So Saturday 20th May was my second of three Regional Tournaments, this time down at Warboar Games (and Paradice Boardgame Cafe).

It was far from my best day flying, taking 65th, in a field of 100. That's the same position as Milton Keynes so a consistency of sorts though it had been a long week before I turned up. I made a few mistakes, Soontir blanked his Greens a couple of times and I tilted at a couple of games to round out the day. A timely reminder of how not to approach such an event with Birmingham on the horizon.

Janus and Pete, setting up their forces

I did however still have a good day out, once I'd accepted the days result. I got to play a load of X-Wing against decent opponents and spend the day amongst the wider community.

Warboar put in a lot of effort turning over their entire store to the event with a huge prize pool ensuring that nobody went home empty handed. Jason and the guys and gals also made time to support Chartwell Cancer Trust - Tiger Children's Ward, raising £2,000 from a raffle and the local Imperial Outlander garrison patrolling Bromley. It was an amazing thing to see and be part of in a lot of different ways.

Massive haul of goodies covering the winners, participation and charity raffle prizes!

As much as my day on the tables wasn't going how I'd prefer, 2-4 is my worst result for sometime, it served as a timely reminder of what's really important. The X-Wing community has always been credited with being very friendly, welcoming and positive but this was a step beyond. Suddenly the dominance of Triple Jumpmasters and Imperial Aces is a side issue.

Alex Birt, making friends with Triple Jumpmasters

Independent games stores such as Warboar have been reappearing over the last couple of years which is great thing to see for many reasons. For guys and girls such as Jason and his staff it's obviously far more than just a business or a job, it's a passion and one that can be harnessed to achieve great things.

Jason Grimwood, the Warboar staff and members of the Imperial Outlanders

The man himself had the following to say;

What has Warboar Games set out to do and why? That was the question I asked myself when I left a 7 year career in the Metropolitan police, after serving on the front lines of a fast response unit, public order trained and worked in CID. I needed a new challenge, Warboar has certainly been that.

I can tell you now standing with a victim of a crime as they weep because you have helped them and made their lives better and they tell you what a difference you make in their lives feels amazing. I can now say this feeling has been topped when you have a community of people telling you "Thank you Jason for what you have done" that makes it all worthwhile and that's why Warboar works so hard to be at the top of its game.   Warboar was established with one goal in mind; to be the best friendliest gaming store in the country where my passion for this hobby can filter through my staff and the facilities.

Yes we sell at a discount, yes we offer gaming space, but that just isn't enough in my eyes, our online store makes sure we dispatch orders the same day ordered before 3pm, we only send via tracked delivery for piece of mind and we always do whatever we can for customers.

Why does Warboar have an interest in the 186th Squadron? From an early age of Warboar's growth, the 186th attended our tournaments, the attitude of its members are second to none, even though they are extremely good players, they would teach other X-Wingers tactics and advise them mid game throughout a tournament! Who the heck advises their opponent mid game at an event! The 186th do, that's who! They have the community at the forefront of their focus.

 I am proud to have the 186th at my events and will always support them across the world at events. They helped us raise over £2,000 at our Regional event for charity and they are a delight to be around.

What does Warboar do different? Well without divulging too many secrets Warboar has a lot of American links and uses some business practices brought over from the States and Canada, We simply offer a superb gaming venue for you to play anything you like with 4000 Square feet of gaming space in South London, we also incorporate fully operational cafe with hot and cold food and a licensed bar. 3 toilets, disabled access and children's gaming available.

We cater for everyone, and means you don't need to leave Warboar, you can enjoy an evening of gaming with a burger and chilled craft beer, or relax in our board game library with a freshly ground and made latte by our trained Baristas playing Carcassonne with friends.   Well done to all the 186th and I wish you all the best in Nationals this year and lets try to get a few of you out to worlds!

Jason Grimwood
  Managing Director

As much as it's competition on the tables, especially at such a Premier level event, I’ve witnessed and been on the receiving end of some excellent examples of gamers helping their fellows out. Setting up for my first game on Saturday one of the guys on the table next door discovered that he’d left all of his dials at home. The immediate reaction was for the entire room to dig out their spares to see if they could help out. His opponent was far more bothered about the guy not having to suffer rather than seeing the opportunity for a maximum MoV win.

Mike Dennis, sharing a friendly joke, before crushing his opponent

I myself have forgotten all of my ship and upgrade cards for a fellow X-Winger to step into the breach and help me out. I then beat him in the first round, went on to claim third and promptly insisted that he accepted the Extra Munitions tokens that I received despite his overly polite protestations.

X-Wing is rightly lauded for being an excellent game. It’s fast, fun, furious, fairly well balanced and the treatment of the canon is pretty much spot on. What isn’t initially so apparent is the similarly excellent attitudes and behaviours of the players towards each other.

Competitive play is exactly that but the reason to turn up in the first place is what really fills up these events.

May the Force be with You... always!