I love this game and would really like to get into the local tournament scene, but I just don't think I have the time. Two local stores are holding tournaments in the next couple of weeks. One of them is expected to last at least 6 hours and the other is scheduled to last 8 and a half hours (at the longest, lol). Is this typical? I don't see how not. If each game is given a two hour window and three matches are played it would have to take at least 6 hours, plus extra time for moving between games and setting up. I think ffg may even recommend allotting 180 minutes per game, which is even worse. I only have one day off a week and it's really hard to devote the entire day to a tournament. Anybody else in the same boat?

So far I've only been able to play this game with one friend of mine in our free time. I just don't see how I'm going to be able to play with more people. It doesn't have to be a tournament, I would totally be up for casual games too, but for some reason almost every local game store schedules casual nights for Thursdays and I always work Thursdays until 9:00pm.

So am I doomed to only ever play with my one friend? Not willing/able to rearrange my work schedule for a board game. Any ideas?

Edit: I also find it amusing that I could watch the entire OT in less time than it takes to play in a single Armada tournament.

Edit: I also find it amusing that I could watch the entire OT in less time than it takes to play in a single Armada tournament.

Nice. Anyway having played in and organized a few tournaments now yes I'd say that will be typical. My suggestion is create your own casual play at an LFGS. It would help to have a contact with any local group first, but just let it be know that you'll be at a certain place at a certain time to play, go drop by, and see what happens. That's worked all but once for me thus far since launch.

Why not talk to the TO at the next event and discuss your problem, perhaps he could hold a tournament over many weeks?

Perhaps hold a round robin tournament, just put a grid up with all the players and record their scores:

That would take 6-8 weeks, and players could just be asked to keep to a dead line of one game a week.

The above spreadsheet

I agree with the poster above. Armada is a game that might be more suited to league play rather than a whole day tournament. I play X-wing myself and I find it exhausting to play more than 2 games in a row (which I guess equals one whole game of Armada). I´m actually enjoying X-wing league play at my LGS more than the standard whole day tournament format.

I am running a league right now, and it really does seem like league games are the way to go for competitive play. I am really looking forward to the data I will have collected when all is said and done on Rebel vs Imp and 1st vs 2nd player matchups.

This is not the first game with this play time, and many of those have fairly robot tournament scenes.

This is not the first game with this play time, and many of those have fairly robot tournament scenes.

Does not compute.....does not compute......ERROR!

As a 40k player, I can attest to this first hand. 6-8 hour tourneys are on the short side, really, with many many 2 day tournaments out there.

Yes, that limits how many tournaments I get to....but boy are they epic!

It is quite a shift from X-wing tournament play, true, with an entirely different level of mental and physical stamina required. I highly recommend sitting when you can, or bringing a soft mat to stand on. It helps these aching bones a LOT...

2 hours for an Armada game? Seriously? I usually finish 6 turns in 45 minutes on average. You plan ahead 3 turns in advance most turns, so there's very little downtime in between the last shot of a turn and the first move.

There is relatively little planning and a fixed turn limit, of which turn 1 there is no combat. The longest phases are usually when ships need to maneuver and are blocked by fighters, but other than that it's the most snappy miniatures game I've played. (X-Wing without a time limit can go on forever.) The last tournament I played in with 75 minute limits most players spent twenty minutes waiting around for the next round.

The only lists I can see taking a long time to play are Corvette Swarms and they're pretty rare.

Yes I do think FFG is over estimating round time.

I have played at least 6 games of armada at 300 pts, and they average about 1:45:00. Standard tournament rules with less than 32 players are 3 Swiss rounds, each round being 2 hours. Points are based on Margin of Victory. When Wave 2 hits, tournament rounds will be 400 pts, 3 Swiss rounds but now 2.5 hours per round. (150 mins)

That's......kinda long.

I tend to chat with my friend as we play, so we are pretty relaxed with time. Tournaments tend to require a degree of focus that does change the time you take.

If all the players are standing around, I don't see why the TO couldn't pick up the slack and seed and start the next round. However, for me the standing around and chatting was just as much part of the experience as was the game.

If you find everyone is finishing consistently in say 2 hours then the choice has to be made, be somewhat relaxed or push through for a 4th round. That everyone would have to include a first time tournament player as well as the regulars.

My lgs has limited rounds to an hour and each tounrey has three rounds. We have one a week. On the one hand its great because you get three games in a night and since I usually only get to play the one night a week, it's nice to get a variety of opponents. On the other hand, It sucks when games get cut short, especially if you play a list that shines in the second half of the game or requires several turns to be effective. Some times I think I'd prefer to have a longer event to get full length games in, but the organizer wants to keep them in the evening so they have to cap out around 4 hours.

We did 120 minute rounds, the clock only went to 90 minutes...I finished all my games in with about 20-30 minutes left on the first countdown. So I would agree FFG overestimated the game-time. This was with all extremely unexperienced players too. 4-5 games per person at the most. I would hope the 400pt games would keep to 120 minutes instead of the proposed 150? increase.

I think the tourneys for Armada are as much a test of skills as they are an Endurance Race not unlike the LeMans 24 Hours.

Armada works fine in the currrent format. Once players get more experienced then the OT can make the call and shorten the round times. People just need to suck it up and commit to playing the 3 rounds for the day which isn't hard at all.

I don't get this. But then again, I come from Warhammer Fantasy and Flames of War; I expect a tourney to go from about ten am to at least eight pm. This is common, and I quite enjoy it.

With that said, and with the fixed limit on Armada, I think tourneys will be shorter. Still, if you are going to a store tourney, yep you better set aside the greater part of the day. Which is fine by me, the more Armada the better!

I think league style might be the best way for you to play. Only 1 or 2 a night but with proper scoring (such as additional points for different opponents, more points for initial victory than continued victories) It will give you your competitive style game play but be flexible enough for your schedule.