312 Squadron Podcast

A long time ago… in a windy city, far, far away… Your hosts Andrew Kouba and Nick Sperry discuss the recent XWA points adjustment, the winners and losers of each faction, as well as a state of the organization from Council member Nick!

Sign up for the Liberty City Conquest: https://rollbetter.gg/tournaments/2567

The Blast Doors Open, an XWA System Open in Chicagoland on January 23rd and 24th, is officially official, and selling limited tickets! Get yours today, before its too late! https://events.ticketleap.com/tickets/312-squadron/the-blast-doors-open-2027

The XWA is look...

A long time ago… in a windy city, far, far away… Your hosts Andrew Kouba and Nick Sperry are joined by special guests, winner of the Windy City Conquest, Conner Elmstrom and champion of the Golden State Conquest Daniel Leon! The 4 of them discuss their approach to list building, their tournament experiences and how the meta has been reshaped by XWA Legends and Relics.

View the Windy City Conquest:  https://rollbetter.gg/tournaments/2565

View the Windy City Conquest: https://rollbetter.gg/tournaments/2566

Sign up for the Liberty City Conquest: https://rollbetter.gg/tournaments/2567

...

A long time ago… in a windy city, far, far away… Your hosts Andrew Kouba, Nick Sperry, and Samuel Graebner are joined by special guest, XWA Design extraordinaire, Ryan Staniszewski! The 4 of them discuss the exciting new content from the XWA Legends and Relics, alongside a sweeping points update forn the game of X-Wing TMG.

View the new Legends and Relics content here: https://www.xwing.life/resources/xwa-content

View the points change breakdown here: https://www.xwing.life/resources/points

Thank you to our sponsor, Infinite Arenas! Go to Infinite Arenas for all...

A long time ago… in a windy city, far, far away… Your hosts Andrew Kouba Nick Sperry, and Samuel Graebner discuss the Milwaukee World Championship Experience and yap about the event

Check out Samuel’s fantasy writing collective at: https://www.crookedtrees.com/

View the worlds Rollbetter page here: https://rollbetter.gg/tournaments/2638

View the events on Listfortress: https://listfortress.com/tournaments/10570

312 was honored to have the support needed to provide a high quality stream of Worlds to the community. We couldn't have done it without our biggest supporters on Patreon! Suppor...

A long time ago… in a windy city, far, far away… Your hosts Andrew Kouba and Nick Sperry are joined by the 2026 WORLD CHAMPION Tony Marchand, as they discuss Adepticon 2026 and a monumental success for both 312, XWA, and Tony!

View the worlds Rollbetter page here: https://rollbetter.gg/tournaments/2638

View the events on Listfortress: https://listfortress.com/tournaments/10570

312 was honored to have the support needed to provide a high quality stream of Worlds to the community. We couldn't have done it without our biggest supporters on Patreon! Support the channel, get cool swag: http...

A long time ago… in a windy city, far, far away… Your hosts Andrew Kouba and Nick Sperry jump on to talk about NONE of the things, X-Wing! The off-topic episodes are a semi-frequent addition to the 312 Podcast where your hosts discuss world events, random opinions, and of course, politics. Please be advised that the topics discussed may not be comfortable to hear or align with your own views.

Support the channel: https://www.patreon.com/c/312Squadron

Check out our Merch store: https://streamlabs.com/312_squadron/merch

Hey, join the conversation, hop into...

A long time ago… in a windy city, far, far away… Your hosts Andrew Kouba and Nick Sperry are joined by the XWA OP Planning Lead, Dwight Lindsay,, to discuss some recent X-Wing events and the excitement with WORLDS next month!

312 is streaming WORLDS! Keep an eye out for upcoming key dates: https://www.adepticon.org/2025/07/09/adepticon-2026-key-dates-announced/

Watch back the XWA Discord Stage on YouTube: https://youtu.be/H2IFCMResqI?si=v2SQ4EfhbiHUcEZa

Torchlight G&H System Open

event link: https://xwing.longshanks.org/event/29346/

List Fortress: http...

A long time ago… in a windy city, far, far away… Your hosts Andrew Kouba and Nick Sperry are joined by the new Conquest Grand Champion, Eric Kingery, to discuss his Global Conquest victory, as well as the recent Studebaker System Open! The trio dives into a look at the forming meta before and after the XWA made minor updates to its points system.

312 is streaming WORLDS! Keep an eye out for upcoming key dates: https://www.adepticon.org/2025/07/09/adepticon-2026-key-dates-announced/

Watch back the XWA Discord Stage on YouTube: https://youtu.be/H2IFCMResqI?si=v2SQ...

A long time ago… in a windy city, far, far away… Your hosts Andrew Kouba and Nick Sperry are joined by returning guest, Andrew Oehler, to discuss his second Conquest victory, as well as the recent California System Open! The trio dives into an overview on the 50 point landscape, and look back to older events.

Take a look at the changes here: https://www.xwing.life/organized-play

312 is streaming WORLDS! Keep an eye out for upcoming key dates: https://www.adepticon.org/2025/07/09/adepticon-2026-key-dates-announced/

Watch back the XWA Discord Stage on YouTube: https://yout...

Description

A long time ago… in a windy city, far, far away… Your host Andrew Kouba, joined by recent conquest champion guests Joel Springle and Josh Kalmouni discuss the recent conquest events and MAJOR changes from the XWA! You will want to dig in for this special episode!

Take a look at the changes here: https://www.xwing.life/organized-play

Watch back the XWA Discord Stage on YouTube: https://youtu.be/H2IFCMResqI?si=v2SQ4EfhbiHUcEZa

Conquest Breakdowns:

Bay Area: https://rollbetter.gg/tournaments/2135 (event link) https://www.patt...

A long time ago… in a windy city, far, far away… Your hosts Andrew Kouba, Nick Sperry, and Samuel Graebner, discuss the recent changes to scenarios and scoring, as well as the Lone Star Open and Pierogi Conquest!

The 312 Conquest Series is an online qualifier series, one tournament a month, across various timezones. Top 8 players from each event win an invite to the Global Conquest in December!

Link to XWA announcement on scenario changes: https://www.xwing.life/news/announcements

Check out the 312 Conquest Series: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JZpohWBP4cOnN00kQ2V...

A long time ago… in a windy city, far, far away… Your hosts Andrew Kouba, Nick Sperry, and Gotham City Conquest Conquest CHAMPION, Andrew Oehler, discuss the recent Gotham City Conquest!

The 312 Conquest Series is an online qualifier series, one tournament a month, across various timezones. Top 8 players from each event win an invite to the Global Conquest in December!

Rollbetter link for the Gotham City Conquest: https://rollbetter.gg/tournaments/1958

Insights: https://www.pattern-analyzer.app/tournament/rollbetter/1958

Check out the 312 Conquest Series: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JZpohWBP4cOnN00kQ2V...

A long time ago… in a windy city, far, far away… Your hosts Andrew Kouba, Nick Sperry, and Team League/Crumpet Conquest Conquest CHAMPION, Tom Veale, discuss the recent Crumpet Conquest!

The 312 Conquest Series is an online qualifier series, one tournament a month, across various timezones. Top 8 players from each event win an invite to the Global Conquest in December!

Rollbetter link for the Windy City Conquest: https://rollbetter.gg/tournaments/1957

Insights: https://www.pattern-analyzer.app/tournament/rollbetter/1957

Check out the 312 Conquest Series: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JZpohWBP4cOnN00kQ2V...

A long time ago… in a windy city, far, far away… Your hosts Andrew Kouba, Nick Sperry, and Windy City Conquest CHAMPION, Bill Hayes (Sevwall), discuss the recent Windy City Conquest!

The 312 Conquest Series is an online qualifier series, one tournament a month, across various timezones. Top 8 players from each event win an invite to the Global Conquest in December!

Rollbetter link for the Windy City Conquest: https://rollbetter.gg/tournaments/1956

Insights: https://www.pattern-analyzer.app/tournament/rollbetter/1956/squads

Check out the 312 Conquest Series: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JZpohWBP4cOnN...

A long time ago… in a windy city, far, far away… Your hosts Andrew Kouba, Samuel Graebner, and Nick Sperry discuss their trip to the final official Worlds for X-Wing. The three discuss the new venue, the vibes, and the event itself!

Link to the 2025 World Championship: https://rollbetter.gg/tournaments/2106

New XWA content has arrived and 312 has exclusive cards for them! Become the ultimate supporter of 312 Squadron and get awesome perks! Including quarterly rewards like tokens and cards, unedited recording sessions of the podcast with early access, and MORE!  Check out our Patreon page: https...

A long time ago… in a windy city, far, far away… Your hosts Andrew Kouba and Nick Sperry discuss the upcoming and FINAL AMG-Sanctioned World Championship at Adepticon this week. The two discuss trends, look back on Illy’s Worlds run, and predict what they expect to see for the 2025 winner. .

Link to the 2024 World Championship: https://rollbetter.gg/tournaments/1350

312 Conquest Series:

Announcement Doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JZpohWBP4cOnN00kQ2Vk1zsEU1fQzmQ4sXtbliTQtc0/edit?usp=sharing

Video Announcement: https://youtu.be/XGdpsR3DEnE

Tickets: https://www.ti...

A long time ago… in a windy city, far, far away… Your hosts Andrew Kouba and Nick Sperry discuss the new and exciting XWA previews for Scum, First Order, and Resistance revealed thus far! The two go over these new pilots, rank their excitement, and discuss how these exciting new pilots will add to the game.

See the recent Resistance pilots teased by Planning Phase Syndicate: https://youtu.be/MTuOJKdQ26g

312 Conquest Series:

Announcement Doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JZpohWBP4cOnN00kQ2Vk1zsEU1fQzmQ4sXtbliTQtc0/edit?usp=sharing

Vide...

A long time ago… in a windy city, far, far away… Your hosts Andrew Kouba and Nick Sperry discuss the Las Vegas Open GT, a slightly shifted meta, and the new time changes to the X-Wing tournament regulations for Worlds.

Watch the Sith Taker Open this weekend, live on FirecastFocus’ final stream: https://www.twitch.tv/firecastfocus

312 Conquest Series:

Announcement Doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JZpohWBP4cOnN00kQ2Vk1zsEU1fQzmQ4sXtbliTQtc0/edit?usp=sharing

Video Announcement: https://youtu.be/XGdpsR3DEnE

Tickets: https://www.ticketleap.events/events...

A long time ago… in a windy city, far, far away… Your hosts Andrew Kouba and Nick Sperry discuss the recently announced 312 CONQUEST SERIES and the path ahead for X-Wing after Worlds!

312 Conquest Series:

Announcement Doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JZpohWBP4cOnN00kQ2Vk1zsEU1fQzmQ4sXtbliTQtc0/edit?usp=sharing

Video Announcement: https://youtu.be/XGdpsR3DEnE

Tickets: https://www.ticketleap.events/events/312-squadron

Link to The Blues Brothers Bonanza: https://rollbetter.gg/tournaments/1877

XWA Site: https://www.xwing.life

Visit the 2.5 Edition Serv...

A long time ago… in a windy city, far, far away… Your hosts Andrew Kouba, Nick Sperry, and guest JJ Giron discuss recent X-Wing GT’s at PAX and Phoenix, the recent XWA Beta Points update, and Planning Phase Syndicate’s coverage of Star Wars Unlimited (SWU)!

Thank you all so much for supporting 312 in the many ways you have this year. We look forward to a tremendous 2025 and we hope you hop on the train with us! Happy new year!

Visit PPS’s Twitch Channel here: https://www.twitch.tv/planningphasesyndicate

XWA Site: http...

A long time ago… in a windy city, far, far away… Your hosts Andrew Kouba, Nick Sperry, and guest Dwight Lindsay discuss community prize support, Dwight’s page “Lock and Roll”, and the GT circuit- including an overview from Dwight on his visit to the Alaska GT!

Visit Lock and Roll on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/754244626634325

XWA Site: https://www.xwing.life

Visit the 2.5 Edition Server: https://discord.gg/x-wing

FAQ Link: https://discord.com/channels/627648261456527371/1262114191972503624

Become the ultimate supporter of 312 Squadron and get awesome perks! Including quarterly...

A long time ago… in a windy city, far, far away… Your host Nick Sperry is joined by Greg Kash (NCX) to talk about the Draft League and being a core member of the XWA points team! This is the latest installment of 312’s interview series.

Join the NCX Discord: https://discord.com/invite/4JEHbdkSVK

Follow NCX on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/nickelcityxwing

Subscribe to NCX on YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/@NickelCityXwing

XWA Site: https://www.xwing.life

Visit the 2.5 Edition Server: https://discord.gg/x-wing

FAQ L...

A long time ago… in a windy city, far, far away… Your hosts Nick Sperry, Andrew Kouba, and special guest Matt Cary come together to overview the new era of community X-Wing with the XWA and their new beta points!

Visit the XWA’s main site: https://www.xwing.life/home

Stay up to date on X-Wing Alliance announcements in the 2.5 Edition Discord server: https://discord.gg/x-wing

Become the ultimate supporter of 312 Squadron and get awesome perks! Including quarterly rewards like tokens and cards, unedited recording sessions of the podcast with early access...

A long time ago… in a windy city, far, far away… Your host Nick Sperry is joined by X-Wing Content Creator Hairy Nick, to talk about all things relating to navigating the current environment of X-Wing and running a successful channel.

Check out  Hairy Nick’s YouTube Channel:

https://www.youtube.com/c/HairyNick

Join Hairy Nick’s Discord:

https://discord.com/invite/rNHU4Myjca

Stay up to date on X-Wing Alliance announcements in the 2.5 Edition Discord server: https://discord.gg/x-wing

Become the ultimate supporter of 312 Squadron...

A long time ago… in a windy city, far, far away… Your host Nick Sperry is joined by Roll Better and Kuat Print Yards creator, Brian Gambrell! The two talk about tournament organizing, X-Wing, and more!

Check out Brian's Kuat Print Yards 3D models: https://www.printables.com/@KuatPrintYards_52767/store

Stay up to date on X-Wing Alliance announcements in the 2.5 Edition Discord server: https://discord.gg/x-wing

Become the ultimate supporter of 312 Squadron and get awesome perks! Including quarterly rewards like tokens and cards, unedited recording sessions of the podcast with early access, and...

A long time ago… in a windy city, far, far away… Your hosts Nick Sperry, Andrew Kouba and Sam Graebner sound off on the recent news on Atomic Mass Games announcing the end to Star Wars Armada and Star Wars X-Wing.

Watch 312’s announcement on its involvement with the X-Wing Alliance: https://youtu.be/FPLH-E68IM0?si=i6Z9Dhgo64GJMZeb

Want to see the crew in a studio more often? Become the ultimate supporter of 312 Squadron and get awesome perks! Including quarterly rewards like tokens and cards, unedited recording sessions of the podcast with early...

A long time ago… in a windy city, far, far away… Your hosts Nick Sperry, Andrew Kouba and Emmanuel Picazo travel to a podcast studio to shed light on all things X-Wing and the uncertain future of the game we love. They reflect on the evolution of the game, the business side of things, and more!

We continue to honor the passing of community legend and dear friend, Zack Mathews, Support Zack and his family here: https://gofund.me/55670112

Check out Yash at Icon Studios, who graciously hosted us: https://www.official-icon.com/visuals

Wa...

A long time ago… in a windy city, far, far away… Your hosts Nick Sperry is joined by the tandem of Mark Uhl (Strata Strike) and Andrew Nuckols (Curled Paw Creatives) as they talk about the creative process behind their game component shops! This episode marks the second of our ongoing interview series, as 312 talks to folks from all corners of the X-Wing community and beyond!

Editor's Note: This is the second episode in our interview series. Not the 3rd. 

Visit Strata Strike: https://www.stratastrike.com/

Visit Curled Paw Creatives: https://www.etsy...

A long time ago… in a windy city, far, far away… Your hosts Nick Sperry, Andrew Kouba, and local guest Sam Graebner discuss the overall fallout of a big Adepticon 2024 and the crowning of a new World Champion! They break down their experiences, the competitive field from LCQ to final table, and look ahead to X-Wing in 2024. Congratulations to Illy, from Germany, on winning Worlds!

Take a look at the data we reference:

LCQ Insights: https://www.pattern-analyzer.app/tournament/rollbetter/1351/insights

Worlds Insights: https://www.pattern-analyzer.app/tournament/rollbetter/1350/insights

Watc...

A long time ago… in a windy city, far, far away… Your hosts Nick Sperry, Andrew Kouba, and local guest Sam Graebner discuss the overall fallout of a big Adepticon 2024 and the crowning of a new World Champion! They break down their experiences, the competitive field from LCQ to final table, and look ahead to X-Wing in 2024. Congratulations to Illy, from Germany, on winning Worlds!

Take a look at the data we reference:

LCQ Insights: https://www.pattern-analyzer.app/tournament/rollbetter/1351/insights

Worlds Insights: https://www.pattern-analyzer.app/tournament/rollbetter/1350/insights

Watc...

A long time ago… in a windy city, far, far away… Your host Nick Sperry interviews the bloody British across the pond! Rich Polley of The Sith Takers Podcast, Matt Coggins (Top 8) and Tom Fieldsend (Top 2) discuss the recent STO event and life as a European X-Wing player!

Sith Taker Open 2024 Event Page: https://xwing.longshanks.org/event/12943/

Check out the Sith Taker Podcast: https://m.soundcloud.com/user-882750498

Watch live games at Firecast Focus: https://twitch.tv/firecastfocus

Become the ultimate supporter of 312 Squadron and get awesome perks! Including unedited reco...

Description

A long time ago… in a windy city, far, far away… Your hosts Nick, Andrew, and guest host Alex Merrill, discuss a struggling faction we all love: Scum! Alex, host of the Bespin Benchwarmers podcast, self declared masochist and Scum fanatic, won his World’s invite with a unique Scum list.

Check out Alex’s Invite-Winning list: https://yasb.app/?f=Scum%20and%20Villainy&d=v9ZhZ20Z458XWW234WW389WY534X125W470WWW92WWW472W47WY398X120W125WWWY117X120WWWW441W92WW159W8Y612XWW45W63W80W93W416WWW150&sn=Unnamed%20Squadron...

A long time ago… in a windy city, far, far away… Your hosts Nick, Andrew, and Manny, continue the conversation about power creep. How do we define power creep? When is something so impactful it’s time to walk away? The crew discusses this concept and the current design space of X-Wing!

Become the ultimate supporter of 312 Squadron and get awesome perks! Check out our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/312Squadron 

Support our partner StrataStrike by using this link and checking out with code “312Squadron” for 15% off store-wide! https://www.etsy.com/shop/stratastrike/?etsrc=sdt<...

A long time ago… in a windy city, far, far away… Your hosts Nick, Andrew, and special guest Greg Kash, chat about the implications of overpowered SL cards, the silver lining of online X-Wing, and the Nickel City X-Wing Draft League!

Follow the draft league and the action, follow NickelCityXWing on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/nickelcityxwing

Join the reserves for NCX Draft League Season 6: https://forms.gle/A6WA5vfG3g8zhXYt5

Become the ultimate supporter of 312 Squadron and get awesome perks! Check out our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/312Squadron

A long time ago… in a windy city, far, far away… Your hosts Nick, Andrew, and Manny dive into their New Year’s resolutions, speculation on the Battle of Endor pack, and how we cope with losing in a competitive environment.

Become the ultimate supporter of 312 Squadron and get awesome perks! Check out our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/312Squadron 

Support our partner StrataStrike by using this link and checking out with code “312Squadron” for 15% off store-wide! https://www.etsy.com/shop/stratastrike/?etsrc=sdt

Hey, join the conversation, hop into the Discord! ht...

A long time ago… in a windy city, far, far away… Your hosts Nick, Andrew, and guest Pym dive into a clarifying meta change, the 16 player rule, and a reflection on 312 over the years! The holiday are fully upon us! 

Support our partner StrataStrike by using this link and checking out with code “312Squadron” for 15% off store-wide! https://www.etsy.com/shop/stratastrike/?etsrc=sdt

Hey, join the conversation, hop into the Discord! https://discord.gg/xknEegJw67 

Las Vegas Open info: 

https://www.lasvegasopen.net

You can follow us live for we...

A long time ago… in a windy city, far, far away… Your hosts Nick, Manny and Andrew are joined by Team USA’s very own Stephen Weiland! The quartet discusses sustaining interest in the game of X-Wing, Upsilons in extended, and the community that made us!

Support our partner StrataStrike by using this link and checking out with code “312Squadron” for 15% off store-wide! https://www.etsy.com/shop/stratastrike/?etsrc=sdt

Hey, join the conversation, hop into the Discord! https://discord.gg/xknEegJw67 

PAX Unplugged info: https://unplugged.paxsite.com/en-us/registration.html 

Las Veg...

A long time ago… in a windy city, far, far away… Your hosts Nick, Manny and Andrew take a dive into the new player problem. How do we introduce and retain new players in X-Wing? Why is it a lot harder than we might think?

Hey, join the conversation, hop into the Discord! https://discord.gg/xknEegJw67

PAX Unplugged info: https://unplugged.paxsite.com/en-us/registration.html

Las Vegas Open info: https://www.lasvegasopen.net

You can follow us live for weekly content on our Twitch channel: http://twitch.tv/312_Squadron

A long time ago… in a windy city, far, far away… Your hosts Nick, Manny and Andrew do a look at how to make some Gauntlet pilots work, the timeline of an evolving meta, and they even rank where they’d put the Star Wars shows! 

Hey, join the conversation, hop into the Discord! https://discord.gg/xknEegJw67 

PAX Unplugged info: https://unplugged.paxsite.com/en-us/registration.html 

You can follow us live for weekly content on our Twitch channel: http://twitch.tv/312_Squadron 

Like our page on Facebook for updates on future...

A long time ago… in a windy city, far, far away… Your hosts Nick and Manny are joined by Matt Courser of The Bespin Benchwarmers Podcast as we talk about Golden State Games, underrated T-65 pilots, glaring needs in the game of X-Wing, and more!

Hey, join the conversation, hop into the Discord! https://discord.gg/xknEegJw67

Check out Matt and his crew at The Bespin Benchwarmers on Podbean! https://www.podbean.com/pu/pbblog-ygvdw-9fd909

Register for our Windy City Trials Turkey Trot Official Store Champ on November 18th at Good Games Chic...