As I don't see anyone coming in to open up a true Game Store in the near to distant future, I do like the idea of starting up an X-Wing Club. I have some ideas but I wanted to see what others have done that perhaps I am not thinking of in relation to this.

Location: How did you find where you play and what are acceptable terms?

Tables: Did you make tables, get enough playmats? Just deal with smaller sizes at first? Use painter's tape?

Advertising: Nothing is as good as word of mouth, but what other methods did you use to advertise?

Costs: Did you charge any kind of fees or tiers of fees for membership?

Web: Did you create a website or web presence for your club and was it worth the hassle?

Timing: What order of priority did you put these in?

What else?

[[ RESERVED ]]

Create a Facebook group named "[Your City] X-Wing Club".

I'll wait.

Done?

Good.

Next step: Create a post in this forum, on the XWM subreddit, at A Few Maneuvers, on the X-Wing page at BoardGameGeek. Title it "X-Wing club forming in [Your City]". Include a link to your Facebook group.

Go do that right now, because there's literally no reason to delay.

Done? Now just wait.

Post again every month until some people start joining your Facebook group.

When new members join up, welcome them to the club and find out where they play, when they play, and get organized. You don't have to do it all yourself.

Most groups do not charge for open play. League membership and tournament fees are typically $5 or $10.

Most players have their own game mats, but if you want to get your club off to a good start, I recommend buying an Extra Large Yoga Mat through Amazon for about $25. Cut it into two 3x3 foot sections.

^ That. Do that. ^

Creating a Facebook page and getting the word out on forums/subreddits is the best way to go. Our group (Star Wars: X-Wing Miniatures Maine) started in 2013 and has cleared 90 followers on facebook, not all are local and we can expect an average turnout of 6-8 players for an event, more if it is an FFG sanctioned event.

Our group had the clear advantage of having a handful of choices for Friendly Local Game Stores in which to meet and game. That being said I have found that the best lure to get a group to show up with any degree of regularity is to offer a play style people usually can't get in their basement with their friends: story based (borderline or full on) RPG campaign formats. One of the biggest struggles a gaming group for X-Wing Miniatures, in my few year's experience, is that X-Wing can be played anywhere you have space for a 3'x3' gamespace. This, for us, has meant it takes a little extra enticement to get people to meet up regularly as opposed to just playing at home with a few close friends.

What we have successfully run for (borderline) RPG campaign formats can be found on our website (below) and you're welcome to adapt/copy/cut/spoof/criticize/enjoy anything we have there.

On the website note let me just say I've found it has its usages but isn't exactly the wisest investment. To get the most out of your own website you'd have to include a forum style interface which we've decided not to add to our own website simply because Facebook, BoardGameGeek, ect. already have that level of functionality. Any "forum style" communication can be done through a Facebook group/page.

Our website does supply tournament history and lists played, so that's fun to check out.

Hope I've helped...