(i can keep an alternate art card though right? I mean come on, free coca cola isn't enough
)
If you have an extra sure, but I think they normally include stuff for the TO in the kits.
Yep! The recent Store Championship kits included a set of focus tokens, a dice bag and a Soontir Fel alt-art card specifically for the TO!
There were, respectively, 5, 9 and 33 of each I think.
I believe the upcoming/current 2015 Spring Kits include 17 alt-art Push the Limit cards (for top 16 + TO).
Just so you guys know I was joking about keeping a card LOL. If I get one , I get one, if not no big deal. My goal is to grow our group. My reward will be a successful tournament (and free coca cola !). I am expecting 20 folks (max). The spring kit has enough stuff to give every participant something (We have two kits). Should work out nicely so that even the last place guy gets some loot.
On a sidenote: is there a difference between the store championship kits and the tournament kits ? Different rules, format, etc.? (not the toys inside)
Edited by MeynoltOn a sidenote: is there a difference between the store championship kits and the tournament kits ? Different rules, format, etc.? (not the toys inside)
FFG Organized Play classifies X-Wing Tournaments into 3 "Tiers of Tournament Play" (Tournament Rules, last page).
The only difference between the Spring/Summer/Winter Kits and the Store Championshio is that the latter fall within the Competitive tier of tournaments.
This means you are required to run the Store Championship as a 100 point dogfight , following all the rules found in the Tournament Rules document (no epic, no escalation, no proxies, 60 to 90min rounds, etc). On the other hand, you can use the Spring/Summer/Winter Kits to run basically anything you want.
Edited by Klutz
In the spirit of this awesome TO'ing advise thread, and if you don't mind, Meynolt, I need some input on something for the tourney I'm running later this month. Rather than start a new thread, I'll just keep it here as the current "help running a tourney" locale. Sorry, and thanks.
The local group I started and have been growing over the last several months is comprised almost entirely of "casual" x-wingers - I believe I'm the only one that's actually been to a tournament, and that very recently. At pretty much every league night thus far, I've found myself explaining something from the "Tournament Rules" - most notably: initiative, asteroid placement, and the ordered placement of ships. In other words, most of my guys haven't read beyond the basic rules.
We have a website, and I'm putting together an article to go along with the (inaugural) tourney announcement to briefly explain the additional rules observed in tournaments - I don't want any newer players turned off by the "advanced" stuff that they just don't know, and don't want to memorize a "20-something page FAQ" to learn. (I'm making an extreme example here, of course, hence the quotes.) I'm looking to quickly and painlessly catch them up.
So my question is this: what other rules do you all feel are commonly overlooked or simply not used by new/casual players that I could catch them up on in this article?
As always, thanks so much for the input.
Edited by jmeNo sweat jme, keep the thread alive, it's all good information! I'd like to look at your website for some ideas for our future website !
I'd like to piggyback off of the OP's post and continue the discussion rather than start a new thread as that seems unnecessary.
I'm starting up an X-Wing group in my local area with a buddy of mine that just got into the game a couple months ago. Last night was our first night at the local game store for X-Wing. We advertised here, on the Reddit and on both a semi-local fb group and the game store owner was nice enough to post about it on their fb page. It was a bit late notice as far as the advertisement so we're hoping to bring in more people this week as we already informed the owner that we intend to make Wednesday the X-Wing day there.
The owner is super cool with all of it and would love to have a local community for X-Wing at his shop. Really friendly and said he will go out of his way to help us in any way.
I do have a couple challenges that I'm unsure how to tackle and I would like to see if anyone has some good ideas.
The first thing. The store has hand-crafted wooden tables. They look pretty awesome, have maps of middle-earth and other fantasy realms on them, dwarven runes on the sides, etc. These tables measure somewhere around 5 & 1/2ft by 2ft and 10 inches. They are just shy of being big enough to hold a couple Official playmats on them and even one would stick off the edges a couple inches. Now I have a 3x3 game board that I brought last night. It's made of MDF so it's quite heavy and I only have the 1. So my question is how would I go about setting things up for future use for multiple tables that would allow us to use the official playmats? Do you think I should get some sort of lightweight 3x3 board to sit on the table and then just lay the playmats on top or do you have a better idea?
My other concern is the amount of tables. there are 6 of these wooden tables and apparently Wednesday is quite a busy night for them as it's also their board game night. Once a group is formed, we will need more tables on a regular basis. How should I address this? Should I wait until we have a group that it actually becomes a thing and then talk to the owner or should I address it immediately? They do have some foldable tables as well, but they would likely have to combine 2 of them to fit even 1 playmat on them.
So my question is this: what other rules do you all feel are commonly overlooked or simply not used by new/casual players that I could catch them up on in this article?
I'd cover the setup stuff.
How you decide initiative (lowest squad points, dice or coin for tie, winner decides who gets it.), set up asteroids/debris in initiative order, setup ships in lowest PS to highest, with initiative as the tie breaker. May want to mention that they now select 3 obstacles and make a common pool.
Next I'd cover the stuff that's different between Standard and Competitive rules.
Select direction for barrel roll, boost, decloak, ect... before you check to see if you can do it, and must do it if able. Must take a TL on a target if able. Can't take an action after moving on to the next ship, stuff like that.
The maybe a refresher on common rules, how focus works, that spending a token is not an action, how PtL works.
I think that would be a good start, then you can add common questions or mistakes as time goes on.
Do you think I should get some sort of lightweight 3x3 board to sit on the table and then just lay the playmats on top or do you have a better idea?
Here's what I'd do. Get a 3x3 piece of hardboard, you can pick up a 4x8 sheet at most big home improvement stores for $15 or less. My local Menards had a 4x4 for $4 I think. then pick up some felt floor protector pads, those little dots you put on furniture to protect hardwood floors.
Put those on at say 1-2 feet from an edge, then you won't have to worry about scratching the table. Then put the board on the table and put the mat the board.
My other concern is the amount of tables.
I'd talk that over with the owner right away. If it's an issue you could always move to a different night or something. But that will be a lot easier at the start then 6 to 8 weeks from now when you have 10 or more people playing.
Edited by VanorDMThe first thing. The store has hand-crafted wooden tables. They look pretty awesome, have maps of middle-earth and other fantasy realms on them, dwarven runes on the sides, etc. These tables measure somewhere around 5 & 1/2ft by 2ft and 10 inches. They are just shy of being big enough to hold a couple Official playmats on them and even one would stick off the edges a couple inches. Now I have a 3x3 game board that I brought last night. It's made of MDF so it's quite heavy and I only have the 1. So my question is how would I go about setting things up for future use for multiple tables that would allow us to use the official playmats? Do you think I should get some sort of lightweight 3x3 board to sit on the table and then just lay the playmats on top or do you have a better idea?
My other concern is the amount of tables. there are 6 of these wooden tables and apparently Wednesday is quite a busy night for them as it's also their board game night. Once a group is formed, we will need more tables on a regular basis. How should I address this? Should I wait until we have a group that it actually becomes a thing and then talk to the owner or should I address it immediately? They do have some foldable tables as well, but they would likely have to combine 2 of them to fit even 1 playmat on them.
One simple solution for tables that are too small, or for creating a smooth playing surface with 2 tables stuck together, is to pick up some thin, 4'x8' MDF boards at Home Depot and have them cut (for free!) into two 4'x4' pieces, or 3'x3'. Should only cost a few dollars per 4'x8' board.
A local gaming pub that hosted an X-Wing tournament did this since their tables are only about 2' wide. It worked well enough!
And at that price, it shouldn't be too hard to convince your game store to pay for them!
Also, if you want to get a regular group going, the most important thing is to let people know (via Facebook, flyer in the store, etc.) what night and at what time you'll be there playing X-Wing and be consistent . Make sure you show up with a friend or 2 every week. You want people to see you playing and get interested in the game. Wednesday night being a busy night for them could actually good for you, get some of the board gamers to transfer over to X-Wing! What you absolutely don't want is for someone to show up with their ships and have no one to play with because no one else showed up.
Edited by KlutzI'd like to look at your website for some ideas for our future website !
Please do ! It's pretty new - I'm still adding to it as we go, and I haven't announced this tourney because we don't have the prize support verified as yet. I'll be using the site to track league results, as well as all the event announcements in the future. Currently, the site is actually more for the guys in our group who aren't on facebook, which is the most common place we converse.
I'd cover the setup stuff.How you decide initiative (lowest squad points, dice or coin for tie, winner decides who gets it.), set up asteroids/debris in initiative order, setup ships in lowest PS to highest, with initiative as the tie breaker. May want to mention that they now select 3 obstacles and make a common pool.
Next I'd cover the stuff that's different between Standard and Competitive rules.
Select direction for barrel roll, boost, decloak, ect... before you check to see if you can do it, and must do it if able. Must take a TL on a target if able. Can't take an action after moving on to the next ship, stuff like that.
The maybe a refresher on common rules, how focus works, that spending a token is not an action, how PtL works.
I think that would be a good start, then you can add common questions or mistakes as time goes on.
This is exactly the type of thing I was looking for, thanks very much, Vanor.
I was told by the OP that I should post pictures of the tables at the game store. I do not own the rights to these photos. All these photos and more are property of Dungeon Games and can be found on their Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/DungeonGamesStore?fref=ts
This is the best "close up" shot they have on their FB page of their tables. Each one has a different Fantasy Realm Map on it. There's the map to The Lonely Mountain, the map of Middle Earth, etc.
This shows the back part of the store where the tables and the private gaming room are. The front half looks like this.
Off to the right here is where the counter is with some other products.
You can see the counter a little off to the left here.
Absolutely fantastic game store with some really cool owners.
The first thing. The store has hand-crafted wooden tables. They look pretty awesome, have maps of middle-earth and other fantasy realms on them, dwarven runes on the sides, etc. These tables measure somewhere around 5 & 1/2ft by 2ft and 10 inches. They are just shy of being big enough to hold a couple Official playmats on them and even one would stick off the edges a couple inches. Now I have a 3x3 game board that I brought last night. It's made of MDF so it's quite heavy and I only have the 1. So my question is how would I go about setting things up for future use for multiple tables that would allow us to use the official playmats? Do you think I should get some sort of lightweight 3x3 board to sit on the table and then just lay the playmats on top or do you have a better idea?
My other concern is the amount of tables. there are 6 of these wooden tables and apparently Wednesday is quite a busy night for them as it's also their board game night. Once a group is formed, we will need more tables on a regular basis. How should I address this? Should I wait until we have a group that it actually becomes a thing and then talk to the owner or should I address it immediately? They do have some foldable tables as well, but they would likely have to combine 2 of them to fit even 1 playmat on them.
One simple solution for tables that are too small, or for creating a smooth playing surface with 2 tables stuck together, is to pick up some thin, 4'x8' MDF boards at Home Depot and have them cut (for free!) into two 4'x4' pieces, or 3'x3'. Should only cost a few dollars per 4'x8' board.
A local gaming pub that hosted an X-Wing tournament did this since their tables are only about 2' wide. It worked well enough!
And at that price, it shouldn't be too hard to convince your game store to pay for them!
Also, if you want to get a regular group going, the most important thing is to let people know (via Facebook, flyer in the store, etc.) what night and at what time you'll be there playing X-Wing and be consistent . Make sure you show up with a friend or 2 every week. You want people to see you playing and get interested in the game. Wednesday night being a busy night for them could actually good for you, get some of the board gamers to transfer over to X-Wing! What you absolutely don't want is for someone to show up with their ships and have no one to play with because no one else showed up.
Regarding the part that is underlined. How heavy are the boards? Like I said, I have a 3x3 MDF board that is quite heavy and barely fits in my backseat standing up. If I did made some boards do you think I should ask the owners if they would keep the boards at the store?
Wow! That's a really cool looking place!
With the size and spacing of the tables, I think you could probably just drop a 4'x8' piece of thin MDF/plywood on top of one and have room for 2 X-Wing games.
Maybe add a piece of that non-slip under-carpet stuff so you don't scratch up the table. It'll also prevent your MDF/plywood from moving around too much.
Regarding the part that is underlined. How heavy are the boards? Like I said, I have a 3x3 MDF board that is quite heavy and barely fits in my backseat standing up. If I did made some boards do you think I should ask the owners if they would keep the boards at the store?
What we had might not have been actual MDF. It was almost like very thick cardboard.
I suggest just stopping your local Home Depot and seeing what materials they have in stock.
In any case, I would ask the store owner if he would be willing to buy 2 or 3 4'x8' boards and keep them at the store. It should be enough to host 6 or 8 X-Wing players.
A different local store here hosts Warhammer 40k regularly, and they have a bunch of large 4'x8' boards on hand to put over their tables.
If I did made some boards do you think I should ask the owners if they would keep the boards at the store?
I would. I'd even see if they were willing to pay for part or all of the materials. Otherwise you might scratch their tables.
But even if they won't, I'd leave them there. Hardboard is pretty light, you only need a eighth inch thick board, shouldn't be more than a pound or two.
At my local Menards it's $5 for a 4x8 sheet.
Hardboard is what they make pegboards out of, that you often see people hang tools off and such.
Edited by VanorDMprevent your MDF/plywood from moving around too much.
Another things that works great is mechanic's tool box liner . Very non-slip, and protects both the table and the board in top it of.
[EDIT] That's not the specific one that I have: the reviews on that are terrible! Go to your local home store & peruse.
Edited by jme
Thanks for the replies everyone! Your input was much needed.
This thread just keeps getting better ! I actually have a little notebook I am using compiling the most useful info ! As promised, I am back with some questions !
Based on advice here, I will be using Cryodex. I mentioned earlier I have played around with it a bit. A couple scenarios popped into my mind as I messed with it.
Players A-D make the cut to the top 4. I am setting up the last two tables when I am informed "D" never returned from the lunch break. I attempt to contact "D", negative contact. Does "C" his opponent get an automatic win on that table, or can "E" (the 5th place player) move up the rankings?
Also at anytime during the tourney, if someone drops (wife aggro, just bails, etc.) how do I handle that on the Cryodex side? I don't see an option for dropped players (other than delete) I have already decided not to "generate" the next round until I have everyone at their tables. Am I right here?
Also I am making a "cheat sheet" (casual tournament) for each table. It will cover the Phases of a turn and the breakdowns in each phase (like the back of the rule book). I will also include the biggest new FAQ and Tourney rules changes (For example the Phantom, and obstacles). I will put two of these per table (one per player) in document protectors. Does anyone know where I can find a Font Set that has the dice symbols, upgrade bar icons and so on? I have dug all over the place for this stuff, no luck.
Edited by MeynoltI have dug all over the place for this stuff, no luck.
I don't think such a thing exists actually.
What you could maybe do, is scroll through the various news articles, and you may be able to copy/paste the pictures from there into a doc. Not sure if you'll find all of them but there is no standard set of them that we have access to.
So I have a buddy that recently got into X-Wing. He took a 4x3 cardboard folding display, some felt and a hot glue gun and made a folding board to play x-wing on, complete with the extra space on each end for cards/tokens. Would this be a cheaper or easier way to get a flat, decently sturdy surface that will fit the playmats on? Would it be better to stick with the 4x8 hardboard idea?
So I have a buddy that recently got into X-Wing. He took a 4x3 cardboard folding display, some felt and a hot glue gun and made a folding board to play x-wing on, complete with the extra space on each end for cards/tokens. Would this be a cheaper or easier way to get a flat, decently sturdy surface that will fit the playmats on? Would it be better to stick with the 4x8 hardboard idea?
I think thats an awesome idea. As long as the glue is smooth and the felt pulled tight the board (if treated well) would last quite sometime. I may try to do the same.
This thread, IMO, is worth pinning either here on in the organized play section. It should not be allowed to het lost n the shuffle.
I made a couple PDF documents that might be useful for other TOs.
These are letter-sized sheets, meant to be folded in 3 so they stand up on their own.
You can add a little piece of tape to hold them in a triangle shape if you want them to be a little more stable.
There are 10 pages to the document (so up to 10 tables), each with the outline of a different ship.
These are letter-sized sheets, meant to be pre-cut along the dotted lines.
Print one sheet per table, and as games finish up, players can fill out the sheets and bring them over to the TO or leave them by your laptop if you're also participating and your game isn't finished. Makes it super easy to enter results in Cryodex and reduces the errors that will inevitably happen if people just tell you their scores verbally. You can even ask both players to sign the sheet or put down their initials before turning it in, that way if there's ever a mistake on the sheet they can't really complain about it afterwards.
Edited by KlutzI made a couple PDF documents that might be useful for other TOs.
These are letter-sized sheets, meant to be folded in 3 so they stand up on their own.
You can add a little piece of tape to hold them in a triangle shape if you want them to be a little more stable.
There are 10 pages to the document (so up to 10 tables), each with the outline of a different ship.
These are letter-sized sheets, meant to be pre-cut along the dotted lines.
Print one sheet per table, and as games finish up, players can fill out the sheets and bring them over to the TO or leave them by your laptop if you're also participating and your game isn't finished. Makes it super easy to enter results in Cryodex and reduces the errors that will inevitably happen if people just tell you their scores verbally. You can even ask both players to sign the sheet or put down their initials before turning it in, that way if there's ever a mistake on the sheet they can't really complain about it afterwards.
Totally using these, thanks for sharing.... BTW are we pinning this thread or what?
BTW are we pinning this thread or what?
Please...
If we were to pin a TO help thread, it should probably go in the Organized Play sub-forum.