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OK, Round... uhhh.... 4 on Game Store Etiquette Questions (aka "How to Behave Like a Human Being in Social Settings).


I have inserted myself into two "Introductory" Leagues, one for Combat Patrol (where I brought Knights, because I like to discourage new players from coming back) and Kill Team where I am still waiting for bits I ordered to show up and currently don't have any heads or arms for my models (this could be a problem...)


But the shop is considerate of this and let's me watch and learn... and slowly build/paint.

But here's a couple of questions I've had for dealing with new players and jaded veterans alike.

(I do realize that a lot of kids and adults involved with wargaming are on the autism spectrum, and I am not such a horrid prig that I cannot see individuals for who they are, and play accordingly... but...)


1. Ever played against someone with the personality of a broken piñata?

No matter how much fun or enjoyment you try to interject into the game, you kinda wish the game would be over quickly.

I understand that some people like playing the game this way, but for me, I've always been under the assumption that Warhammer is a social game.

Any advice on how to encourage newish players on the fun side of 40k? That you don't need to sit there and watch the clock, because the 13th Chaos God (Meh, the God of Audible Sighs) has arrived.

2. The other person is an actual, flesh and blood Internet Troll. I finally got to see what I always imagined my opponents on Call of Duty and Halo to behave like in person... and it's much worse.

He constantly has had the staff say for him to calm down, and keep the comments to himself... but his Mom/Dad buy so much stuff, I think they are secretly paying the store's power bill each month.

I've only had one joyous game where I was, "playing wrong," "didn't understand my army," and "would be dead already" if he was "allowed to play with Angron."

I was forced to rely on everything I could muster from Stoicism to Zen Buddhism to not to channel Angron myself during the game.

(I was playing my Knights in Combat Patrol and spent the game running away from melee combat with World Eaters... I won, by playing the mission, not trying to murder all his gore-soaked models.)

As an adult, who is NOT related to the child, and the child has special powers due to the owners liking the family...

Should I just grin and bear it? My other friends at the shop have entered into passive-aggressive mode, and that doesn't help anyone.

What do you, the viewers at home, think?

Yeah, concerning the child?
Just suck it up. Play him only as required & when you do beat him by the rules/mission conditions.
Eventually he'll figure out how to be a better player.

Both are tricky personalities. But they are personalities.

On the first? A quiet opponent could just be someone quite shy, and not confident in social arenas. Confidence can be grown, but it takes time, patience, kindness and understanding.

On the second? Kid is a kid. He’d win if he was allowed Angron? Cool, call him out on it and offer a separate, stand alone game where he can indeed field Angron. Then Wreck Him.

But post wrecking? Take the time to explain why you were doing what you were doing. Try to get him to see there are several paths to victory, and no opponent is ever obliged to run head down, full tilt into your preferred Brick Wall. Instead, decent players learn how to build said Brick Wall on the fly, and trick their opponent into running into it.