40K Community: Render Thy Verdict
Boys and girls, Unicorns and children of all ages, today I stir from my home at Strictly Average to bring you a scenario to ponder. The Mob Must Speak, and judge a fairly common mistake in a tournament game.
This is an interesting one; the whole question may well irritate you. Ah well: I guess you’ll need a bit more than that.
Before I get started, I feel there is something I should say. If you’re short of time or otherwise impatient, skip past this section to A Scenario.
I’ve given some thought to how I could write this article without referencing the actual game in question. I could have imagined a scene or told a story, but I decided against that. To do so won’t have the same emotional impact I hope you’ll feel, nor will I be able to use the pictures… and I’m a big believer in pictures.
A picture is worth a thousand card gamers don’t you know.
The reason I bring it up is I’ve had cause to think about how online exposure can affect people. In fact, I wrote a rather fantastic article not too long back about a game between two top players, then promptly forgot about it… until one of the dudes in question brought it up in person at Da Boyz! He was a bit hurt by the community’s response, but more than anything I think my motivation was a mystery to him. I’m glad he brought it up; something like that shouldn’t be allowed to fester. We had a very amicable chat, for which I’m grateful. I hate to think I could be the cause of any resentment.
(As an aside, I’ll admit I was a bit surprised, for while I wrote the piece objectively I actually sided more with this guy than the other. I guess I did my job well and wrote it down the middle. For all that, it’s important to remember that when dealing with people it’s very rarely black and white, perfectly clear cut. Usually both sides will have a valid perspective. ‘It depends’ is actually a pretty good answer.)
You see, while I strive to write worthwhile material, much of which is about the community for the community, I don’t want to needlessly trample on someone. That’s not my bag.
So, let me say this very clearly: my opponent conducted himself perfectly. If this interlude I discuss below bothered him at all, he didn’t show it. That’s sportsmanship.
Moving on.
Here’s the Top of Turn 2: my opponent has just started his movement. |
This is after the Space Wolves close combat at the top of Turn 2. |