Star Wars fans rejoice! Our celebration of your favorite sci-fi universe in game form continues to gain momentum with the indroduction of our first-ever Star Wars Card Game league! We also have a recap of the X-Wing Nevada Regional Championship (hosted by yours truly), some incredible upcoming releases, and some great news from the Disney to talk about, so let's dive right in to this episode of the Star Wars Game Experience:

Star Wars: X-Wing Wave III Pre-orders

Fantasy Flight Games will release four new starship expansions for X-Wing miniatures game in the third quarter of 2013.  As with previous expansions, each blister and boxed set will include a 1/270 scale starship, ship cards, upgrades, a maneuver dial, and tokens.

Wave III includes two support ships that improve your other starships and two offensive combat ships:

• The HWK-290 Expansion Pack, for the Rebel fleet, has four ship cards for a Rebel Operative and three unique pilots, and can be outfitted with a turret weapon and crew member.
• The Lambda-Class Shuttle Expansion Pack, for the Imperial fleet, also includes four ship cards featuring three unique pilots, and each can carry up to two crew members, a cannon, and a system upgrade.
• The B-Wing Expansion Pack ship can be upgraded with a cannon, up to two torpedoes, including Advanced Proton Torpedoes, and a System Upgrade.  It carries five shields and the ability to barrel roll.
• The TIE Bomber Expansion Pack ship is not as agile or fast as other TIE variants, but carries enough firepower to destroy almost any target.

System upgrades introduce a new type of customization option, one that reduces the risks involved with random dice rolls and the opponent’s unpredictability. Considering my personal experience with dice rolls in this game, I would say that I'll be using as many of these 'system upgrades' as possible.

IMPORTANT REMINDER: as most of you well know by now, FFG's production capability for this line is unable to meet current consumer demands. We are already taking preoders for all ships in Wave III, along with orders for the next Wave I reprint (May 2013) and the next Wave II reprint (July 2013). If you intend to field these ships, I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND that you place your orders today: we will not charge you until your items are ready for pickup (or shipment) and pre-ordering will reserve your spot in the queue. Failure to pre-order means testing the 'mystical energy field' that controls everything...

 GF9: Vinyl Game Mats

Hot on the heels of theIr first two vinyl game mats come four new playing surfaces from GF9:

• Asteroid Belt Battlemat
• Deep Space Battlemat
• Frozen Planet Battlemat
• Fiery Nebula Battlemat

Printed on heavy duty, lay-flat vinyl, these Battlemats store easily while withstanding the roughest fur-balls. Coming in soon and now available for pre-order from our store.

Star Wars: X-Wing Starfield Game Tile Kit

Not to be outdone, Fantasy Flight Games is introducing their own X-Wing playing surface later this year in the form of gaming tiles. Printed on twelve double-sided fiber board tiles, the Starfield Game Tile Kit provides for nearly endless battlefield customization options. Expected to arrive in Q3 2013, the Starfiled Game Tile Kit is also now available for pre-order.

Battlefield in a Box: Asteroids

While their usefullness in X-Wing games can be debated (3D objects, unlike flat counters, cannot accomodate flight stands resting on their surface), I've decided to include these Asteroids here for those of you who would like to add an extra visual element to their X-Wing battles. This boxed set contains 8 pre-painted asteroids, retails for $30 and will be available in our store shortly. 

Last month our store was the host for Nevada's first X-Wing Regional Championship. Even do I did horribly and my dice demonstrated how weak the Force is in this one (I rolled all blanks on 3 defense dice 6 times, all blanks on 4 defense dice twice and all blanks on 5 defense dice once - costing me an undamaged ship on 3 separate occasions when all I needed was a single dodge or focus to avoid catastophic disaster), I still had a great time thanks to the sportmanship of all attending pilots. Here's what the final standings look like (notice my spot, right there at the bottom) along with the corresponding rosters that got us there:

Thank you to everyone who participated in this year's Regional Qualifier:  stay tuned for even more X-wing excitement with our next X-Wing league, coming this summer!!!!

The Walt Disney Co. announced today that production has begun on Star Wars Rebels, a new animated series that will have its one-hour premiere on the Disney Channel in the fall of 2014 followed by a regular half-hour animated series that will appear on Disney XD channels around the world.

Screenwriter Simon Kinberg (whose credits include X-Men First Class, Sherlock Holmes, and Mr. and Mrs. Smith), is on board as a writer and executive producer for the series, while acting at the same time as a consultant for the new live-action Star Wars movies. Dave Filoni (supervising director for Star Wars: The Clone Wars), and animation veteran Greg Weisman (Gargoyles, Young Justice, The Spectacular Spider-Man) will be joining him on Rebels, which sports a team that includes “many of the key talents that made the Star Wars: The Clone Wars series.”
 
Star Wars Rebels will be set during the two decade span between Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.  This is an era during which the Empire is securing its grip on the galaxy and hunting down the last of the Jedi Knights as a fledgling rebellion against the Empire begins to take shape. 

In essence, while this is not a direct game announcement, more Star Wars movies and TV series mean more source material and growing legions of fans to support upcoming game releases: the future of the Star Wars Game Experience looks bright indeed!

The second Star Wars game from Fantasy Flight games gets it moment of glory in our store with the launch of our first Star Wars Card Game league. Running from 05/21 to 06/22, this achievement-based legue will allow players to try a variety of different decks and will segway into Las Vegas' first ever Star Wars Card Game Regional Championship.

Pitting two players in a cinematic battle between the light and dark sides of the Force, Star Wars: The Card Game features tactical combat and strategic planning with Living Card Game expandability. For more on the Star Wars Card Game, check out our previous Game Experience update.

VISIT OUR CALENDAR OF EVENTS FOR A FULL LIST OF ALL OUR STAR WARS GAME EXPERIENCE EVENTS.

The first ever TCG Player Nevada State Championship for Magic: the Gathering wrapped up yesterday, and we are very honored to have hosted such a prestigious event! Thank you's are in order for all the players that attended and conducted themselves in an exemplary manner, along with congratulations for our top 8 finishers:

Our Wizards would also like to take this moment to acknowledge our supporting staff, without which this event would not have been possible:

• Head Judge: Jordan Johnston
• Assistant Judge: Anthony Miller
• Rules Advisor: Daniel Walker
• Rules Advisor: James Moore
• Scorekeeper: Mike Edmonds

We look forward to seeing everyone again at our Grand Prix Trial: Vegas on June 1st!!!

After the Horus Heresy, Rogal Dorn, Primarch of the Imperial Fists, rejected the Codex Astartes that had been recently written by Roboute Guilliman, Primarch of the Ultramarines, calling him a coward for not helping in the defense of the Imperial Palace on Terra during the Horus Heresy. Tensions escalated and after a civil war nearly broke out in the Imperium again, Rogal decided the Imperial Fists would symbolically enter the Pain Glove and emerge in accordance with the Codex Astartes. The opportunity to do so presented itself in a battle that would later become known as The Iron Cage. The Imperial fists were nearly destroyed by the Iron Warriors when Rogal committed the entire legion to the siege on the Eternal Fortress. Cleansed by their sacrifice, the Imperial Fists began their reorganization in accordance with the Codex Astartes. As part of the reorganization, the legion participated in the Second Founding. The Imperial Fists Legion was split into several chapters, including the Soul Drinkers, Black Templars, and Crimson Fists, among others. One chapter kept the Imperial Fists' name, combat specialties, and gene seed.

To help ensure ongoing good relationships and brotherhood between these new chapters, Rogal Dorn held the first Feast of Blades. The Feast of Blades is held in an arena that is an interpretation of The Iron Cage. The arena changes between and during the matches. Tradition says that the Feast of Blades is held no less often than every 100 years, but chapters may host it sooner. Winning the Feast of Blades brings great honor to the victor and his chapter. The victorious chapter is given the Dornsblade until the next Feast of Blades where they will present the blade as the prize.

The Feast of Blades 40K Invitational tournament is held every year in Denver, CO. To be able to participate, players must win one of numerous qualifier tournaments held at game stores around the country. All of these qualifier tournaments use the same format, missions, and scoring rules to ensure consistency for all participants around the country. Should you be able to win one of these qualifiers, you also win the chance to participate in one of the most prestigious 40K tournaments ever. Every player there is an expert and also had to fight their way to victory at their respective qualifiers.

The qualifier tournament at the Little Shop of Magic will be held on August 18th. All of the details can be found on the event listed on our calendar. Players are recommended to pre-register for the event on our online store or in person in our brick-and-mortar location. Rules will be strictly enforced and everyone is expected to bring their A-game. No whiners here, it is expected for people to be competitive and for players to be fielding the most powerful and sometimes "cheesiest" armies they can to try and win.

Now announcing the Gatecrash Commander league results! Over the past of four weeks we have had many spells cast in our shop but one Planeswalker towered above the rest, Zachary Weinstein  He proved that he knows how to sling spells and master a commander by not only completing the most achievements, but also winning the most matches in the league! Here is the final standings for all the players in the League:

We would like to thank every one who came down and played in our event. Please keep an eye on our calender of events for the next league and other events like this one. (all prizes will be paid at this weeks FNM 5/10/13)