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Do you have little habits or rituals you do in game generally?

I read the mature (NON PORNOGRAPHIC!!!) comic "The punisher. The Cell" and man, you think 40k is grimdark? It's just a sweet little ray of sunshine compared to this and some other marvel max (mature, not porn) punisher titles. (Especially "punisher, the end" which is grimpitchblack.)

Anyway, in one page the punisher has cornered 5 old mafiosi in a cell who he has special plans for, and after letting them know why he's come for them he growls "I'm going to start the killing now."

See it here:

Between the story and the art on that panel i was just kind of impressed by that. (The art in this comic must have been drawn with special ULTRA GRIMDARK(TM) ink and pens)

So now if i get the first turn and have a chance to fire at enemy units i like to growl "I'm going to start the killing now." in my best karl urban's judge dredd voice.

That's one habit/ritual i do, anyone want to share theirs?

I have standards instead of rituals:

1. Bring a fully painted army.
2. Bring your own dice.
3. Bring an already written army list.
4. Know the basic rules and the rules of your army.
5. Bring enough time to finish the game.
6. Turn off smartphones for the length of the game.
7. Play with decent people.

8. Complain about Space Marines for at least 15 minutes.

 Matt Swain wrote:
Do you have little habits or rituals you do in game generally?

I read the mature (NON PORNOGRAPHIC!!!) comic "The punisher. The Cell" and man, you think 40k is grimdark? It's just a sweet little ray of sunshine compared to this and some other marvel max (mature, not porn) punisher titles. (Especially "punisher, the end" which is grimpitchblack.)

Anyway, in one page the punisher has cornered 5 old mafiosi in a cell who he has special plans for, and after letting them know why he's come for them he growls "I'm going to start the killing now."

See it here:

Spoiler:

Between the story and the art on that panel i was just kind of impressed by that. (The art in this comic must have been drawn with special ULTRA GRIMDARK(TM) ink and pens)

So now if i get the first turn and have a chance to fire at enemy units i like to growl "I'm going to start the killing now." in my best karl urban's judge dredd voice.

That's one habit/ritual i do, anyone want to share theirs?

You do this, you better kill something or your going to look incredibly foolish.

Missile Launchers are called "Hittile Launchers" in game, so that they don't inherently have "miss" in the name. Foolproof, you see?

I've got some:

-Referring to the psychic phase as the "psychotic phase"

-Saying "Guess what? Nothing happens" when my Psychic phase comes up but my army has no psykers in it.

-Back in 7th edition, my friends and I would always call getting a 6 on the old Perils of the Warp table "going Super Saiyan" because it buffed the caster's stats.

-Sometimes when a transport full of guys explodes (mine or my opponent's) I'll quote Die Hard and say "And the quarterback is toast!"

-When a Dreadnought makes close combat attacks, I'll sometimes say "HULK SMASH!"

Those last two I only use occasionally or I wouldn't have any friends left to play with.

 Grimtuff wrote:
Missile Launchers are called "Hittile Launchers" in game, so that they don't inherently have "miss" in the name. Foolproof, you see?

I always refer to them as rocket launchers, as missiles miss, whereas rockets rock.

Strg Alt wrote:I have standards instead of rituals:

1. Bring a fully painted army.
2. Bring your own dice.
3. Bring an already written army list.
4. Know the basic rules and the rules of your army.
5. Bring enough time to finish the game.
6. Turn off smartphones for the length of the game.
7. Play with decent people.

EightFoldPath wrote:8. Complain about Space Marines for at least 15 minutes.

The real MVPs

I used to play with the tiny 36-packs of chessex dice; however, since I got the Ork dice with the last Codex drop i've taken to liking standard 16mm dice in sets of 20. I tend to seperate them into groups of 5, or 10 as I play and it allows me to quickly roll what I need: 16 shots, pull out 4 dice roll them the rest. I have two 12 packs of yellow dice for my fists and I pull 20 and put 4 away to do this for them as well.

This actually speeds up 80-100 dice attacks (for my melee punches) since I just grab them all and roll them in batches of 20 instead of counting them out and hemming and hawing as most people tend to do. To expand this; I really hate people who stare at dice...so I roll and IMMEDIATELY start pulling misses. Never touch hits and you'll never have issues over dice values that roll; and this keeps the momentum so you can roll through your 120 ork punches in a very short amount of time considering.

I also follow the rule of intent by stating what I'm doing and what I plan such that I, or my opponent, can't catch either of us in "gotcha" moments to cause feel-bads.

Another thing I insist on is measuring BEFORE important things. Such as a turn with an important charge...I'll measure the distance before I make my move(s) so we know what the charge roll goal is before any dice are thrown and I can't squeak out an extra inch by moving poorly. This extends to normal play for ANY charge. It's better to agree that I need an 8 before dice are tossed so that there isn't the feeling to be uncharitable because the 8 will screw you and he just rolled an 8 on the dice so it's important-er than deciding before dice are thrown.

I also measure my movement from Middle to Middle since rotation is free and I've seen countless people who can't seem to keep accurate measurements when moving their bases front to a new location.

As you see; it's a lot of efficiency and fairness ticks as that's my goal.

I don't shake hands, before or after the game, because my natural reaction is to pull and ram them with my shoulder for a throw. Learned it the hard way to not shake hands in public.

I also don't use store dice, I have no problems with my opponent using my, or me using his, but I will not touch the ones that are for communal use at the store. I would rather throw a game then do it.

I didn't know communal store dice was ever even a thing...

Before the game starts, roll handsful of dice and nod sagely at the results. If there are an inordinate number of ones, roll again a few more times.

Gotta warm up the dice, sometimes.

Show up on time,
Be prepared,
Know my force I'm using that day
Go to bathroom prior to game beginning.

*If the game isn't at my place, stop through McDonald's for large coffee.
*If its night & the game isn't at my place, stop through Taco Bell on way home.
*if game is at my place, do any necessary cleaning the night before.

Bitharne wrote:
I didn't know communal store dice was ever even a thing...

At my local GW, there is a tray of dice from old starter sets, found under shelves etc. They are known as the ‘dice of shame’ :-)

ccs wrote:

Go to bathroom prior to game beginning.

And wash your hands after that, thanks .

 Blackie wrote:

ccs wrote:

Go to bathroom prior to game beginning.

And wash your hands after that, thanks .

{rhetorical question}: There's people who don't do this??

Forget my tape measure, realising it's on the side where I placed it in plain view specifically so I wouldn't forget it.

When picking up dice to roll, I always avoid dice that are currently showing a 1, and pick out dice currently showing a 6.

ccs wrote:

 Blackie wrote:

ccs wrote:

Go to bathroom prior to game beginning.

And wash your hands after that, thanks .

{rhetorical question}: There's people who don't do this??

Jennifer Lawrence apparently didn't do it .

She plays 40K? Necrons or Marines?

Hmmm. I don't think I have many rituals. I definitely like to refer to my army leaders as though they are little people, and sometimes make disparaging remarks about them if the battle goes against them.

But yeah, the bigger ritual is - fully painted armies, nice scenery, set of dice for each player, tape measure for each player.
If I'm gonna play I want it to be a NICE experience.

Can't say I have 'rituals' as such but I have to agree with a few others that have replied regards being prepared.

The main thing that always bugs me when gaming is chit chat - nothing worse than your opponent having a full blown conversation with somebody who isn't even part of the game, making their turn last an inordinate amount of time.

Just good gaming etiquette really. Same goes for not touching my miniatures without asking me. Played several people who think it's ok to knock over my minis if they have killed them - Seriously, wtf?

Only other thing I would add is that I'm not a huge fan of the imaginative element... I see 40k as a tactical dice game. The need to describe a vehicle being destroyed as though you were reading it from a novel is completely beyond me... remove it from the table and move on

ccs wrote:

 Blackie wrote:

ccs wrote:

Go to bathroom prior to game beginning.

And wash your hands after that, thanks .

{rhetorical question}: There's people who don't do this??

My mum taught me to use the bathroom without getting my hands dirty . . .

I like to sacrifice a chicken to the God of Fortune at least an hour before the start of any game.

(If I'm playing in a tournament, I'll obviously use a whole goat instead.)

 Crafter91 wrote:


Only other thing I would add is that I'm not a huge fan of the imaginative element... I see 40k as a tactical dice game. The need to describe a vehicle being destroyed as though you were reading it from a novel is completely beyond me... remove it from the table and move on

But, that's what 40K is all about, Dude! seriousely, I don't really care that much about "tactical dice game" I view every Tabletop rather as a Roleplaying experience, otherwize I could play chess

Karol wrote:I don't shake hands, before or after the game, because my natural reaction is to pull and ram them with my shoulder for a throw. Learned it the hard way to not shake hands in public.

sigh.....

Strg Alt wrote:I have standards instead of rituals:

1. Bring a fully painted army.
2. Bring your own dice.
3. Bring an already written army list.
4. Know the basic rules and the rules of your army.
5. Bring enough time to finish the game.
6. Turn off smartphones for the length of the game.
7. Play with decent people.

for 6, everyone i've ever played with uses their phone for their list, i assume you mean "non game related cellphone usage".

Personally my number "ritual" is to talk with my opponent to see what kind of game theyre looking for (casual, optimised, tryhard).

1. Bring a fully painted army.
2. Bring your own dice.
3. Bring an already written army list.
4. Know the basic rules and the rules of your army.
5. Bring enough time to finish the game.
6. Turn off smartphones for the length of the game.
7. Play with decent people.

This covers it for me with a few changes/additions. For #6 - a lot of folks in our group use dice roller apps, so they tend to put their phones in Airplane mode, or they just ignore calls/texts.

I second whomever said "use the restroom BEFORE the game begins", and if the game is happening at someone's home rather than the store, I make sure to bring something for the group. Be it snacks, drinks, what have you.

I slowly take a piece of clothing off every time my opponent destroys one of my units.

Talk to my opponent. I don't play in tournaments, so it's purely for fun, and fun is best had with friends-so anyone who I game with, I consider a friend till proven otherwise.

 Wunzlez wrote:
I slowly take a piece of clothing off every time my opponent destroys one of my units.

Is this how you show up when playing a horde army?

 Wunzlez wrote:
I slowly take a piece of clothing off every time my opponent destroys one of my units.

Does this make the opponent try harder or give up?

(It'd definitely be the latter for anyone playing against me. )

 Wunzlez wrote:
I slowly take a piece of clothing off every time my opponent destroys one of my units.

Just like that sultry Judiciar mini be doing. Right?

Karol wrote:
I don't shake hands, before or after the game, because my natural reaction is to pull and ram them with my shoulder for a throw. Learned it the hard way to not shake hands in public.

I foresee lots of problems for you in what the rest of us refer to as the real world. Gg.