So then on Friday I took part in my first X-Wing tournament.
It was also the first tournament at my local shop, which itself has only been open for a few months. All new!
Was expecting 6 or 7 people to turn up. 13 did in the end, which made for a crowded shop but a nice atmosphere.
Here are the rules that were set out. Typical tournament fare?
- 100 point squads
- 60 Minute Rounds
- 3 Rounds - Swiss Format - Winner will be by highest number of game points according to FFG Rules, Ties (heh!) will be resolved by kill points.
- We currently have an odd number of players. Byes will be given.
I'd only played against my Brothers before so I was worried that I'd got into bad habits or would look a right plonker against strangers. Found out really late I could only use squad for instance, when I had 3 ready to go.
So I went with.....
Defender - Ion Cannon and Shield Upgrade
5 x AP TIEs.
97 points.
Now I know what a lot of people are going to say. So don't! The ships themselves are fine and I really enjoy it, but looking back I'd have dropped the Ion and added Howlrunner for 100 points.
First game - Opponent had a Lando Falcon, Katarn HWK and a Y-Wing. At the hour mark I'd destroyed the HWK and Y, and had lost two TIEs. The Falcon was surrounded but I ran out of time. Ben (opponent) was a good sport. He had questions and I helped where I could. It was a casual tournament after all. Think that put me at ease to be honest. He did have some nice paint work on them. But a win! I'd already done better than I thought I would.
Chris VS Ben - Match Results: Chris is the winner 53 to 24
Second game - Great guy by the name of Steve rocked up with a Lambda, Soontir and Turr. He started with the Lambda up the middle and the Squints taking both corners. I knocked Turr out quite quickly with my Defender and a TIE which I think knocked Steve out of his rhythm. After that there was lots of agility on display! Ran out the hour again. Steve was a great opponent, very helpful and pragmatic. Moved each others ships and helped each other line up. Great spirit to it.
Chris VS Steve - Match Results: Chris is the winner 35 to 12
Third game - David was last for me. There was quite a bit of banter between us which was cool. Giving each other a lot of carp. He had a Defender, Phantom and three TIEs. I was a bit worried about the Phantom, but at least it wasn't Echo or Whisper. In the end he knocked out one TIE, but what got it for me was knocking out his Defender with mine in the second to last round. Got up behind him at range 1. Completely swung what was a tight game.
Chris VS David - Match Results: Chris is the winner 54 to 12
So three wins! I won each by enough points to get the full win, which lead to me finishing in second place overall. Couldn't be happier with the results.
But what made it great was the shop, organisation and other players. Lessons learnt and I'm really looking forward to another tournament 
I did go and buy myself a Firespray the next day as a present to myself.....