Strictly Average

I saw this great pic on a site I ran across today:

http://thinkingoutsidetheboxof40k.blogspot.com/

Peachykeen will be in Chicago this weekend, having taken 1st in the previous round. He has a particularly potent double-Council list that is a great example of competition builds. I agreed with and appreciated his POV on tournament play: give it a read if you have time.

Here's my view on tournaments:

There is a difference between the type of list you'd take to your FLGS and what you'd take to a serious competition. There is nothing wrong with wanting to win, so bring your best and throw down. Honor is a much derided concept these days, but it deserves mention. I won't cheat or bend rules, I won't fuck over someone with softscores or vote-block a friend in, and this is my minimum expectation for my opponent. But it is MY responsibility to protect myself; I can't assume someone I've just met holds to the same morals I do. I won't let someone walk over me, regardless of if he has a smile on his face or not. There are plenty of players on the circuit who let their ego override their good behavior.

Which is not to say mistakes don't happen. I've played since Rogue Trader, like many of you out there. When you've seen that many editions its hard not to screw up the occasional rule. Call me on it, if I'm wrong I'll apologize. I'll call you on it if I think you've made a mistake. If I think you're deliberately cheating... that's a whole new set of standards.

I don't mind if the dude on the other end of the table isn't a nice guy or a lot of laughs. Of course I prefer to play someone chill with a sense of humor, but at the end of the day that's my standard, not his - who's to say he needs to like me? Nothing, period. Not everyone gets along. So while I try to get along with everyone and pride myself on being a good sport with a sense of humor, I won't try to force camaraderie that doesn't exist, but I do expect common courtesy. If someone is deliberately goading me, that's a problem that doesn't have anything to do with a game of toy soldiers.

Basically, I try to follow the Golden Rule, but with Brent's Corollary: 'Some People Are Just Chowderheads.' You know who I'm talking about; these are the people whose parents didn't beat them enough as children.

And to be PC I mean punish, not abuse. Stupid school teaching me standards...

By following this standard, I tend to really enjoy the events I attend. I want to win but I don't mind losing a fairly played game. At the end of the day, it is just a game, and I do this stuff because I enjoy it and it's great stress relief.

I hope to meet and play a lot of great players in Chicago this weekend! I haven't finalized a list yet - as I've said here, I've been really struggling trying to update my Hybrid style. I'll post on that later this week, I'm sure.

I also have three more games from BOLSCON to cover!

Take care all - Brent