So I will be attending my inaugural x-wing tournament this weekend and thought I'd ask the community;

i) Any hints, tips or unspoken etiquette to be observed in the tournament setting?

ii) What list to fly?

I've decided to keep it simple and am looking for something flexible yet forgiving which brought me to a 4 X-Wing build partnering Wedge (+swarm) and Garven with a Rookie each. This has just edged out an elite list of Wedge (PTL & R2), Luke (VI & R2D2) and Tycho (PTL + missile) that I enjoy using. What's the consensus - any fundamental flaws flying four X-Wings?

Flying casual will obviously go without saying

i)Be polite. Don't touch others people stuff without asking. Have your squad written down. Have numbers/TL/Focus/everything for all your ships ready to play.

ii) 4 X-wings wil do fine but I would highly consider trying to add Biggs to your formation. Something like, Wedge, Biggs+R2-D2, Rookie, Rookie.

1) Don't forget what your ships do. CSB: In my very first tournament, I played an entire match forgetting to count Wedge's pilot ability. Whoops.

1) Don't forget what your ships do. CSB: In my very first tournament, I played an entire match forgetting to count Wedge's pilot ability. Whoops.

And your opponent wasn't kind enough to point this out... what kind of cutthroat world am I letting myself in for?!

To be honest my biggest concern is forgetting a negative critical impact on one of my ships (as is my wont in casual games)! Is it mandatory to put a critical token on the board - don't tend to at home which is probably half the problem!!

Very few people put the crit tokens on the board. And it is up to you to remember your abilities (and also kinda up to your opponent to remember your crit). That said - you need to remember your own crits, because you dont' want to do a green 2 turn in your a wing to clear the stress you just got from K turning, just to have your opponent say "nope, you got damaged engine, please hand over your dial so I can select a maneuver for you."

General polite things:

When you bump anything, try to place it back as close as you can, and then offer your opponent the ability to adjust it

When offered the ability to adjust it, one should typically decline (unless it's totally off)

Always place action related tokens (focus, stress, evade, TL) on the board. Some people place them on cards at home, but there's nothing more annoying than determining actions / targets of attack based on the lack of tokens, just to realize that the defender does have a token - on the pilot card

Always tell your opponent what you're doing. I like to say things like "Wedge is attacking Howl at R1 w/ Jan's support and with a focus and TL, and since it's Wedge, you have -1 agility" to make it perfectly clear what actions I have and why I'm rolling 5 dice so there's never any confusion. Same goes for things like advanced sensors... "Before I reveal my dial, I'm going to use advance sensors to take a focus... I now reveal my dial that shows a 2k."

Loser buys the first round afterwards... Oh, wait... wrong game

Standard rules of etiquette, shake hands, good match, don't gloat

One thing I still struggle with, don't point out why someone lost, or mistakes they made unless they specifically ask for them. I have a hard time following this rule because I like to dissect what happened, and there's typically a turn or two where the game was decided, and I like to talk about it and what should have happened looking back on it... But a lot of people take this as a "know it all" attitude.

If there's ever a cash prize, tip the TO.

Be modest in your victories.

Be gracious in your defeats.

Have fun.

Just have fun and be polite and use this list:

Wedge ptl, R2 Biggs, 2 Rookies.

By far my favorite and got me the 5th place out of 20 in my first tournament.

That's 2 votes for Biggs, my thought was that Garven would buff one of the Rookies whilst Wedge with Swarm tactics would buff the other, probably deploying as two groups. Is the theory with Biggs to keep Wedge alive longer?

Biggs is a total pain in the butt. You might want to consider a XXBB list or a XXXB list.

Biggs

Rookie

Dagger+Adv. Sensors x2

or

Biggs

Wedge

Rookie

Blue+FCS (or Adv. Sensors)

That's 2 votes for Biggs, my thought was that Garven would buff one of the Rookies whilst Wedge with Swarm tactics would buff the other, probably deploying as two groups. Is the theory with Biggs to keep Wedge alive longer?

Your goal is to force opponent's to have to take least opportune shot at Biggs you can. Which is harder said than done, but can be very effective if you pull it off.

That's 2 votes for Biggs, my thought was that Garven would buff one of the Rookies whilst Wedge with Swarm tactics would buff the other, probably deploying as two groups. Is the theory with Biggs to keep Wedge alive longer?

Your goal is to force opponent's to have to take least opportune shot at Biggs you can. Which is harder said than done, but can be very effective if you pull it off.

This should help:

http://xwing-miniatures.wikia.com/wiki/File:X-Wing_Strategy_Tips_Ep4_-_Biggs_Darklighter

2. If you were looking at "forgiving" you may want to look at something other than PtL Wedge. Absolutely nothing wrong with flying 4 X-Wing but when one is so much more "offensive" than the others you should be able to guess who gets shot down first. That is why it is suggested that you fly Biggs with him as Biggs should take some shots that would otherwise get pointed at Wedge thus allowing Wedge to do a better job shooting stuff down.

Wedge w/ Swarm is still a prime target as taking him out removes his offense and cuts your shooting time. Nothing wrong with Garven except protecting Wedge could be more important.

1. Try to know the rules and be ready to play by them. See big thread on Swarm Etiquette if you want to know where that's coming from.

Hey guys this is a lot of really good advice as I have my first tourney in a months time. Now this may be a stupid question but do you go into a tourney with one list that has to do you for the entire tournament and what if you get drawn against a player who is playing the same side as you, in other words do you have to go in with a Rebs and Empire list?

Tournaments are one list only (except escalation tournaments, but don't worry about those). You pick a faction, build a squad and run that same squad every match. No swapping in different upgrades or pilots vs different match ups. This does mean there will be mirror matches, where it's empire vs empire & rebel vs rebel. It is entirely possible to play a match against someone using the exact same list as you. If you want to do well your squad should be able to handle itself verses rebel and imperial opponents, since you will probably go against both.

Thanks again for the good advice, what is the going rate for registration, the one I'm entering is charging £10 GBP?

If you have trouble conceptualizing Rebel fighting Rebel or Empire fighting Empire you could consider the games as training exercises or rebellions/revolt/defections.

Best advice?

Fly casual.

Best advice I have before a tournament....

BRING A TRAY!

Or at the very least have the bottom of the core box empty to use as a pseudo 'tray'. The big thing is there are a ton of items to have and keep track of. In the majority of the tournaments I go to, the TO will call out parings, and you really only have a few minutes to get to the next table. If you have to pack/unpack everything each game, you are going to be delaying yourself, your opponent, and possibly the two players on the table you are currently at. Being able to move on a moments notice is much more relaxing for your sate of mind. I consider it mandatory for myself.

My first tournament i played firespray + gunner x2 and academy pilot x2 took 16th out of 39. Not to bad i figure having only played a hand full of games priors to the tournament.

I don't expect to get past the first round, just going for the experience and love of the game.

I am also heading to my first comp this weekend, at Element games, I have a question regarding Imperial aces.

I realise it's not official yet but do you think anyone would object to a royal guard tie being used as a Saber squadron pilot?

I am also heading to my first comp this weekend, at Element games, I have a question regarding Imperial aces.

I realise it's not official yet but do you think anyone would object to a royal guard tie being used as a Saber squadron pilot?

I would think it would be OK to use the miniatures, you just can't use the new pilots/upgrades yet.

I am also heading to my first comp this weekend, at Element games, I have a question regarding Imperial aces.

I realise it's not official yet but do you think anyone would object to a royal guard tie being used as a Saber squadron pilot?

"Repaint" are already perfectly legal and that is all the Ace's Interceptors are. You may not get to use the "new" cards from the pack but everything else is fair game.

Note that while the stuff is technically legal, unless it's a sanctioned event (aka, Store/Regional/Imdaar) then the TO can decide to run whatever rules he wants... he could theoretically make all named pilots half cost if he/she wanted to. Or he could include a "I always win" rule (if he's playing as well).

The point of that is not to scare you away from non-sanctioned events, but to inquire whether or not the TO will be allowing Imp Aces materials. I know around here, all of the TOs basically allow it, with the added caveat though that they have final say on anything at all controversial since there isn't a FAQ yet.

Just have fun and be polite and use this list:

Wedge ptl, R2 Biggs, 2 Rookies.

By far my favorite and got me the 5th place out of 20 in my first tournament.

That's a great list!