Star Wars Armada - MC-80 vs. ISDs

A few weeks ago, Strom and Juice came over early for a gamenight to get a game of Star Wars Armada in beforehand. I have purchased the starter set, but haven't yet broke it open.  This was just the third or so game played, and it was interesting to see the bigger capital ships going head to head.  We haven't played with the objective cards yet and I understand that they add much of the strategy to the game.  I'm mainly waiting for a 3rd faction - i.e. Scum & Villainy, before I jump fully into the game and break open my starter set.