My local gaming/hobby store is starting up a weekly X-Wing night and a couple of us local people are assisting by playing on that night to help increase awareness/interest of the game.

I remember reading about "Game Night" kits and local tournament support, but none of the stores I've played at have had any "game night" materials and one of them didn't have any real tournament support either.

Since I know more about the game, I might be able to be a TO for an event, but what does the store owner need to do to get these support items? Do they even offer the game night materials anymore? Is there anything I need to do?

Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

FFG does offer store tournament kits to game retailers. Talk to the store owner or manager about getting them. To the best of my knowledge, they are available from the same distributors that offer other FFG products.

The store prize kits are inexpensive (about $20). It may be too late to get the current (winter 2014) prize kit from FFG. You might find them on eBay, though.

Running tournaments is a good idea once you've established that there are at least a few local X-Wing players. A weekly game night is a great way to start. It's probably smart to set up a Facebook group (not a page) with a name like "[Your town] X-Wing" or something obvious like that, so that it'll show up right away if anyone happens to be searching for it. Also ask the store owner/manager to update their website and calendar (etc.) with the X-Wing game night info.

If you don't know very many X-Wing players yet, check to see if there's a local MeetUp group for board gamers or miniature gamers, and post about your X-Wing events there. It might be worthwhile to show up at a MeetUp for board gamers with your X-Wing stuff in hand and see if anyone is interested in playing. That's how I found the first two or three X-Wing players in my area, and we have grown into a group of about 25 since then.

I'm the local TO and I run a tournament about once a month. The store tournament prize kits really only contain enough stuff for a single tournament, so if you want to run tournaments frequently I recommend talking to the store owner about offering store credit as prizes, as well as ship expansions, acrylic maneuver and range ruler sets and acrylic tokens from third-party manufacturers such as Applied Perspective, Litko, Cog O' Two, Greenman and Team Covenant. Other prizes to consider are laser levels and Plano cases.

Good luck!

Thanks for the information and I'll be sure to pass it on. I'll see if I can find any info on other board game meetups in the local area. I know there are Magic players, because they are EVERYWHERE!

in fact you might want to put the store info in this thread...or at least the general area you play. There are people on this board always looking to find new venues near them.

also make sure the store has ROOM for X-wing... i have been to a store that the tables were not wide enough to support a proper 3x3 X-wing mat... Those standard folding plastic tables are NOT wide enough. also seems like if the store is geared for "Magic" then the tables are WAAAY to close together for X-wing.... just a few observations.. was hard to scoot chair back and NOT hit the guy behind me.. kind of forced me to sit the entire game and move the mat around at various times so ships would not fall off the edge!!!! BUT that said it was a local store THE only local store and the owner wants us to play X-wing and is a good guy. So perhaps he/we will fix things up so we can play there and increase awareness of the game.. would really think it would be cool if we could get enough X-wingers to drive off the magic folks..lol Hey i just realized who started this topic..lol Are We talking about the same store!!! LOL BTW i got nothing against the magic folks i just like X-wing!! lol And if we are talking about the same store let me know how i can help!!! you can PM me...

We have a group: "upstate south carolina x-wing alliance" on facebook. both of you should join, so that you can share your tournaments, and know when one of the other stores are having them. We are connected with Kingsport, TN; Atlanta, GA; Ashville/Charlotte, NC; but mostly cover Anderson, Greenville, Spartunburg, and a little bit of Columbia for SC.

We have a few folks who travel, so let us know. Love to meet new people and share ideas on the game.

I am a member.. actually i am a member of EVERY X-wing group in the state that i know of anyway.. Don't know of any low country groups but didn't look that hard as i don't travel that direction much. Unless i am passing through it via I-95 on my way to Orlando. Do venture to the upstate fairly often but usually to vacation...

also make sure the store has ROOM for X-wing... i have been to a store that the tables were not wide enough to support a proper 3x3 X-wing mat... Those standard folding plastic tables are NOT wide enough. also seems like if the store is geared for "Magic" then the tables are WAAAY to close together for X-wing.... just a few observations.. was hard to scoot chair back and NOT hit the guy behind me.. kind of forced me to sit the entire game and move the mat around at various times so ships would not fall off the edge!!!! BUT that said it was a local store THE only local store and the owner wants us to play X-wing and is a good guy. So perhaps he/we will fix things up so we can play there and increase awareness of the game.. would really think it would be cool if we could get enough X-wingers to drive off the magic folks..lol Hey i just realized who started this topic..lol Are We talking about the same store!!! LOL BTW i got nothing against the magic folks i just like X-wing!! lol And if we are talking about the same store let me know how i can help!!! you can PM me...

One of our local stores has tons of these short tables for Magic tournaments but they also have stacks of that cheap pink insulation foam. They have masking tape on them in 3x3 foot sections, and you just set them on the table and play.

now that's a cheap easy fix... but wouldn't want to have to lean on it!! as i do from time to time. would think some cheap ply wood would work or MDF as well as long as it was smooth on one side.. also those 3x4 black Elmer trifold display boards work pretty good. pretty cheap too...

I recently wrote an article about how we got our local group started. Hopefully, some if it will be helpful:

http://www.themetalbikini.com/2014/11/community-spotlight-south-jersey-x-wing.html

good info.. Myself like the author of this post would love to have a BIG or bigger local group... I mean we are near an AFB!!! usually Airforce bases are FULL of game geeks.. and i mean that in a good way...Might see if I can post something on the BX bulletin board if they will let me... Maybe FT-Jax as well.. but that is about 35 miles away and Columbia DOES have a group. Had not thought about starting a FB page,, I know the store has one; might follow the upstate south carolina x-wing alliance

lead and create a midlands / Sumter group..Idk will talk to the author and follow his lead.. don't want to step on any toes as I am the NEWB when it comes to playing X-wing..I am also retired so it kind of makes sense for me to be involved.. as my only other volunteer activity is mountain bike trail building at Poinsett State park.

Here are some things I recommend:

Offer to run the tournaments for them.

Work to schedule the tournament based on when other things like Magic pre-release weeks are going on as you don't want to overlap those.

Use the tournament entry fees for two things.

• From the total of all entry fees subtract the cost of the kit so the next one is paid for.
• Split the remaining tournament fees 50% 25% 25% for the top three players in store credit.

Say you have 10 players and the fee is $10. That means the you have $100 total, $20 goes to the store for the next kit, $40 to 1st place, and $20 to 2nd and 3rd places. It encourages people to shop at the store (supporting it), plus if they want something other than X-wing they can get it. The store makes money from the event and doesn't have to shell out for the kit, everyone wins.

But doesn't magic always have some kind of pre release going on. Lol

Here are some things I recommend:

Offer to run the tournaments for them.

Work to schedule the tournament based on when other things like Magic pre-release weeks are going on as you don't want to overlap those.

Use the tournament entry fees for two things.

• From the total of all entry fees subtract the cost of the kit so the next one is paid for.
• Split the remaining tournament fees 50% 25% 25% for the top three players in store credit.

Say you have 10 players and the fee is $10. That means the you have $100 total, $20 goes to the store for the next kit, $40 to 1st place, and $20 to 2nd and 3rd places. It encourages people to shop at the store (supporting it), plus if they want something other than X-wing they can get it. The store makes money from the event and doesn't have to shell out for the kit, everyone wins.

Nope, only once a quarter. Not the weekend to go into a gaming store...

When you are growing, I highly suggest that you have some sort of participation prize. It increases interest and makes people feel like they don't have to be competitive to play. No or low entry fee events will help attract attention and casual players.

You might also consider doing a non-tournament event. One of the favorite ones I heard about was this:

The group started running a massive epic game. When people came up and showed interest, they asked if that person wanted to give it a try. If they said yes, they were given a few ships to control and have fun with. They were taught on the fly. Don't worry about who's winning and feel free to throw extra ships on the board if necessary. People got a feel for the game this way and a community started for form from the event.