I agreed to demo this game this weekend for a Local Store ... and I know the game well but it's a bloody 6 hour game how would you guys demo this? Set it up in the base game do the base game and what have people do 1 turn of each side and move on? Just curious as I want as many people to try the game as can and it's not something you can set up and just "quickly" play.

I recommend sending a message to RowdyOctopus, if you can reach him, one of the members on this forum. He did demo this game before it was even released.

I did a demo in a boardgame Cafe for may the 4th yesterday and I set out the first game set up. we used the first game rules, so they were just recruiting leaders and not their abilities on the cards. I played out a rule by fear demo, and a rebel loyalty mission demo to get them behind the game.

it was a whole game of 2 vs 1 (me on rebel side) and it took 4 hours. players in the store came by and asked questions, watched missions play out, and took pictures. it was a pretty cool success.

Depends on how you plan to demo it. What kind of crowd will be involved. Random people wandering in and out of a comic book store? Or a busy convention like setting with dozens of people walking by at any time.

If you have people that are going to be willing to play the entire game, set up the beginner rules format and place everything in advance, draw cards, let the players start playing instead of doing the setup. The problem with this is they will hog the game for the entire time, and very bad early play could tip the balance quickly giving a bad impression of the game. Most others would just have to stand around and watch and may not get into it.

If you are thinking about having a lot of people try out the game and get hands on experience, I'd set up a scenario that demonstrates every element of the game. Create a very specific layout that could happen in the game, and limit the cards available to the players to just the cards you want them to have/use. Then sort of walk them through the events.

Have a scenario where the Rebels can attack a star destroyer with a good chance of killing it and getting an objective card played. Have them also do an incite uprising mission. Have the Imps in position to move the death star into a system with some rebel forces and a few fighters. Let the battle play out and have the Imps blow up the system, but also give the Rebels the Death Star Plans objective and give them a chance to blow it up first. Have the Imps in position to subjugate a system. Have the Rebels playing a mission in Imperial space, and have the Imps doing a capture mission. Leave a couple extra leaders to counter things.

Basically, give them a little taste of every major element of the game all happening within 1 turn.

During and after the turn, talk about the other possibilities in the game by mentioning some other missions, objectives and such.

Thank them for their participation, and reset the board to your preset scenario, invite the next players. People that played previously might even stick around to see how different plays can change the outcome.

If things are slow, the current players could keep playing, or now that they know the basics, you could set up a beginners game from the start for them to play through if they have the time/interest.

Have the game set up for a beginner gamer. Teach 2 to 4 players at a time. Let them play a round or two (maybe even switch sides if they want to), then reset and bring in new players.

Thanks for all the great idea's I was thinking of printing off some cheat sheets I found on board game geeks, and setting up the base game then having people play 1-2 turns (Depending on how the interest is) and rotate new people in after a turn, 1 full turn gives you a moderate taste of the game minus combat

The problem with starting new players from turn 1 is a complete lack of action. You don't have many leaders, and most of the missions will go uncontested. You won't have much for battle that isn't completely one sided, and no objectives are likely to occur. The first 2 rounds are the slowest, most boring rounds as people build towards their mid game plans.

By creating an interesting mid-game round that you can reset, you assure a wide variety of action. You could even create an end game scenario. A round 7 scenario like I suggested above with a couple options for objective points. Have the base revealed and the Imps are going to be able to crush it by round 8. The end game marker is on round 10.

If the Rebels can pull an objective this round and next, they are good to go and win. If they don't, the Empire is going to roll in and destroy the base.

In the end I started the game at turn one, and each time people left I left the game as is, and when the next people came I gave them a narrative of what had happened to this point key moments and let them them continue from there

Did people seem to enjoy it? That's the important thing.