Eating Humble Pie, Voluntarily

I thought I would continue my series on sportsmanship with a quick look at some things that make a good sportsman.  As I thought about my satirical look at "that guy", I realized that the good players out there that are fun to play against also have some common traits.  Of all of them, I think humility is perhaps one of the characteristics of greatest value for a good sportsman to have.   Let's talk about why.

First, let's just address the fact that maintaining a humble perspective in life generally makes you a better person.  To be humble in any competition makes you a great competitor.  It means that you appreciate the efforts of your opponent and as well as your own ability, but refuse to place higher importance on yourself than others.  This is a huge thing.  It isn't easy.  It has to be intentional, but humble people are more easy going, easier to get along with, and more fun to be around.  I have quite a few regular opponents who fit this description.  That makes games so much easier to play.

Second, where probability is involved, things never go as planned.  You can do the math.  You can write whole dissertations about how your crisis suits should be able to mow down that unit of space marines in cover, then you roll a handful of 1s. It happens.  There isn't anything you can do about it (without fixing your dice, that is).  I learned this lesson at a big WFB GT.  One year, earlier in my career as a Warhammer player, I participated in a tournament and my dice were a special brand of crap.  After two games of horrible dice, I realized that I either needed to calm down about my dice luck or risk having a heart attack.  I decided to calm down.  Taking luck as luck makes life much easier to handle and realizing that a good roll is as lucky as a bad roll is unlucky.  Realizing that sometime your tactical genius doesn't win the game, dice do, helps you to remain humble.  Case in point, I played a friend this past weekend.  He wanted a practice game for a GT coming up here in Texas.  He had a GK army that was decent but nowhere near optimized. I had a Vulkan list with 5 dreads.  All things even, it should have been a somewhat even game.  He was new to the new GK and my Vulkan list was fairly competitive.  My dice crapped on me big time.  So, there was no use getting upset.  It wouldn't help me any.  So, I laughed it off and played until it was terribly obvious that I was going to lose and I shook his hand.  My opponent even mentioned my terrible dice luck.  It didn't bother me too much though.  I got to play a game and had fun with a friend.  I even got to meet one of the guys from Chapterhouse Studios, so it was a good day. 

Last thing for this post.  This...is...a...game.  This doesn't mean you can't like to win or even try to.  It is a game that is intentionally competitive by design.  I mean, it has two armies essentially killing each other. But, at the end of the day, this is a game of two guys (most often) who are playing with little plastic soldiers.  What is there to go crazy about?  It is a game folks.  It isn't the World Cup or the Superbowl.  Ultimately, you are saying that you are better at playing with plastic soldier than another person.  Is this anything to really center your life around?  Sure it's a hobby and one I gladly partake of investing quite a bit of time.  However, it's just a diversion.  In the grand scheme of life, if it comes down to my family, friends, job, etc. or Warhammer, the plastic soldiers go.

So, maintain a humble attitude. It helps you to have more fun, to be fun to be around, and to maintain a right perspective of this hobby's rightful place in the grand scheme of things.  Being humble also makes you a person that people want to play against and be around.  It seems like humble pie doesn't taste that bad after all.

Bad Sportsmanship: Dispelling the Myths

If you are reading this post, chances are that you have read my previous post, You Are a Winner!  If not, go to the link provided! It's obviously a tongue-in-cheek attempt to show what "that guy" looks like.  I don't know if it is human nature to take things to the extreme, but it seems to occur with startling regularity that we take a few negative experiences and hypothetically polarize them to their extremes and generlize them.  In fact, "that guy" is more akin to bigfoot in that many claim to have seen him, but can produce very little evidence that he exists.  Here's the point:  While "that guy" may exist, and in fact, may exist in multiples, he doesn't exist in the great numbers most people seem to think he does.  In large, our hobby is full of pretty cool people who aren't all that bad to play with and be around.  Of course, we are imperfect humans and are prone to have a bad day now and then, but mostly we are good people. 

So, the myth is that bad sportsmanship is rampant in our hobby and WAAC exists in great numbers across the board.  This simply isn't so. I want to break it down into more specific ideas and dispel some of the more flagrant thoughts that occur in gaming communities and would love to hear back from you as to whether or not my thoughts reflect those of other gamers in other communities worldwide. 

I guess now is the point at which I define bad sportsmanship.  It is defined, in my mind, as an inability to play by the rules, be civil with others especially one's opponent, and altogether be a nice person in regards to the hobby of Warhammer 40k. So, with that out of the way, here are the myths. 

Myth #1- 40k is chocked full of poor rules and loopholes begging to be exploited by cheaters and bad sports looking to obtain unfair advantage in a game.

This is just wrong.  Now I am not saying there aren't rules loopholes.  In fact, GW seems to produce a few with every new codex.  However, in majority, 40k works very well.  It is a complex game with a very complex ruleset and as such, the potential for errors is increases both in design and rules writing and in implementation and interpretation of the rules.  However, I think most communities get the point of the rules and play the game well.  Otherwise, GW wouldn't be selling models.  If the game is crap, there are plenty of alternatives a player could turn to. 

Myth #2- There are people who expressly look for those loopholes to exploit and base their armies/strategies on.

Again, this is a rarity.  In my experience (playing 40K for a year and a half and WFB for 8 years), this happens so rarely.  Occasionally, you will run into a guy who tries to pull a fast one, but when called out, they usually back down.  Communities can spot taboo practices a mile away and usually squash them.

Myth #3- Competitive events are a breeding ground for "that guy" and he shows up to them in spades. 

Again, simply not true.  You may have a player or two who are terrible people who go to competitive events, but generally, those events are peopled by players who want to test their genuine prowess (great or small) against others in greater concentration and in greater numbers.  In fact, most of the time you won't see "that guy" at these events for a few reasons.
     1) Deep down, "that guy" knows he isn't good and/or is exploiting rules questionably and thus doesn't   
     go for fear of being called out or having his reputation badly damaged when he gets trashed by a truly
     competitive player.
     2) "That guy" is usually somewhat smart and simply won't pay out a good sum of money to go and
     experience what was mentioned in reason #1.
     3) "That guy" likes to be the big dog and the only way to do that is to play where the little dogs are.  Once
     you go to a competitive event, you are in the big pool and most times "that guy" can't stand to have his
     authority challenged.  Thus, he won't go.

So, tournaments and competitive, well run ones for that matter generally discourage poor sportsmanship and gameplay. 

Myth #4- GW promotes "that guy's" behavior, especially in its own events.  Granted, GW doesn't throw the best events.  'Ardboyz is laughable as an event.  More an excuse to bring extremely crazy armies and apply extremely crazy scenarios and see who comes out least beaten (notice I didn't say best).  So, does the prospect of a free tournament with prize support bring out some bad sports?  Absolutely.  This is perhaps the most abused event in 40k and consequently the one that most people derive their opinion of 40k players/competitive events from.  1) This isn't a competitive event, it's list building and dice rolling.  2) It isn't designed to be a bad sportman's free-for-all. 

Why, you ask?  Well first, 'Ardboyz events are generally held in independent gaming stores who have a reputation to uphold.  In every 'Ardboyz event I have seen or heard of, the store owner/manager is more than willing to kick a guy out for being a jerk, regardless of whether this is a no comp event or not.  Second, unlike GW employees, there are many local store owners and managers who actually play 40k and know its rules.  This cuts down on rules interp shennanigans.  Third, again the general 40k populace isn' made up of bad people and most of the time they get along. 

Myth #5- Bloggers promote bad sportmanship by endorsing competitive play, best-of lists, and slamming/endorsing certain events.

Again, I haven't seen a well thought out blog that does this.  Even those "uber-competitive" guys don't endorse twisting the rules or being a jerk.  In fact, scuttble-butt around town is that most of those guys are really fun to play against IRL.  In fact, most tourneys attended by the likes of Stelek, Jawaballs, Fritz, etc. have people lining up to play the guys in their spare time.  Why?  Because they're nice guys.  They know the rules and won't budge on them, but that's because they believe in competitive gaming.  Honestly, if I were foggy on a rules interpretation, I would want someone helping me understand them better so that I became a better player.  Again, most blogs don't endorse poor sportsmanship.  They may disagree on what events are competitive or not (which I think is a waste of internet space.  If you don't like the event, don't go.), but they endorse good play. 

So, do bad sportsmen exist?  Yes.  Is the game of Warhammer 40k a cesspit/breeding ground for bad sports?  No. It just isn't.  Are they everywhere?  No.  So, what's the big deal? 


Wait I think I see a bad sportman......

Nah, can't be.

You are a Winner!

Hello, Winner!  You're looking good today.  You have quite the reputation as a 40k player.  You live by a simple motto.  "What is best in life?  To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentations of their women." You are a master among men.  You live for 40k. 

You know each and every codex by heart (no need to look it up, you can be trusted) and have no problem telling an opponent where they are wrong in their rules interpretation. Obviously, the rules are meant to be read as written and who's to say that you can't model your wraithlords laying down in the prone position?  They are on the correct sized bases, after all.  Also, "true line of sight" means just that. You have 6 of GW's laser pointers and can find a chink in any piece of terrain.  No model or armor facing is safe from you.  Your precision is amazing.  As a matter of fact, more important than completing a game is winning every rules dispute you encounter.  You are GW's self-appointed rules lawyer and I am sure they thank you weekly.

You sneer in open disdain at your opponents' lesser knowledge of the 40k game mechanics and list building.  You are sure to point out why their armies suck...unless you lose, then you are sure to point out where they are obviously building cheesy lists and abusing force organization.  Who brings 6-8 AV11 gun platforms on the table anyway?  They are obviously trying to compensate for their lack of true gaming skill.  On that note, should a game go south, it is obviously due to less than average dice rolls or GW's crappy scenarios.  You can't help it that Tau have the worst troop selections in the game. SPAM and CHEESE are part of your hourly, if not minute-by-minute vocabulary and perhaps your diet as well. 

Speaking of gaming, you belong to the most "elite" of gaming clubs, mostly because those peons at other stores and clubs can't stand someone as intense and focused as you.  You weren't yelling. You were discussing emphatically.  Besides, most of those tools at the local gaming stores don't have a clue as to what it means to be a true, competitive 40k player.  Do they know that you have placed in the top three every year in the 'Ardboyz prelims.  It doesn't matter that there were only 2-3 players a few of the years. That's because the club that existed there couldn't stand your awesomeness.  They're just haters.  Let them go play somewhere else.  None of that matters though, because you are obviously misunderstood.  Luckily, your brother (I mean club) is the perfect test dummy for your new list machinations.  This year, you will win it all...if only the dice stay average.

Stay frosty, winner.  It is only a matter of time before the world admits your greatness.  Take up your baby seal club and wade into the shallows because it isn't who you play that matters, it's how many times you've won, and you sir, are a winner!

Five ways to be a good loser

Apparently, I struck a cord with my last post on how sportsmanship is a key element to growing the hobby, your local community, and the community at large. So, I figure this may be something I can speak to in a series of articles on sportsmanship. 

That leads me to a new thought: how to lose well.  You always hear the adage, "It's not whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game."  Really, not trying to be too much of a cop out, here, but I think there is some truth to this.  Tactical games provide tons of useful data to a player even if they lose.  We can garner information on tactics, army list deficiencies, deployment schemes, etc.  The bottom line is that winning isn't the only way to grow as a player.  And let's face it, learning to lose well helps you to not be a jerk when you do lose.  The hobby could use fewer of those. 

So, how does one lose well? 

1) As mentioned above, take it as a learning opportunity.  If you lose, obliterated and tabled or losing by a hair, take away as much as you can from the game.  Ask your opponent if you can see his army list to take notes.  When I play a game on Vassal or IRL, I routinely save my opponents' lists before the game starts so that I can go back over it later.  What units did you have a hard time with?  What units did you easily deal with?  How can you alter your overall strategy or list to cover your weaknesses in the future against a similar army?

If you know you are going into a tough game ahead of time, perhaps if you set up a game with a buddy you know is hard to beat, take photos.  I have a friend who brings a camera to every WFB tournament he goes to and in between turns, he stands on a chair and shoots an overhead pic of the game.  On Vassal I do a screen capture after every turn.  Looking at the step by step progression of the game can give a lot of insight into what went wrong for you. 

Think about your army list.  If you want to be competitive, you have to address parts of your army that don't work in general and according to your personal playstyle.  Do any units stick out as not living up to their potential?  Was it due to poor tactics or poor performance on the unit's part? Address those.  Trim the fat.

2) Shake hands before and after the game.  I always wish my opponents a good game at the beginning and thank them for the game at the end, regardless of the winner.  Being able to "snap out" of the gamer mentality helps to aleviate tension that could arise during a game.  It isn't extraordinary for tension to arise in a hard fought, tactical game.  Just try to aleviate it as quickly as possible.  Remember, it's okay to be bummed that you didn't win, but you shouldn't hold it personally against your opponent.

3) Watch your language!  I sound like my mother here, but seriously, cursing your dice or getting mad at your models for not performing (seriously??) doesn't improve things.  Whining about GW's rules mechanics doesn't help either.  There is no need to create tension and get grumpy over a game of toy soldiers, though admittedly when you are in a tournament that you have paid (sometimes a good deal) to attend*, there is more riding on the line, especially if you happen to get off to a good start.  Nonetheless, the dice are fickle, life is tough, get over it.  Be an adult (or at least a more mature kid).

4) Along with #3, assume the duck mentality.  Even when thing have you off balance and you are paddling furiously underwater, maintain a calm demeanor.  This also helps out tactically.  Many players are confounded by a calm gamer when they fail to throw their opponent off balance psychologically.  Regardless, stay calm.  This will help you make better decisions in game, and will help you to not have a stress induced headache after the game is over.

5) Be a nice guy.  Seriously, joke about bad luck.  Try to add in appropriate comments that alleviate your opponents' stresses and hopefully, win or lose, everyone comes out having enjoyed the game.  My best games have been against people that develop a fun, carefree banter with you. Ultimately, you come out feeling like a winner regardless as to whether you won or lost the match  because you enjoyed yourself.  This is the overall goal Warhamer, in my humble opinion.  It is, after all, a game.

*Again, I understand that it is harder to keep it casual in a competitive environment, but the players that master this are masters of the competitive event.  To obtain a balance between competitive play and laidback demeanor should be the goal of any player.  That said, I understand that it is easier to have a good time, win or lose, in a casual game rather than in a competitive tourney game, but then again, if you can't handle it, maybe you should consider whether or not tournaments are a good use of your time and energy.

Ultimately, 40k is a game between two people.  Though things are happening on the board, it is an interplay between those two people and hopefully, if we strive to create a fun experience (and you can do this and still be competitive) for both sides, winning and losing will impact us less and create a better overall experience.

So readers, is there anything I left out?  What does it take to be a good loser?

Why being a nice guy could be the best thing you do for the hobby

You know, I have been thinking a lot about what this blog conveys as its message.  A dominating theme of many of the well known blogs out there is competitive play.  I think that is fine and dandy, but I think there is a hitch in the outcome that those blogs are trying to achieve and the perceived point of wargaming. 

Tactical blogs (what I will call the blogs whose purpose is best described as list building, competitive play, and tactics) focus on trying to strengthen the hobby and community by helping players achieve high quality results with their armies in competitive settings.  I think this is a good thing as it promotes solid knowledge of the rules and game mechanics.  These things overall, help the community.  You all know of those times where you played against someone who had a poor grasp of game mechanics or who tried to twist rules into pretzels and how annoying that can be.  A fundamentally sound gaming community is a huge blessing.  However, the has to be something said for sportsmanship. 

My reasons for creating a blog that focuses on the hobby and on toned down, less optimized lists is because ultimately, I think the mindset of the gamer helps the community out.  Being a good sportsman is central to creating a good gaming community, even more so than knowing the rules (I AM NOT ENDORSING THAT PLAYERS NOT LEARN THE RULES WELL).  Here are my reasons for thinking so.

1) Tactical blogs are great, but only a small percentage of gamers achieve the level that these players idolize as the gold standard.  Also, included in this is the fact that this is a game of dice.  You can't plan for all occurrences, though stabilization measures can be taken to aid you achieve some consistency.  Finally, even at competitive events, a sub-optimal (not necessarily fluff bunny) list can do well in the hands of an experienced general and min-maxed, optimized lists can do poorly for various reasons.  I know this sounds like a dig against those tactical blogs out there, but it isn't.  I value them for the information they bring to the normal player (like me) and hope that they continue to do so as new books and editions come out. Stressing less about being tactically perfect, however, allows you to enjoy yourself more, come across as a nice guy more, and ultimately gain a better reputation as both a good gamer and a good sport.

2) Competitive games (read: tournament games) are a relatively small percentage of games played by a gamer.  Most games are played in casual environments in homes, local gaming stores, and at clubs where there is little to no stress.  Why bring stress with you?  Even tournament prep is generally played with friends who are willing to help a gungho tourney player out.

3) This is a multiplayer game.  This one is obvious.  In general, you want to get along with the people you play against or you quickly find yourself with no one who can tolerate you.  Being a nice guy insures that you get games with people, that people you play are amicable towards you, and that they will want to play with you again.

4) Being a nice guy helps to create a climate that people want to join in on.  I come from a background in WFB. As such, before my current LGS opened, a few buddies of mine and I would play at the local GW store which happened to be in a mall.  The GW guys loved having us play because 1) we knew how to play, 2) we had nicely painted armies, and 3) people who watched us play well and enjoy ourselves and each other's company wanted to play.  We were living, breathing advertising for the hobby.  We complain a lot about where the hobby is now and how communities decline, but we have to wonder if we are advertising well for it. 

So, let's wrap it up.  What is this guy saying?  Well, I am not saying to forget rules knowledge and solid gameplay and tactics.  These are cornerstones to the game.  They make playing the game more enjoyable and rewarding.  We wouldn't be playing a tabletop wargame if we didn't want some kind of tactical challenge.  I am also not saying that you have to soften yourself up to make friends.  I rarely bring an army that isn't somewhat competitive.  I play such armies as Space Wolves with razorback spam and missile spam and Vulkan Marines.  I like bringing a gun to a gunfight. 

I am saying that your attitude towards others and the hobby goes a long way in creating a cohesive community that is vibrant and growing.  Ultimately, when you are finished with a game, two things go through your head, your overall performance and impressions of the guy you played. Don't be the jerk that no one likes simply because you want to be competitive.  Don't use "being competitive" as a cover for being a jerk.  I know many a competitive person who are awesome sportsmen.

So, ultimately, what's your goal with the hobby, to enjoy yourself, to see a community grow, and have a bunch of friends to play toy soldiers with, or to have a little trophy and a few minutes of the limelight?

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