So I just noticed on the Armada description page , Armada is listed as having a 2 hour play time. I wonder how accurate that will be. I find that games typically take a lot longer than whatever the box says.

X-Wing, for example, is listed at 20 minutes , yet typically takes 1 hour to play, not including squadron building and set up and clean up time. hrmm... I hope that ratio won't hold true for Armada. 6 hours is a long time for one game...

EDIT: However, I just realized that the X-wing playtime may refer to just the base game, and maybe even the simplified version of the rules. 1 x-wing vs 2 TIEs with simplified rules probably does only take about 20 minutes.

I've had small games of X-Wing (2 ships vs 2 ships) over in the first round of shooting. Curse those glass interceptors! No staying power.

But, if Armada lives up to expectations and proves to be a good game and the average play time goes out to 2 1/2 to 3 hours, just how is that a bad thing? If it's good, time won't matter.

If the 2 hours is really just for the starter (It may be, good catch) and the full tournament game will be up to 3 hours, then I really, really have to wonder how complicated each individual round will be. You'd be spending 3 hours on just 6 rounds - 30 minutes per round? Yikes!

You've gotta have stamina in fleet games. I once played a game of World War II Naval that went for two and a half days. Started at 0800 and we stopped around midnight before resuming the next day. Admittedly it was a re-fight of the Battle of Leyte Gulf in 1944, and there were around 500 ships involved on the tables. Three hours is a short game for a fleet combat. I regularly play four hour games of Naval, but that's not turn limited like Armada will be. It all depends on what happens each turn.

As long as it isn't the 16 hours to 16 days that twilight imperium generally runs.

2 1/2 to 3 hours would be fine by me. I regularly play a few other games that take that long to play. Any more than that starts to worry me though- not because I won't want to play for that long, but because I worry that I'll be able to convince others to spend that long playing a game with me.

One game that I have and love is FFGs own Warrior Knights. It's a great game but I find it takes at minimum around 4 hours to play, and often around 6 hours with the expansion. As such, it's been over 2 1/2 years since the last time I've played a game of it with anyone, just because there are other equally fun game options out there that take less time. A quick glance at the Warrior Knights Description page shows that it's listed at a 2-4 hour play time. So I guess they got pretty close with that one, which gives me hope.

Also, re: 30 minute rounds-

That wouldn't surprise me one bit. Axis and Allies anyone?

EDIT: However, based on what they've spoiled of the rules so far I can't imagine each round taking that long. Even with several capital ships on the board and a dozen squadrons of starfighters, how long is it going to take for an experienced player to pick commands, roll two sets of dice, and then move for each ship?