Today we’ll talk about wargaming etiquette. What to do and what not if you want to be a welcomed guest in your community – no matter what wargame you play.
Sure, all the basics of the common etiquette also work here. Even if you are among co-players, don’t forget that swearing (too loud), being late, abusing your opponent and showing disrespect to others – are not good things to do.
By the way – what is it – respect to the opponent? First, it’s making you and your army easy to percept. No matter if it’s a sport game at the tournament or friendly play in the cozy club with tea and sweets – you shouldn’t make the game harder to each other. Here are two important things – painting and WYSIWYG.
Of course, you can’t always keep your army fully painted. There are new miniatures which you can’t wait to try in game, old miniatures, that are in the middle of re-painting – it’s totally OK to have unpainted miniatures on the battleboard. Anyway, you have (hopefully) a lot of other interesting things in life rather than painting miniatures day and night – everyone will understand it. But when you bring a COMPLETELY unpainted army just because you don’t want to paint it… Well, this is pure disrespect to your opponent. A lot of players don’t sleep at nights just to make their armies look nice before the important game. Just imagine how do they feel when they see your attitude. Don’t be lazy. It’s better to put off the game than to bring mostly unpainted army.
I could talk about WYSIWYG forever. I’ve met guys who use toy soldiers on the wargame bases, the guys who don’t use miniatures at all – all they have is just a bunch of signed (not all of them) paper circles. If you’ve decided to substitute the original miniatures, be sure that they are at least recognizable. No one likes to look into the piles of messy resign trying to distinct one from another. It doesn’t mean that your opponent can say who is who in your army if you can do so. And, in general, it’s better not to use too many alternative miniatures. One-two characters are nice, but the whole army made of the different models is a challenge.
Another important part of the right attitude is rules knowledge. And not only your rules. Spend some time before the game just to learn the basics of the opponent’s army. Of course, if you are going to take part in the tournament you are likely to be an experienced player and know most of the rules. So, this advice is only for the friendly play. Also, repeat your own rules. This won’t be bad for you anyway. You may even get use some advantages if you know all the insights of your army by heart. And your opponent won’t have to wait for ages until you find the page in your armybook. This saves time for both of you. Also, it’s a good idea to have all the rules with you. No matter – in paper or in a tablet. No one has to believe you. So, be sure that you have the rules for all of your units nearby. It’s a must.
Knowledge of the rules leads to following them. Don’t try to cheat. Why? No matter if you win or lose, it won’t change your life dramatically. But if you are caught cheating, you’ll lose respect of all the community members. Do you really need it?
Don’t nitpick. Don’t create an argument everywhere and don’t check every step of your opponent with a ruler. Sure, you need to watch and control everything so that not to be cheated. But try to do it gently and not that obviously. Also, be tolerant to the opponent’s mistakes. Let him change something if he forgot to move a squad recently. You don’t know if you might need to do the same the next turn. If the moment is critically important for the game result – of course, there should be no remorse. But in general, don’t make a drama of every missing inch. Don’t let the war spread over the battleboard.
And the last one – be careful with miniatures. No matter if you are playing or just came here to watch. Don’t touch people’s models without permission. And if you have one – just try to be really careful – some people can kill you if you hurt their beloved miniatures.
That’s it! By following these simple rules you can become a pleasant opponent and a welcomed guest everywhere, no matter what wargame you play.
