As the title states at the end of the month I will be running my first tournament at my LGS. We've done a few demo days now spreading the game around and I feel like there should be enough people out there to warrant a tournament. It is a very small community, right now just myself and one other who actually meet up to play, but we do have people in the FB group and in the store who have shown interest, I know that there are quite a few people out there with the game as blister packs sell off the shelf, I am just trying to lure the campaign only players into the store for a very, very casual tournament.

Here is the format I am thinking:

Maps: Core only. I will draw upon the core tiles only for maps, I want to try and get out as many new players as possible so I don't want to alienate those who don't have access to other tiles. I was thinking the Bantha map and Ob-Wan as they are actually current or former official rotation and I can just print out the tile guides for those who don't own the blister packs.

Prizes: We have used seasonal kits in the past as promotional giveaways so the remnants of these will be used for prize support.

Cost: $5 (Canadian, so like 3.50 American) Nice and cheap, just enough to help the LGS recover some of the cost of the seasonal kits.

Promotion: Extremely casual, beginner friendly, core set required only tournament. Encourage people to come out and get the full use out of their core box that so far has been only used for campaign. Encourage those who might actually play skirmish at home and are good to bring a fun list over a competitive list, as again this is casual. I don't want to punish those who have bought more than the core, so I won't restrict it to core figures only.

Judge: I will most likely sit out and be the judge as I am the most knowledgeable of the game (I might need albert on speed dial?) If we have an odd number of people I can sit in but with a caveat for my games that they may be interrupted frequently to solve disputes in other games.

Game format: Swiss only? Top 2 cut for a finale for top prize? Depends on group size?

Time: I guess this depends on the game format, but I was thinking something like 12-5?

Items: What kind of items should I bring? Pen and a paper? Extra map tiles/figures? What kind of items should I tell the players to bring? Their list figures, deployment cards, dice, tokens, command cards and map tiles?

What do you experience Tournament goers think of this? Any suggestions or problems you see? I am open to all criticism and would appreciate any feedback and/or help. We are hoping to do the tournament in 3 weeks.

-While a finale might be cool and could also be fun to watch for people, I'd prioritize getting people as many games as possible. If you only have time for say 3 rounds, then do three rounds. If you have time for 4 rounds, you could do three rounds + finale. But I would hate to go to a tournament and only play 2 games.

-Perhaps a prize for best painted squad and most thematic? Just some small stuff from the Kits (an extra Alt art card if available etc.). Could encourage more seasoned players to try some funny lists, or make a list with all their most striking figures or whatever.

Just a few ideas. When I was young, I played a lot of warhammer. I never won a lot, but I liked to see if I could get a reasonable position for painting or whatnot.

there are a lot of the maps that you can do with the core only, I wouldn't require any particular purchase actually. It'll take some work, but print out your chosen maps (3 rounds is fine) I would play if I were you, maybe bring a less competitive list, but nothing's worse than having a bye if there's 5 guys that show up.

My understanding is that there was only one actual skirmish mission that came with the core? I can't remember though.

Core has 1 map with 2 missions. Vader and Luke packs are included in the core with 2 more maps. So, 6 missions total.

Ahh right good call, ya so those would be the 3 to use then, everyone has access to them.

i just meant several of the maps use only the core pieces. The Hired guns map uses only core pieces, Han Solo's uses only core pieces, etc. just print out the guide to put them together and the description of the missions and you're ready to go.

Also, since it's casual, don't feel like you can't play if you're the judge. I run our local tournaments at my FLGS and I and a friend of mine both function as judges, but it's mainly me who deals with rules questions. People will trust that you're not being a jerk and ruling things wrong in your favor, and your opponent will understand if you have to take a minute break to go rule on something.

I think you're idea is good. The only thing I'd add is to maybe offer a list building lesson right before the tourney to help newbs out. And afterwards think about showing them how things have evolved and show the newer units.

Lastly, I don't know anything about the first skirmish maps since I've never played them. Since a lot of the skirmish stuff from the first wave was iffy, I would test them first to make sure they're fun and balanced.

Best of luck!

-ryanjamal

I mention the Hired Guns map, because we played it in a tournament this weekend instead of the ISB map for similar reasons. It was my favorite map. Yes there are some clunkers, but at least a 1/3 of these were in skirmish tournament rotation at the beginning before Twin Shadows came out and they started pumping out expansions. The Dengar map is one of my favorites, but I fear it will get passed up and never played in the official rotation.

Just curious what others have brought to the tournament for resources when they run it, do I need to print out the army sheet papers for a casual event? Some of the players will be newer, maybe a turn order print out? Roll die, modify die, etc..

Its never a bad idea to have those things laying around. the backside of army sheets work great for tracking your round scores too. You might also check out Cryodex for tournament software. It will properly handle pairings and show strength of schedule for final standings. Its also very current and free (just need java to run it)! He does make one for Android but I think that only has x-wing format tournaments in it for now.

If you only have 4 people, then just do a round robin and use kill points for tiebreakers if any.

There's an IA Tournament Organizer app for apple that works well. That's what I use.

-ryanjamal