I would like to run an Armada tournament, and will have the ability to get access to the tourney kits to do so. I just had a poor experience at a tourney where the store didn't offer any support beyond buying the kit and charging entry fees to cover that cost. So obviously I want to do it right. First, here's a list of what I think is minimum, and what I'd like to see:

Minimum

• A neutral Tournament Organizer and/or judge that is not playing in the tournament. This TO needs to have played Armada at least a little and should be very familiar with the rules, errata, and FAQs.
• Space and tables which offer no advantages to one player or another.

Better (The above plus...)

• FFG legal play surfaces (mats). Best would be identical mats between all tables.
• Tables and play surfaces prepared for the tournament by the TO or store staff. This is as opposed to needing the players to set up their own play areas.
• Easily visible posting for round results (like a large white board).

So, what do you guys think?

I don't mind if the TO competes as long as there is a Second Judge there who is not competing against them, etc.

I also do not mind helping set up the tables and the mats. In my view, its a big group of friends you have not met yet and you can all pitch in to help out. Sure you paid $10 to come, but that's for the prizes. I have a bad back, and still helped as best as I could.

I think the mats are BIG must. Over the weekend the first tournment I wnet to had pretty good mats, but there were about 4 tables with some less than idea play surfaces, two or three of them being really, really bad.

Would love to have seen a better way of seeing the scoring at the end of each game, a simple spreadsheet hooked up to one of the store's few TV's like they do for the Magic Tournments would have been a great added bonus.

First tournment had two great judges who were impartial and very knowldgeable of the rules. Second one was iffy, and thought they might have been in over their heads.

I have no problem with anything on your list. As a TO I believe it is my responsibility to have the space prepared before the players arrive. They should only need to worry about their models / cards and any accessories.

I do however expect all players meet requirements as well:

1. all players will bring (physical or digital) a copy of the Rules (LTP and RRG if they exist) and be familiar with all Tournament rules. (You will get links to digital copies of all materials as part of your registration packet)

2. Players will supply the TO with their Fleet, Squadron, Deck(s) as a physical list one week before the event or as a digital list to the TO email 4 days before the event. These will be verified during registration.

3. Players will present themselves during the registration period and be at their assigned tables on time.

I believe that players should be able to settle most rules questions without a judge stepping in. Judges are there to observe and record first.

I have no problem with anything on your list. As a TO I believe it is my responsibility to have the space prepared before the players arrive. They should only need to worry about their models / cards and any accessories.

I do however expect all players meet requirements as well:

1. all players will bring (physical or digital) a copy of the Rules (LTP and RRG if they exist) and be familiar with all Tournament rules. (You will get links to digital copies of all materials as part of your registration packet)

2. Players will supply the TO with their Fleet, Squadron, Deck(s) as a physical list one week before the event or as a digital list to the TO email 4 days before the event. These will be verified during registration.

3. Players will present themselves during the registration period and be at their assigned tables on time.

I believe that players should be able to settle most rules questions without a judge stepping in. Judges are there to observe and record first.

How realistic is your #2? One of my opponents only had the most minimal hand-written list, which I didn't get more than a glance-from-a-distance at. The other used Fab's Fleet Generator like I did (thank you bunches Fab!) but again, I never saw the list except sitting on the next table over. There was no TO or judge to verify the lists. I think one of the players was actually making his list in the time just prior to the event and I'm not sure it was ever written down coherently.

Mind you, I think that would be awesome, but I'm not sure many players would comply. I should also clarify that I want to run at the "competitive" standard that FFG lists, not the casual level. Not the pro standard like for nationals and worlds, but the step beneath that.

I make it very clear on the flyers that list will be required up front and that they will be held to that list. I turned away over half the entrants at our fist tournament and let the four who followed the rules split the entire tournament kit and the store credit that the FLGS was offering. I sat down with the community a month later at a casual night and explained that this was the only way for me to guarantee 12-16 lists were tournament legal and that no one could 'scout' the competition day of and adjust.

I had 24 entrants, all following the rules for the second tournament.

The Netrunner Floor Rules are a great starting point to understand both sides of what should take place day of and the thread New TO Seeking Advice/Help has some great advice / resources.

Your list is not unreasonable and Tekwych's requirements are not unreasonable.

TO can play there just needs to be someone designated as arbiter if there is a conflict in his game.

The store should have the space and tables and such ready but if they aren't the TO and some of the players should get enough warning to know to be there in time to set things up. Game mats is slightly unreasonable for a place just getting a tourney scene going (even cheap mats is like sixty bucks a playfield for Armada.) Flat smooth surfaces of the appropriate size for the game are not.

The big thing with all of this is that everyone know the expectations and that those expectations are enforeced. As Tekwych pointed out once everyone understood that a fleet list was expected everyone provided it.

A lot of this also largely depends on how big the tourney is and whether the group plays together all the time and what prizes are on the line. Things change with more guys and more guys who are not familiar with each other and bigger prizes.

The level of support you can expect from a shop is often going to be directly related to how much money the shop will make (or makes on selling the game) and how much hassle they will endure by hosting the tourney.

Another big thing is being consistent. See expectations being clear. The expectations should not change from tourney to tourney.

Yeah, any store trying to build the community, having to supply *all* the mats is cost prohibitive. One rule that I've seen used for X-Wing, requests players to bring mats but no one is allowed to play on their own mat - just in case they've figured out range measures or anything else on the mat that may give them an advantage. There are official FFG rules regarding mats, so check those too.

A store doesn't necessarily need to supply the TO themselves, since you can't realistically expect a small store to have a fully knowledgable employee for *every* game system that they may hold an event for. Most times, the local gaming community will work with a specific store (or stores in a bigger urban area) and coordinate who'll run the event, and who their back-up is when they're playing a match. And yes, the TO better be VERY informed of all the rules and FAQs, and have all the latest ones on hand.

Stores are always running the delicate balance between having enough staff to run the store, and paying an extra employee to be there just to run/oversee the tournament. Unless the participants are buying a bunch of stuff at the store that day, bringing in the extra employee just for the tournament may put the store into a loss for the day. That's not exactly conducive to keeping the enthusiasm of the store owner for running more tournaments.

What do I *expect* as a Minimum?

I expect the Space that has been request/booked be available at the time.

As a TO, I don't expect anything else. Perhaps it is because of my background, where we didn't *have* any Gaming Stores nearby, so our venue for Tournaments were often Halls, Schools, or even a couple of times, a Church.

Regardless of the game system being prepared, it has always been the TO's responsibility to get everything else sorted, often by Beg-Borrow-Steal from local resources to do so, for everything - Terrain, Prizes, Running, etc.

The Store may assist in these matters - Promising that their mats/terrain may be used, etc. By being the one who does the ordering of the prize pack if its through the distributor, etc.

Oftentimes, if terrain was going to be a stretch, we offered a small pricing discount for players if they booked early, turned up early, and brought terrain. Sometimes it was just an extra Drink or Two (occasionally, those were even Drinks from the Bar)...

But, as a TO, the Minimum I expect from a Store, is the Space.

It is different, however, if the Store has Organised the Tournament. In which case, the Store has the above responsibilities as a TO .

FFG\s own tournament rules are fairly robust as Tournament rules go. They're not as hardcore and nitpicky as some, but not as lax as others. If the rules are adhered to, I'll not have complaints about the tournament.

The only thing that really disappoints me is that, at least here in Canada, all of FFG's merchandise are through one exclusive distributor, which does not deal with the public , so me, as a TO who does organise Hall-Tournaments, has a hell of a time on occasion convincing a Store to Sell me the tournament pack...

Reasonable entry fees, at least part of which goes to prize support (store credit to top placers is perfectly ok).

I do however expect all players meet requirements as well:

2. Players will supply the TO with their Fleet, Squadron, Deck(s) as a physical list one week before the event or as a digital list to the TO email 4 days before the event. These will be verified during registration.

So, basically, your rule number two is "No newbies?"

This seems like a less than workable rule, as someone who hosts local tournaments.

On at least two occasions we've increased our total number of players by roping in Armada players who just happened to be at the store that day and didn't know about the tournament. Afterward in nearly every case they've become more active players in the community who speak very highly of being included in a tournament right off the bat.

Locally, we simply set up early and provide easy to fill out fleet lists for players to turn in before pairings are assigned.

As a player, I would be PISSED if I showed up to a tournament ready to play and the TO turned me away because I didn't meet some arbitrary personal rule that isn't included in the official FFG tournament rules. In fact, I'd take it straight to FFG to see what they thought about the TO telling players they couldn't even compete despite meeting ALL of the official requirements.

EDIT: I understand the temptation to take steps against list "scouting" but honestly... this speaks more to the shallowness of local meta than anything else. Scouting lists in this game is pointless unless everyone brought the same exact type of build.

So long as the person is playing the same list all day, what do I care if he tried to tailor his list to beat some particular person?

In my experience, the person who wins a game of Armada is the player with more experience and a better plan, not someone who tried to min-max.

In fact, we had this happen at one local tourney. A player specialized his list to beat mine. Sure, he beat me. He then lost to EVERYONE else.

Self correcting problem.

I do however expect all players meet requirements as well:

2. Players will supply the TO with their Fleet, Squadron, Deck(s) as a physical list one week before the event or as a digital list to the TO email 4 days before the event. These will be verified during registration.

So, basically, your rule number two is "No newbies?"

This seems like a less than workable rule, as someone who hosts local tournaments.

On at least two occasions we've increased our total number of players by roping in Armada players who just happened to be at the store that day and didn't know about the tournament. Afterward in nearly every case they've become more active players in the community who speak very highly of being included in a tournament right off the bat.

Locally, we simply set up early and provide easy to fill out fleet lists for players to turn in before pairings are assigned.

As a player, I would be PISSED if I showed up to a tournament ready to play and the TO turned me away because I didn't meet some arbitrary personal rule that isn't included in the official FFG tournament rules. In fact, I'd take it straight to FFG to see what they thought about the TO telling players they couldn't even compete despite meeting ALL of the official requirements.

EDIT: I understand the temptation to take steps against list "scouting" but honestly... this speaks more to the shallowness of local meta than anything else. Scouting lists in this game is pointless unless everyone brought the same exact type of build.

So long as the person is playing the same list all day, what do I care if he tried to tailor his list to beat some particular person?

In my experience, the person who wins a game of Armada is the player with more experience and a better plan, not someone who tried to min-max.

In fact, we had this happen at one local tourney. A player specialized his list to beat mine. Sure, he beat me. He then lost to EVERYONE else.

Self correcting problem.

If the rule about the lists was clearly posted in any advertisement about the tourney, it would be reasonable to expect that. You said you'd be pissed if you showed up "ready to play" and got turned away. But "ready to play" means complying with the tournament rules, some of which may be established by the local TO. So long as those rules don't conflict with FFGs rules, that should be fine.

In other games, I've seen people show up at a tournament without a list. They were definitely list-scouting or unprepared. In one personal case, their list wasn't legal by the tournament rules, but nobody verified it (more the fault of the TO/store running the tourney).

One thing that hasn't been mentioned is casual versus competitive play levels. At a casual tourney (locally scheduled for a seasonal kit for example), I wouldn't expect much out of the players besides showing up with the ability to play a legal list (even if they make it up on the spot, borrow ships or cards, etc.). At competitive level events, like Massing at Sullust and Store Championships, I think expecting more from the players in preparation is reasonable. I don't know how FFG would feel about the list rule, but I think that as long as it is clear to any potential players well in advance, no one should complain.

I do however expect all players meet requirements as well:

2. Players will supply the TO with their Fleet, Squadron, Deck(s) as a physical list one week before the event or as a digital list to the TO email 4 days before the event. These will be verified during registration.

So, basically, your rule number two is "No newbies?"

This seems like a less than workable rule, as someone who hosts local tournaments.

On at least two occasions we've increased our total number of players by roping in Armada players who just happened to be at the store that day and didn't know about the tournament. Afterward in nearly every case they've become more active players in the community who speak very highly of being included in a tournament right off the bat.

Locally, we simply set up early and provide easy to fill out fleet lists for players to turn in before pairings are assigned.

As a player, I would be PISSED if I showed up to a tournament ready to play and the TO turned me away because I didn't meet some arbitrary personal rule that isn't included in the official FFG tournament rules. In fact, I'd take it straight to FFG to see what they thought about the TO telling players they couldn't even compete despite meeting ALL of the official requirements.

EDIT: I understand the temptation to take steps against list "scouting" but honestly... this speaks more to the shallowness of local meta than anything else. Scouting lists in this game is pointless unless everyone brought the same exact type of build.

So long as the person is playing the same list all day, what do I care if he tried to tailor his list to beat some particular person?

In my experience, the person who wins a game of Armada is the player with more experience and a better plan, not someone who tried to min-max.

In fact, we had this happen at one local tourney. A player specialized his list to beat mine. Sure, he beat me. He then lost to EVERYONE else.

Self correcting problem.

If the rule about the lists was clearly posted in any advertisement about the tourney, it would be reasonable to expect that. You said you'd be pissed if you showed up "ready to play" and got turned away. But "ready to play" means complying with the tournament rules, some of which may be established by the local TO. So long as those rules don't conflict with FFGs rules, that should be fine.

In other games, I've seen people show up at a tournament without a list. They were definitely list-scouting or unprepared. In one personal case, their list wasn't legal by the tournament rules, but nobody verified it (more the fault of the TO/store running the tourney).

One thing that hasn't been mentioned is casual versus competitive play levels. At a casual tourney (locally scheduled for a seasonal kit for example), I wouldn't expect much out of the players besides showing up with the ability to play a legal list (even if they make it up on the spot, borrow ships or cards, etc.). At competitive level events, like Massing at Sullust and Store Championships, I think expecting more from the players in preparation is reasonable. I don't know how FFG would feel about the list rule, but I think that as long as it is clear to any potential players well in advance, no one should complain.

I don't even dislike the idea of having people turn in their lists earlier than the tournament date but... actually *turning players away* because they didn't put their lists in at least four days in advance? What about the player who doesn't find out about the tournament until just a few days prior, or wasn't planning on attending but found out the day before that he really *can* get the time off work? They're just up bantha poodoo creek without a hydro-spanner?

Turning a player away because he had an illegal list is one thing, but even then I think a quick list modification would be a better solution.

I, personally, am just not a fan of this particular extra rule. I'm under the impression the actual LGS sets the standards for inclusion, though, so I guess it's good to be aware some places *might* have it.

Again, ALL of my expectations were laid out in all notifications and posters about the tournaments and I spoke with the community a few weeks later to explain my thoughts and hear theirs. My organizational skills, fairness, and the team of people I bring in to handle the mundane minutia of the day have lead to many of my ideas being used by others in the area and my being asked to assist with, or offer advice to several others.

If my community felt I was being unreasonable I would, I hope, not be asked back. The community has asked for updates or changes and I always listen. I may be able to add things (Cosplayers will be handling the checkin duties and offer 'protection' of the prize pool at next months SW events), or at least look at feasibility (How to do those great Team Covenant video casts), or explain why I am unable to offer something (( can get a hotel to offer event space at a reasonable price, let alone donate rooms to my players from out of town).

This is for Tournaments, We also have casual nights at least every other week where I will be in attendance to talk to the community, and play myself (I will never participate in my tournaments, a personal belief) for this games I get sucked into. I also do a lot of demo games for many companies just trying to get more people to gather around a table and have fun.

I guess it really depends on what your local community wants and what the stores can/will support. The Tekwych 's scene must be a LOT larger than mine (which I find surprising). I wouldn't dream of turning people away. I want to be as inclusive as possible. Also, I'm really not worried about scouting.

Regarding what the local store will do, if they're getting the kit and providing the space, I'm already quite happy. I don't think there's anything wrong with them charging an entry fee to cover the cost of the kit. The stores at which I host get their bread and butter from MtG, and that's what their hired event coordinators run. As far as FFG mini games, we have to organize ourselves, and that's perfectly fine.