There are 4 stores within a half hour drive of my house. 3 of them carry X Wing, 2 of them regularly stock it and re-order a few times a month. I went in to one of these two in hopes of picking up a FA Core to scratch my Poe itch after seeing the film. Most of his selection was depleted except for two Raiders, a Tantine and several E-Wing's and Punishers. I bought the last Y-Wing because I've wanted to fly it in my list. We talked about what it would look like to put a tournament together. Both him and the other store have had success selling the ships, but can't seem to draw people in for games. One of them ran a tournament kit from FFG last year, and not a single player showed up. Despite this they seem to sell ships very well, even without the movie buzz. Maybe this is the reason for the merger? To try and get more people into the stores and thus encountering local players?

I'd love to find some other players in my area, I mostly play against myself and my one friend who borrows my ships.

Where are you located?

Target probably has a bajillion if your FLGS can't get them back in for awhile

Target and Walmart should have the FA core and lots of em.

I'm in Lancaster PA, a little over an hour from Philly, Harrisburg and Baltimore. I could easily play anywhere within an hour or two drive.

Yes, I know Target carries them, but I'm not urgently looking. I had some time to kill and I was driving by the store. I'm trying to build a relationship with these stores and foster tournament community. I think players would come. I haven't played at a game store in over a decade, and that was Magic Drafts. What are prizes typically like? Would it be reasonable to charge a $15 entry fee and the winner gets a choice of small-ship expansion packs? I don't know, I'm trying to think of how to build this community.

My local stores have well-attended weekly 3-round tournaments that are normally $5 entry fee, and the entry money is split as store credit among the top places. We'll usually have the seasonal tournament kit for a tournament or two as well (also normally $5 entry).

At wave releases, my favorite FLGS has done a release tournament; $15 entry and one of each of the new ships is the prize, with the winner getting first pick, second place second, etc.

These are mostly 100-point dogfights but there's an increasing number of 60/90/120 Escalation as well.

Building a relationship with a FLGS is a great thing. Talk to the shop owner and let them know you would be willing to run a tournament or organize play there. Many shop owners are pretty accommodating. Prize support can vary greatly and often is dependent on how many people you can get in the store and what the owner is willing to do.

Thank you both. I'm good at organizing events and I'm pretty outgoing. I was thinking of asking the FLGS owners to ask everyone who purchases X Wing if they'd be interested in receiving emails inviting them to tournaments in the area. I'm pretty sure that because this game appeals to entry-level miniature players (I had never thought of playing minis in my life) with such a low investment compared to other minis games ($100 can get you flying in a tournament) the game attracts more casual players than tournament players. I would have a hard time shelling out the $100 for capital ships at a store unless I was playing tournaments there, but as far as the rest, the price difference is worth building the relationship to me.

Honestly, I would start with organising a regular X-wing night first to build up a core player base before launching into tournaments. Perhaps talk to the owners about that.

I'm in Lancaster PA, a little over an hour from Philly, Harrisburg and Baltimore. I could easily play anywhere within an hour or two drive.

Yes, I know Target carries them, but I'm not urgently looking. I had some time to kill and I was driving by the store. I'm trying to build a relationship with these stores and foster tournament community. I think players would come. I haven't played at a game store in over a decade, and that was Magic Drafts. What are prizes typically like? Would it be reasonable to charge a $15 entry fee and the winner gets a choice of small-ship expansion packs? I don't know, I'm trying to think of how to build this community.

At the store where I play tournaments cost $7. Every player gets a ship (TO brings out the same number of ships as players, 1st place gets 1st pick, 2nd gets 2nd pick, etc.). Last week the ships included a Hound's Tooth and the month before there was a Most Wanted. A couple tournaments ago the choices were all "big" expansions (K-wing, Punisher, etc.). Then, if they have a tournament kit they distribute that stuff accordingly as well. This store stocks a ton of X-wing stuff and has the best prices I've ever seen outside of Amazon/MM/CSI. Yes, if I could marry this store, I would.

The biggest thing I've found working at my FLGS is that the event runner is the lynchpin of the community. A good event runner gets people in the door, gets them excited to join and then be a part of the community. (S)He should be someone willing to invest alot of time and effort into building such a community. My particular store is blessed with one who writes custom campaigns for our players as well as several other events meant for players of all skill levels.

The attendance might also be an issue of how your game store is advertising their tournaments. If you've got a group that plays there regularly, make sure everyone hears about it with time to schedule around it. If you don't have regulars, securing a core group on an established day is essential. Selling the game to someone is one thing, but if they see it on the table and have a good time in a welcoming environment, they'll come back again and again. This game reaches so many different types of people that it can be intimidating to come out and play as a newbie, take away that atmosphere. Maybe set up a day in the near future to teach newbies how to play, then have the owner advertise the crap outta it to anyone interested.

Target probably has a bajillion if your FLGS can't get them back in for awhile

they do and they are on sale.. well the ones at Target are..

The attendance might also be an issue of how your game store is advertising their tournaments. If you've got a group that plays there regularly, make sure everyone hears about it with time to schedule around it. If you don't have regulars, securing a core group on an established day is essential. Selling the game to someone is one thing, but if they see it on the table and have a good time in a welcoming environment, they'll come back again and again. This game reaches so many different types of people that it can be intimidating to come out and play as a newbie, take away that atmosphere. Maybe set up a day in the near future to teach newbies how to play, then have the owner advertise the crap outta it to anyone interested.

Worth reiterating.

Having a way to get the word out reliably about your events is so, so important, especially to attract players like me who will specifically go for events because I'm far enough away from a store that I just don't go to "hang out."

I've bailed on going to events where the info just wasn't reliable -- the store website had an event list but the "rumored" event wasn't listed on it, or an event was mentioned here or on a Facebook list but wasn't listed on the store's Facebook page or website, or whatever. On the other hand, a good promotion -- event is listed on the website and other places (here in the OP forum, on a store's Facebook page, etc) will encourage attendance.

I drove 3-hours round trip yesterday to play at a small store tournament at a store I'd never been to because they did a good job posting information, and I met some new folks and had fun. The store owner was really open and welcoming to this out-of-towner, and I made several purchases as a result.

The our local X-wing scene has a Facebook group for the area, and while it doesn't capture every event it's a good way to keep people informed of events at multiple stores.