Recently we had a tournament with an odd number of players and naturally every round a player gets a bye. In X-wing this wasnt such a huge deal with only 1 hour (maybe 75 minute max) games, but currently in Armada games at 300 points, rounds are 120 minutes. When the points go up to 400, rounds will be 150 minutes.

Players with a bye are just sitting around watching for 1.5 or soon 2 hours. Is there any creative solution to this problem?

So far the closest we've come is having a T.O that registers as a player ONLY if it results in then having an even number of players. The drawback is then if even number players show up, the T.O must sit out and merely T.O the event and not play.

My Tournament Background as a TO has always had me sit out tournaments and be a TO, and Never play, to remove and percieved bias...

So no big deal for me...

Hell, I used to make money in some tournaments as a "Professional Gumby"... It'd come up and help out as an Assistant TO, and play if it was required - but really, I was there to help out and get the day running smoother, so playing was a bonus...

creative solution is bring a book or watch the games being played (learn the enemy's strategies and plot fiendishly against them)

Some games use a 'gumby' player who fills in for the round. Others just let you get some shopping done or get some lunch early. There's a bit less to do with FFG games since there's very little potential for walking around and checking out everyone else's armies. They are after all, using the same models with the same paint jobs that you are.

with the same paint jobs that you are.

Speak for yourself. All of mine are custom painted

Same models is also a wash because we all like running different things. Im the only one in my group to run A neb; let alone 3 at a time (very fun list)

We had one "mirror" which was vsd + gsd + squadrons against its clone. Thing was, one of them was skreed W/cheri and another tarkin w/liaisons

The difference in both lists' play style was very pronounced by the choice in commanders, officers, and squadrons. In the end, flexibility won out over sheer dice fixing power.

with the same paint jobs that you are.

Speak for yourself. All of mine are custom painted

Players with a bye are just sitting around watching for 1.5 or soon 2 hours. Is there any creative solution to this problem?

Run a demo game for the other people present?

"Hey guys! We're running an Armada tournament! Oh, you like Star Wars? Mike here is free and he'd love to give you a quick game to show you how things work!"

Bam! Hook, line, and sinker!

Hey now! Half of my points in the tournament came from my bye around!

I need to work on that problem. Haha

Players with a bye are just sitting around watching for 1.5 or soon 2 hours. Is there any creative solution to this problem?

Run a demo game for the other people present?"Hey guys! We're running an Armada tournament! Oh, you like Star Wars? Mike here is free and he'd love to give you a quick game to show you how things work!"Bam! Hook, line, and sinker!

The bye is a huge advantage. It is getting increasingly harder to table your opponent, meaning the 10-0 victory is harder to get at 300 than 180 and will be even harder at 400.

Getting 8 points for not doing anything is a huge deal.

with the same paint jobs that you are.

Speak for yourself. All of mine are custom painted

I echo the custom Paint Jobs

Ribbit

Same models is also a wash because we all like running different things. Im the only one in my group to run A neb; let alone 3 at a time (very fun list)

We had one "mirror" which was vsd + gsd + squadrons against its clone. Thing was, one of them was skreed W/cheri and another tarkin w/liaisons

The difference in both lists' play style was very pronounced by the choice in commanders, officers, and squadrons. In the end, flexibility won out over sheer dice fixing power.

I love the last sentence here, as that's my exact position for armada. Options and flexibility trumps power gaming...and as far as I know, this is the first game where this is accomplished well.

Re Custom paint jobs, what I was getting at was that during a Warhammer or Warmachine event there are always lots of cool conversions and astounding paintjobs to go and look at, since there are almost always awards for the best painted armies. If you have a bye you can easily waste an hour or two wandering around checking out the incredible armies on display. Doing the same at an Armada event would only kill five or ten minutes.

Re Custom paint jobs, what I was getting at was that during a Warhammer or Warmachine event there are always lots of cool conversions and astounding paintjobs to go and look at, since there are almost always awards for the best painted armies. If you have a bye you can easily waste an hour or two wandering around checking out the incredible armies on display. Doing the same at an Armada event would only kill five or ten minutes.

I'm more interested in tactics than art...so watching the games going on is MUCH better than seeing the armies: back in my Warhammer days and def in these Armada days (much better game than 40k, and far more well balanced than fantasy).

with the same paint jobs that you are.

Speak for yourself. All of mine are custom painted

I echo the custom Paint Jobs

I dunno why, but all I see is a frog with acne. :/

Ribbit

I'm just kidding with ya... it looks good.

I'm just kidding with ya... it looks good.

It does not help I remembered armorcast so now I want to model missiles and lasers. . . Next I will have to find someone who can sculpt and mold me some hull plates so I can make them look like they are exploding off a hull. . .