So I've been running Armada (and X-Wing) tournaments for a while. Lately, the prize support feels pretty lackluster.

(See here) Star Wars™: Armada Quarterly Kits

So, there's a participation prize (x17), a Top 2 or 3 & 4 prize (x3) and a Top prize (x2). Ostensibly, the TO gets to keep something.

I dunno, guys. It seems a bit paltry compared to what the kits used to include, which was a heftier-seeming top prize. They used to have medals, which I really liked. (Having run and won a lot of 4-person tournaments that first year of Armada, I have more medals than a 19th century Italian generalissimo, which is fun to pin on my outfit.) The turn dials were also pretty great, because of how useful they are.

But what we're seeing recently, it feels kind of 'meh'.

What are your thoughts on this? First-world problems?

At least here in Canada, the price of them has almost halved, allowing me to be profitable on $5 entry fleet patrols.

I mean, now they are in the plastic kits, it costs me less than $20 to order.

So double edge.

i do wish there were some Premium kits for bigger tournament one-shots, but at least with the quarterly kits, I can get by.

Travails of a cash strapped northerner, I guess.

Also, with all of Canada missing out on the CC tourney kits, and those kits themselves being misprinted everywhere else really took a lot of ribs out of my sails on tournaments...

I go have one coming up that has alternate prizes collected, like Ultra Pro upgrade binders, acrylics from 3rd party and even a Vader #1 comic...

But something awesome from FFG would help with marketing...

I do miss the coin opportunities. Speaking of which, I should try to trade for ones I don't have.

I have two 2016 Store Championship coins, and I'd be interested in trading for what I don't have. Here are the ones I already have:

• Spring 2016 (Offensive Retrofit)
• Summer 2016 (Ion Cannon)
• World Championship 2016 (3 VSDs)

I would like to be able to buy the acrylic rulers. So sick of my falling apart cardboard one.

EDIT: And for there to actually be local tournaments. Only two in Kansas this month, both 3 hours away. Last local tourney was August.

4 hours ago, Mikael Hasselstein said:

(See here) Star Wars™: Armada Quarterly Kits

Wow, when did FFG update that page? finally caught up with the rest of the leaked info from Q2-Q4...

6 hours ago, ktflory said:

I would like to be able to buy the acrylic rulers. So sick of my falling apart cardboard one.

EDIT: And for there to actually be local tournaments. Only two in Kansas this month, both 3 hours away. Last local tourney was August.

Why is that?

Not enough total players, not enough concentration of players, or nobody with the both organizational skills and the initiative to make something happen?

I do miss the medals, I have three.

Would like a more robust kit for organizers to order if they have a bigger event.

1 hour ago, Darth Lupine said:

I do miss the medals, I have three.

Would like a more robust kit for organizers to order if they have a bigger event.

Yeah, I think it makes us a bit more reliant on stores to supplement the kits with add-ons. They can divide the cost of the add-ons by the expected number of players, and add that to the participation fee.

However, it also depends on what players want. In my area, players have mostly already bought the stuff they want for their lists, and so the store doesn't really have anything that they still need. The good thing about the official prize support is 1) that it's official, and therefore admissible to official tournaments, such as Regionals, and 2) that it's a little more difficult to come by, and therefore has collector's value.

I’m considering making my own challenge coins of sorts, but could easily skip them to medals...

but then, my home business occasionally has an excess of resin casting supplies to experiment with.

12 hours ago, ktflory said:

I would like to be able to buy the acrylic rulers. So sick of my falling apart cardboard one.

EDIT: And for there to actually be local tournaments. Only two in Kansas this month, both 3 hours away. Last local tourney was August.

I don't know where in KS you are at, but the geekery in Shawnee is doing a tournament this Sunday. A game store in independence MO (I know, not us but close) did one a couple weeks ago.

12 hours ago, ktflory said:

I would like to be able to buy the acrylic rulers. So sick of my falling apart cardboard one.

EDIT: And for there to actually be local tournaments. Only two in Kansas this month, both 3 hours away. Last local tourney was August.

You do know there's a bunch of third party rulers available, right?

13 minutes ago, Steck638 said:

I don't know where in KS you are at, but the geekery in Shawnee is doing a tournament this Sunday. A game store in independence MO (I know, not us but close) did one a couple weeks ago.

Those are the only two in the state, and 3 hours away.

Just now, Darth Lupine said:

You do know there's a bunch of third party rulers available, right?

All aftermarket and not "official" enough for some tournaments.

2 minutes ago, ktflory said:

Those are the only two in the state, and 3 hours away.

All aftermarket and not "official" enough for some tournaments.

I've never had a problem using my aftermarket one, including regionals last year. But I do carry the card one just in case, lol. Or I used to, I have an official one now...

1 minute ago, ktflory said:

All aftermarket and not "official" enough for some tournaments.

Third party range rulers are explicitly allowed by the tournament regulations, though.

Quote

LEGAL PRODUCTS
Players may use only official Star Wars: Armada components in tournament play, with the following exceptions for third-party replacements:
• Non-essential tokens (see “Tokens” on page 5)
• Range rulers that match the dimensions of an official range ruler or a particular section of an official range ruler

(page 5)

19 hours ago, Mikael Hasselstein said:

So I've been running Armada (and X-Wing) tournaments for a while. Lately, the prize support feels pretty lackluster.

(See here) Star Wars™: Armada Quarterly Kits

So, there's a participation prize (x17), a Top 2 or 3 & 4 prize (x3) and a Top prize (x2). Ostensibly, the TO gets to keep something.

I dunno, guys. It seems a bit paltry compared to what the kits used to include, which was a heftier-seeming top prize. They used to have medals, which I really liked. (Having run and won a lot of 4-person tournaments that first year of Armada, I have more medals than a 19th century Italian generalissimo, which is fun to pin on my outfit.) The turn dials were also pretty great, because of how useful they are.

But what we're seeing recently, it feels kind of 'meh'.

What are your thoughts on this? First-world problems?

I liked the Medals (I keep one of mine on my keychain, love those things) but not as much as I like the usable game tokens. In fact, I've loved the acrylic rewards with the singular exception that there needs to be a way to buy an official set outright. The medals and challenge coins were neat to show off, but ultimately they were just trophies by another name. The acrylics feel much more like genuine rewards, and unlike the medals I can directly place these on the table, mid-game, to both show off my skill and also to improve my game experience (and my opponent's game experience if I have enough). It also opens up great conversations with new players about opportunities to play in larger events, as well as the fun of meeting community members from outside the area.

2 hours ago, ktflory said:

All aftermarket and not "official" enough for some tournaments.

I used third-party rulers, place markers, and turn counter at Worlds. Not only was I not the only one, but most of my opponents had some kind of third-party doodads or modified ships of one sort or another.

If you have a TO that requires you to use falling-apart cardboard rulers instead of (accurate) third-party acrylics, he needs a kick in the pants.

3 minutes ago, thecactusman17 said:

to both show off my skill and also to improve my game experience (and my opponent's game experience if I have enough).

I almost always laughingly force my opponents to use my shiny set up borders from worlds last year, because they only get to be seen for like 2 minutes of every game and there is no way I am leaving 2 of them dusty in my bag.

1 minute ago, BrobaFett said:

I almost always laughingly force my opponents to use my shiny set up borders from worlds last year, because they only get to be seen for like 2 minutes of every game and there is no way I am leaving 2 of them dusty in my bag.

I use the ones I got in 2016 post-Sullust regionals for marking off ships and squadrons whenever the tool would overlap. Gives them a lot more use.

4 minutes ago, thecactusman17 said:

I use the ones I got in 2016 post-Sullust regionals for marking off ships and squadrons whenever the tool would overlap. Gives them a lot more use.

I have 2 sets of those ones too, and a nifty third party ship marking tool. I am at a glut for options when it comes to marking places!

18 hours ago, comatose said:

I do miss the coin opportunities.

I was so angry that they screwed up the coins. They did Ion Cannon, Munitions, and Offensive Retrofit. What? TURBOLASERS! DO TURBOLASERS!

47 minutes ago, thecactusman17 said:

I liked the Medals (I keep one of mine on my keychain, love those things) but not as much as I like the usable game tokens. In fact, I've loved the acrylic rewards with the singular exception that there needs to be a way to buy an official set outright. The medals and challenge coins were neat to show off, but ultimately they were just trophies by another name. The acrylics feel much more like genuine rewards, and unlike the medals I can directly place these on the table, mid-game, to both show off my skill and also to improve my game experience (and my opponent's game experience if I have enough). It also opens up great conversations with new players about opportunities to play in larger events, as well as the fun of meeting community members from outside the area.

I hear you. I'm glad that I was able to win all of the acrylic command tokens over time. I could still stand to get another set of the engineering tokens, but that kit seems to have been harder to come by.

I now also have the acrylic Brace and Evade tokens, and will be fighting hard to get the Scatter tokens from the current Regional. I'm a little annoyed that it will be hard to get the Contain tokens that were at Nationals. I'd really like to have a couple of complete sets.

41 minutes ago, Ardaedhel said:

I used third-party rulers, place markers, and turn counter at Worlds. Not only was I not the only one, but most of my opponents had some kind of third-party doodads or modified ships of one sort or another.

If you have a TO that requires you to use falling-apart cardboard rulers instead of (accurate) third-party acrylics, he needs a kick in the pants.

Kicking the TO may not be conducive to my chances for victory. @shmitty also runs a fairly tight ship when it comes to allowable game aids. At least he has in the past.

13 minutes ago, Mikael Hasselstein said:

Kicking the TO may not be conducive to my chances for victory. @shmitty also runs a fairly tight ship when it comes to allowable game aids. At least he has in the past.

Hey, if the man needs a kick, I'm not gonna be the guy withholding it...

Was not a fan at all of the medals and was only slightly more interested in the coins.

14 minutes ago, Tirion said:

Was not a fan at all of the medals and was only slightly more interested in the coins.

Clearly, you have not created a uniform that allows you to rack your medals on the breast and the coins on the shoulders.

I have one befitting an Imperial minion of my standing. (Nowadays, even more shoulder coins.)

26 minutes ago, Ardaedhel said:

Hey, if the man needs a kick, I'm not gonna be the guy withholding it...

Not even gonna say I don't deserve it. But it is much easier to just bribe me.