Couldn't resist. I'll see myself out.

There's a lot of talk about the novices needing to want to learn...but learn what, exactly?

FFG is marketing to the masses but many gaming groups push hard on 100Pt deathmatches where you're going up against tourney practice lists a lot. That'll turn off a newbie who didn't come to a "fight club with toys." Some people don't care about tournaments and can come off as not wanting to learn when really they don't want to buy into the rat race and just wanted a group of fun players. Some people don't want to take their hobbies so seriously.

It's happened that a group of local xwingers at a FLGS didn't really want new players to the game but instead new tournament players. Some can't differentiate between, and that's what can turn newbies away.

Totally agree. When I said that a novice must want to learn I didn't mean to imply that someone who wants to just rock up move some ships roll some dice and have a laugh is in any way 'inferior' or 'wrong'. That is a perfectly valid way to play the game and should be supported as much as any other.

As with any game that has a tournament scene there will be a gap between those who want to be hard core tournament junkies and those who just want to do recreational X-wing at weekends. (and all those in between) As long as you can find an opponent(s) with a similar outlook you will be fine.

I know I'm way more 'tournament' than 'casual' in my personal preference but I do think that both ends of the spectrum are valid. I'm not a supporter of those who insist one way is better than the other.

Don't let the swarm player give up!

Swarms can be some of the most rewarding lists to fly, especially when you get that big win with only a couple TIEs left. Despite the sheer difficulty in mastering so many ships at once, swarms lists are invariably about fundamentals and you will learn them quickly! When running eight, seven or even six ships there isn't a lot of room for fancy tricks and upgrades and so the real strength of any swarm list lies in it's player and their grasp of key game concepts like maneuvering, action management and decision making. The number of ships can be daunting and the seemingly never ending conga line of bumps may be discouraging, but with practice you can even make those bumps a part of your game plan and soon the only one worried about how many TIEs you have on the board is your opponent.

Stick with the swarm.