Well guys I have just signed up for my local game stores regionals on the 18th May, I have to say I expect to get my ass handed to me by a 12 yr old. Just in it for the experience, going to have to pay 4 X-Wings as the A's and B'stards that I really want are out of stock, really disappointing stock levels all over the UK, lots of ass holes profiteering from the shortage. Looking forward to it but expectations are low!

Good luck you ll have a blast, and you may surprise yourself. I know I did.

Maybe you want As or Bs but going XXXX isn't anything to be ashamed about. Furthermore there are lots of ways to do it so just mess around until you figure out what you like.

XXXX is still a brilliant list archtype.

Might I suggest one of your Xs be Biggs Darklighter, and another be Luke Skywalker + R2-D2 + Draw Their Fire?

That combo wins games.

XXXX is still a brilliant list archtype.

Might I suggest one of your Xs be Biggs Darklighter, and another be Luke Skywalker + R2-D2 + Draw Their Fire?

That combo wins games.

If you fly it better than I do... womp, womp...

A lot of the time, It's all in the dice. Get hot with the dice and you'll blow up some ships and win some games! Just have fun out there!

Again, thanks for the advice, git a couple of weeks to play around with my list. Got a bit of a newby question, I realise that you take all your own counters and markers to the tourney but what about damage decks? Are they provided or do you take your own, and what stops people doctoring them to their advantage?

You take your own.

FFG rules state you shuffle deck in front of opponent, then offer them to be shuffled or cut by opponent.

You shouldn't have any probs with doctored decks but if you think something is iffy ask TO to check deck.

Other than play field everything else is provided by yourself.

I share your pain with lack of models and profiteering by some retailers. I also would love a few A's but refuse to pay £20+

Ps. Where is the tournament being held

You take you own damage deck to tournaments and all of them are supposed to exactly the same. I don't recall if you can check the contents of an opponent's damage deck but you should be able to have an official check it. If you ever see more than two of the same critical, excluding Direct Hit, in one pass through the deck then something is DEFINITELY wrong with the deck and should be ground for forfeiture of the game and possibly even ejection from the tournament.

Just counting cards is NOT good enough to verify a damage deck. The deck needs to contain exactly the same cards that come with the starter. If it was just based on card count I certainly could see doctoring up a deck to make it EXTREMELY favorable for squadron. A "secondary weapon failure" doesn't mean much when there are no secondary weapons on your ships. Taken to an extreme a deck full of "pilot" criticals would benefit a squad running pilots with Determination.

what I like to do pre tournament.

1) pick your squad - not always easy, but sounds like you are running 4 X, I have run that before, you just have to find what YOU like and know. If you have not flown a named prior, I would probably not at a tourney as you may be more apt to forget about if they have a special or not. My first time out I took 4 Reds 1 with R2D2 and sheild upgrade. He is your blocker, and your end game ship. Firing all at PS4 is nice.

2) once you have your squad, pack your gear. I have a Plano tackle box that I have JUST for tournements. I normally have all the ships ready to go (on the stands and with their numbers).

get your:

- Cards for the ships

- upgrades if needed

- shields if needed with some extra incase you lose them while playing

- stands and some extras in case

- Dice

- damage deck

- movement dials for all ships needed

- movement templates

- Astoriods

- numbers for your ships (in case of same ships on the board) / I number them no matter what, just easier

- like 5 to 8 of each other token in the game.

(i think thats all you "need")

3) you should be ready to play!

4) when you get there, you might have to fill out a sheet with squad roster - just fill it out with what ships and upgrades with points value and turn it in

5) At the start of your match, you will meet your opponent, shake their hand, and as you set up ask what they are running some you can plan your attack, you may be able to run the same way each time, but know that you may want to change it due to your opponents layouts.

6) shuffle your deck and place it on the table to offer the cut to them, they should do the same.

7) set up and fly casual. normally the TO will say the match starts in X minutes, wait for that and go, you may still be setting up, just go as fast as you can to set up and get set. ANY questions as the TO to come over. Even if you think it is stupid or just forgot, their ruling is FINAL, and most of the time they will check the book. It may help you or hurt you, but best to have it come for the TO.

8) Have Fun, after all thats one of the reasons to play. I have played in like10 tourneys now, took second in a store championship, and had fun at them. Well one, my dice sucked it up and I flew pretty bad, rushed to much, but turn it around and you still have a chance.

9) this one is just a common courtesy. If you are watching a match, as you are done with yours, please for the love of the Force , don't tell them what to do, or what they missed. I have had this happen to me, and I think it actually cost me the game. As the other guy had been forgetting about taking focus to fire his blaster the whole game, and would remember shortly after. Other people piped in and at that moment my dice go cold, I go from a chance to be in the top 8 to finishing 12th.

You take your own.

FFG rules state you shuffle deck in front of opponent, then offer them to be shuffled or cut by opponent.

You shouldn't have any probs with doctored decks but if you think something is iffy ask TO to check deck.

Other than play field everything else is provided by yourself.

I share your pain with lack of models and profiteering by some retailers. I also would love a few A's but refuse to pay £20+

Ps. Where is the tournament being held

Again thanks for the good advice guys I really appreciate it and I'll be sure to let you know how I get on good or bad. The Tourney is taking place at what is my local games store in Stockton On Tees, I say local, it's still a 30 min drive bit it's taken me a while to find one in my area