Armati can be played fairly cheaply if you use the "Intro" scale, but that's not a very satisfying scale. At the "Optimum" scale, armies will be in the 100-200 figure range--still much less than Tactica, and (IMHO) the game really shines at Optimum. Many, many more army lists, and much less of the severe restrictions on who can fight whom.

I would say that Armati is a very cleaned-up Tactica. It has the same sort of restrictions on deployment and movement. The Advanced Armati options and additions enrich the game considerably, particularly in allowing variable army design. Games are crisp, fast-paced, and decisive; you should be able to get a decision in two hours or less. The game is a bit simpler than I like, but it's definitely a good choice for beginning/beer and pretzels/let's get together and push some troops wargaming. Definitely the best tournament system going.

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