Help me out!
So I found there to be a big lack of organized play for X-Wing in my area. There seemed to be plenty of players so I thought I'd set up and run some tournaments. I found a game store to host and order a prize pack. I was wondering if you anyone had some advice, tips or a list of things I need to do to get ready for this.
Thanks!
How many players can (will) the store accommodate for the tournament? How much time will they allow for prep the week before, the day before, the day of?
How will the players submit their interest in participating? Signup sheet on a wall, email, walk in day of?
What software will you be using to run the tournament?
Do you want media involved? Do you have a way to contact media for advertising or for coverage of the event?
Does the store have any food service? Would any nearby restaurants/ fast food stores offer discounts to players?
Will prizes be announced ahead of time? Is it just what's in the kit? Will the store commit to items or store credit to sweeten the pot? Will they be on display before the tournament or during?
Do you have observers for each game space or a single judge that has to be everywhere at once?
How many players can (will) the store accommodate for the tournament? I've set the limit at 16, but the store could handle at least twice that
How much time will they allow for prep the week before, the day before, the day of? The tournament is in the afternoon so I plan on being there at least a hour early to set up.
How will the players submit their interest in participating? There has been some interest, but I don't think we'll hit the 16 player mark
Signup sheet on a wall, email, walk in day of? Yes all of that
What software will you be using to run the tournament? Tournament organizer Ipad App
Do you want media involved? Do you have a way to contact media for advertising or for coverage of the event? no not really, other then social media
Does the store have any food service? Would any nearby restaurants/ fast food stores offer discounts to players? They have snacks, but players won't have time between rounds to go out for food
Will prizes be announced ahead of time? Is it just what's in the kit? Yes they have been announced, it is just a spring kit
Will the store commit to items or store credit to sweeten the pot? Will they be on display before the tournament or during? Yes, the store is throwing in some store credit and yes it will be displayed
Do you have observers for each game space or a single judge that has to be everywhere at once? There will be two Judges present plus the store owner.
I prefer having squads locked down before hand. Loading each players squad into something like Army Builder allows to to confirm they are tournament legal and meet any other rules you set. It also means no one is altering their squad based on what others are showing.
Have a full set of all rules and FAQs available for all judges. Placing the PDFs on a tablet works out very well.
Have a master timer for each round. I believe new rules are 75 minute rounds. With a 15 minute reset (gather winner and score data, create next bracket. get people to their tables) you get 90 minute rounds. 6 Hours for 4 Swiss round then final 4 bracket (No time limit on the final game so 3-4 hours) Plan on being quite late if you are starting after noon.
Consider a piece of paper at each playmatt that has 4 strips (1 for each round) that player can tear off to log their scores. Round #, Player names, Who won and how many points. This gives you a physical item to collect and use to score while keeping it to check records if needed.
My persoana belife is that a TO and their staff should not compete in their own tournaments.
My personal belief is that the store / TO should provide a suitable play area (mats, felt, painted board) that is the same at every table. Keeping every play area the same as much as possible keeps other issues from happening. You are providing as fair and balanced a play are as you can regardless of what table gets assigned.
I prefer having squads locked down before hand. Loading each players squad into something like Army Builder allows to to confirm they are tournament legal and meet any other rules you set. It also means no one is altering their squad based on what others are showing.
Have a full set of all rules and FAQs available for all judges. Placing the PDFs on a tablet works out very well.
Have a master timer for each round. I believe new rules are 75 minute rounds. With a 15 minute reset (gather winner and score data, create next bracket. get people to their tables) you get 90 minute rounds. 6 Hours for 4 Swiss round then final 4 bracket (No time limit on the final game so 3-4 hours) Plan on being quite late if you are starting after noon.
Consider a piece of paper at each playmatt that has 4 strips (1 for each round) that player can tear off to log their scores. Round #, Player names, Who won and how many points. This gives you a physical item to collect and use to score while keeping it to check records if needed.
My persoana belife is that a TO and their staff should not compete in their own tournaments.
My personal belief is that the store / TO should provide a suitable play area (mats, felt, painted board) that is the same at every table. Keeping every play area the same as much as possible keeps other issues from happening. You are providing as fair and balanced a play are as you can regardless of what table gets assigned.
With this being a casual tournament I'm not requiring squads to be submitted before registration. I will require squad lists at registration and require them to give them to there opponent each round. Myself and the other TO will check every list to make sure it's legal so I'm not too worried about cheating.
I have a few hard copies of the FAQ and manual, plus PDFs in my IPad. I plan on using FFGs official score sheets, I'll give 1 to each player at registration and they get turned in every round so I can enter scores. We will have playmats at every table. Seems like we have everything we need, but I'm sure something will pop up.
I would suggest not using any apps to organize your tourney. For ease of use, I highly recommend Cryodex, and it runs on ANY type of pc laptop. Its does everything you want, including Strength of Schedule and full MOV. It is also set up specifically for X wing.
The best thing I have ever done when running my own turneys is that I bought a large countdown clock so everyone at any time can see how much time is left.
As far as squad lists go, I make everyone either bring in a squad list printed out from http://xwing-builder.co.uk/build# OR I make them do it at the tourney itself and I will print it out (I bring my own laptop and printer for all my TO needs). That easily verifies that all lists are legal.
Also, make sure that you have plenty of official score sheets handy.
The best advice I can give is be professional. The more professional you are and how the tourney is run the better it is for all involved. Also, make sure that players know everything ahead of time, like if there will be a meal break or not. As TO if you do play in the tourney, make sure that you let someone else be an alternate TO (especially someone you trust and who knows the rules). Do not take to long between matches. Input the scores into the tourney software and the setup and run the next pairings. The longer that takes the longer players are there each night.
When I run casual tourneys - especially those with a theme - I don't run a cut. Instead I run an additional round more than is posted in the Tourney FAQ.
I've looked at Cyrodex and honestly I don't own a laptop to bring and use. Have you seen Tournament Organizer for X-Wing Miniatures?
Works pretty slick, I've ran a few test tournaments on it and haven't ran into any problems. Thanks for the advice, I do plan on playing myself and have two other TOs lined up to help out. I'm running a 4 round escalation tournament so I don't have to worry about a cut off or anything. Being professional is always great advice.
TO for X-Wing is barren and generic but it does the job very well. A solid app