Almost all of us have them, in some form or another. Mine have been ingrained into me from a young age by my father.
First up was the number one rule when I was a kid. No figures ever make an appearance on the table top in public unless they are painted. At home in the garage while testing out an army was acceptable, but still frowned upon.
I have lightened up on this as I get older, I am less of a painting snob now than I was 10 years ago. Now I will cut my opponents some slack and play a with them even if their army is unpainted for the first couple of games, but I expect progress to be made every month. Painting is a part of the hobby as a whole, I see nothing wrong with this attitude.
I still won't go down to the LGS with unpainted mini's, I just don't have it in me. Now don't get me wrong I don't look down upon those who won't paint their mini's, I am just not going to game with them for years facing hordes of unpainted minis. Wargaming is a visual hobby and unpainted miniatures spoil the spectacle for me.
Second is the much talked about dice superstition. Don't ever touch my dice unless I give you explicit permission. This comes from years gaming with my younger brother, because every time he would touch my dice they would start rolling poorly. I almost never roll the same dice for two sets of rolls in a row. I don't remember when this quirk started but it is just an oddity that I do.
Thirdly I hate when other players start telling me the odds of success or failure of thinks I do on the table. I don't care what you think; let me quote Han Solo from Empire Strikes Back.
"Never tell me the odds"
This game may be about math to you, but it ain't to me. If I choose to take a chance or do something radical just let me be, and don't be shocked when it works out for me. You know how the old saying goes, fortune favors the bold!
So those are the quirks that are my most prevalent.
What about you, what quirks do you have?
I start all of my dice on one side of the board and as I roll them I move them to the other side of the board so that every die gets a turn before another one is rolled twice. I like to use the same dice that hit on the to wound roll since otherwise I think I'd look neurotic. 2/3+ saves I like to roll flippantly as though there is no chance that I'll fail and when I cause a large group of wounds with large blasts I have to split the dice into two uneven groups and roll them in two sets one after the other. If I forget which side has the fresh dice there is a short tapping ritual to set things right.
ReplyDeleteObviously I do not have the same quirks that you do. :-)
ReplyDeleteThe one thing we share in common however is the fact that we do not like people to touch our dice. For me it is all about the MOJO.
My other quirk is people who do not have their own tape measure. Still can't figure those people out.
Interesting stuff there guys!
ReplyDeleteJoe, I'm digging the tapping on the table if you mix up the dice piles, that's great!
Mags, people who don't pack a tape measure are annoying!
If I role any ones I will immediately use those same dice next in the hope that they will redeem themselves. Six's go into the role later pile, they have done their work for the emperor and can take a break.
ReplyDeleteThis made me laugh Jim, although I ain't a stickler for the painted minis I am an utter twat when it comes to people touching my dice lol. My mates know not to do it but when your at tourneys people sometimes pick them up, they only need telling once though ;)
ReplyDeleteI'm not quite the stickler for painted minis you are but I would definately rather play against an opponent with nicely painted miniatures that will compliment my own.
ReplyDeleteI have a hard time playing with unpainted minis now that I have completed two painted armies.
Thanks for the comments. My painting quirk is an extremely old school thing, that I happen to agree with.
ReplyDeleteThe unpainted miniatures issue is a relatively new issue, that started bout 12 years ago, and it just gets worse every year.
I have a whole post on painting and miniature wargaming to put up next week.
Haha, the comment about 'never tell me the odds' is a good one :)
ReplyDeleteI agree completely about unpainted minis - The problem is it's generally the same players who never seem to make an attempt, and also drop the bar even lower with appalling proxying attempts. Take this an extension further, and you often have players who, while not deliberately rough with your models, care nothing for their own and so in crammed assaults and whatnot it often ends up with a lovingly painted miniature of your own inspecting the flock on the table.
As a final point which is related to this, my current project is an orc army. This is in no small part because I NEVER seem to come up against a well painted or modelled force of greenskins. I say greenskins, but sadly its often black or grey skins. Of the 3 orc armies at my club, 1 of them has most of the boyz as armless, 1 resembles something from playmobil, and the other uses WFB movement trays to represent a kult of speed..
So, its more out of a feeling of loss that the most characterful and colorful of all the races seems to have the worst representation.. I don't know how it is with orc forces in other peoples areas!
Thanks Pacific for you great comments. I'm glad you like the quote! It is my fav Han Solo one!
ReplyDeleteI am lucky that the Ork player I regularly face was introduced by me to the hobby. So he is all about nicely painted minis!
I have to say your list of quirks is a list of my own. I have actually been called (jokingly) a paint snob by the host of where we play weekly.
ReplyDeleteI actually found that when I have played with a model that was unpainted, I tended to become complacent in accepting that model is 'table ready' and never move forward with it. I've since corrected this with extreme prejudice.
I think my biggest concern with other armies that aren't painted (other than what you pointed out above) is that I like to photograph some games, especially funny or interesting situations, and unpainted/finished models take away from the photo.
Glad to know I'm not alone in my peeves. :)