A related question...

When is a game actually over? I have been to 5 regional and Kessel run tournaments (plus numerous other tournaments), and they have all followed 1 of 2 options:

...

3. When time is called you get to finish the round -- so if you have at started the planning phase, you play through the combat phase (this could make a 75 minute game at least 5-10 minutes longer depending on where they are in the game when time is called, which seems like a lot).

Your #3 is actually the correct way to do it. From the tournament rules:

Each tournament match ends in one of the following three ways:

...

At the end of the current round, the match time limit has been reached.

Note that a game round is all 4 phases (pg 5). So technically, there is no call of "Time's up!" that applies to every match equally. Players finish a round. Are they past the time limit? If they are, then their game is over. If not, they play another round. Wash, rinse, repeat, as they say.

If the time limit happens to hit very close between rounds it could get iffy. When I run events, as long as even a single dial is placed, you're obviously into the Planning Phase. If not, I consider whether tokens have been cleaned up - if they have, you're into planning, even if no actual dials are down yet.

@Buhallin... I see your point, and it looks like every tournament I've played in has done it wrong.

This much clearer in most instances... if at least one dial has been set the planning phase is underway and you finish the entire round. Will make the games longer, but it is clear and fair. Many times we do 60 minute games, and it is doubtul it would ever go past the recommended 75 minutes this way.

Then, the only chance to really stall or be rushed would be during the cleanup phase (which shouldn't take more than a few seconds and doesn't in and of itself really affect the outcome anyway).

If there was only 2 minutes left in a game, I would probably call it before we started the next round

If there was only 2 minutes left in a game, I would probably call it before we started the next round

Thing is, I am worried that the player who needs to win, but is loosing will not call it sadly. So damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Hopefully this is for the 40K players and it seems it's not the X-Wing players.

If there was only 2 minutes left in a game, I would probably call it before we started the next round

Thing is, I am worried that the player who needs to win, but is loosing will not call it sadly. So damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Hopefully this is for the 40K players and it seems it's not the X-Wing players.

This is why it's best to have a minimum round time, but no definite ending.. SO it's never 2 mins to end.. it's play until Tournament Organiser calls it and then finish round.

thanks bomber i would love to play against you also and if i most expectedly lose well i had fun and i learned from it lol. I have played games since i was a child with my family and i love to game now as a 48 yr old man. i will play most games and if i don't like that concept then well at least i tried it lol. I have won, lost , tied, and just about everything else you can do as a player of many different games. I also learned at a very early age how to play fair, how to contest without fighting, and how to lose with dignity, and win with humility. and ABOVE ALL ELSE i learned to enjoy the game no matter what game it is, and to enjoy the people you play with. and Have fun. if you can not do any of those three things then I would be better off not playing any game at all. so that is the attitude i bring to any game setting. whether it is tournament, casual, or any other setting in which i find myself playing in. I quit magic Back in the late 90's due to the expense, and competitive nature where winning and getting the combos were more important than enjoying the game. I don't like 40k because of the expense and all the rules but i do like to watch people play both of those games so now you all know my motivation for playing games. and how i approach each and every game session.

kind of just glossed over the various posts, but got two points... The random end game is a GOOD idea.. games may last from 45 to 60 minutes, no exceptions no playing on, cause if you let folks play on others WILL whine that you let so an so do it... also why not use a small timer for turns? 2 minutes, 3 5 8 minutes per turn.. would make time management with Swarms something to think about..

Personally, I'm a quick player because I like the flow of aerial combat and try to replicate it with tabletop games associated with the concept. I can see the flight path I want to take and can make adjustments on the fly as needed to take into account the positions of other fighters.

But I won't hurry an opponent if they're taking their time. Some people need the extra time to figure out how their ships will move if they're novices. Others need it because they approach the game like chess and try to get the most out of their maneuvers. In any case, it's rude of me to force them to move faster.

If, however, I feel like they are being deliberately slow, I'll call them on it (politely).

kind of just glossed over the various posts, but got two points... The random end game is a GOOD idea.. games may last from 45 to 60 minutes, no exceptions no playing on, cause if you let folks play on others WILL whine that you let so an so do it... also why not use a small timer for turns? 2 minutes, 3 5 8 minutes per turn.. would make time management with Swarms something to think about..

I disagree. The point is people cheating, knowing they can stall the "last turn" so your opponent can't play on and might win the game. It's like saying people who play baseball, if the visitor team is winning, they don't get to do their 9th inning because time expired. UNLESS it is stated in the rules of X-Wing, then it's a house rule. I believe House Rules should not be permitted into tourneys since they are usually and "edge" for certain players to win.

The way I see it, the people who whine are usually the cheaters, who must win all the time. I can't see people whining, unless they are the people who need to win with plastic toy air planes.

Davor what i am suggesting would cut down on that. if you don't know when the game will end then you cant stall, and if both players have the same amount of time per turn then that's a moot point as well.. if you cant get all your actions done when time runs out... you snooze you loose.. also as mentioned time management now becomes something to think about when picking a fleet...

I actually think the "whiners" in Swedge's case would have a pretty solid complaint. The first rule of a fair competition is that everyone plays by the same rules - if you let one game that happened to be the match before lunch play past time, it's a perfectly valid complaint if others are not allowed the same. It's no different than letting one table play without obstacles - it creates an environment where different games are played under different conditions, and that's bad.

I think the "finish the round" system makes stalling less effective in X-wing anyway. If someone is going to try to stall, they're doing in hope of stopping the next turn at best, or even the one after that. And honestly, if the game is in a position where an opponent can't finish them off in 2-3 more turns it probably deserves to be called on time anyway.

I honestly don't believe there needs to be any special handling or great angst over this. If someone's stalling you call the TO, they get to watch for a while, it's up to their judgement, and that's that. I think that screwing with everyone else's sense of how much time is left is unfair to regular players - in my experience, most people will try to accelerate their play as time gets close. Why punish those players? Just let the TO do his job.

Davor what i am suggesting would cut down on that. if you don't know when the game will end then you cant stall, and if both players have the same amount of time per turn then that's a moot point as well.. if you cant get all your actions done when time runs out... you snooze you loose.. also as mentioned time management now becomes something to think about when picking a fleet...

I see where you coming from now.

guys this has been very intresting to read and i have had to add my thoughts as well.

this game at tournment and in just friendly games has one of the highest sportmanship type players i have seen,i can't complain about anyone for stalling or time wasteing since this game came out. and as long as we all hold our selves to the standard we see all around us that will not change,the people who play and stall or time waste to try and get wins play the big money prize games more often.and if we get players in this game that play like that in short order they will be known to the community as a whole and our refs/judges at events will soon know who they are and will watch for this.i used to play both the star trek and star wars cards games from the late 90's early 00 years and we had like the current x-wing game exellent sportsmanship from 95%+ of the players with one or two in each who wasn't sportsman like in there conduct.and you would see the ref or judge spend most of the day at or near the table they was playing at watching.for there mis-deeds and pulling them on there actions.

we all just need to remember sportsmanship starts with each of us and ends with each of us.

i went to the UK nationals the first two people i played had never played X-wing at a tournment or used some of the rules before i spent half the game showing them the rules.i won the first round the second was a modified win as we ran out of time and he gave me the full win,only one other game went to time and i won by 10 points and the was no time wasting involved.i had another game i was winning and we had 15 mins left to play,and i could of stalled for the win but instead i attacked and died and lost. and again can't say enough it was a great day with great sportsmanship all day