Conceding defeat?

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**TheNewBlood**

For the second time ever, I conceded at a tournament before time was called. Before you judge this, hear me out:

This was a local Maelstrom of War tournament that was done for fun rather than beating each others faces. However, we all ended up taking competitive lists none the same, so we all knew what we were in for. My first match was my first against new Tau.

The Tau player (who it should be noted is actually a great sportsman) brought a Stormsurge, Infiltration Cadre, Riptide Wing, and a Buffmander at 1850 points. Now, this is powerful, but still to be expected at this level of competition, especially against my Eldar.

What pushed this to an extreme was the following: the Tau player rolled the Warlord Trait on the Strategic Table that lets you Infiltrate up to three units, and rolled a six. He had won the rolloff to go first, and deployed first. After I deployed, he then infiltrated the Stormsurge, Infiltration Cadre, and Riptide Wing exactly eighteen inches from my army, which had many units lying in reserve.

Needless to say, by turn three I had nearly been tabled and more importantly was way behind in Maelstrom points. And this despite the fact that my opponent was having terrible dice luck, having apparently used his only blessing of the dice gods to win the game at deployment. While I was frustrated by the first turn, I had stuck around and played out two more full turns with my opponent. But after my turn three, having only managed to wipe a unit of Fire Warriors of the board and all the damage to his Riptides being entirely self-inflicted, I decided that there was no point continuing the match. I stuck out my hand, said "Good game" to my opponent, and conceded.

I don't feel that I was in the wrong, and my opponent was gracious to me afterward, with neither of us blaming the other for what had happened. Anyway, I just felt like sharing my story.

**tau tse tung**

If there's no way back then I let the player give up after turn 3. That's been the case with me getting destroyed and my rule for others. Turn 3 is long enough I feel. If the loser wants to carry on let them. It's the sign of a very good player and I will keep on too if they do. The worst defeat I ever saw wasn't a kid moaning or a grown man crying but I was in a tornament once against smashfether. I was ill and wanted to go home. My oponnent was losing and rolling very badly against my flyers. He refused to give up and called and draw. I was winning 5-1. He would not leave me leave (even though I was sick) unless I called the draw. I let him since my health is more important than a 40k match. I also left with my dignity intact which I'm not sure than man in his 40s did...

**vipoid**

rowboatjellyfanxiii wrote:
vipoid wrote:
Could you not have just asked to see his list in the first game?

I did, and he didnt write points down.

**JamesY**

I only concede if I have so little left on the table that it's unlikely I'll be able to inflict another wound on the opponent, and they still have most of their army left on the table. I remember when the last woodelf book came out, I played against it with my ogres and battered the guy. Two weeks later, he's figured out the army, and by the end of his turn 1, I had less than half my army left (thanks shades and purple sun!). I felt like giving up before even going through with my first turn. Although I lost, the satisfaction of nearly turning it around and beating him was immense, and one of the best games I've ever played.

**rowboatjellyfanxiii**

I did play against one bloke who picked up my metal RT Dreadnought (You know where this is going), threw it at a wall, it bounced off, hit him in the head, giving him a concussion.

Because it killed a goddamn Shadowsword straight out of it's pod.

Never went back there again.

**vipoid**

Honestly, I think I'm more likely to concede based on whether a game is fun then whether I can still win.

I don't mind playing out an obvious loss if the game is still fun, but I have no interest in prolonging the tedium of a dull game even if I might be able to scrape back a win.

**AndrewGPaul**

That. ^

I've been in games where one side or both didn't really want to carry on. In some cases, it wasn't even that we said "right, let's pack it in." It was just that we paused for a tea break and just ... never got back to it.

I play these games for fun. It it's not fun, then why bother? We'll go and do something that is fun instead.

**dusara217**

I feel like the only acceptable time to surrender is when your opponent is about to win, knows he's about to win, knows you have no hope of winning, and decides to drag the game out another half-hour, instead of just finishing you off; those kinds of people piss me off, especially when I'm playing monopoly or 40k.

EDIT: clarified initial clause

**Ir0njack**

There has only been one game in recent memory where I've thrown in the towel. It was with my admech vs the local daemons player. By the 3rd turn he had wiped out 1600 of a 1850 list and I had managed to remove a squad of three nurglings. It might have been a tourny, but needles to say I wasn't having fun anymore and that is the whole reason I play the game.

If the prospects are so grim that there REALLY is no way for me to win, draw, or even hold out decently to the last turn I'm not above giving up. I like to make stories out of my games, and a one sided curb stomping just isn't good material.