Should Morals Play A Part In 40K Games?
Pimpcron asks the questions the fake news won’t.
Hi kids and the elderly! My articles are too goofy and at the same time too mature for regular adults. If you’re betwen the ages of 14 and 69 I’ll wait while you leave . . . Alright, now that they all left let’s talk about topics geared towards my audience: hashtags and polygrip. #polygrip #youngandold #stayofftheirlawn
Dude, don’t ask me what that was about. I have a bag with words that I sometimes dump out and whatever it says on the floor is my opening paragraph. Anyway, in my near-decade of 40k-ing morality has come up many times.
But it begs the questions:
When do you “play fair”?
&
When do you play seriously?
Friends That have No Business Being In This Hobby
You have a friend that you want to get into the hobby but his entire personal life is a dumpster fire. His credit rating is probably a single digit, his past history could be one big National Lampoon movie, and when you see him, you often have to pat out some small flame on his clothes. He’s the type of person whose hub cap falls off and gets to the parking spot before his car does. You guys are good chums and it would be great (for you) to get him into it. But you also know that he really shouldn’t be spending the money on a hobby like this, and monitary drain this would put on him would just further his life problems.
High Road: Don’t try to get him into it knowing that it wouldn’t be a good thing for his already mis-handled life.
Realist Road: He’s an adult and can make his own decisions, even though he has a long history of making bad ones. His problems aren’t your problems and you can’t worry about everyone. Introduce him to it and let things fall where they may.
Other Player Forgets To Do Something
I’m sure you’ve ran into this a million times. You’re in a game and your opponent forgets to shoot with his Devastator squad hiding in that ruin. If he does shoot with it, you’re likely going to be missing an important model and may lose the game. Or your opponent forgets to roll for reserves and is about to start moving models. That’s when you struggle.
Me: I need to do the sportsman-like thing and remind him, it’s what Jesus would do.
Jesus yells down from Heaven: “Let the scrub fail, maybe then he’ll git gud!”
I have a few personal guidelines I use for this situation.
I will remind my opponent under these conditions: it’s a fun game (not tournament), I am currently winning, he’s a nice guy.
I will NOT remind him under these conditions: it’s a tournament, he is winning or we are closely tied in a tight game, or he’s not likeable.
Remember people, you get more in life with sugar than poop. Nearly everyone will be easier on you in life if you’re not a rube.
Cocked Dice
We’ve all played that guy: his dice is slightly clocked but clearly a definite number and it’s good for you; he grabs it and re-rolls declaring “cocked!”. Dice lands in the same spot later on and it’s good for him, suddenly it isn’t cocked anymore in that position and he keeps the result.
The Proper Resolution: If you can set another dice on top of the cocked one without having it slip off, the roll stays. If the top dice falls off, then re-roll.
More-Proper Solution: Punch him in the nose for be a d-bag and yell “Nose blood for the Nose Blood God!” (a lesser-known cousin of Khorne). My motto is “WAACs get wacked”.
Opponent Making a Poor Decision
I find myself doing this nearly every game: an opponent is about to make a dumb mistake and I offer a better choice out of sportsmanship. 90% of the time, they take the better choice. I only have one friend who will intentionally ignore me out of spite. I could be saying “you get your 2+ save” and he would just remove the model because he doesn’t want to listen to me and roll the save.
While I know that this might be irritating to some, its helpful to most. Of course this follows the same criteria as the “forgot to do something” paragraph above. If I’m trying to win, you’re on your own tactically. Ultimately battle comes down to general’s decisions for better or worse, and your mistakes give your opponent an advantage. Most of the time I’d err of the side of being honest/helpful.
~How do you handle these types of situations? Are you a “let them fall” kinda person, or a more sportsmanship-oriented person?
