I REALLY like Armada. It's what got me back into collecting Transformers. I thought the toys were great. It was cool to see show-accurate Transformers.

As far as Decepticons go. I liked all of them. Like people have said, Demolisher was a really cool non-G1 character, and it was cool to see Starscream as a more honorable 'bot compared to the megalomaniac, power-hungry, and treacherous G1 character. I also dug Megatron, and the Megatron tank mode is one of the most badass alt-modes there are. I loved that toy.

But my favorite is probably Tidal Wave. Not for the dummy he was portrayed in the cartoon, but for the tech spec description of him as an unstoppable, aircraft carrier-sized behemoth, or "Dark Fleet." I think the character, if done right, could be one of the most badass Decepticons ever. Unfortunately, the cartoons seem to portray the giant-sized 'bots as being dummies.

But yeah, I like the Armada Decepticons, and Armada in general.

 

Sideways is pretty sweet, he's probably my favorite of the new Decepticons.

 

Pathetic as it may be to bump my own thread weeks after the fact, I'd just like to say that after revisiting the Armada PS2 game again the Decepticlones are probably among the best grunt units ever designed. Sure, none of them transform, but they all have distinct silhouettes, palettes, and behavioral patterns. You immediately understand each unit from a glance.



Light Unit: Tiny, killed in a few blasts, not much firepower, minimal reactivity. Only real strength is numbers.



Medium Unit: Tougher, about as tall as you, able to dodge out of the way of incoming attacks, will react to different weapons in different ways (i.e. freaking out when they get hit with the limpet mine, among others.)



Command Unit: Quick, evasive, a lot of health, can command lesser units around it. Has both ranged and close quarters offensive options. Priority target.



Heavy Unit: Huge, heavily armed, slow but relentless, massive health pool. This thing starts off as a boss for good reason.

I feel like I could go on with the Jet Lasers/Snipers, Guerilla units, Rollarm Units, etc., but I'd just be bloating my post with far too many images. The point is for video game exclusive cannon fodder the Decepticlones are great. They're far more memorable than any of the grunts from the Cybertron games, and I'd argue only the drones from either campaign of the 2007 movie tie-in game come even remotely close to recapturing the "uniform, but lively" feel that the Decepticlones had. I'd even put forth the argument that they're cooler than the Prime Vehicons-- not to discount the slick designs of the Prime Vehicons, I love them and their PRID toy is still a classic, but the Decepticlones, again, have variety.

 

Hadn’t thought of that before, but yeah- you can get a quick read on what enemy types you’re up against even from long distances.

Side note- one of my favorite bits is plowing through a big crowd of the Light Units. Just so good. Rapid fire explosions everywhere.  

 

YES!!

He's one that I'd so much be thrilled to see in any new series, comics and also, we need his proper toy!!

 

It aggravates me to no end that we never got a TR figure for him, given the whole "double Headmaster Mini-Con" gimmick.

 

If Equiptors continue on as a separate class/play pattern. I would love to see those decepticlone designs used for those.

 

I think the fact we saw variations on the base models helped as well to sell the idea they were being built specifically to counter the Autobot forces. Shields and gernades to let the medium units compete with your heavy weapons and shields. I also would kill for deluxe scale medium units

 

I would kill for toys of all of the Decepticlone units. Usually I'm against the prospect of Transformers that don't transform, but in this case I'd happily make an exception because these designs are fantastic.

 

It can not be understated how important good character design is in a game. What you described was everything that frustrated me about the enemy units in the WFC games. Unless they were something really big and elaborate, the enemies in the Cybertron games were samey, and blended into the backgrounds. The swirly Tron lights and perpetually dark colourschemes made reading the movements and silhouette at a glance pointless, and meant strategy against certain types was rarely something planned out so much as changed on the spot when, oh, that standard grunt is actually a shotgunner, or oh, that sniper is actually a missile spammer, etc.

I also like how all of those units posted are clearly villain designs without, like I said earlier, defaulting to dark colours and spiky angles. Hell, the designs are really nothing amazing in their own right, yet they feel so much less generic than "spiky black thing with glow-y lights #23." I don't dislike the Prime Vehicon design on principle, but it really does embody everything wrong with Transformers villain design circa ROTF. It reminds me of how the TFA Decepticons had more generified, spiky versions of their normal designs before coming to Earth, only to replace those over-detailed and typical villain looks for more subtle, traditional ones. Starscream especially lost about 50% of his surface details and angles yet looked so much better as a result. Lessons all un-learned for Prime and eventually many TF series that followed.

But man, was it great when TFs had that more subtle aesthetic divide. Like take any Armada Decepticon and repaint them into an Autobot. It really just doesn't work, but it's not especially obvious why it doesn't work. It's all in the details, and yet it never feels especially heavy-handed because of the design aesthetic already being predisposed to rugged industrial design for the Autobots as well. The best way I can describe it is though every Autobot was repurposed military surplus in civilian roles, and every Decepticon was military surplus in private militia roles, with the added features and personalization for each character.

 

Demolisher, Cyclonus and TidalWave were all characters I was hoping would jump into the more mainstream.

Shame really I would of loved to have gotten a toy of FOC/WFC Demolisher but the closest we've gotten was a retool of Onslaught with a new head that I don't think actually ever saw the light of day. Looked like a cool head but without the shoulder guns it's not really demolisher to me.

 

I think you're onto something here. A fair chunk of the Armada Autobots are pretty heavy-duty, but they're not really going out of their way to be threatening. Prime is a big, chunky Mack truck, more streamlined than most of his predecessors but still a big rolling hunk of metal. Red Alert is an ambulance, but he looks to be some sort of offroad type, allowing him to get to his patients wherever they might be on the battlefield. Smokescreen and Scavenger are both, of course, construction vehicles, and ones that serve dual purposes, Smokescreen having his tow crane and Scavenger his rock grinder, and Jetfire, even as a space shuttle and thus the only flier of the team (who's not a Mini-Con) still feels hefty, allowing him to fit in with the rest of the Autobots without skipping a beat. Ironically this makes Hot Shot and Blurr, the supercars, the exception, which I honestly think is a good thing because not every Autobot needs to be a supercar and it better highlights their personalities this way. So most of the Autobots are heavy and industrial, but like I said, they don't seem like they've gone out of their way to be overtly threatening, just good at their respective jobs.

The Decepticons, on the other hand, look at the military hardware we have and think "hm, this isn't KILL EVERYTHING TO DEATH enough for me, I can do better." Hence the Armada Decepticons are all absolutely loaded with firepower. Some are more overt about it than others, but it's consistent for every single one of them. Megatron, on top of his tank turret, has the flip-out missiles and what I like to interpret as a missile pod towards the front on the left side of the tank, Cyclonus has the Mini-Con activated leg cannons and the bonus powerlink with his Mini-Con that grants him his helicopter mode turret, Demolishor has his hand guns, Tidal Wave his turret nipples, Thrust the missiles strapped to his legs, and Starscream his massive Null Ray cannons. Even most of their Mini-Cons fit this mindset to a T, such as the aforementioned Crumplezone, Blackout, Inferno, and Leader-1. It drives home the mentality that the Decepticons are a military unit, something that was pretty heavily emphasized in the show, and not to be taken lightly. Their alt modes are even more threatening than the military hardware they're based on because that's the entire point. They want to threaten and intimidate.

Interestingly this fits the whole G1 Season 3 concept of "Autobots are industrial goods, Decepticons are gladiators and military hardware" perfectly, and in fact feels like the apotheosis of that mindset.

 

The irony is that even Hot Shot is beefy for a sleek sportscar, with a wide back end (nnff) and big, treaded tires. He still looks practically bulletproof, he just pales in comparison to someone like Red Alert who's extra rugged, or Optimus who's so heavy duty his trailer has treads instead of wheels.

This even extends to the details. Megatron has so many heavy armour plates that look like they're over top of a more basic tank, like he's added them personally. The Decepticons have lots of rivets, layered armour, and asymmetry that feels like they've modified themselves just the way you describe, even before you get to the actual weapons. They were less concerned with aesthetics and more concerned with utility.

 

A show-accurate MP Armada Starscream is #1 on my wish list at the moment, but not even a 3P seems to have made one. That design, such an awesome take on the original Starscream design, except for the back kibble that sticks straight out. The wing blade was an awesome idea and I loved how both Armada and Cybertron made the character a swordsman.

I’ve seen speculation on other threads saying Takara may release Armada MPs in a couple years to mark the 20th anniversary... is there any reason to believe that’s true or is it purely just wishful thinking?

 

I'm pretty sure that's wishful thinking. Since the movies got MP's on their 10th anniversary despite how divisive they were, but that's mostly because of how it's probably the second most recognized part of the brand behind/alongside G1. Although I would love an MP UT line for the 20th anniversary.

 

God yes, I would love an Armada MP line even though I don't collect MPs. Ideally this would result in these designs getting the proper articulation they deserve, main 'bot and Mini-Con partner alike. Failing that, I'm going to hold out hope that the Armada Prime prototype we saw will eventually release (as it allegedly hasn't been scrapped) and we get more Armada toys in that aesthetic. Imagine how Megatron or Starscream would look all anime'd up like that.

 

Yes! Even though I hated armada I absolutely loved the designs especially Optimus’s and starscream’s

 

Dude, watch Micron Densetsu. The Japanese version is at least 10 times better than the dub.

 

Nah I’m about to watch cybertron this weekend but I might give micron legend a chance if it’s better than armada

 

Need a figure of that Command Unit.