I cannot for the life of me find in any of the organized play documents for Armada (or any FFG game for that matter) that explains what happens when a player is late to a game, or even misses a whole round. Can anyone help point me in the right direction? Thanks!

You are Correct, there is no specific rule in regards to it.

So it will default to the fact that the Marshal/Judge is responsible for making decisions on any Unforseen events during a Tournament.

I feel, as a Judge/Marshal, I would rule as such (and thus, its my personal decision, but it is at least a guideline when none other is available):

Its very difficult to be counted as a Player if you are not at your Game on Time, or miss your game completely...

At the least, the opponent, who has turned up on time and is waiting, should be at least awarded a Bye after more than 5 minutes of Game time has elapsed.

At the most, the opponent, who has turned up on time and is waiting, should be awarded a full concession by the other player.

I'd judge this based on the attitude of the "missing" player when they finally arrived. If they were sincerely apologetic, kept away from things outside of their control, etc, etc, etc, I'd even discuss the possibility of a Draw.

If they were unapologetic, well... I'm kind of an arsehole when my Authority as a Marshal/Judge is challenged or called into Disrepute.

You are Correct, there is no specific rule in regards to it.

Well that's dumb. Almost every other competently organized event has detailed rules from the parent company on precisely when and where to issue penalties for whatever reasons, and how severe they should be, etc. Sigh.

Its very difficult to be counted as a Player if you are not at your Game on Time, or miss your game completely...

Right, agreed. So, if I post something about hosting a tournament using one of the official tournament kits, and a player says ahead of time "Hey I can't make it until at least [the start of round 2]," how does FFG want that handled? What is the most fair and appropriate response/penalty for that player since everyone else will be there on time and that player entering after the first round totally jacks up pairings, etc?

For this specific part, while that is certainly your prerogative in your events, I could never ever in good conscience give a player who was present a Draw and give the player who was late, even for circumstances out of their control, the same score. As the player who was there and waiting, my personal response (while of course understanding that things just happen sometimes) would be "absolutely not."

I only keep my options open. I never say "Absolutely Not" anymore when I'm a Judge, until I have all of the Information.

Once at a 40K tournament I was running, I had someone have a mild heart-attack in the middle of their game (unbeknown to us or him what the actual problem was).

They did eventually keep playing, but their opponents were nice enough to offer Draws instead of concessions. So we allowed it.

Jesus, yeah I mean if the player who is physically there agrees to it, that's on them. I mean if a player was just straight up late to a game or a round because of traffic, or whatever (nothing deathly serious), I would be extremely disgruntled with someone telling me I get a "draw" for that round when I was there, ready to play. No other organized play environment I've seen supports that either; it's usually a game loss for the person who's missing (and potentially further action depending on what those circumstances were, and what their attitude is, just like you said) and a bye-equivalent for the person who's there, prepared, patient, and waiting.

But back to the topic at hand, knowing this player is going to be absent but the rest of the players will be there on-time, ready to start, should I just give his scheduled opponent a bye for that first round (which counts as a win, and most tournaments do something similar), and give him zero points for not being there on time, or what?

That's a call you'll have to make yourself, unfortunately. FFG has no guidance on the matter.

If they're not there for the first round, but you know they're on their way and doing their best to get the rest of the tournament done... Award their Opponent (the present person) a Bye Win, most definitely (8-2 with MoV of 129 in Armada).

For them, if you want to maintain total scoring integrity of the Tournament - you award them a 2-8 loss. Just as if they'd played and come up with that score.

If they're a total douchebag, award them 0 Points, and declare that "may God have mercy on their Soul." or something similar.

Thanks for the chat. I think that Bye to their potential opponent is the best way to go, with a 2-8 loss being better than zero for the round for the person who was late.

I have had people show up late for tournaments I have hosted. Drasnight is correct that they don't have anything. It gets tricky because it would depend on if it is a standard tournament or a premier event. I am pretty sure you show up late to a store championship, regionals, or nationals; you will be credited with a forfeit. For a standard tournament, for me personally it depends on if there was an odd number of opponents and how late the person actually showed up. I don't see giving points at all for anything later than 5 minutes of the start of play. So if you were between the 0 -5 minute window, you would get the chance to play the bye (if one is available) with reduced time, both players would have to agree in advance. If no bye was available, I would let the person get a 1 - 9 loss with no MOV awarded. I would also check with the other people in the tournament to see their point of view.

Since you asked the question on the forums, were you late to a tournament and how was it handled?

Since you asked the question on the forums, were you late to a tournament and how was it handled?

Nah, wasn't me, it's a friend who just replied to my tournament post saying "I won't be able to make it until round 2." While I do appreciate the heads up, it always irks me that people are like this. I know they want to play, so then why not try to find the time for it? Or, why try to inconvenience people just because you can't make it? If it were me in his shoes (which I've been there hence why I'm saying this), I would just bow out of the event. Hell, when I'm running a non-official, very small and friendly event in any game, I usually step out of it altogether if there's an odd number of people just so that it becomes even again and so that no one gets a bye (obviously as an organizer, for official events I do NOT participate in them as a player since it's pretty much illegal with most other games/companies).