Tuesday, August 24, 2010

The First Step to a Great Game is a Little Pre-Game Ritual

Alright, we all know that whether its a pick-up game or a tournament, players can get a little heated at times on the table. One of the things I noticed in my recent experience as a judge is that 4 out of five times, the serious beef comes from people not knowing the other person's list or from them not being introduced to the opponent's army as it was deployed - then finding themselves suprised by a conversion or by what was in that Land Raider during Dawn of War deployment.
.
This can be remedied with a little pre-game introduction and talking across the table at the start of the game - afterall, we are all human and we should be happy to play a gamne whether it be with a friend or with a stranger who shares our interests in playing with little space men.
.
I usually start by explaining my list and offering the opponent a chance to look it over if they want. Most people don't, so I deploy and as I do, I just let them know what's in the vehicles, what any and all conversions are (this is a must if you proxy or count as too), so there is no confusion about what any of the models are or what they represent.
.
I hope the opponent does the same for me and they usually do. If not, I just ask what stuff is - no big deal. I also use this opportunity to joke around with them and guage their mood, manner and whether or not we are going to have fun or if we are just going to stare at each other for 3 hours (I like to laugh and have fun while I play so hopefully, the opponent isn't planning to do the later).
.
With a little bit of talk, you can dispell any assumptions about the opponent's army, you have achieved a mutual understanding and can now carry on to a better game of 40k.
.
That's my two cents - what do you do with your opponent when you start a game? Are you all friendly or are you super serious? Do you disclose or do you hide your toys and hope to dupe an opponent for the victory?

3 comments:

  1. I do the exact same thing. I explain what I have as I put it out, or I'll deploy it all and then go over what I have. In tournaments I print extra copies to give to each of my opponents. If I'm playing my Orks and someone isn't familiar with them I will use Imperial terms for stuff since everyone is familiar with those terms, well most anyway. So, my rokkit is a missile launcher, my deffguns are autocannons, big shoota is a heavy bolter (close enough anyway), etc.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Should not really be surprised by what is in a land raider in Dawn of War. At most it can have a troop choice and an attached HQ IC leaving the rest of the board empty. If he did not tell you he attached him at the start of the game then he did not deploy him and he is not in there.

    ReplyDelete
  3. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete