Top 5 Pet Hates

[Leman (Andy)]

Pretty similar in my club - some members, including me, sometimes turn up not to play a game but just to see what's going on, have a chat, paint figures, organise armies (it is a permanent set up, so many armies are stored there), sort out terrain items and even paint the premises. I've even had a couple of solo games down there when everyone else has been involved in other projects. Pretty much anything goes.

[Leslie BT]

You forgot the cup of tea or something stronger and the biscuits!!

[Leman (Andy)]

Coffee/tea making is catered for, as is bring your own Soviet hip flask.

[Duncan]

Whilst we have tea and coffee, that is it. Even then the kitchen is down some steps and being crippled it is hard for me to negotiate them. Therefore I usually have to rely on there to get it for me.

We never have an after club meeting in the pub (which when I joined I had assumed would be something that automatically happened.) as people want to get home to their other halves I am told. I know that my wife expects me home by just after ten as well and we had an incident where I was late one time and it caused a big argument in which my continued attendance at the club was in doubt until other club members interceded on my behalf.

[mellis1644]

I'll add people who never paint their models but expect to use them.

I'm very happy to provide toys to people who don't have painted forces but don't just keep bringing unpainted/just undercoated models and want to play with them. They don't have to be great but make an effort as it's better than the deadly silver or black undercoated army - see my blog for examples of ok stuff, which IMO are good on the table top. Nothing spoiled the visual effect than unpainted models.

P.S. I am envious/in awe of the superb paint skills of some people as well - but that's a different item. I just can't get to that level of skill

[Leman (Andy)]

Tbh I've only ever known that to happen once at our club; a huge array of undercoated space orks (surprise, surprise).

[Duncan]

I've seen a lot of unpainted armies in my time. Not good in my opinion either.mif it isn't painted then it isn't ready to be played with.

[steve_holmes_11]

Thought I'd have a go, but find myself struggling because I'm normally pretty calm and chilled..

1. Slow Play - the absolute bugbear - ditherers who hum, harr and don't seem to think ahead at all.
2. That guy who drifts off when it's "not his move" - then drifts back having completely lost the place, dithers, humms, harrs "Are those cavalry mine or yours?"
3. "What score do I need?" (J.R.T.B.D.) - frequently uttered by slow playing guy.
4. Rules / scenarios where both sides edge forward at a fixed rate, then die in a big scrum on the table's centre-line.
5. Pikes and all aspects of models that bear them.

[Martin Smith]

Definitely slow play! Rather lose quick than draw (or die of boredom 😳). I regularly play  DBA 'fast play' ancients, and my worst moments are when a player takes forever to move, regardless of whether they threw a 6 or a 1 for initiative.
(That said, I'd still prefer them to turn up and play than stay away....more the merrier)

[martin goddard]

Just some thoughts to add to the fire/conversation.

Slow play can be caused be a variety of circumstances.
Firstly it is relative. If both players are slow, then then play speed is fine for those players.
If a rule set has a lot of moving parts then play is slowed. DBA has relatively few moving parts but yes some folk can go slow.

Here are some  mechanisms put  into RFCM rule sets deliberately, to allow players to play faster.

1. In the new pirate sea fight, there is a compulsory order of ship  motivation/action. Players have to use their ships in the order the record sheets are laid out (left to right).
2. Square bashing insists on a right to left motivation/action order. This allows players to focus on a small area of the game, before moving on to the next.

Rule familiarity.
Some players find rules hard to assimilate and thus are a bit adrift when decisions have to be made.

Having a plan
Ability to keep changing your mind. This is very popular in the current "blow things up" small figure count 25mm games. This type of game should speed up  play, because each turn will not affect future turns, in terms of commitment to a plan. However it often leads to a slower player considering every option before continuing.

Many of the current quick play crop:-
The figures can easily move to  a very different position and merely react to what had happened. So the process is "move some figures according to a 1 turn plan", "watch opponent move his", "make up a new plan for the current turn", "repeat". Then throw in some game changing random cards

I enjoy a game more, wherein the players have to follow a plan (in the main) once committed to it. Changing a plan should cause  detriment to a player's game outcome.  Units deployed on the left will never fight on the right. Not enough time to sweep around the table with a super unit "vacuuming" up opposition .

Only personal thoughts, not applicable to others i expect.

Happy new year.

[steve_holmes_11]

Excellent points Martin.

I'm particularly impressed that game mechanisms are selected for ease / speed of play (We need a lot more of this).

My own epiphany was reading DBA and comparing the ease and speed of resolution to WRG 6 or 7.
Things DBA have gone south a bit since then with players inventing atrocities like mooning, and a sequence of revisions that sem to have added complexity back in (curse the denizens!!).

I find it extremely difficult to remember status between rounds of play.
It's OK in the early rounds, but all seems to go out the window when forces meet and cross cold-steel.
That biases me toward stateless games (The type where you move each turn as opposed to sticky orders).
It sounds quite bland, but provides a challenging game if combined with an appropriate command friction mechanism.

[Martin Smith]

Steve, what's "mooning", in a DBA sense? Not a term I've heard.

Martin S

[steve_holmes_11]

Mooning is a villanous practice used to exploit overlaps in the DBx families.

Imagine 2 lines meeting following a group move, the longer line will enjoy overlaps.

Now imagine instead, the flank unit makes an independent move.
This move takes it slightly away from, and past the enemy flank into the rear.
It then slides slightly sideways to a position where it impedes any potential enemy recoil.

If they lose the fight, the enemy element is now destroyed since it cannot recoil.
Mooning, since you're presenting your butt to the enemy.


I understand that movement and ZOC rules may have been modified in different versions to mitigate this practice, but it has been a perennial grumble.

[Colonel Kilgore]

Ah - so it's the same as "the buttocks of death"?

[SimonC]

similar, but "buttocks" could be just the front corner. Its bee around for over 20 years now, and really was indicative of DBx 'accidentally committing suicide' in the competition scene. That said there are similar 'moves' in ALDG (love child of DBM and FOG) so someone must like it !