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Maybe it's just me, but I believe the handshake is an essential part of the gaming process. It's very very rare in my case, but if a game ends without a handshake something just feels...off. Even a player who just had tremendous bad luck (somehow even worse than me) at least acknowledges the "good game" at the end. Maybe I was just "raised" too sensitively in wargaming. Anyone else feel weird about an opponent not ending with a handshake? I admit, only time I did not ensure or extend the handshake was one game where I was so insulted by the rudeness of this player that I just stopped and packed up (which seems to me to be the last resort, the worst thing that can happen in a game).

I only ask because I'm glad to see Warhammer Live comment on "how every game of Warhammer should end" and in teaching newer/younger players and making sure they understand the sportsman element of the handshake at the end of the game. I'm American, but in Europe I've yet to have a game without the sacred handshake.

One of my games during the last league I was in the other guy did not want to shake my hand after the game. Keep in mind this was a fairly competitive league with 2,250 and no limit on super heavies or FW. Bring it if you got it type deal. It was a very one sided slaughter and I felt bad after that. All I was running was a skyhammer, white scars CAD and a GK NSF. My list was MILD compared to some of the other armies in the league, so I wonder how many other hand shakes he gave out.

If you offer your hand, I'll shake it, but I'll not offer mine first. That's my extreme anti-socialness at work; social niceties like that are usually lost on me.

I'm generally the one offering my hand to shake, and I enjoy doing it. It's good to let your opponent know that you enjoyed the game.

Always. Heck, I even do it with my wife. Always feels awkward when packing the minis away if hands weren't shaken.

Same way I always type "gg" in video games, even though apparently that offends a lot of people...

 Nostromodamus wrote:
Always. Heck, I even do it with my wife. Always feels awkward when packing the minis away if hands weren't shaken.

Same way I always type "gg" in video games, even though apparently that offends a lot of people...

I think if you table someone and you say "Good Game" even if it wasn't close to a good game, they might feel the same way about a gg.

I typically don't offer my hand first. The reason is because 9 times out of 10, I know the other person just saw me sneeze a hanky-burster and then use half a pocket pack of tissues to clean it up. If he or she still wants to shake hands, fair deal.

 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
I typically don't offer my hand first. The reason is because 9 times out of 10, I know the other person just saw me sneeze a hanky-burster and then use half a pocket pack of tissues to clean it up. If he or she still wants to shake hands, fair deal.

heh, fair enough. And considerate.

 Verviedi wrote:
I'm generally the one offering my hand to shake, and I enjoy doing it. It's good to let your opponent know that you enjoyed the game.

Same!

While I shake hands with new people I haven't met before, or at conventions - I don't shake hands amongst my close friends, since we know each other so well, etc.

I do make sure my 9 year old nephew knows to shake hands when we play Kiddiehammer though - win or lose.

I was taught to shake hands at the start and/or end of every game when I was a kid, and that's stuck ever since. It's a sign of good faith and mutual respect.

I'm happy to make a polite remark, good game/well played etc, but I don't like random people touching me so I don't shake hands.

Personally I'd always considered the sentiment the more important part of the gesture, but some people get really pissy about it even if you try to explain.

Mind you, I don't know why I'd find that surprising, given how many people were eager to leap to GW's defence over their garbage "make fun of the mentally ill, and don't forget to bully your friends!" rules for AoS when it first came out.

I'll ALWAYS offer my hand after a game, even if I got thumped and inside I hated the game because I literally got beaten into the ground. It's always nice to play games with people, especially if you've never played with them before because now you have more opponents which is a great thing.

If someone doesn't reciprocate, then I do tend to be quite put back by it. Unless they have some disease or genuinely don't like being touched by other people (which someone above me mentioned) then chances are that was our one and only game.

I still shake hands with my best mate after a game and we've been friends for 30 years. It just sort of signifies 'closure' and then we sit and talk about it and then whoever lost makes the brews

Definitely.

Whether competitive or not, this is a game. Games are to be played for fun. Nobody really wins anything of note - I mean this isn't MtG where you can live off winnings if you're good enough.

It's GW games. Something we all do to relax. So do so. And be a good sport.

My opinion on the post-game handshake:

And after a while, you can work on points for style
Like the club tie, and the firm handshake
A certain look in the eye and an easy smile
You have to be trusted by the people that you lie to
So that when they turn their backs on you,
You'll get the chance to put the knife in

I'm British, naturally I shake hands with anyone I meet. How else would one know if they belong to the same secret societies as I do?

Two of us got the boot from a tournament recently over the handshake. My opponent had turned every handshake that I'd seen into an arm twist.
I couldn't help myself and stuck my toe in the back of his knee as he spun - he took out two tables and broke a heap of expensive terrain.
Not my proudest moment.

@notprop, That makes one wonder how secret societies make sure they don't share the same handshake..

Anyway, always keep the game in good spirit with firm handshakes, pats on the back and pizza afterwards.

[Edit]: Yikes, Dakka wolf, that sounds like bad form alright.

(Though I understand making bad judgements because I thought it'd be funny. )

Baron Klatz wrote:
@notprop, That makes one wonder how secret societies make sure they don't share the same handshake..

Anyway, always keep the game in good spirit with firm handshakes, pats on the back and pizza afterwards.

[Edit]: Yikes, Dakka wolf, that sounds like bad form alright.

(Though I understand making bad judgements because I thought it'd be funny. )

Might have been funny if we didn't break so much stuff.

Baron Klatz wrote:
@notprop, That makes one wonder how secret societies make sure they don't share the same handshake..

Ah, therein lies the secret old chap!

Anyway, always keep the game in good spirit with firm handshakes, pats on the back and pizza afterwards.

I completely agree, except you obviously meant beer not pizza.

 notprop wrote:

Baron Klatz wrote:
@notprop, That makes one wonder how secret societies make sure they don't share the same handshake..

Ah, therein lies the secret old chap!

Anyway, always keep the game in good spirit with firm handshakes, pats on the back and pizza afterwards.

I completely agree, except you obviously meant beer not pizza.

I prefer the beer during.

Haha, well my buddies drink beer but not me.

I can't spare the brain cells!

Nice to see so many people respecting the handshake.

It’s a key part of sportsmanlike conduct.

 EmperorsChampion wrote:

 Nostromodamus wrote:
Always. Heck, I even do it with my wife. Always feels awkward when packing the minis away if hands weren't shaken.

Same way I always type "gg" in video games, even though apparently that offends a lot of people...

I think if you table someone and you say "Good Game" even if it wasn't close to a good game, they might feel the same way about a gg.

Not a problem for me, my skills ensure I never table an opponent

Among random people or just someone I know I think the handshake is mandatory. If I play with a real friend, and not just someone that sometimes I'm hanging out with, the final handshake is usually skipped because it's implied and we don't need a sign of mutual respect.

If was a particularly fun game, go in for the hug!

Baron Klatz wrote:
Haha, well my buddies drink beer but not me.

I can't spare the brain cells!

Hey...the buying of beer for an opponent is also a treasured pastime ritual.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Yeah, I'm impressed by the discussion and replies here. Lifts my slowly-becoming-enlarged heart to see it.

I always say thanks for the game and offer some faint praise, but I do not like to shake hands, even in work settings.

 kronk wrote:
If was a particularly fun game, go in for the hug!

Only after you buy me dinner. What kind of person do you think I am? i don't just give it up after the first game! Maybe the third.

I dont play much, but I ALWAYS offer my hand out for a handshake !

I am a true British gentleman after all !

Well I dont offer my hand that often when i play 40k or the like, but I make a point of it when I play games like Hail Caesare, Pike and shot and so on since these games are much more enjoyable and takes a bit longer as well