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The insult was "I am a warmonger because I play games that celebrate war"

I can deal with individuals saying my hobby is geeky or nerdy. in fact personal insults like that don't even register. but calling me a warmonger caught me off guard. I don't really have a comeback for that insult. I don't see myself as a warmonger and I don't see anyone else who plays table top war games as warmongers either.

Any way I just wanted to vent a little

Shows their ignorance; 40k was originally a parody of humanity's dark side. There's nothing celebratory about it.

Gamingdog wrote:
The insult was "I am a warmonger because I play games that celebrate war"

I can deal with individuals saying my hobby is geeky or nerdy. in fact personal insults like that don't even register. but calling me a warmonger caught me off guard. I don't really have a comeback for that insult. I don't see myself as a warmonger and I don't see anyone else who plays table top war games as warmongers either.

Any way I just wanted to vent a little

1. Your response should be..wait you're trying to insult the warmonger? "Thats not very smart" THEN
2. Employ the whippy sticks of ultimate ouchy. They will run screaming from your senseless warmongering. It what they are for.

Someone insulting you as a warmonger? Tell that guy to go back to his liberal arts studies.

Gamingdog wrote:
The insult was "I am a warmonger because I play games that celebrate war"

I can deal with individuals saying my hobby is geeky or nerdy. in fact personal insults like that don't even register. but calling me a warmonger caught me off guard. I don't really have a comeback for that insult. I don't see myself as a warmonger and I don't see anyone else who plays table top war games as warmongers either.

Any way I just wanted to vent a little

Yea it sounds like he disarmed you with his stupid. But anyway presenting is not the same thing as endorsing. People need to remember that.

A very odd insult. Sort of like calling someone who plays cards a royalist. Is this someone you knew or just some random lunatic? If the former, I would genuinely be interested in why they felt that way. If the latter, a raised eyebrow and head shake would suffice.

 Sigvatr wrote:
Someone insulting you as a warmonger? Tell that guy to go back to his liberal arts studies.

Just simply Agree and Amplify.

Turn your back, walk away calmly and scream BLOOD! FOR THE BLOOD GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!!!!!

 Blood Hawk wrote:

Gamingdog wrote:
The insult was "I am a warmonger because I play games that celebrate war"

I can deal with individuals saying my hobby is geeky or nerdy. in fact personal insults like that don't even register. but calling me a warmonger caught me off guard. I don't really have a comeback for that insult. I don't see myself as a warmonger and I don't see anyone else who plays table top war games as warmongers either.

Any way I just wanted to vent a little

Yea it sounds like he disarmed you with his stupid. But anyway presenting is not the same thing as endorsing. People need to remember that.

Its times like these when I've learned to double down on the stupid. Its almost like I was born for "stupid" fights...oh wait.

hypothetically one could just go full stupid and hit them with a rock. You win and they feel superior because you proved them right.

 Sigvatr wrote:
Someone insulting you as a warmonger? Tell that guy to go back to his liberal arts studies.

Hey now! Studying liberal arts doesn't necessarily mean you think playing with toy soldiers makes you a warmonger.


The person who said that obviously doesn't know anything about miniature wargames in general, and is making sweeping observations based on the gross lack of knowledge and experience of the subject. If it's a friend or someone who you think it's worth your time to explain, you can try to explain to them that that's a ridiculous suggestion and doesn't mean anything of the sort, no more than reading books about war makes you a warmonger, or watching action movies or war movies makes you a warmonger, or watching news coverage of war makes you a warmonger, and so on and so forth.

But if you don't think they're worth your time to explain it, then I would just not worry about it.

I guess he thinks you are playing at war I guess.

Its a strange insult... I see you are in the US. When I lived there, most jaunts would be turned around if I just agreed with them in an exaggerrated manner.


Its too late for "this is what you should have said", but:

I'd go something like: "Yes of course... You have an eye for details... I am a real hardcore warmonger.... Thats why I collect plastic sci-fi toys, paint them and play around with other pacifist nerds in the toy store. Not everyone would recognize the hostility in this, but you did. Well done! I applaud you!"

If people who play wargames with plastic toy soldiers are warmongers, than 99.9% of the world populations must be.
In that case, you can tell him, that being a warmonger is not bad.
Also, steal his fedora and hide it.

Plastic warmonger Just keep in mind these are little plastic toys. They aren't really that important one way or the other. Your also not required to care what someone thinks.

Gamingdog I empathize. I had an ex girlfriend throw a similar comment at me. That isn't why she is an ex, but it was done right around the time the relationship began to fray so I think she was just blindly trying to say something "hurtful" and get a reaction out of me. I don't recall how I reacted, but I probably laughed which likely only pissed her off more.

As others have pointed out the insult itself is stupid and defies logic. If this ever comes up again try and laugh it off. Perhaps the person saying such nonsense is just trying to get a rise out of you. When in doubt give them the creepy Stewie smile as you agree with the warmongering label. Sell it with your eyes. Let them experience unquenchable blood thirst reflected in your steely-eyed gaze as you smile. Just say nothing and smile.

My response would have been " ... and your point is?"

It's my hobby, NOT theirs. I couldn't give two feths what they think about it.

Hell, I refer to my hobby as "playing with mandollies" and the pieces as "toy soldiers" if anyone asks me.

I also can't understand gamers who hook up with SOs that despise their hobbies ...I mean, the sex can't have been THAT good. The respect thing comes into it, and if they can't (or you can't) respect their hobbies, then that's a deal breaker anyway.

 chromedog wrote:
I also can't understand gamers who hook up with SOs that despise their hobbies ...I mean, the sex can't have been THAT good. The respect thing comes into it, and if they can't (or you can't) respect their hobbies, then that's a deal breaker anyway.

Me neither. I have heard of people "revealing" their interest in war gaming to a SO after a predesignated time so as not to scare the other person off. I can't stand that sort of self-hating behavior because it legitimizes the mindset that war gaming is an embarrassing hobby.

We should all be proud of this hobby. It is challenging and creative, but most importantly there is no reason to give someone else power over your interests. Not even for a hot piece of ass.

Just prove his point by rallying your nerd troops to go take over his house.

tat will show him.....wait a sec.

I would doubt that you are in an actual social position to actually be a warmonger.

noun:
a sovereign or political leader or activist who encourages or advocates aggression or warfare toward other nations or groups.

The person that called you such has no fething clue what they are talking about.

Rebuttal: Ask if they play Monopoly, how do they feel about economic warfare and the userous policies that are represented in Monopoly and that it is a cutthroat game in which you strive to drive your opponents to financial ruin.

Wargaming is the opposite of war. It's well organized, clean, constructive fun.

Nomeny wrote:
Wargaming is the opposite of war. It's well organized, clean, constructive fun.

Not if Doritos are involved!

Nomeny wrote:
Wargaming is the opposite of war. It's well organized, clean, constructive fun.

Wow... so much this... Ohh, and you can drink in the proper venues, and it isn't generally "hell" unless you're playing against TFG

I would have had a hard time keeping a straight face if someone called me a warmonger. That would have made me laugh.

I don't think I could take any offense from someone who cannot distinguish pushing plastic models around and rolling dice from actual warfare.

I'd be more concerned with their mental status.

 Alex C wrote:
I don't think I could take any offense from someone who cannot distinguish pushing plastic models around and rolling dice from actual warfare.

I agree with this, it'd be more appropriate to call us 'dicemongers' than anything

If only he didn't stun you with his sheer stupidity... I wish you could have said back "BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE!"

Gamingdog wrote:
The insult was "I am a warmonger because I play games that celebrate war"

I can deal with individuals saying my hobby is geeky or nerdy. in fact personal insults like that don't even register. but calling me a warmonger caught me off guard. I don't really have a comeback for that insult. I don't see myself as a warmonger and I don't see anyone else who plays table top war games as warmongers either.

Any way I just wanted to vent a little

We live in a world where people scream bloody murder over the most inane nonsense you can imagine, so really I wouldn't worry about it.

Alternatively, flip bout entirely, start a Tumblr blog about it, and start asking for donations on Patreon to help you through this tough time.

There are some people out there with some extraordinarily stupid worldviews. And generally these worldviews filter in to every part of their lives. I'm guessing the idiot in this case is a pacifist who's gone way too far, and when he heard about your wargaming he just had to make the connection to drag it back to his all-encompassing worldview about peace and war, and if that meant turning you in to a bad guy based on nothing, well then so be it.

People on dakka may have noticed I quite like to argue... and through my uni days I took on a whole lot of idiots like this guy. I can't think of one that was as comically ridiculous as the one mentioned by the OP, but I've met lunatics about all kind of political beliefs and every other social issue I can think of. And I regret engaging every single one of them. Total waste of time.

I think we're all used to arguing with people who have no interest in understanding another point of view (and if you aren't just hang around dakka for a while), but this is something different. They aren't just forceful in their ideas, but so wrapped up in their ideas as part of their personal identity that any engagement moves from anger to irrational meltdown in minutes.

Just walk away. Most of these people grow up, and start thinking more sensible things. And the ones that don't you probably will quickly disappear from your social circles. Unless they're family, then you're fethed.

 Iron_Captain wrote:
If people who play wargames with plastic toy soldiers are warmongers, than 99.9% of the world populations must be.
In that case, you can tell him, that being a warmonger is not bad.
Also, steal his fedora and hide it.

More likely steal their beret and/or scarf.

 CptJake wrote:
I would have had a hard time keeping a straight face if someone called me a warmonger. That would have made me laugh.

Three (maybe) free meals and all the bullets you can shoot

You're paid to eat, sleep, hang out with your buddies, and play with things that go boom. What's not to like?

If the person reads playboy that surely it means he is a rapist and Misogynist.