode might tempt someone to cheat. Don’t. Don’t ever cheat. Play this mode with your friends. Friends don’t cheat!