This will be my first attempt to host an X-Wing tournament. The difficulty is I have never even played at one. I have however played at many MTG, FNM's. I'm hoping my experience with Magic the Gathering will translate to an X-Wing event. My FLGS will get the kit for me as long as I run the event. I'm hoping between 8-16 players for this event. I'm planning the event at Underhills Games in Cuyahoga Falls, OH on March 15. This timing should allow me to acquire an Imperial Aces expansion kit for additional prize support. Below is the list of questions to help point me in the right direction.

1) with the cost of the kit and additional prize support is it ok to ask for an entry fee of $5.00?

2) Is it best to supply 36x36 play mats for the event?

3) As I will be the TO and Judge (most likely) for the event is it wrong to play in it?

4) What is the traditional way to set up the Swiss and do you cut to a top 4 or eight to determine the winner, or is it based of the points during the swiss rounds?

5)Do the results need to be turned into FFG?

6) What is the traditional way the FFG tournament kit is split up?

I'm sure I'll have more questions as I get this process underway. These will at least point me in the right direction.

Ok, many of those I can't really answer, so i'll focus on those I can.

2) Yes, plan on providing 36x36 play areas. Don't expect the players to bring them. Full play mats may be cost prohibitive, but you need some way to deliniate play area.

3) Yes, it would not be advisable. If you must play (because of low turnout or such), you must make yourself ineligable for prizes or from entering finals rounds.

1) Yes. I always charge at least 5 bucks. It covers the cost of the kit ($20 for a game night kit) for the store. Anything extra is just gravy for them providing a place for us to play.

2) Yes. You should provide some sort of 36x36 play area. Whether that's on GF9 mats, or black felt, or even just measured out tape, as the TO you need to work with the store to figure out where people will play.

3) Not at all. You should have a secondary TO in case there are any disputes with your game, but in the several events I've run, I've only had a few people even ask me any rule questions and only 1 judge. I've never needed someone to resolve a dispute in my game.

4) Depends on the # of players. FFG has their way of recommending the # of rounds and any cuts to the top. Personally, I like cutting to the top 4 if there's more than 8 people.

5) No.

6) There are 17 generic cards. Those either get handed out as 1 per player (or top 16 if you have more than 16 players... the 17th is supposed to be for the TO), or 2 / player or whatever to use them up. The acrylics and the 2 other alt art are reserved for #1 and #2. The medal for #1. Though I was at an event this weekend that gave out two acrylic stresses to top 3, and then 1 to everyone else. I'd been pissed if I hadn't already won my acrylic stresses earlier.

1) I agree with Khyros, I would always charge at least $5 bucks to play. I've been to a few events where they charge up to 20, but there was some great prize support at those events. I would say the average around my area is $10.

2) When I ran a Tournament, I brought my space maps, and the store had a few. When I posted my announcement about the Tournament I asked players to bring a map for playing. Most players had brought a map so this wasn't an issue.

3) According to the FFG Tournament Rules, if you play in the event then you need a back up TO to rule in the games you play. I've played in my tournaments when there was an odd number. This way I could avoid a buy for one of the players. In general I don't like to play in events that I run, but that's my personal opinion.

4) There is no hard and fast rule to this. Time and the number of players is a big factor here. If the store is running multiple events and they need the space at a certin time, then you may not have time for a top 4. I start with how much time you have then work back from there.

5) No

6) Khyros nails this one. There really isn't a set way to do this, but I would take Khyros, advice here.

I would recommend getting a laser level at a hardware store. They run about $10 bucks but man are they handy. It makes ruling on arcs so much easier. It will save you time and keep things fair.

The store I'm hosting the tournaments at is handling the game night kit prizes totally differently. We have given the TO one Mauler card and a Gold Squadron card, and are using Mauler for week 1's top prize, the tokens for weeks 2 and 3, and store credit for week 4, when the top place (best overall place from the 4 weeks) takes home the medal. Anyone participating in week 1, and participants from later weeks that don't already have one, are getting the gold squadron cards.

Good advice MrFroggies, I will pick up a laser level. Any other little tidbits of info are very welcome...

2) Is it best to supply 36x36 play mats for the event?

3) As I will be the TO and Judge (most likely) for the event is it wrong to play in it?

While you're at the hardware store picking up a laser level, I'd go to the wood section to see if they have any sheets of plywood with a smooth finish on the surfaces. My local league uses these in place of mats, as they tend to have enough surface friction to keep the ships from moving, and you can mark ship locations on the wood itself in pencil for when your ships get in the way of the maneuver template and/or collisions.

As for whether you ought to play in the tournament, I'm gonna say no.

1) As you're the judge, there is no higher authority to appeal to in your games if you and your opponent have a discrepancy.

2) As you're the judge, you will often be called away from your match to provide rulings for other matches, which means your opponents have fewer rounds in which to play.

3) Relating to the previous two, your opponent wouldn't be allowed to call over a judge on accusations on stalling the game, as you would clearly rule in favor of not forfeiting the match.

4) As the Tournament Organizer, it would feel a bit bad to players who bought their way into the game if you won any of the prizes instead of them.

2) Is it best to supply 36x36 play mats for the event?

3) As I will be the TO and Judge (most likely) for the event is it wrong to play in it?

While you're at the hardware store picking up a laser level, I'd go to the wood section to see if they have any sheets of plywood with a smooth finish on the surfaces. My local league uses these in place of mats, as they tend to have enough surface friction to keep the ships from moving, and you can mark ship locations on the wood itself in pencil for when your ships get in the way of the maneuver template and/or collisions.

As for whether you ought to play in the tournament, I'm gonna say no.

1) As you're the judge, there is no higher authority to appeal to in your games if you and your opponent have a discrepancy.

2) As you're the judge, you will often be called away from your match to provide rulings for other matches, which means your opponents have fewer rounds in which to play.

3) Relating to the previous two, your opponent wouldn't be allowed to call over a judge on accusations on stalling the game, as you would clearly rule in favor of not forfeiting the match.

4) As the Tournament Organizer, it would feel a bit bad to players who bought their way into the game if you won any of the prizes instead of them.

I suppose that it depends on what level of event you're running. An organized kit I disagree with all of this. But an official Store/Regionals, I can see this being a problem.

1) You do not TO your games - the 2ndary TO does. He is the higher authority.

2) As I said earlier, I haven't been called away more than a handful of times in the 3-4 tourney's I've run. That being said, none of them had more than 16 players, and most of them were players that knew each other. It's also possible that if there was a TO floating around, people would be more willing to ask for assistance from him, instead of interrupting a game.

3) See #1. Also, as a TO you have to hold yourself to a higher standard than everyone else. This should never be called into question. If you cannot play efficiently, you should not take on the additional task of being a TO while playing.

4) I always buy into my own tourneys. So this really just comes down to the potential for you to color your results / matchups. This is where you have to hold yourself to a higher standard so no one can accuse you of stalling / cheating / ruling in your favor. And your matchups have to be very transparent so no one can say you're giving yourself an unfair advantage regarding who you play. The hardest part is the initial round. I like to randomly assign numbers to the players to start the tourney (you can do this based on when people give you their squad list, or using a program). If you state how you're going to do tie breakers at the beginning, then there's nothing to contest afterwards.

With that said, FFG's tie breaker procedure is less than optimal. Swiss points are obviously the first factor. From there, head to head comes into play. However, it is unclear regarding 3+ way ties if this is applicable. For example, if players A B C all have 10 swiss points, and A beat B, and no one has played C, does A's victory over B put him in 3rd, and then A and C go on to the next tie breaker? Or do B and C both get eliminated because A has the best "common game" record, making the results A C B. Or is it ignored since no one player played both of the others?

I personally lend to the last statement, its how the NFL deals with multi-team tie breakers. And then it goes to strength of victory. Which again is easy enough to tie up. And that's it. The points destroyed doesn't ever come into play. Or strength of victory. Or whatnot. I personally break these ties based on net points destroyed (points destroyed less points lost).

So I like to state up front: # of rounds, cut to top __ (if applicable), tie breaker procedures, time limit per round, and how the initial games are determined. This way everything is transparent if anyone challenges how I came up with the results I did.

I haven't played in a FFG event before, but I have TO'ed quite a few 40k tournaments

1. Yes an entry fee is normal.

2. You will need to mark out the play areas. A simple solution could be several metres of black cloth in a roll. Make up a cardboard template and use that to spray the lines on to mark the boundaries.

3. I would put yourself forward as the bye player if you end up with an odd number of people attending. You would be ineligible for prizes.

4. I haven't done a swiss tournament before.

5 and 6. I suspect that there will be information regarding this in the tournament pack.

Would it be a good idea to have the participants of the tournament to fill out a squad registry sheet? Does FFG have a sheet for this designed already?

I think you might be referring to this: http://fantasyflightgames.com/ffg_content/organized-play/score-sheets/xwing-deck-sheet-writable.pdf

Yes' that is what I was looking for. Thanks FriendFive

So when does the clock begin on matches? once pairing is complete, or once initial set up is done?

So when does the clock begin on matches? once pairing is complete, or once initial set up is done?

Most tournaments I've played in have waited to give people a chance to set up before starting the clock. There's a lot of little pieces to carry over to your table and get set up in this game after all.

So when does the clock begin on matches? once pairing is complete, or once initial set up is done?

I typically give ~10min or so before I start the clock. The smaller squads will have already started, and the swarms will be placing asteroids. This is kinda the "sweet spot" that I'm looking for... If someone is still setting up their squad, then it's too soon, but if everyone is already playing, then you waited too long.

Note - I have revised my previous tie breaker comment. I have decided to no longer use net points killed, as the bye sways this too much. Instead, I've migrated to a kill ratio - points killed / points lost. This way someone who had a bye, or a swarm who may not kill many ships is not at a disadvantage for a top spot, nor at an advantage for the lower tie breakers.

I've always seen the clock start once all players have set asteroids, set up their ships, and smaller squads have set dials (but have NOT started moving.) Organizers hold games as necessary to make this happen (IE, Everyone get set up... allright, I'm starting the clock, you have XXXXX time, go!) That is how FFG runs their events, and it's how I run mine at my local store