Sportsmanship- How to conduct yourself
by TheAngelR

OK, this a "soft" topic. I'm only writing this since yesterday I saw a 40k battle that actaully ended in a massive arguement and a fight was only avoided when the GW staff took one of them outside the store to cool-off!

One kid was playing an Eldar army with 3 wrathlords in it.

The other was a Dark Eldar player.

Bascially the Dark Eldar player dominated. All his sybarites had combat drugs and agonisers. When all three of the Wrathlords was taken down by a combined attack, of the Archon and 3 raider squads, the eldar player started screaming "Beard!". Now the other player wasn't much better replying "Well I wasn't the one who took 3 Wrathlords, your fault!". And it just got worse. Eventually the Dark Eldar player was very annoyed and walked around a started pushing the Eldar player around. At this point I stepped in and separated them, and the GW staff took out the DE player to allow the situation to defuse.

This kind of scenes degrade the hobby a great deal. It shouldn't happen. So a quick few pointers that you should always follow.

1. If your plan goes to pot, and you are getting soundly beaten (The blitz battle where BABE got a whooping by Imperial Guard is an example), don't get in a strop. 40K battles are heavily-based on luck and everything is randomised so your plan will not always work! Keep your head on straight.

2. Rules disputing is really common nowadays. If you get in a twist about them, ask an independent body such as GW staff. Or you simply let the other player have his way. This really shows you are sporting. Better to avoid an arguement altogether rather than to win one.

3. Never call another army "cheese". This really shows your immaturity. All armies can be beatenwith a little effort.

4. If you feel like you are getting dragged into an arguement over your army, let them win. It's better to lose with honour, than to win in disgrace. They are not worth your time.

5. If your opponet, is a new player, don't go full blast! Turn it down and let him get to grips with the game. You gain much more happiness after a bit when you suddenly realise that new kid isn't messing around and he's become very good, rather than pounding his body into the dust straight away and possibly make him quit.

6. If you lost. Congratulate them. Don't be a sore loser. Remember, you can always challenge him again later and show him a thing or two of what you can really do!

7. Show mercy. If you are winning by a large margin, ask if he wants to resign and let his men live. Remember, the roles can easily be reversed!

OK? Remember a large part of becoming a true "veteran" is sportmanship!

AngelR

~ TheAngelR