Star Trek: Armada — memory alpha

Real world article

(written from a production point of view)

Star Trek: Armada is a real-time strategy (RTS) video game published by Activision in 2000. The game can be played either in a single-player campaign, or in a multi-player internet combat mode. In either mode, the player(s) build and maintain fleets and stations of one of four factions: Federation, Klingon, Romulan, and Borg. The single-player mode is story-driven: the player has a series of objectives to complete in twenty missions, in an interwoven storyline covering all four factions.

A sequel, Star Trek: Armada II, was released in June 2001. In 2021, Armada and several other Star Trek titles were given a digital release on the GOG storefront.

Summary

From the packaging: Control the races. Control the galaxy.; War rages across the Alpha Quadrant. You command four powerful races in a strategic struggle for survival. Who will live? Who will be assimiilated? The future depends on your every decision.

Excerpts of copyrighted sources are included for review purposes only, without any intention of infringement.

Setting

The game takes place on and around stardate 53550 (as well as a brief interlude into 2364), just after the end of the Dominion War. Relations between the allies have deteriorated slightly, with the Romulans and the Klingons once again in dispute.

Single-player campaign

Federation campaign

Premonitions

"Captain's Log, Stardate 53550.8, With the Dominion War over, and matters stabilizing in the Alpha Quadrant, the Enterprise is helping to re-establish an outpost in the Barisa sector. Though we are not expecting any conflicts, there have been rumors of renegade Dominion ships in the area, who have refused to accept the Federation/Dominion treaty. The Enterprise is being sent to protect the outpost, should any hostilities arise."

The USS Enterprise-E, accompanied by two Akira-class ships, must eliminate rogue Jem'Hadar attack ships in the sector, in order to secure colonization efforts. A construction ship is also present to build a permanent outpost in the system. Once all Dominion ships are destroyed, a temporal vortex is detected, and a Starfleet vessel emerges, pursued by two Borg spheres. Picard recognizes it, like he has seen it before. The vessel identifies itself as the USS Premonition, and its CO, Captain Thaddeus Demming, informs Captain Picard that a major Borg invasion is imminent. Within the hour, a force of Borg ships will attack and destroy the nearby Starbase 612, the first step to the assimilation of the Alpha Quadrant.

"Paradise Revisited"

"Acting Captain's Log, Ambassador Worf commanding USS Avenger, I have been temporally re-assigned from my duties on the Klingon homeworld, to mediate a situation developing in the Ba'ku system. Starfleet has given me command of the USS Avenger, to deal with any hostilities that may arise."

Ambassador Worf, on temporary assignment to the Ba'ku settlement, and commanding the USS Avenger, must eliminate a force of Son'a warships intent on reclaiming the planet. He receives word of the Borg invasion, and heads to Qo'noS to gain reinforcement.

"Vendetta"

"Acting Captain's Log, Stardate 53551.6, I am taking the Avenger through the Ikolis Expanse. Though it is a treacherous area to navigate, it should reduce the voyage back to Qo'noS significantly."

en route to Qo'noS, Worf is ambushed by Toral, and a small force of Klingon warships. Outgunned, he must traverse the Ikolis Expanse, a hazardous region of space, to escape, salvaging derelict vessels and even a Federation Starbase and Shipyard to assist along the way. In order to prevent Toral seizing the Klingon throne, Worf takes the Avenger to the location of the Sword of Kahless.

"Dark Omens"

"Captain's Log, Stardate 53551.3, We have been hailing Starbase 612 ever since we received the USS Premonition's warnings about the Borg. There has been no response. I fear we might be too late..."

The Enterprise arrives at Starbase 612, only to find its defense fleet in ruins and most of the station's facilities heavily damaged. The player must salvage as many ships as possible, and bring local stations back on-line in order to repel a second wave of attack, including an assault by assimilated Starfleet vessels, and eliminate the local Borg base.

Klingon campaign

"To the Gates of Sto'vo'kor"

The Borg have struck at Klingon territory as well. Chancellor Martok must lead an assault on a Borg force attacking the Gamma Eridon sector. Once the Borg have been eliminated, Martok heads for his command base to find out why expected reinforcements did not appear.

"The Enemy Within"

Having escaped from Worf in "Vendetta", Toral has assembled a formidable fleet, and launches an assault on Martok's starbase. The base must be held until the Avenger arrives, when Martok evacuates to the Defiant-class vessel, and leaves the sector, bound for Qo'noS, to present the Sword of Kahless to the Klingon High Council.

"A Good Day to Die"

Qo'noS is embroiled in conflict as Martok arrives aboard the Avenger. Worf's vessel is refitted with a cloaking device, and dispatched to trail Toral. Martok must attack and destroy Toral's main base. Toral manages to escape the attack, with Worf in hot pursuit...

"Gray Eminence"

Continuing from the end of "A Good Day to Die", Toral escapes to a Romulan base near the border. Martok's fleet follows behind, and launches an assault to clear the sector of all Romulan presence. With Toral and the Romulans routed, Martok announces that this is only the beginning of a larger war with the Romulans.

Romulan campaign

"Cloak and Dagger"

"Admiral Sela's Personal Log: Our Alliance with Toral in this Klingon war is proving to be more trouble than its worth. During the last Klingon raid one of our top scientists, Dr. Oldan, was captured. Oldan was working on the Phoenix Project. I have enlisted the help of one of the Tal Shiar's top operatives to help get him back"

The new war with the Klingons is proving costly for the Star Empire. Admiral Sela is dispatched into Klingon space to rescue a noted Romulan scientist, Dr. Oldan, from a prison in the Krios system. Following the successful destruction of the prison, and the recovery of Dr. Oldan, Sela is called to the Neutral Zone by order of the Tal Shiar.

"A Call to Power"

"Admiral Sela's Personal log; I have been summoned to this remote Starbase on the fringe of Cardassian space by an agent of the Tal Shiar, the Romulan secret police. Though I have no idea what this clandestine group wants with me, dealing with the Tal Shiar is often as unpleasant as it is perilous"

A Tal Shiar operative, Jal'par, informs Sela that a group of Ferengi vessels have discovered the Omega particle in a remote corner of space. The Ferengi, unaware of the value of their discovery, are preparing to sell it to the Cardassians. Sela must intercept the trade, and seize Omega for their own uses. The Ferengi are easily bought off, and the Cardassians are eliminated. As the specially constructed containment vessel retrieves the particle, Borg transwarp signatures are detected, and the fleet heads for Romulus.

"The Gauntlet"

"Admiral Sela's Personal Log; with the sudden arrival of the Borg, we have had to evacuate our base sooner than I'd hoped. The Collective is relentless in their pursuit, more and more transwarp signatures continue to come into sensor range. So far, we have managed to stay one step ahead of them, but it is meant altering our course away from Romulus and into Klingon space"

With the Borg in pursuit, Sela's fleet must negotiate the sector to reach a Romulan starbase beyond a wormhole at its edge. The Klingons are also in the sector, and Sela's fleet is too small and too vulnerable to take on a large force. The containment vessel is taken through the wormhole, and Jal'par remains behind to deal with the Borg threat.

"Unholy Alliances"

"Admiral Sela's Personal Log; the Omega Particle has been safely hidden at our Romulan base behind the wormhole. With the Federation requesting peace negotiations between the Romulans and Klingons, I've find it necessary to tie up some, 'loose ends'."

Sela negotiates a temporary alliance with the Borg. In exchange for eliminating Toral's base, the Romulans will give Omega to the Collective. The Klingon presence is formidable, and includes several Jach'eng-class weapons. Once the Klingon threat is eliminated, Sela reneges on the deal, and a vast cloaked fleet attacks and destroys the Borg base. With their links to Toral severed, and the Borg threat temporarily subdued, and the Omega particle secured, the Romulans can begin negotiations to end the war with the Klingons.

Borg campaign

"Resurrection"

Having failed in acquiring the Omega particle from the Romulans, the Collective attacks a Dominion base so as to assimilate a Dominion cloning facility to create a clone of Jean-Luc Picard. Locutus is directed to acquire the Omega particle (which the Borg designate "Particle 010") at all costs.

"Assimilation"

The Borg have assimilated Jal'par, and learned the location of the Romulan starbase which is the temporary home of the Omega particle. With limited resources, the Borg must assimilate nearby vessels and starbases to gain enough ships to successfully capture the base. The Borg discover that the Federation is arranging a conference between the Romulans and the Klingons. Such an alliance would jeopardize the Collective's goals, and Locutus dispatches a vessel to intercept the Federation's ambassador, Spock, before he reaches the conference.

This mission features the only appearance of the Breen in the game.

"Extermination"

Establishing a staging ground for the construction of a transwarp gate in the Pleiades Cluster – to return Omega to Unimatrix 001 – the Collective encounters a space-dwelling lifeform, Species 9341, whose energy attacks drain crew from ships and stations. Species 9341 were deemed to be unsuitable for assimilation, therefore the sector must be cleansed of the species' presence. Since standard weapons are ineffective against the mother creatures, the Borg diamond's ultritium burst weapon must be developed and deployed. With the gate constructed, and Omega returned to the Delta Quadrant, Locutus is given a new objective: assimilate Earth.

"The Twilight Hour"

The Borg fleet has arrived in Sector 001, destroying the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards. The Federation fleet has pulled back into Earth orbit for a last stand, and Locutus confronts Picard. "Resistance is, and always has been, futile" he says, revealing that the Federation's attempt to orchestrate peace between the Romulans and Klingons has failed – Spock has been assimilated. The Federation stands alone. Hopelessly outnumbered, the Federation fleet falls to the Borg advance. The Avenger is destroyed, the Enterprise escapes through a temporal vortex created by the Premonition, and the assimilation of Earth begins...

Omega campaign

Note: This campaign is only accessible after all other campaigns have been completed.

"Once and Again"

As the Federation loses the battle for Earth, the Premonition opens a temporal vortex. The Enterprise travels back in time, arriving near the Romulan-Klingon border just in time to prevent the attack on Spock's vessel. With the Borg converging on the area, the Enterprise and the escort fleet must get Spock to the conference intact.

"A Line in the Sand"

"The Twilight Hour" from the Federation's perspective. This time, however, the peace conference has succeeded, and the time-traveling Enterprise arrives with a combined Romulan and Klingon fleet. The original Enterprise travels back via the Premonition's temporal vortex to complete the causality loop. With the additional reinforcement, the Borg attack is repulsed and their Terran System base is destroyed. Locutus escapes via a transwarp gate, and the combined fleet pursues in standard warp.

"The Alpha and the Omega, Part I"

The Borg transwarp signatures have been tracked to their primary base in the Alpha Quadrant, the Pleiades Cluster (from "Extermination"). In order to completely wipe out the Borg threat, the transwarp gate must be captured, so that the fleet can trace the Borg fleet back to the Delta Quadrant, and destroy the Omega particle.

"The Alpha and the Omega, Part II"

The combined fleet uses the transwarp gate to journey into the heart of Borg space. A feint attack is quickly repelled by the Borg, but Worf in the Avenger and a small Klingon/Romulan fleet uses the diversion to sneak into the Unimatrix under cloak. A new transwarp gate is built using a captured Borg construction vessel, and the rest of the fleet jumps in. The Borg unimatrix and the Omega containment facility are attacked and destroyed, as is the cloned Locutus. At the last minute, the Collective dispatches a single Borg sphere back to 2364, destroying the USS Enterprise-D just after "Encounter at Farpoint", thus erasing the victory. The Premonition, protected from the changes in the timeline, travels back to eliminate the sphere (this provides a reference to an earlier comment by Picard in "Premonitions" – where he states he has seen the Premonition before).

Multiplayer mode

In multiplayer mode, the aim is to be the last player standing. Each player can choose one of the four factions, and must build up a fleet to eliminate the other players. Play is possible over local area networks or over the internet via WON (World Opponent Network) servers. The vessels and resources available can vary according to the settings used.

Instant Action

Instant Action is the single-player equivalent of multiplayer mode – the additional players controlled by computer. The player can make his or her own ships as they go along.

To use another civilization's technologies, capture a construction ship and/or an enemy starbase. Example: A Federation player has captured a Borg "Assembler". That player uses it to construct all Borg facilities, including a transwarp gate.

References

Starbase 612: a Starfleet base located in the Beta Quadrant that was attacked by the Borg in 2376.

Characters

United Federation of Planets faction

Venture-class

Role: Scout
Crew: 10
Officers: 2
Construction time: 15
Dilithium cost: 100
Shield strength: 100
Weapons: 1 pulse phaser
Special weapons: tachyon detection grid (allows detection of cloaked ships within range)

The Venture is one of the newest additions to Starfleet's armada, with production beginning in 2374. It is a lightly-armored, highly-maneuverable scout vessel capable of deep space as well as atmospheric flight. The Venture-class ship has limited space, restricting a large crew complement. The vessel is primarily designed for reconnaissance and short-range exploration. It is equipped with a forward firing pulse phaser, should it need to engage in combat.

Defiant-class

Role: Destroyer
Crew: 80
Officers: 3
Construction time: 24
Dilithium cost: 200
Shield strength: 135
Weapons: 2 pulse phasers
Special weapons: anti-matter mines (these mines lie in wait until an enemy ship comes near, then home in and explode)
Prominent ships of the class: USS Avenger

Initially designed as an escort vessel, the Defiant-class began development in 2366 with the explicit intent of defending the Federation against the Borg. Since their initial production run, the Defiant has quickly filled the ranks of the Federation fleet and is now one of its most abundant starships. Each Defiant is outfitted with two forward-firing pulse phasers fitted onto their bow, allowing them to unleash a barrage of firepower at any opponent they face...

Steamrunner-class

Role: Cruiser (although truly artillery)
Crew: 250
Officers: 5
Construction time: 45
Dilithium cost: 100
Shield strength: 300
Weapons: tri-cobalt torpedoes (unguided, but has a long range with massive damage and area of effect)
Special weapons: engine overload (disables the engines of enemy ships within range)

Akira-class

Role: Cruiser
Crew: 200
Officers: 5
Construction time: 40
Dilithium cost: 400
Shield strength: 300
Weapons: phaser beam
Special weapons: chain reaction pulsar (this weapon fires a powerful burst which bounces off targets, damaging them and gaining energy until it releases all of its energy on a final target)

Nebula-class

Role: Special weapons
Crew: 300
Officers: 10
Construction time: 110
Dilithium cost: 1,100
Shield strength: 200
Weapons: phaser beam / quantum torpedoes (low rate of fire)
Special weapons: shield disruptor (temporarily disables the shields of enemy ships in range); Gemini effect (creates a duplicate of a friendly ship which, while only existing temporarily, is useful in battle); point defense phasers (destroys enemy torpedoes within range); engineering teams (can be transported to friendly ships, restoring shields to at least 50% and increasing rate of repair)

Sovereign-class

Role: Battleship
Crew: 400
Officers: 7
Construction time: 80
Dilithium cost: 800
Shield strength: 750
Weapons: phaser beam / quantum torpedoes
Special weapons: corbomite reflector (reflects enemy torpedoes, except tri-cobalt ones, off the ship, does not always reflect back at the enemy ship)
Prominent ships of this class: USS Enterprise-E

Galaxy-class

(non-buildable)

Role: Battleship
Crew: 600
Officers: 7
Shield strength: 700
Weapons: phaser beams / quantum torpedoes
Prominent ships of this class: USS Enterprise-D (non-playable, seen in cut-scene), USS Odyssey (ship carrying Ambassador Spock in the mission "Once and Again")
A derelict Galaxy-class can be salvaged in the Instant Action map "The Junkyard"

Premonition-class

(non-buildable)

Role: Hero ship (if it is destroyed, the mission will fail) / Battleship
Crew: 400
Officers: 7
Shield strength: 2,000
Weapons: phaser beams / quantum torpedoes
Special weapons: Gemini effect (creates a duplicate of a friendly ship which, while only existing temporarily, is useful in battle); temporal stasis field (temporarily freezes time for enemy ships contained within a specific area)

USS Premonition (NX-4612)

The USS Premonition — The USS *Premonition*

The Premonition was constructed after 2376, during an alternate timeline in which the Borg succeeded in invading and assimilating the majority of Starfleet, the Federation, the Klingon Empire, and the Romulan Empire. It was under the command of Captain Thaddius Deming.

After its launch, the Premonition, Deming used its temporal drive to travel back to the year 2376, two days before the start of the Borg invasion of the Alpha Quadrant.

In one timeline, the Borg managed to assimilate Earth, despite the interference of the Premonition. However, the ship used its temporal vortex generator to send the USS Enterprise-E back in time to stop the Borg shortly before its destruction.

Thanks to the assistance of the Premonition and the Enterprise-E, Starfleet was eventually able to stop the Borg from conquering the Federation and further altering the timeline in favor of the Federation. Following the Borg withdrawal, the Premonition returned to the future and its status is unknown.

Temporal Research Facility

The Temporal Research Facility was a weapon station constructed by the Federation. It projected a temporal stasis field over an area of space, freezing any enemy targets caught within. Allied ships were unaffected and left free to fire on their disabled enemies for the duration of the effect. While caught in the field, allied ships can attack those same ships or use special powers without the fear of retaliation. Once the effect wears off, any ship that is destroyed will explode while any ship that were not, will be able to be controlled.

Federation ships open fire on Borg vessels caught in a temporal stasis field

Klingon Empire faction

NuQ'Duj-class (β)

The NuQ'Duj-class scout — The *NuQ'Duj*-class scout

Role: Scout
Crew: 10
Officers: 2
Construction time: 15
Dilithium cost: 90
Shield strength: 90
Weapons: 1 disruptor pulse cannon
Special weapons: tachyon detection grid (detects cloaked ships within range)

B'Rel-class

Role: Destroyer
Crew: 40
Officers: 3
Construction time: 24
Dilithium cost: 180
Shield strength: 135
Weapons: 2 disruptor pulse cannons
Special weapons: gravity mines (when released, attaches to the hull of the nearest enemy ship in range and slows them down)
Cloaking device

SuQ'jagh-class (β)

The SuQ'jagh-class cruiser — The *SuQ'jagh*-class cruiser

Role: Assault
Crew: 350
Officers: 5
Construction time: 40
Dilithium cost: 400
Shield strength: 300
Weapons: photon torpedoes
Special weapons: commando team (launches a pod through enemy shields carrying (40) commandos that fight the crew of the enemy ship, if used in large enough numbers they will take over the ship)

Vor'cha-class

Role: Cruiser
Crew: 180
Officers: 5
Construction time: 36
Dilithium cost: 360
Shield strength: 270
Weapons: disruptor beam
Special weapons: polaron torpedo (fires through enemy shields and disables one of the enemy ship's subsystems)
Cloaking device

Fek'lhr-class (β)

The Fek'lhr-class special weapons ship — The *Fek'lhr*-class special weapons ship

Role: Special weapons
Crew: 270
Officers: 10
Construction time: 130
Dilithium cost: 1,300
Shield strength: 180
Weapons: disruptor beams / photon torpedoes (low rate of fire)
Special weapons: death chant (a battle cry that increases the rate of fire and crew effectiveness of friendly ships in range); repulsion wave (a shock wave that disables the engines on enemy ships and pushes them away); ion storm (a temporary artificial nebula that damages all ships within it, friendly or enemy); energy dissipator (drains the energy for special weapons from all enemy ships within range)

A point of interest: the design of this vessel is quite similar to the design of a unit in Starcraft by Blizzard. The unit is a Terran Battlecruiser.

Negh'Var-class

Role: Battleship
Crew: 360
Officers: 7
Construction time: 72
Dilithium cost: 720
Shield strength: 675
Weapons: disruptor beam / photon torpedoes
Special weapons: ion cannon (a single powerful energy burst that causes extreme damage to a target)
Prominent ships of the class: Martok's flagship (has cloaking device), Toral's flagship (not playable)

Jach'Eng-class (β)

The Jach'Eng-class weapon — The *Jach'Eng*-class weapon

Role: Superweapon
Crew: 50
Officers: 5
Construction time: 350
Dilithium cost: 3,500
Shield strength: 300
Special weapons: subspace shock wave (a shock wave that travels out in one direction, destroying anything in its path until it dissipates; using it also destroys the firing ship)

Romulan Star Empire faction

Talon-class

Role: Scout
Crew: 10
Officers: 2
Construction time: 15
Dilithium cost: 100
Shield strength: 100
Weapons: 1 disruptor pulse cannon
Special weapons: tachyon detection grid (detects cloaked ships in range)
Cloaking device

Shrike-class

Role: Destroyer
Crew: 80
Officers: 3
Construction time: 24
Dilithium cost: 200
Shield strength: 135
Weapons: 2 disruptor pulse cannon
Special weapons: Romulan spy (plants a Tal Shiar operative on an enemy ship, allowing you to see anything that ship can see; can be used while cloaked. If used on an enemy station, reveals all stations controlled by the owner).
Cloaking device

Raptor-class

(has a striking resemblance to the Valdore-type Warbird, but is not the same ship)

Role: Cruiser (although truly artillery)
Crew: 250
Officers: 5
Construction time: 40
Dilithium cost: 450
Shield strength: 110
Weapons: tri-cobalt torpedoes (unguided, but with massive damage of and area effect)
Special weapons: myotronic inhibitor (disables the weapons of all enemy ships in range)
Cloaking device

Griffin-class

Role: Cruiser
Crew: 200
Officers: 5
Construction time: 40
Dilithium cost: 400
Shield strength: 270
Weapons: disruptor beam
Special weapon: sensor jammer (releases a subspace wave that disables the sensors of all enemy ships in range, blinding them)
Cloaking device

Shadow-class

Role: Special weapons
Crew: 300
Officers: 10
Construction time: 105
Dilithium cost: 1,050
Shield strength: 180
Weapons: disruptor beam / plasma torpedoes (low rate of fire)
Special weapons: holo-emitter (projects holo-images and warp signatures onto enemy ships making them think that they are enemies of each other, they start shooting each other); psychonic blast (sends a psychonic wave onto an enemy ship, causing the crew to go temporarily insane and start killing each other, reduces crew complement by half); energy shield converter (transmits energy from the Shadow onto a friendly ship, reinforcing its shields); phase cloak (both cloaks the ship and allows it to pass through matter)

D'deridex-class

(just called Warbird class in game)

Role: Battleship
Crew: 400
Officers: 7
Construction time: 80
Dilithium cost: 800
Shield strength: 675
Weapons: disruptor beams / plasma torpedoes
Special weapons: shield inversion beam (takes shield energy away from an enemy target and transfers it to the warbird)
Cloaking device
Prominent ships of this class: Sela's flagship

Phoenix-class

Role: Super weapon
Crew: 50
Officers: 5
Construction time: 40
Dilithium cost: 3,000
Shield strength: 300
Special weapons: rift creator (create a rift in space time, destroying everything within range, including itself)
Omega containment vessel

Borg Collective faction

Detector

Role: Scout
Crew: 30
Officers: 2
Construction time: 15
Dilithium cost: 120
Shield strength: 120
Weapons: 1 pulse energy cannon
Special weapons: tachyon detection grid (detects any cloaked ships in range)

Interceptor

Role: Destroyer
Crew: 100
Officers: 3
Construction time: 30
Dilithium cost: 250
Shield strength: 188
Weapons: energy beam
Special weapons: transwarp drive (allows the ship to instantaneously travel from any location to any other explored one on the map)

Assimilator

Role: Cruiser
Crew: 200
Officers: 5
Construction time: 50
Dilithium cost: 500
Shield strength: 375
Weapons: energy torpedoes
Special weapons: auto-assimilator (lock on to an enemy ship with a blue beam that automatically transports members of the enemy crew to be assimilated and added to the crew pool)

Borg sphere

Role: Cruiser
Crew: 250
Officers: 5
Construction time: 50
Dilithium cost: 500
Shield strength: 375
Weapons: energy beam
Special weapons: regeneration (increases repair and shield recharge rate)

Borg diamond

Role: Special weapons
Crew: 350
Officers: 10
Construction time: 140
Dilithium cost: 1,400
Shield strength: 300
Weapons: energy beam / energy torpedoes (low rate of fire)
Special weapons: shield remodulation (modifies the shields of a friendly ship to make them impervious to enemy attack); computer override (transmits an override signal to an enemy ship, allowing you to take temporary control of it); nanites (injects nanites into the enemy communication system, scrambling their user interface); ultritium burst (fires a powerful burst at multiple enemy targets, causing severe damage)

Borg cube

Role: Battleship
Crew: 1,000
Officers: 20
Construction time: 120
Dilithium cost: 2,000
Shield strength: 10,125
Weapons: energy beam / energy torpedoes
Special weapons: holding beam (locks a tractor beam onto an enemy ship, holding it in place and transporting drones over to facilitate assimilation. When complete, the vessel itself is assimilated and falls under the command of the collective (the player or CPU))
Prominent ships of the class: Locutus's cube

Transwarp gate

The transwarp gate is a weapon station constructed by the Borg. It creates a two-way transwarp conduit that allows fleets of vessels to travel instantaneously through the gate to any explored location on the game map. It works similarly to a wormhole, except that it is under the control of the player and is only active for a short time.

Ferengi starships

D'Kora-class

Cardassian starships

Galor-class (misnamed; actually the Keldon-class)
Damar-class (β) (a smaller Galor-class vessel)
Omega containment vessel

Son'a starships

Dominion starships

Breen starships

Breen interceptor

Other ships and stations

Borg Omega containment station
Species 9341 Mother
Species 9341 Entity
Construction ships: This is a ship used by all playable races to construct all installations. They're constructed at the starbase. When the game starts, the player gets one starbase and/or one or two construction ships.

Background information

Development

In May 1999, Technical Director and Lead Programmer Dr. Ian Lane Davis provided a development update to Trek Nation. He noted that Activision had been working on the game dynamics (before it was set up to be a Star Trek game) since July 1998, and got the license to make it as a Star Trek game in January 1999. [1]^(X)
Davis revealed that the game would reuse some code from Activision's other titles, including Mechwarrior 2, Interstate '76, Battlezone, Dark Reign, and Civilization: Call to Power. [2]^(X)
In October 1999, Director Trey Watkins was interviewed by Strategy Planet, noting that they focused on four elements to set them apart from other RTS games - including other Star Trek games, like Star Trek: New Worlds: creating four distinct sides requiring different strategies, capturing the realism of space combat without a confusing three-dimensional interface, "a multiplayer environment that will appeal to the truly hardcore RTS fans," and the first opportunity for video game players to play as the Borg. [3]^(X)
Lead Designer Eric Gewirtz discussed developing the game's story with GamePro in March 2000, noting "the initial concept and story arch for Armada was not complex. We just came up with a bunch of ideas we would've liked to seen implemented in the Star Trek Universe, and then tried to incorporate them into the gameplay of an RTS. Telling the story in the game became complicated later on in the process. This was in large part due to the constant switching of perspective. The story starts out from the Federation point of view, then switches to the Klingon, Romulan, Borg, and back again to the Federation for the end. Once we worked out the transitions from perspective to perspective, the storyline really came together." [4]^(X)
Gewirtz referenced Dark Reign, Battlezone, and Civilization Call to Power as experiences which helped prepare them for the game's ambitious four playable faction dynamic. (Star Trek: The Magazine Volume 1, Issue 14, p. 88)
Regarding the games AI, Gewirtz noted in Star Trek: The Magazine Volume 1, Issue 14, p. 90, "we have worked really hard to give the artificial intelligence in Star Trek: Armada a real, polished feel,... we have some of the best people in the field on our team... [and] each of the alien races will respond uniquely in combat and react differently in a given situation. The Klingons will attack and fight until the last man, even if they are outnumbered; the Ferengi will retreat when their ships are damaged; the Borg will focus on the largest threat and methodically elimate your forces one by one until all targets are destroyed. Each race has a different feel when you come up against them."

Gameplay and marketing

Certain ship classes, such as the Galaxy-class, were not included in every mission (while some others were not included in the game at all) to allow some balance between corresponding ships across factions. [5]^(X)
IGN released an initial preview summary on 26 July 1999, with a follow up review of special weapons in January 2000. [6]^(X)
In the original release, each package sold also included an exclusive card for the Star Trek Customizable Card Game, the USS Jupiter.
BradyGames released the Star Trek: Armada Official Strategy Guide in April 2000.
In 2002, the game was also included in the Activision Star Trek Action Pack in the US, along with Star Trek: Armada II, Star Trek: Voyager - Elite Force and its expansion pack. In the UK, it was included in the Star Trek Collection, alongside Star Trek: Away Team, Star Trek: Hidden Evil, and Star Trek: Voyager – Elite Force.

Reception

One main complaint about Armada was that each race could only build six types of starships and two construction/collection ships, and that each race's ships were essentially the same ship with different sprites thus giving no race an advantage over the other. ^{(citation needed • edit)} Fans dealt with these problems by creating a series of game modifications, or "mods" that ranged from cosmetic changes, to completely new games using the Star Trek: Armada engine.

Cheats

Press "Enter", type "showmethemoney", press "Enter" to add 2,000 units of dilithium to your inventories. Since the code is repeatable, a large amount of dilithium can be received in seconds. Dilithium is what the players use to build their bases, ships, research technologies, etc. in this game. This is also the "+10,000 resources" cheat in the original StarCraft.

To skip the current mission, press "Enter", type "kobayashimaru", press "Enter" again.