At a store championship this weekend, my opponent flipped the board on me after asteroid placement. He said the person without initiative can do so, and the TO agreed with the ruling. I went with it since it was getting late but this put me in a bad advantage. As a swarm player, I was able to put all the asteroids on his side of the board. The only thing I can find in the rulebook states the rebel player can pick which side of the board he wants to start on because the imperial player has initiative. The wording seems to be for your basic core set play (rebel vs imperial) and not for tournament play. I can't find anything in the tournament rules or FAQ which says the person without initiative can flip the board.

This is the first time I have ever ran into this, even in a non-tournament game. Am I missing something?

Thanks.

I'm pretty sure the tourney rules actually specifically say players choose sides then place asteroids.

Unhappily, the TO was incorrect. The following is from the current tournament rules (emphasis mine).

Squad Deployment Procedure

The following steps must be performed before each game begins and may be performed before the start of the tournament round:

1. Each player places his squad outside of the play area next to his assigned player edge.

2. Both players reveal all components in their squads and assign ID tokens to any ships that have a duplicate on the same team. If both players fielded squads from the same faction, ID tokens are assigned to all ships (see Mirror Matches on page 3). One player must exclusively display the white numeralshttp://www.fantasyflightgames.com/ffg_content/x-wing/support/faq/X-Wing-Tournament-Rules.pdf of his ID tokens; the other player displays only the black numerals.

3. Each player shuffles his Damage deck thoroughly and presents it to his opponent. His opponent may shuffle and cut the deck if desired.

4. Players determine initiative. Initiative goes to the player with the lowest squad point total. If both players are tied with the same squad point total, initiative goes to the player who wins a coin toss.

5. The player with initiative places the six unique asteroid tokens from his core set next to the play area. He chooses one of these asteroid tokens and places it into the play area. Then, his opponent chooses one of the remaining asteroid tokens and places it into the play area. The players continue to alternate until all six tokens have been placed. An asteroid token cannot be placed within Range 1–2 of any edge of the play area or within Range 1 of another asteroid token.

6. Players place their ships in ascending order of pilot skill as per standard X-Wing rules.

7. Players activate shields and prepare any special components they may need, then begin the match

following the rules presented in the X-Wing Rules of Play.

Note that switching sides is not possible because the players are assigned a side before asteroids are placed.

I die a little every time I hear about a TO getting tourney rules wrong. I'm close to death now reading this forum.

I die a little every time I hear about a TO getting tourney rules wrong. I'm close to death now reading this forum.

No kidding. It's not like the rules for this game are particularly hard or anything, you'd think someone planning to govern a competitive event would go to the trouble of reading the extra couple of pages for tourney rules.

Switching sides is in the main rule book and only occurs in friendly play, not tournament rules. Have a look at the tournament rules. Sorry to hear about this happening, hope it didn't cost you the store championship.

Switching sides is in the main rule book and only occurs in friendly play, not tournament rules. Have a look at the tournament rules. Sorry to hear about this happening, hope it didn't cost you the store championship.

It's not even in the main rule book, unless I'm just completely missing it. One of the scenarios allows the Imperial player to set up along either edge, but even that one doesn't change the sides.

I honestly don't know where this could have come from. Maybe back in some very early version of the tournament rules, but it's long gone. I can't find anything to support it anywhere. I'd be very curious to know what the OP's opponent showed the judge to convince him to do it that way.

Hi,

it is in the core rule book:

Adding Obstacles to a Standard Game

During setup, before the “Gather Forces” step, both
players can agree to use obstacles for this game.
Starting with the Imperial player, each player takes
a turn placing one obstacle inside the play area.
Obstacles cannot be placed within Range 1–2 of
any edge of the play area. After placing all of the
obstacles, the Rebel player chooses which edge of
the play area is his. The Imperial player’s edge is on
the opposite side of the play area.

But of course this is not at all tournament relevant.

Switching sides is in the main rule book and only occurs in friendly play, not tournament rules. Have a look at the tournament rules. Sorry to hear about this happening, hope it didn't cost you the store championship.

It's not even in the main rule book, unless I'm just completely missing it. One of the scenarios allows the Imperial player to set up along either edge, but even that one doesn't change the sides.

I honestly don't know where this could have come from. Maybe back in some very early version of the tournament rules, but it's long gone. I can't find anything to support it anywhere. I'd be very curious to know what the OP's opponent showed the judge to convince him to do it that way.

It's actually in the rule book. It's on page 20 of the main rule book with the bit about adding asteroids to the game.

So like you say either you didn't read the rule book or completely missed the rule.

And its not a rule used for tournaments.

I really hate how tournament play doesn't just just add a few rules to facilitate running a tournament but actually changes rules. They really should have just printed the rules as used in tournaments in the core rulebook...

Thanks for all the feedback. I was able to win the match but was very very luck. From reading the threads and playing in a store I normally don't play in, it does seem that there are storeisms that are developed by the local playing groups. But as a FFG tournament I believe the tournament rules should be the standard and the expected rules.

Thanks again.

So like you say either you didn't read the rule book or completely missed the rule.

I really should get around to actually reading the rule book one of these days.

Oh my god LOL I've been playing with 12 asteroids, as I bought 2 base sets!!!

No wonder its been a living hell piloting about the board without crashing into one!!

Oh my god LOL I've been playing with 12 asteroids, as I bought 2 base sets!!!

No wonder its been a living hell piloting about the board without crashing into one!!

Talk about an Asteroid Thicket!

On the plus side, if you're practicing flying in those conditions, you ought to be incredible when there's only 6 on the field!

Yeah this is an unfortunate situation that happens too often. For my own part, I always carry a copy of the current tournament rules in my bag. I would not be afraid to bring it out if something was being done wrong.

Of course there are certain trolls hanging around who will no doubt show up to tell me what a d-bag I am for expecting a tournament to be run by the official rules.

Oh my god LOL I've been playing with 12 asteroids, as I bought 2 base sets!!!

No wonder its been a living hell piloting about the board without crashing into one!!

That must have given you crazy good practice navigating asteroids at least.

Yeah this is an unfortunate situation that happens too often. For my own part, I always carry a copy of the current tournament rules in my bag. I would not be afraid to bring it out if something was being done wrong.

Of course there are certain trolls hanging around who will no doubt show up to tell me what a d-bag I am for expecting a tournament to be run by the official rules.

The TO at a regional had six store championship winners showing up he wanted to do two rounds of swis then a cut to the top for 32 players. We managed to sort it out. Five rounds then a cut to the top.

Who wouldn't want an official tournament run by the official rules?

Glad you won in spite of it, because that stinks! Also thought at first you meant he literally flipped the table, smashing everything...

Yeah this is an unfortunate situation that happens too often. For my own part, I always carry a copy of the current tournament rules in my bag. I would not be afraid to bring it out if something was being done wrong.

Of course there are certain trolls hanging around who will no doubt show up to tell me what a d-bag I am for expecting a tournament to be run by the official rules.

The TO at a regional had six store championship winners showing up he wanted to do two rounds of swis then a cut to the top for 32 players. We managed to sort it out. Five rounds then a cut to the top.

Who wouldn't want an official tournament run by the official rules?

FFG has actually sent out to all the stores what they're required to do. <32 = 4 rounds cut to top 8, 32-64 players = 5 rounds cut to top 8, 65+ = 6 rounds cut to top 8

I'd say its a blasted shame if one side places asteroids expecting to get to pick the other side and the other play places them expecting to have his side. I expect to be playing from the side I'm on so I'm overjoyed when my opponent is placing asteroids in our mirror match that will benefit me; imagine my shock when I think you royally screwed up asteroid place but then say you are going to play from my side and the TO agrees.

If a player is allowed to switch sides after asteroid placement all that really does is encourage inefficient/ineffective placement. Why work on "good" asteroid placement if your opponent could just swoop in and use your work against you!

The TO at a regional had six store championship winners showing up he wanted to do two rounds of swis then a cut to the top for 32 players. We managed to sort it out. Five rounds then a cut to the top.

Who wouldn't want an official tournament run by the official rules?

LOL He must have had a hot date that night...

I'd say its a blasted shame if one side places asteroids expecting to get to pick the other side and the other play places them expecting to have his side. I expect to be playing from the side I'm on so I'm overjoyed when my opponent is placing asteroids in our mirror match that will benefit me; imagine my shock when I think you royally screwed up asteroid place but then say you are going to play from my side and the TO agrees.

If a player is allowed to switch sides after asteroid placement all that really does is encourage inefficient/ineffective placement. Why work on "good" asteroid placement if your opponent could just swoop in and use your work against you!

That's why the standard and tournament rules are different, In casual play it's done in a sort of neutral way - you're not sure which side you'll end up on, so your placement will be more generic. In the tournament rules, it becomes a strategic element to use against your opponent. It takes the game to a higher level.