So, I'm entering the fray as a TO to try to get some organization in our little FLGS. Anyone have articles they can point me to, or general advice to share on how to run a smooth tourney?

2 minutes ago, moodswing5537 said:

So, I'm entering the fray as a TO to try to get some organization in our little FLGS. Anyone have articles they can point me to, or general advice to share on how to run a smooth tourney?

Well, I find planning is everything.

I always make sure I plan for players to have a little extra time if possible, even the best of us forget something on big days. I also bring my whole collection in case a player loses or forgets something, I just have them sign it out with contact info. Have all relevant documents printed and organized beforehand. Make sure to coordinate with the LGS, especially about buy-ins and where to register. (Make sure your LGS is aware of the time and space requirements too, some will underestimate us Armada folks and end up with too few seats or end up staying open later than planned.)

Other than that, it's pretty much just about being friendly and pointing folks where to go. Making rulings where needed.

20 minutes ago, Darth Sanguis said:

Well, I find planning is everything.

I always make sure I plan for players to have a little extra time if possible, even the best of us forget something on big days. I also bring my whole collection in case a player loses or forgets something, I just have them sign it out with contact info. Have all relevant documents printed and organized beforehand. Make sure to coordinate with the LGS, especially about buy-ins and where to register. (Make sure your LGS is aware of the time and space requirements too, some will underestimate us Armada folks and end up with too few seats or end up staying open later than planned.)

Other than that, it's pretty much just about being friendly and pointing folks where to go. Making rulings where needed.

I would agree with all of this. I would also suggest getting Cryodex for scoring. I would also suggest running a couple of dummy tournaments through it with made up names so you are familiar with how it works on the day.

Also don't reverse the scores I do that way too often.

One other tip is if you plan on playing (and typically I only play if by not playing we would require a bye) make sure it is a quick and easy list to play so if you are dragged away from your table for 20-30 minutes you can still finish your game.

I'm not an Armada TO, but if you've never TO'd before, make sure you do a dry run through whatever software you're going to be using to scorekeep the event. Make sure you know how to drop people, give byes, re-pair a round, add players midround, do manual pairings, etc. Put a player list on the wall before you start the first round so that you don't miss anybody and have to re-pair round 1. Do all of those things after pairing round 1 in your dry run, then make sure it worked after you pair round 2. If you're going to be playing in the event, make sure you have results slips printed out for people to use, it's annoying having to input people's verbal results while you're in the middle of a game. And do yourself a favor and save backups of your tournament every round in case your software crashes, or take a screenshot of the pairings/results from the end of each round and save it so you can quickly rebuild the tournament and save yourself and your players a ton of time in the event of a software crash. I recommend Tabletop.TO, since it's browser based everything is automatically saved to the internet and you can access your tournament from any device connected to the web, which is nice since you can enter results from your phone and use the store's computer to print if you need to.

Also make sure you're keeping track of the round timer on your phone and not just a computer, and make sure that your phone is set to vibrate in your pocket when the alarm goes off so that you don't miss it, especially if you're going to be playing, as you will be distracted and potentially in the midst of other loud talking gamers and music.

If you're event is small then you should do fine even if you make a mistake, it's easy to fix something when you only have 4-8 people playing, just make sure you know how to use your TO software so you can make corrections quickly.

Printed copies of FAQ and RRG, also READ them a couple of times to understand what is in there.

12 hours ago, ripper998 said:

Printed copies of FAQ and RRG, also READ them a couple of times to understand what is in there.

That or downloaded onto your device of choice. I have all 4 on my iPad FAQ both rule books and Tournament regs

10 minutes ago, jamie nasmyth said:

That or downloaded onto your device of choice. I have all 4 on my iPad FAQ both rule books and Tournament regs

Yeah, I figured the download to the laptop would be sufficient.

59 minutes ago, moodswing5537 said:

Yeah, I figured the download to the laptop would be sufficient.

Sometimes it helps to have it printed out so you can carry it to the table. Or a tablet. Laptop maybe a bit clunky but to each their own

Piggy-backing on your thread, but it seems pretty relevant: I’ve seen some hate directed toward FFG’s TOME software. Don’t remember exactly what the complaints were. In a dry run, it seems simple to use to me and runs on a tablet, unlike Cryodex.

Can any TO’s share why they would or would not recommend using it?

15 minutes ago, ripper998 said:

Sometimes it helps to have it printed out so you can carry it to the table. Or a tablet. Laptop maybe a bit clunky but to each their own

great point. Plus, the lappy top will be doing other things. I have a printed copy anyway, so might as well use it.

3 minutes ago, nashjaee said:

Piggy-backing on your thread, but it seems pretty relevant: I’ve seen some hate directed toward FFG’s TOME software. Don’t remember exactly what the complaints were. In a dry run, it seems simple to use to me and runs on a tablet, unlike Cryodex.

Can any TO’s share why they would or would not recommend using it?

what kind of tablet? I found a copy on Google play store, but I didn't look to see if it was the android app, but I figured it was.

I looked at tome and didn't have a problem with it either, but I am just more used to Cryodex. KillerArdvark has it pretty bug free up to this point. But I could see where tablet use would be a pretty good feature.

5 minutes ago, moodswing5537 said:

what kind of tablet? I found a copy on Google play store, but I didn't look to see if it was the android app, but I figured it was.

I looked at tome and didn't have a problem with it either, but I am just more used to Cryodex. KillerArdvark has it pretty bug free up to this point. But I could see where tablet use would be a pretty good feature.

I’m using an iPad. Don’t think he’s made an iOS version, unfortunately. It seems it would be pretty convenient to have everything on a portable device I can walk around with.

But good to hear about the android version. I didn’t remember seeing that. I do have an android tablet for work ?, hmmm...

2 minutes ago, nashjaee said:

I’m using an iPad. Don’t think he’s made an iOS version, unfortunately. It seems it would be pretty convenient to have everything on a portable device I can walk around with.

But good to hear about the android version. I didn’t remember seeing that. I do have an android tablet for work ?, hmmm...

Yeah, it's worth checking out.

Don't forget to arrange a nice treasure pool for every participant. It could start with the GNK, but having extra goodies always pays out. I.e. try to got some Range 1 acrylics with the name of the tourney or if you know you'll have some beginners participating a movement tool is a nice thing to have

On 7/3/2018 at 9:09 AM, ripper998 said:

Sometimes it helps to have it printed out so you can carry it to the table. Or a tablet. Laptop maybe a bit clunky but to each their own

Agree with having a printed copy.

On 7/2/2018 at 1:09 PM, jamie nasmyth said:

One other tip is if you plan on playing (and typically I only play if by not playing we would require a bye) make sure it is a quick and easy list to play so if you are dragged away from your table for 20-30 minutes you can still finish your game.

I am going to TO this year for the first time at a Store Championship as well and I am doing this, I made sure they put it on the Facebook event as well. I think this can also be a selling point for the tournament. Bye's in Armada are rough.

29 minutes ago, Thrindal said:

I am going to TO this year for the first time at a Store Championship as well and I am doing this, I made sure they put it on the Facebook event as well. I think this can also be a selling point for the tournament. Bye's in Armada are rough.

Yeah, my plan is to not play if it's even. I think it benefits the players more that way. And I agree on the facebook posts. We have a pretty nice southeast armada "coalition" here that provide lots of cross store support.

On 7/2/2018 at 7:26 PM, ripper998 said:

Printed copies of FAQ and RRG, also READ them a couple of times to understand what is in there.

Learn to Play, too. I was at a tournament where a guy thought I didn't have enough cards in my damage deck. Turns out he thought there were supposed to be 55 cards in a deck (He had 55 cards in his deck somehow. FFG error maybe?) TO resolved it by checking the L2P.

31 minutes ago, Bertie Wooster said:

Learn to Play, too. I was at a tournament where a guy thought I didn't have enough cards in my damage deck. Turns out he thought there were supposed to be 55 cards in a deck (He had 55 cards in his deck somehow. FFG error maybe?) TO resolved it by checking the L2P.

The cards are numbered at the bottom as well

On 7/3/2018 at 9:22 AM, nashjaee said:

Piggy-backing on your thread, but it seems pretty relevant: I’ve seen some hate directed toward FFG’s TOME software. Don’t remember exactly what the complaints were. In a dry run, it seems simple to use to me and runs on a tablet, unlike Cryodex.

Can any TO’s share why they would or would not recommend using it?

Personally I'm biased, but...

TOME is internet based so you can't access if you lose internet connectivity. In the past there have been issues on power loss since you have to actively save instead of it being automatic. Correcting issues can be difficult if you're not intimately familiar with the software or even impossible if you've gone too far past the point of error. Finally, in large events that have multiple qualifying days, the strength of schedule is not done correctly.

You're correct that Cryodex is not available to iPhones or iPads. I'd recommend Tabletop.TO in that case. It's a fairly solid product.

Both are ok if you have an event that is relatively small and without complications. Either way, make sure you get plenty of practice with whatever application you choose to use.

38 minutes ago, Killerardvark said:

Personally I'm biased, but...

Hmm, can’t imagine why, lol.

Thanks for the comments!