The intro…
Hello and welcome to this week’s blog!
Bit of an unusual one this week so it’s a little bit scattergun!
First up, congratulations to Kester Smith for winning the Sheffield GT this past weekend! Another shark tank of a room meant a tough run of games but Kester ran the gauntlet to come out on top.
You can check out lists and results here if you’re interested – https://rollbetter.gg/tournaments/1624
Across the pond there was another big event going on at the Forest City Open. Congrats to Greg Burns for taking the win there!
With so much having happened recently it’s great to see bigger scale events still going on.
Alright, it’s keep things moving here…
XTC Update…
“What?!” I hear you cry “surely not already!?!”. Well, kinda, yes…

So the XTC this year has changed slightly in that while there’s still going to be a group stage, the finals will play out over a few weeks instead of 2 very intensive days. As a result, it’s starting MUCH earlier than last year with the group stag kicking off in September.
Now, in case you’re not aware, I’m the current captain of Team Wales and I am officially on the hunt for players!
So, if you’re interested in representing Wales in the XTC (whether you believe you qualify or not!) then please check out the Declaration of Interest form, fill it in and I’ll get in touch with you! Even if you’re on the fence or you think you don’t qualify in representing, if you fancy it then fill it out anyway. In all honesty I’m a little short on applicants so far and it’d be nice to actually be able to field a team!
That’s about it for now on XTC. Cymru Am Byth!

Patreon update…
So it’s the second week of the last month of this Patreon quarter (wow, that was more complicated than it sounded in my head!) so it’s time to show off some more stuff!
Last week I posted the alt arts, this time it’s some 3D printed goodies!
DIAL AND ASTROMECH HEADS
These are specifically for the Legend tier supporters but there are of course other bits for the other tiers. If you’d like to get hold of some of these or just support the blog out of the kindness of your heart then you can sign up to my Patreon page here.
Thanks to all my supporters (past and present!), you’re incredible people!
The main bit…
So I don’t have a game to talk about this week but what I do want to talk about is the reason for that.
Actually there’s more than one reason but one of them is that after a very busy weekend running the Welsh Open around 7 hours after getting home from being on holiday with my family. After a big weekend of X-Wing I normally tend to skip casual night because 1) I’m tired and 2) I like to try and spend a bit of time with my family since I abandoned them all weekend!
The other reason though is a bit more sad.
The first casual night we had at Firestorm Newport after AMG broke the news about the end of development of X-Wing, I was approached by the store manager. I was about to have the conversation that I’d been dreadning.
Let me first lay the foundation for you.
Firestorm Games Newport is a branch of the amin Firestorm Games store in Cardiff. As you’ll have seen from pictures of last weekend’s Welsh Open in my last blog, it’s a really big, very nice store and gaming space rolled into one.
In Cardiff you can pre-book (or just turn up and hope!) tickets for table space and basically break out whatever game you want and play it. It’s the same in Element Games in Stockport and, I assume, in many other places. There are, of course, pre-arranged nights to play certain games to make sure that you have people to play against but for the most part, if I wanted to take X-Wing and I had someone to play against, I could book some table space and play.
Newport is not that.
In case you’re not aware, this is what Newport looks like:

It’s a small-ish retail unit INSIDE of a massive Tesco (for those not in the UK, that’s a supermarket chain).
There is no play space inside the store. On certain pre-ordained nights (depending on the gaming system), tables are put outside of the store by staff in order for games to be played.
Now, this store is fairly unique. While the main store in Cardiff majors in all your usual full-nerd miniatures, this one plays to its strengths. It’s position behind the checkouts in a major supermarket means that a high percentage of its customers are parents being dragged in by children as blackmail/reward/revenge for being dragged around doing the weekly shop.
Given this clientele, this store is actually around 25% toys, 20% board games, 20% TCGs and 20% tabletop and 15% scale models.
The store is restricted by Tesco’s opening hours but given it’s normally open 24 hours (or at least until very VERY late) the only day that’s an issue is a Sunday where normal UK trading hours (10am-4pm) apply.
After covid the store introduced a ticketing system which put tickets at a nominal fee (£2 maybe?) which was to be able to keep track of people attending (in case of covid outbreak), limit numbers (social distancing) and compensate for the staff getting things out and putting them away again (which we’d always done ourselves).
Some people weren’t very happy with this and the argument was that we were being charged to play in basically a corridor. It’s not a bad argument to be fair (since technically Firestorm weren’t paying rent on that space) but I feel this was possibly more to do with being charged for something that was previously free.

Personally I didn’t mind as it meant I had somewhere to play and people to play with.
Eventually the price was scrapped but the ticketing (for free) remained.
Anyway, back to the conversation. I’m sure you can tell what’s coming…
The manager spoke to myself and Steve Boulton who was there as well. We were told that since the store no longer stocked the game (I mean, it did right at that moment but by the following week it had all been shipped back to Cardiff) and that space was limited, they would have to prioritise gaming space for games that they do sell. As such, we would not be able to play during times when other games were scheduled (which, on a Wednesday is 40k (free) and Lorcana (£5)). We were welcome to come outside of those times (namely to be gone by 6pm on a Wednesday) and to hold tournaments.
Steve and I sat for a few minutes. The conversation had been kind, polite and courteous but clear and direct.
And you know what, from a business perspective, I sort of get it. If they can fill the space and times with players who play games that are stocked in store then, yes, fine. I mean, organised play is technically a marketing tool that’s used to promote the game and show that it’s fun and popular. Heck, I’ve heard that playing where other gamers play is a major reason that AMG only wanted official tournaments at gaming conventions, to attract wargamers and show the game in action.
Also, X-Wing isn’t really a spend-y game like most others. You get TCG players (Pokemon, Magic, Star Wars Unlimited, etc) in for an evening, they’ll play, chat, make decks, organise cards and, most likely, but a few foil packs.

Warhammer 40k players will normally buy something too. I think it’s almost obligatory!
But X-Wing? In the last year I’ve bought exactly two things from Firestorm. Battle over Endor and the YT-2400 for a grand total of probably £60. Maybe £65? I’m sure TCG players spend that a month.
The very nature of how the game is means that while there’s no new releases, I’m not spending but yet I can still play the latest top meta (JARGON ALERT!!) list or hot new thing.
Chatting with Dale Cromwell at the Welsh Open the other week, he made the point that an area where gaming spaces can make a lot of money is in food & drink. You’re a captive audience, you don’t want to leave (or even move!) and so you accept paying for a burger or pizza and some drinks while there. It’s part of the experience in a way.
Obviously Newport doesn’t have this. It’s inside a Tesco where not only can you get a sandwich meal deal but there’s its own café as well as a Greggs and Subway just 30 seconds walk away. There’s simply no way to make money through that.
So yes, I get that we’re a burden. We don’t bring income and we take up a large amount of table space (compared to a TCG).
But we are there. There’s been probably 4 weeks this whole year that nobody turned up. We are low maintenance, we are happy to get our own things out, we play, we chat, we talk to the people passing by who wonder what on earth we’re doing. We show that the store stocks games and holds evening where you can come play them.
So while I get it, it still hurts.

When AMG announced that X-Wing was no longer being developed I felt that it was only a matter of time before this happened. In fact, given what’s happening with the X-Wing Alliance and continuation of the game by the community, I think that the actual end of development will have less of an impact on the future of the game than whether or not game stores continue support it going forward.
Clearly, in a space where a store charges for table time they more than likely don’t care what game you play as long as you buy your table and buy their snacks, but where this isn’t done, X-Wing no longer makes sense in terms of allocating resources to enable it.
Again, my logical brain understands it but my heart is aching over it.
This dilemma is more likely to kill the game off than anything AMG could have ever done.
Obviously, my store is somewhat of an edge case but given that some communities shrivelled and died in the change from 2.0 to 2.5, I wonder how many more are on that same path now?
Dark times indeed.
And yet….

As I mentioned, the X-Wing Alliance has picked up where AMG left off (or maybe dropped is more accurate) and major plans are afoot. A council of leaders has been elected and roles are being decided. At the very least new points are being looked at and beyond that, well, who knows? The sky is the limit really.

While it may feel like AMG slowly ground X-Wing into the dirt, the XWA is looking to pick it up, dust it off and look at what the future might look like when people who genuinely care and understand the game and its community are in control.
Globally it’s an exciting time.
But what about locally? Well, there’s development there too.
On the same business park as the Tesco we’ve been at for many years, a local company opened a new store late least year. A few of our locals pop in every so often if Firestorm were out of stock of SWU packs and the like and it turns out that they have gaming space!

Steve and I popped in a few weeks ago and scoped it out. It’s a good, clean, light room with lots of space. There are drinks and snacks sold on the premises and the owner is looking to expand to having a full café at some point in the next few months. There’s also restaurants and coffee shops very close (as well as the Tesco of course) and parking is free with no time limit.
The owner is friendly and knowledgeable and was very sympathetic to our cause. He doesn’t sell X-Wing (well, obviously, but they didn’t sell it before, either) but, having been a gamer for a long time, understands that we just want a place to play and he’s happy to provide it. We will have to play for this space, of course, but (for me at least!) that’s never been an issue. We’re taking up space in a building with power and water and somebody has to ben working to let us in. Of course I’ll pay for that!
And so I guess that Exile Squadron has a new home!
Tomorrow is the first time we’re heading there to play and I’m excited to try it out!
The conclusion…
It might sort of feel like there’s a little bit of doom and gloom today but honestly, the future feels bright. With new points from XWA on the horizon at some point and a good place to play locally it feels like AMG’s slow winding down over the long GT season will be balanced by new and exciting possibilities as more information comes out.
Will X-Wing last forever? Probably not. Very little does. But it seems more possible now than it did a year ago and it feels quite ironic that AMG’s ambition for 10 more years of X-Wing might just come true without them.
I should finally have a game or two to talk about next week plus some more Patreon spoilers so don’t forget to pop back, I’ll see you there!
The outro…
Thank you so much for visiting my blog, I hope you’ve enjoyed it! If you’d like to support me in continuing my X-Wing blogging adventure there are a few ways you can do that.
You can follow my social media accounts for updates

If you’re looking to buy some gaming ‘stuff’ and don’t have a local gaming store, you can use my affiliate link for Firestorm games. They’re great!
If you would like to directly support the blog then please consider becoming a Patron! I would be forever grateful!

A MASSIVE thank you to my wonderful Patrons for their ongoing support for the blog and enabling me to give away shiny things!
Exile Rookies:
Ben Kennedy, Opi-Wan Kenobi
Exile Veterans:
Mark Beor, Daniel Barringer, Michael Bird, Jason Desmarais, Darin Schwarze, Alex Peters-Bean, Mark Packer-Hughes
Exile Commanders:
Kevin Larsen, David Bryan
Exile Legends:
Rebecca Westwood, Admiral_Ackbar47, Phill Blackmore, Chris Fear, Jamie Howard, Sean Oakley , Steve Boulton, Kyle Chalpan
You are all amazing humans!