So the WI regionals have been getting bombed on really hard. Whether they screwed up a call or not is not the purpose of this review, so lets get it out of the way at the start. Yes they probably were on the harshest end of the disipline spectrum. Yes, they probably could have been more thourough. Yes the player didnt do all that he was responsible to do. Yes this is all we will remember from this event. Moving on.

​I had a great time at this event, the play space is amazing, there was plenty of room for all the players, and even though there were a ton of players there throughout the day, I never felt crowded. The side table was adequate, the play mat was reasonable, a little slick for some players, but in the games I played, it never affected ship positioning. The food truck was great, had a brisket grilled cheese, yum.

Now what did these guys do great that every regional should learn from and implement if they can?
​1. Front door swag- range 1 and 2 templates. yeah it isn't much but I love them, and I will be using them from here on out. A prize that everyone gets at the beginning of the day is a good way to fly.
​2. Web based pairings- when the round started I could see the pairing sheet from my smartphone. Literally the best thing I have ever heard of, no more standing around sweaty guys trying to figure out where I need to be.
​3. On Time- Pairings were quick, and rounds went by without a hitch (one repairing in round 3, oh well it happens). Waiting for rounds to generate is sometimes the biggest time waster in a 6 round tournament.
​4. Top 25 templates - everyone at any tournament has a chance to be in the top 1/4. Realistically we wont all make it to the cut. Good prizes for the top 25 is something that is stand out.
​5. Good Judges- Yes, the judges made a harsh call, but over the course of the day they were knowledgeable and did what was expected of them.

​I wish every tournament I went to was like this one and I hate that one bad moment will be all anyone remembers or talks about.

I'll ask again - for those who have no idea what you're talking about, can you please provide a link or something? This regional is getting a ton of (negative) forum time but I have yet to see a write-up of what happened.

Found it - it's a few pages in (page 4). Happy reading: https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/topic/234556-milwaukee-regional-today-updates-as-mood-permits/page-1

Fun Fact: You can peel the paint/paper off the top and bottom of the range rulers they handed out to make them see-through without losing the imprinted store name details in the center of the acrylic. I think they look better that way in my opinion.

There really was a lot of good that's been looked over (for obvious reasons). The store and TOs were very good at keeping everything as on-time as possible, so the tournament moved along smoothly. The mats they provided were a bit slippery, but not nearly as bad as some people were claiming. That food truck was an excellent choice and provided really good food. Best gyro I've had so far.

I think my only real complaint was that they could have used some more space for placing cards, upgrades, templates, and tokens. You'd be lucky if you could fit even three ships-worth of stuff in that space provided next to the mats.

I'll ask again - for those who have no idea what you're talking about, can you please provide a link or something? This regional is getting a ton of (negative) forum time but I have yet to see a write-up of what happened.

Found it - it's a few pages in (page 4). Happy reading: https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/topic/234556-milwaukee-regional-today-updates-as-mood-permits/page-1

Its funny. They DQ a guy for forgetting to put down a card, but didn't go over the 100 points. At Omaha Regionals I played against a relatively new player who used Arvel. He had Intimidation on him, but forget to put A-Wing Test Pilot (Arvel has no native EPT). And the Test Pilot wasn't in his squad list. TO put it on the list, and my opponent just flipped over Intimidation and ran the remainder of the match without it, getting the Test Pilot afterwards.

Really well said, the team at Board Game Barrister did an awesome job with everything. That really shouldn't be overlooked. Really fun event. And having to make the drive back and forth from Chicago Saturday night and Sunday, I definitely appreciated that the rounds were completed on time.

Fun Fact: You can peel the paint/paper off the top and bottom of the range rulers they handed out to make them see-through without losing the imprinted store name details in the center of the acrylic. I think they look better that way in my opinion.

Haha, that was the first thing I did when I got to the store. I think that was just a protective layer to prevent scratching during shipping.

The table space was tight, for sure, but it was manageable.

I attended this past spring, and the online pairings is something that I think EVERY regional and above should implement. It's not that difficult, and it was a great use of "technology" in that everyone has a smart phone accessible. It prevents all of the crowding around the official printout.

Fun Fact: You can peel the paint/paper off the top and bottom of the range rulers they handed out to make them see-through without losing the imprinted store name details in the center of the acrylic. I think they look better that way in my opinion.

There really was a lot of good that's been looked over (for obvious reasons). The store and TOs were very good at keeping everything as on-time as possible, so the tournament moved along smoothly. The mats they provided were a bit slippery, but not nearly as bad as some people were claiming. That food truck was an excellent choice and provided really good food. Best gyro I've had so far.

I think my only real complaint was that they could have used some more space for placing cards, upgrades, templates, and tokens. You'd be lucky if you could fit even three ships-worth of stuff in that space provided next to the mats.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2113566311/flight-deck-tabletop-control-panel-and-card-case

this is the answer you've been looking for.

Fun Fact: You can peel the paint/paper off the top and bottom of the range rulers they handed out to make them see-through without losing the imprinted store name details in the center of the acrylic. I think they look better that way in my opinion.

There really was a lot of good that's been looked over (for obvious reasons). The store and TOs were very good at keeping everything as on-time as possible, so the tournament moved along smoothly. The mats they provided were a bit slippery, but not nearly as bad as some people were claiming. That food truck was an excellent choice and provided really good food. Best gyro I've had so far.

I think my only real complaint was that they could have used some more space for placing cards, upgrades, templates, and tokens. You'd be lucky if you could fit even three ships-worth of stuff in that space provided next to the mats.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2113566311/flight-deck-tabletop-control-panel-and-card-case

this is the answer you've been looking for.

I've pledged on this!

Fun Fact: You can peel the paint/paper off the top and bottom of the range rulers they handed out to make them see-through without losing the imprinted store name details in the center of the acrylic. I think they look better that way in my opinion.

There really was a lot of good that's been looked over (for obvious reasons). The store and TOs were very good at keeping everything as on-time as possible, so the tournament moved along smoothly. The mats they provided were a bit slippery, but not nearly as bad as some people were claiming. That food truck was an excellent choice and provided really good food. Best gyro I've had so far.

I think my only real complaint was that they could have used some more space for placing cards, upgrades, templates, and tokens. You'd be lucky if you could fit even three ships-worth of stuff in that space provided next to the mats.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2113566311/flight-deck-tabletop-control-panel-and-card-case

this is the answer you've been looking for.

Looks like it would be annoying to keep track of how many damage card your opponent's ships had if they were using something like that that hides all of their stuff from you.

It looks cool for keeping stuff organized but I don't really want my opponent's stuff behind a DM's screen.

I attended this past spring, and the online pairings is something that I think EVERY regional and above should implement. It's not that difficult, and it was a great use of "technology" in that everyone has a smart phone accessible. It prevents all of the crowding around the official printout.

Sounds like a good use of technology, but not all of us have smartphones, so I think you'd still need a printed copy.

Fun Fact: You can peel the paint/paper off the top and bottom of the range rulers they handed out to make them see-through without losing the imprinted store name details in the center of the acrylic. I think they look better that way in my opinion.

There really was a lot of good that's been looked over (for obvious reasons). The store and TOs were very good at keeping everything as on-time as possible, so the tournament moved along smoothly. The mats they provided were a bit slippery, but not nearly as bad as some people were claiming. That food truck was an excellent choice and provided really good food. Best gyro I've had so far.

I think my only real complaint was that they could have used some more space for placing cards, upgrades, templates, and tokens. You'd be lucky if you could fit even three ships-worth of stuff in that space provided next to the mats.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2113566311/flight-deck-tabletop-control-panel-and-card-case

this is the answer you've been looking for.

Looks like it would be annoying to keep track of how many damage card your opponent's ships had if they were using something like that that hides all of their stuff from you.

It looks cool for keeping stuff organized but I don't really want my opponent's stuff behind a DM's screen.

Even if it's kept on the side of the board so both players can see, I really hate how shield tokens are all just piled on the table and you have to follow little lines up to see which shield pile goes to which ship. Also having the damage cards up like that makes it more likely they'll tuck behind each other, slip down, or generally be hard as hell to count when you're trying to squeeze 5-10 up there for a Falcon or a Decimator or a Ghost or something. Also, with cards fanned out like that on the top row, anyone on the other side of the screen could see the "facedown" damage cards and gain information (e.g. are both Blinded Pilots now out of the way, making it less risky to save a Focus and eat a crit?).

It looks snazzy, is very stylish and sleek, but presents the same lingering problems that have faced all vertical organizational displays.

I attended this past spring, and the online pairings is something that I think EVERY regional and above should implement. It's not that difficult, and it was a great use of "technology" in that everyone has a smart phone accessible. It prevents all of the crowding around the official printout.

Sounds like a good use of technology, but not all of us have smartphones, so I think you'd still need a printed copy.

Yea, they'd still use paper so the handful of people without a smart phone could find their pairings. But the 90+ people with smartphones could just check their device. This keeps there from being a big crowded 100+ person traffic jam huddled around two paper pairing stations.

Fun Fact: You can peel the paint/paper off the top and bottom of the range rulers they handed out to make them see-through without losing the imprinted store name details in the center of the acrylic. I think they look better that way in my opinion.

There really was a lot of good that's been looked over (for obvious reasons). The store and TOs were very good at keeping everything as on-time as possible, so the tournament moved along smoothly. The mats they provided were a bit slippery, but not nearly as bad as some people were claiming. That food truck was an excellent choice and provided really good food. Best gyro I've had so far.

I think my only real complaint was that they could have used some more space for placing cards, upgrades, templates, and tokens. You'd be lucky if you could fit even three ships-worth of stuff in that space provided next to the mats.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2113566311/flight-deck-tabletop-control-panel-and-card-case

this is the answer you've been looking for.

Looks like it would be annoying to keep track of how many damage card your opponent's ships had if they were using something like that that hides all of their stuff from you.

It looks cool for keeping stuff organized but I don't really want my opponent's stuff behind a DM's screen.

Yeah, I was interested in this, until a friend pointed out that it's actually (potentially) illegal to use. As FFG has recently pointed out, there's a difference between known information (upgrades and pilots used), hidden information (what maneuver is selected), and unknown information (What damage card is next in the deck).

One of the unknown pieces of information is what crit is on the face down damage cards that have already been drawn. And using this system actually exposes that information as you pick up the cards and place them (potentially not all the way in at that) into the binder. Sure, it's not a big deal - Just wait until there's a top 4 match where the guy sees what the crit is and chooses not to R2D2 crew because he doesn't want to risk being blinded... Or whatever the case might be.

Well, I'd say cheaters will find a way to cheat. I think this will be a useful piece of kit and look forward to trying it out.

The Wisconsin regional has always been exceptionally well run. The real highlight was two years ago when 100 people were done with swiss and cut by midnight. I've heard horror stories of regionals and even store championships going past 2 am. Board game barrister crew hit a home run again.

I've attended the last three Board Game Barrister regionals and always enjoy it. The staff and store are well organized, and the mix of players always provides good competition. The templates for everyone were nice, and the full template set for the top 25 was also appreciated. They should definitely get a regional again next year!

Fun Fact: You can peel the paint/paper off the top and bottom of the range rulers they handed out to make them see-through without losing the imprinted store name details in the center of the acrylic. I think they look better that way in my opinion.

There really was a lot of good that's been looked over (for obvious reasons). The store and TOs were very good at keeping everything as on-time as possible, so the tournament moved along smoothly. The mats they provided were a bit slippery, but not nearly as bad as some people were claiming. That food truck was an excellent choice and provided really good food. Best gyro I've had so far.

I think my only real complaint was that they could have used some more space for placing cards, upgrades, templates, and tokens. You'd be lucky if you could fit even three ships-worth of stuff in that space provided next to the mats.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2113566311/flight-deck-tabletop-control-panel-and-card-case

this is the answer you've been looking for.

Looks like it would be annoying to keep track of how many damage card your opponent's ships had if they were using something like that that hides all of their stuff from you.

It looks cool for keeping stuff organized but I don't really want my opponent's stuff behind a DM's screen.

Yeah, I was interested in this, until a friend pointed out that it's actually (potentially) illegal to use. As FFG has recently pointed out, there's a difference between known information (upgrades and pilots used), hidden information (what maneuver is selected), and unknown information (What damage card is next in the deck).

One of the unknown pieces of information is what crit is on the face down damage cards that have already been drawn. And using this system actually exposes that information as you pick up the cards and place them (potentially not all the way in at that) into the binder. Sure, it's not a big deal - Just wait until there's a top 4 match where the guy sees what the crit is and chooses not to R2D2 crew because he doesn't want to risk being blinded... Or whatever the case might be.

It actually has a piece that comes out that lays on the table for you to put shield tokens and damage cards on. I wouldn't try and slide damage cards into the slots. Also I think it's meant to go on the side of the table for everyone to see as well. Otherwise it would be very annoying to not be able to see your opponents list I agree. It also can lie flat as your cards do now, just without cards moving around. I think it is a great gaming aid for tournaments, can't wait to have it in my hands.

I attended this past spring, and the online pairings is something that I think EVERY regional and above should implement. It's not that difficult, and it was a great use of "technology" in that everyone has a smart phone accessible. It prevents all of the crowding around the official printout.

The Durham regional this past weekend did paper and online pairings. 10/10 would do again.