• Don't shower for a few days and then make sure you a wear a sweater a few sizes too big and a shirt a few sizes too small and keep taking one off and putting the other on while complaining about "the **** menopause."
• If you win, be graceful and don't call your opponent "sweetie" or make gestures like you're spiral slicing a ham
• Don't give out your home address but always try and get your opponent to give up his. You might want it later.
• If you get beaten, remember to show grace and poise and thank the other player for teaching you something new. Then wait outside in your car and when he comes out, chase him around a little and see how long you can prevent him from getting to his own car. Be careful not to land on him like he's an asteroid.
• Don't wait until your opponents aren't looking and then don't break their models "accidentally".
• Most importantly - have fun!
• If you really can't have fun, make sure you spoil it for someone else. The universe appreciates balance

Hope this helps!

Competitive Monkey

Bring Lube

Only if you're prepared to use it..

Just don't be "that guy".

or, do everything possible to be "that guy".

I find communication is the key. Talk through what you are doing and don't be afraid to ask questions. People make mistakes. Just because you are not sure of something and ask doesn't mean that you are accusing anyone of anything, it just means you want clarification.

There is a world of difference between someone throwing some dice whilst saying Han shoots and someone saying; Han is shooting at that TIE so he gets 3 dice plus one for range, ok? He will spend focus to flip these dice giving 2 hits and a crit.

Any mistakes are much easier to notice and correct in the second example and the games run smoother which also means faster.

Crush your enemies. See them driven before you. Hear the lamentations of their women.

Blow up his stuff, but don't let him blow up yours.

But seriously, I would let the person know up front that its your first tournament. They probably will still not let you get away with mistakes, but most people will explain why it was a mistake and how you can do better in the future. Losing is the best way to learn etc.

Even though the forums have been a bit venomous ever since the "The InciDent" (as it will now be known!). This community is still great, and very helpful.

Don't forget to make it a fun game for both players. I was playing against a guy the other day who turned out to be a nurse. We were both playing uboats, so the atmosphere was a bit tense. We ended up joking about "suppository squads", and every time a torpedo was fired we were like "here's another one going up yours!". Best fun I had during that day, even though the matchup wasnt that good.

I actually found a pretty wide piece of cardboard. I cut it down to size so that I taped all the cards for my list on it. I use card sleeves, so it wasn't going to damage the cards. This made it easier to move between tables. I was also able to just hand the cardboard over to my opponent to review my list. I taped them on one side, so if I used an upgrade or the ship died, I just flipped it over. I wish I'd taken a picture of it, but it made life so much easier.

Failing that, if you have a Panera Bread place near you, you can ask for a "to go" card board tray. It's just about right size to put all your crap in between games. You can drop your templates, piece of cardboard, dice, tokens, etc. It's got edges and handles and is very easy to move all your crap between games. Don't lug your whole case around.

If you are new, you will probably take longer between your games. This helps save time when you are moving between tables.

Also, expect to lose. Just have fun. Someone has to be at the bottom. If it's not you, then be happy it's not you! If it is you, just be happy you got x number of games in for a single day.

When Regionals is over, play something other than tournament X-wing.

First and Foremost Have Fun! although prize support is great, you will be learning how it all works so don't get disheartened

Play a list you like to fly even if it isn't the most competitive, i love an E+2A's as my go too list (before i found Bombs)

Practice flying your ships before hand (set up a 3ftx3ft table, sprinkle it with Roids and get a feeling for flying the ships round it and visuallising where they will end up)

Take your time with the dials, a couple of times I've rushed and the 5K turns to a 5 Straight! or i end up turning away from the fight completely

Take only the tokens and cards you need (a few extra stress tokens wouldn't go amiss) and mark your debris/roids so you can easily see what ones are yours when you clean up Also a small. lipped tray helps moving between tables

Layout your maneuver templates before each game and once used return them, makes it easier to find that pesky 1 straight when its needed.

Again, thanks to all. While the con (with tourney) isn't until Saturday, I hit the road tomorrow. The whole reason that this tourney caught my eye when no others had before was that I have family near the con who also happen to be into gaming, so it seemed like a good excuse to go out there and visit, and get some time to roll dice in the process. The group I'm going with planned to hit the Salt Lake Comic Con last year, until circumstances beyond our control prevented it, so we're using the gaming con to make up for it. It still has something for all of us. One of our group is into the cosplay (which will be at this con, too), and thinks this is a great excuse to take out his Darth Revan costume. We've each got our own thing to go for at the Con, but ultimately its a long weekend to hang out and have fun, so as I see it, if I lose and get eliminated in Swiss (as I expect), it just means that our family/group moves on and does other stuff. No big loss.

Anyway, I enjoy an uphill battle, and in most of my wargaming, I've enjoyed playing the disadvantaged side, so going in to compete against a bunch of people who play better than I do just suits my masochistic approach to gaming. As long as I lose well (read: make a good effort and enjoy myself), losing isn't a problem. An opportunity to game assumes that someone will lose, and if you're not ready for that to be you, there's a good chance you won't have as much fun as you could. The prize support is cool and everything, but if you ask me, the entire point of gaming, tournaments included, is to PLAY. If I happen to lose (which is likely), that's just part of the game.

Thanks to all for the tips, both the functional and the funny. I may not get online much after today, so I wanted to thank everyone for their contributions before I go dark until after the upcoming battles.

May the Force be with us all. (Yeah, I know; extra cheesy in this context, but do I care?)

I just did my first tournament. Here's what I didn't expect and some other tips...

1) You setup everything, but you have to wait until the official says "Go" (or whatever) to start playing. My first game, my opponent had a lower PS and I kept telling him "Go Ahead" and he was just looking at me funny.

2) When the official does say "Go" you shake hands and say "Good Luck"

3) When the last ship is destroyed, an opponent concedes, or time runs out. Say "Good Game" (or something else nice).

4) Then you have to do the points thing, which I had to ask for help on initially. It's actually pretty straightforward, but the large ships half-health rule is the one that isn't obvious.

There were natural moments when it made sense for me to move my opponents ships for them. Sometimes they ask, sometimes you just offer as it's obvious they would have to lean way over or walk around the table. Of course, some people don't like you moving for them, so always ask the first time to get a gauge on this.

Also, I noticed some people handed over the papers with their squad lists on them so you didn't have to walk around and look at their cards or have them tell you about them. I still had to walk around and ask questions though as the title of the card didn't mean much to me. Everyone was cool with that of course.

I brought a laser and used it a few times, but it was definitely a nice to have instead of a necessity. What I wish I'd had was the range 1 and 2 templates. There was some awkward measuring going on when neither me nor my opponent had these.

Also, bring a bottle of water and some painkillers. Some NON-MESSY treats to nibble on is good too. I sip on water quite often (tend to dehydrate when "in the zone") and standing for hours on end is not something my body enjoys. Feel free to offer your opponent some of your NON-MESSY treats.

However, keep in mind that if you go crazy on hydration, what goes in, must come out. When you finish a game early then make sure you utilize that time to go toilet and any other things you need to do (call the wife to say you love her). For all you know you may run out of time for your next 4 games and not get a break. Of course if you REALLY need to go then they just have to wait.

One thing that I was a bit uncomfortable with is that everyone just left their things on the table when they went to watch others or go to the toilet or whatever. I had a tendency to pack everything up and take it with me to the toilet, but didn't do that. Nothing got stolen, but it's up to you to decide that yourself. Largely depends on your level of trust. There were plenty of people I didn't know, but it was more of a "Everyone else is doing it, so I guess I will" thing for me.

Lastly, if you need to borrow something, try asking (if you haven't brought back-ups). I went to setup my ships and one of my peg connectors attached to the ship had broke. I was stressing a bit, but someone was nice enough to let me borrow theirs. I could tell some people had what I needed, but didn't want to let me borrow it. It was the people that knew who I was that were open to it (that's understandable though). I've noticed some ask to borrow things before the tournament day (if they don't own them for example)

Anyway, Best of luck!

P.S. - I got last place and didn't kill a single ship. I learned a lot and it was still loads of fun though (and someone was nice and gave me the promo card I wanted anyway).

Don't lend out anything unless you are prepared to never see it again. Don't sell or trade your dice. If people want your dice, it is because they are magic. Don't leave bags unattended if the store also hosts Yugioh.

NEVER concede that Star Trek has equal merit. Firefly fans are also pathetic, the show was canceled because it was bad!

But this applies to nearly any situation.

Probably the most useful advice in the thread. Maybe as a whole not necessarily bad and more mediocre, but those last few episodes, man, what stinkers.

Best advice I could give is to make sure to fly casual, to a degree. That is, have fun and go in there not expecting much. You'll likely take home a sweet Hera card anyway! Also, if you think someone is breaking the rules, don't feel bad about calling them out on it. Even at a regional there's still lots of people who're patient enough to help YOU out, but there's also people who're a little too "competitive".

Failure is not a option... unless you see this game as a game.

Hire a good looking stripper to dress up like slave lea and have her carry your tray with your x wing stuff all day. It will distract all of your opponents. Throughout the day drop tokens so she has to bend over and pick them up distracting your opponents even more.

Hire a good looking stripper to dress up like slave lea and have her carry your tray with your x wing stuff all day. It will distract all of your opponents. Throughout the day drop tokens so she has to bend over and pick them up distracting your opponents even more.

Keeping sexism and the objectification of women alive and well!

Yet when we see our seasonal "Y not be there more girls in X-Wing?????" topic posted again a bunch of folks will deny that any such attitudes exist in the community...

I always have a massive hangover when I attend tournaments so I can offer no advice other than don't go to a tournament with a massive hangover.

All tournaments should be held on a Wednesday, I don't have massive hangovers on Wednesdays

Cheers

Baaa

I always have a massive hangover when I attend tournaments so I can offer no advice other than don't go to a tournament with a massive hangover.

All tournaments should be held on a Wednesday, I don't have massive hangovers on Wednesdays

Cheers

Baaa

Why not?

I always have a massive hangover when I attend tournaments so I can offer no advice other than don't go to a tournament with a massive hangover.

All tournaments should be held on a Wednesday, I don't have massive hangovers on Wednesdays

Cheers

Baaa

Why not?

Because they're normal sized ones.

Cheers

Baaa

Hire a good looking stripper to dress up like slave lea and have her carry your tray with your x wing stuff all day. It will distract all of your opponents. Throughout the day drop tokens so she has to bend over and pick them up distracting your opponents even more.

Keeping sexism and the objectification of women alive and well!

Yet when we see our seasonal "Y not be there more girls in X-Wing?????" topic posted again a bunch of folks will deny that any such attitudes exist in the community...

After the last smack down they figured out this isn't tumblr.

Heck let's face it they represent 18% of women in the US, 7% of women in the UK they don't speak for women in fact most reject their ideology because they don't want to be seen as hating anyone.

So stop trying to spoil the things people enjoy with ultra left wing politics.