I'm starting a "casual league" at the FLGS in 2-3 weeks and have some questions for ideas on how to run it.

We will have two nights of play each week as schedule conflicts won't allow everyone to make it any single night. But we may see see some overlap of player participation on both nights. We will have 12-20 different players each week. (6-10 per night)

I want to keep things simple as the entire crew is "inexperienced" and the goal is FUN!

I don't want it to become 'highly competitive' and keep the atmosphere 'light!'

Any/all ideas are appreciated!

Thank you!

Lol, I'm in the wrong forum.

Um how about an escalation league?

If you are just playing to play, how about scenarios or Epic battels with teams?

Or, simply teams so no single person just looses. Then you follow tournament rules but score by teams.

Come up with 6 100pt lists and create set lists which nobody can deviate from. Two from each faction. This gives everyone choices but not having to go out and purchase every option under the sun.

I find that for causal things making things standard for new gamers and also creating scenario or restrictions makes it easier.

This some time ago last year but for a local group we setup the Trench Run scenario and had teams of two on each side and rotated because Imperial and Rebel sides. Everyone was able to try the scenario multiple times and everyone had fun trying to figure out how they could win next time.

Yeah you will want scenarios. Also perhaps separate playing mats, when you have more than 4 people keeping track of simple things such as Pilot order can be a hassle. You definatly want to start with some easy scenarios, giving casuals full range of the spectrum leaves for MANY mistakes. I saw one who couldn't tell the diffrence between a K-turn from a T-roll. I caught it when Ello did a 3K and focused. Not to mention it is easy to miss BASIC rules in X-wing, just watch the video below.

Try the " no unique pilots" thing out.

So if I read you correctly, by "casual" you mean light fun with inexperienced players.

My one insight is that upgrades tend to be an overload of things to track for new players;

best to make squads with a limited number if not no upgrades, just pilots, with exceptions.

Obviously, with a Y-wing you'll take a turret, for example.

Not to be nitpicky but accurate math, you won't get 20 different people each week,

if it's 10 per night and there is some overlap. 10+10 with 5 overlap is only 15.

You can only say 20 peak if there is zero overlap. League math.

That's my 2 cents.

Oh, and I should ask, what nights and what times?

Each player gets 2 or 3 ships of same type, nothing unique, small ship only, max 30 points per ship for 2 ship list or 20 points per ship for 3 ship list.

Examples:

2 X Red Squadron Veterans, R2, Predator, Integrated Astromech

3X Gamma Squadron Veteran, Crack Shot

2X Hired Gun, Twin Laser Turret, Unhinged Astromech, Bomb Loadout, Proximity Mine

Edit: This is a variation of a "Top Gun" format that was discussed in a few threads a while back.

Hmmm, just had an idea for scenarios.

Let them only take ships that would have hyperdrives.
Then instead of a maneuver they can "jump" to another table/mat.

BOOM - Just blew your mind right?

**drops mic, LOL**

I plan to try something like this in February.

The season length is from the first to the last day of the month.

A player can register for the season by paying $10 into the prize pool (or whatever amount seems reasonable for your group).

During the season, each player should attempt to play exactly 4 matches against other league players. You can't play the same player twice.

All matches must be played according to the standard tournament format (100pts maximum, 3 obstacles, 75 minutes, etc.). Squads are revealed simultaneously.

Each of your squads must contain a different combination of pilots.

(Optionally, you could be required to stick to one faction throughout the league.)

All squad lists and match results must be recorded fully (as in a tournament) and signed off by both players.

Each player receives 1 league point at the end of each match, and the winner receives 1 additional league point. Margin of Victory is recorded.

At the end of the season, the winner is determined as the one with the highest number of league points, using MOV as a tiebreaker.

Most players would be happy with a $30 store credit prize for 1st place, and $15 going to both 2nd and 3rd place. If your prize pool is larger, by all means award a little more for 1st and 2nd place, and try to give $15 to 4th, 5th, or as far as you can go down the line. You can also use the FFG seasonal prize kits for league prizes.

(If players are required to use one faction only, then you could award prizes to the best players in each faction.)

I have an alternate squadron building method you might try (okay, probably not but I'll post it anyway). It will create a list fairly quickly but that list won't be optimized, as much of it is determined randomly, though there is a bit of player input. So, if you are the type of person that has to optimize everything, on account of your CDO, then please shield your eyes from the blasphemies I am about to type.

First, this system requires that the player have enough ships to create a 100 points list with the cheapest generic Pilot Cards of those ships. Although, you could use this system with a 50 point list as well, or a 100+ list for that matter, so long as you have enough ships and cards.

So put out the ships that you want to use, or scribble the appropriate ship name on scrap paper. However you wish to handle it. You can even bring a few extras as well, but not all ships will see use.

Now the player needs to create a Pilot Deck. This deck consists of one copy of each unique pilot card that you own for that ship type. So only one Luke Skywalker, or Biggs, etc. In addition, include ALL copies of all the generic pilots that you own for that ship type, if there are any (looking at you ARC-170).

Now shuffle your Pilot Deck (gently now, I know how some people are with their precious cards).

Now deal the top card. Assign it to an appropriate model on the table in front of you. Continue dealing, but follow these rules.

* If the card is a generic pilot, assign that Pilot to an appropriate model. If there are no appropriate models left, discard that Pilot Card, and continue dealing.

* If the Pilot Card is a unique assign it to a ship, unless you already have a unique Pilot Card. You may only have ONE unique Pilot Card. If you already have a unique Pilot Card, and the new card has a higher cost, discard the new Pilot Card. If the new Pilot Card has a lower cost, you may choose to keep it and discard the old Pilot Card. Then continue dealing.

* Continue dealing cards until you deal yourself a Pilot Card that would push your Squad Point total over 100. If it is a unique Pilot Card, and the cost is less than your current unique Pilot, you may swap them out and deal again. If you do not wish to swap pilots, or the Pilot Card cost is higher than your current Pilot Card, or the card is a generic, discard that card and put the Pilot Deck down. You are now finished with pilot selection.

Now you will probably have some left over points, these will be filled with upgrade options. So figure out what upgrades your ships can have, make an appropriate deck, and deal out 1 card per upgrade icon on your Pilot Cards.

Assign your dealt upgrade cards from your hand to whichever ships you please until you reach 100 points, or 99 points if you want initiative.

So put out the ships that you want to use, or scribble the appropriate ship name on scrap paper. However you wish to handle it. You can even bring a few extras as well, but not all ships will see use.

Now the player needs to create a Pilot Deck. This deck consists of one copy of each unique pilot card that you own for that ship type. So only one Luke Skywalker, or Biggs, etc. In addition, include ALL copies of all the generic pilots that you own for that ship type, if there are any (looking at you ARC-170).

Now shuffle your Pilot Deck (gently now, I know how some people are with their precious cards).

Now deal the top card. Assign it to an appropriate model on the table in front of you. Continue dealing, but follow these rules.

* If the card is a generic pilot, assign that Pilot to an appropriate model. If there are no appropriate models left, discard that Pilot Card, and continue dealing.

* If the Pilot Card is a unique assign it to a ship, unless you already have a unique Pilot Card. You may only have ONE unique Pilot Card. If you already have a unique Pilot Card, and the new card has a higher cost, discard the new Pilot Card. If the new Pilot Card has a lower cost, you may choose to keep it and discard the old Pilot Card. Then continue dealing.

* Continue dealing cards until you deal yourself a Pilot Card that would push your Squad Point total over 100. If it is a unique Pilot Card, and the cost is less than your current unique Pilot, you may swap them out and deal again. If you do not wish to swap pilots, or the Pilot Card cost is higher than your current Pilot Card, or the card is a generic, discard that card and put the Pilot Deck down. You are now finished with pilot selection.

Now you will probably have some left over points, these will be filled with upgrade options. So figure out what upgrades your ships can have, make an appropriate deck, and deal out 1 card per upgrade icon on your Pilot Cards.

Assign your dealt upgrade cards from your hand to whichever ships you please until you reach 100 points, or 99 points if you want initiative.

I like this and I think we may try it this week.

The upgrade card deck might get impractically large though.

If the left over points is a small amount might be better to just choose them.

Have you considered a co-op game, like one of the missions from HotAC?

How about this:

A ten week league, prize support based on an entry fee and points (positive for a win, negative for a loss).

During the first week, only wave 1 ships are allowed (and potentially only wave 1 cards)

Week 2, waves 1 and 2 are allowed.

Week 3, waves 1, 2 and 3 are allowed.

And so on until the climax of wave 10 around the time it is revealed.

This isn't just a revisit of the meta as it came. The game rules remain as they are now (so no super-phantom decloaks before a dial is revealed), giving each wave a slight twist. It'd be a great way to encourage people to fly the older, less appreciated ships rather than today's super powered ones.

We wrapped up the first season of the Bytown Smugglers' League in December with a format that was generally appreciated by all. All the details and rules can be found here , but the key rules of it were:

1. The league season is comprised of up to 8 matches to be played over 8 weeks. A minimum of 4 matches played is required to qualify for participation prizes.
2. Each player can only play another player for league points once in the season.
3. All League games must be played at a Sponsor location (See list below). We recommend availing yourself of their X-wing nights to play your games
4. Any given pilot can only be used in a single list across the season. This include generics. Get your creative juices flowing, there’s enough options out there to build 8 good lists.

We took liberal inspiration from Prototype Toronto League, which you can read about here .

Sponsoring stores threw in swag, with a little something from Gold Squadron (this wasn't planned, but thanks for the Asajj!).

The one complaint we had was that for people with limited collection, it stifled list creation and it wasn't conducive to just working on the same list to keep improving on it. IMO, that last part was by design and forced people to try new things, to wit, one of our staunchest Rebel player is now flying Bobattani!

We were expecting limited turnout, but got 30+ people playing out at least one game, and the top 4 after the season all got knocked out in the first round of top 8!

I like this and I think we may try it this week.

The upgrade card deck might get impractically large though.

If the left over points is a small amount might be better to just choose them.

Thanks.

True enough, as with all things, best to use your own judgement.

It is also possible, though rare, that you can end up with your ships and upgrades and still have points left over, in which case I would then pick a couple of Modifications.

What we do is simply a case of getting anyone interested to sign up then they arrange and play their games. 1 game vs each opponent counts for league results. Very simple, very straight forwards. Everyone has fun and new players get a free league point to get them going.

Try the " no unique pilots" thing out.

Personally, I like the "no uniques" idea. I love generic on generic fights as it's very thematic.

If you didn't want to go that far, you could also put in a gradual change.

• Week 1 = generics only
• Week 2 = Only PS 5 or lower
• Week 3 = Only PS 7 or lower
• Week 4 = no limits.