In this episode the guys are joined by Geoff Robinson to discuss the Broadside Bash!
32 thoughts on “Signals From The Frontline #429”
I can only agree with opponent scored sportsmanship being a terrible idea. As an aspie tournaments are one of the few chances for fun sociliciation I got (cause every interaction follows rules in a lot of ways) and I try my best to be nice but there is no way arround the fact some people just fucking hate me because I give of all the wrong looks and smiles and all that shit.
And that’s apart from the fact it just has all those faults you mention already.
Ranked Sportsmanship is the best system I’ve come across. It’s not perfect, but it’s harder to chipmunk than many, and works well for creating a lot of variance in the score.
I always hated it because I never wanted to give anyone less than a top mark. I really strongly disliked having to give someone a 1 or 2, etc. It always felt like an insult to them. I rarely have a bad game and honestly feel like 99% of my opponents deserve a top mark. I strongly feel that a sports score does not belong in competitive 40k. Honestly, I was actually surprised to even see it on the score sheet. I have gotten so used to it not being a part of the game any more.
I still don’t see how a ranked system would overcome any of the obstacles they discuss in the podcast. Even if a ranked system softens the blow of low scores, it’s still completely subjective and will be used to lower “good” players scores by the “unsportsmanlike” players.
@Reecius: The flip side is that you HAVE to give someone max points. It keeps people from just zeroing all their Opponents. And yeah, it can be really hard to rank, and it’s important to emphasize that a 1 isn’t necessarily a bad thing, like CaptainA says.
Now, if you end up with 1s from everyone, you might want to have a bit of a think about how you’re approaching the game. But that should be extraordinarily rare.
Sportsmanship is tricky, but something I think is still very necessary to include in a meaningful way.
As a player, I can paint my army to a good standard, build a solid list, and be ready to destroy every army on the table, AND THEN earning votes for Favourite Opponent on top of that is the height of competition in my books.
Shoutout to Joshua Dearth for being the winningest sportsman of tabling people.
On the flipside, I’ve played people who have cheated or been terrible sportsmen, and then end up chipmunking my score after losing. That is the deepest darkest side to soft scores.
Remember when you needed to be an adequate general, not a jerk, and a decent painter to win first prize? Then best general was the most battle points… I’ve come to miss those days.
Yeah but at the same time, you shouldn’t have to be a great painter to have any chance to win, you know? It means if you’re not a good painter you can’t win, which isn’t fun.
Worse is the people who are able to pay someone else to paint their army and then get bonus points as a result. Talk about pay to win… Again, great in concept, but doesn’t translate to a fair environment for all to compete
Besides, that’s why there was Best Overall and Best General. If you can’t paint and don’t want to learn (or simply don’t have time), then there is still a good prize to go for, but when you only emphasize winning at all cost and ignoring the rest of the hobby… Well, we can all see what the armies have become, haha.
Josh is awesome. My favorite Opponent at TSHFT. And the only reason he didn’t table me is that I called it at the end of Turn 3, when he still had all his Knights on the board and I had literally nothing left that could even scratch them.
I can only agree with opponent scored sportsmanship being a terrible idea. As an aspie tournaments are one of the few chances for fun sociliciation I got (cause every interaction follows rules in a lot of ways) and I try my best to be nice but there is no way arround the fact some people just fucking hate me because I give of all the wrong looks and smiles and all that shit.
And that’s apart from the fact it just has all those faults you mention already.
Yeah, it is a good idea in theory but works poorly in application.
We use a ranking system at Guardian Cup and it has worked quite well as a whole.
Ranking sports from 1 to 5? But then you have to give someone a 1, haha, even if they don’t deserve it.
A genuine winner has always risen to the top and we talk about it beforehand that a 1 isn’t a low sports score.
Ranked Sportsmanship is the best system I’ve come across. It’s not perfect, but it’s harder to chipmunk than many, and works well for creating a lot of variance in the score.
I always hated it because I never wanted to give anyone less than a top mark. I really strongly disliked having to give someone a 1 or 2, etc. It always felt like an insult to them. I rarely have a bad game and honestly feel like 99% of my opponents deserve a top mark. I strongly feel that a sports score does not belong in competitive 40k. Honestly, I was actually surprised to even see it on the score sheet. I have gotten so used to it not being a part of the game any more.
I still don’t see how a ranked system would overcome any of the obstacles they discuss in the podcast. Even if a ranked system softens the blow of low scores, it’s still completely subjective and will be used to lower “good” players scores by the “unsportsmanlike” players.
@Reecius: The flip side is that you HAVE to give someone max points. It keeps people from just zeroing all their Opponents. And yeah, it can be really hard to rank, and it’s important to emphasize that a 1 isn’t necessarily a bad thing, like CaptainA says.
Now, if you end up with 1s from everyone, you might want to have a bit of a think about how you’re approaching the game. But that should be extraordinarily rare.
Maybe A through E instead?
Sportsmanship is tricky, but something I think is still very necessary to include in a meaningful way.
As a player, I can paint my army to a good standard, build a solid list, and be ready to destroy every army on the table, AND THEN earning votes for Favourite Opponent on top of that is the height of competition in my books.
Shoutout to Joshua Dearth for being the winningest sportsman of tabling people.
On the flipside, I’ve played people who have cheated or been terrible sportsmen, and then end up chipmunking my score after losing. That is the deepest darkest side to soft scores.
Remember when you needed to be an adequate general, not a jerk, and a decent painter to win first prize? Then best general was the most battle points… I’ve come to miss those days.
Yeah but at the same time, you shouldn’t have to be a great painter to have any chance to win, you know? It means if you’re not a good painter you can’t win, which isn’t fun.
Worse is the people who are able to pay someone else to paint their army and then get bonus points as a result. Talk about pay to win… Again, great in concept, but doesn’t translate to a fair environment for all to compete
You won’t get any better if you don’t practice. Obi didn’t win best painted by not practicing. 🙂
Besides, that’s why there was Best Overall and Best General. If you can’t paint and don’t want to learn (or simply don’t have time), then there is still a good prize to go for, but when you only emphasize winning at all cost and ignoring the rest of the hobby… Well, we can all see what the armies have become, haha.
I’ve been playing 40k for 20 years… I was a shit painter then… I am a shit painter now and there has been lots of practice lol
For me those were the days then people with good fake smiles and enough cash to have pro painted armies got everything. As with the rest of life.
Josh is awesome. My favorite Opponent at TSHFT. And the only reason he didn’t table me is that I called it at the end of Turn 3, when he still had all his Knights on the board and I had literally nothing left that could even scratch them.
Link to any pics?
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=pictures
I loled!
when will we be getting the interim FAQ ?
GW’s Warhammer 40,000 FB-page said “first batch will be coming next week” last friday.
We’re aiming to get to that this week. Been hectic with the BSB and a bunch of guests in town, etc.
Baneblade formation was BattleGroup Hammerblow.
Thanks for the game Reece, my favorite one of the Broadside!
That was a great game, buddy! Had a blast.
Were can we find the lists? 🙂
You can’t =) We’re trying to gather some of them.
Death Cultists with a Priest: “I call that a melee unit, but anyway…” haha, yes.
Lol, right? Hardly a deathstar =P
Lol .. crazy Julio tabling his opponent on the 2nd table to sneak in to second place