"Packing up out-of-action miniatures during a game" Topic

This was posted in the obnoxious gamer comment poll:

he would start packing up his miniatures the minute they became casualties

Is it bad form to pack away miniatures as they become out-of-action during a game? (Yes/No)

I often do this as it is just as easy to pull them off the table and put them in their storage as it is to pull them and place them elsewhere. Often the only places for figures to go are to the edges of the gaming area and putting them away helps protect them. Also it helps speed up cleanup at the end.

Now if the figures are used for combat resolution or something, I'll keep them on the table until they are no longer needed. Also, if the action is fast and furious, the casualties tend to be tipped over until I'm in down time as a player. That is I wait until my interaction with the game is not required and then put I them away.

Still, is that bad form?

t.w.

No.

It seems like good sense, especially if playing with a time limit on the playing location, such as a club.

I agree. If you have a limited time to play and if there is time during the game it is fine. If it slows the game down then it is a bad idea. Many players do this.

Don

I often just put them back in their storage box as they come off the table.

No, I don't think it's bad form. I do it sometimes, depending on what's going on in the game.

No, but does drive some other gamers crazy. I'm a little OCD about doing it and puttingt he minis back in their cases in nice neat rows. The rub is that in some games like Ambush Alley or Ambush Z, you often need more minis for reinforcements. This means I put them away only to get some of them back out again. It's a little insane . . . .

Jeff

No.

Not at all. I recently failed to do so with a base of "casualties" only to find they had been (1) picked up by a passer by (2) replaced on the table, but on the edge (3) dropped to the floor and finally (4) stepped on.

I now try to replace losses in their case as soon as possible.

The only time I leave downed figures on the table is if there is a chance to relieve them of carried items such as weapons, ammo, etc.

Much better to put hem in a safe place if they are not needed for some game function. This is not seen as "bad form" in our group.

Like what was said about the Ambush Alley/FofF games. If I left dead insurgents out on the table, I would about a 1,000 painted figures to run the game……
Kevin

Not a bad form, unless it interrupts or stalls the gameplay.

If, like me, you just quickly shove them back in the box for later sorting, I see no problem. If you lovingly fit each figure carefully in its own assigned spot, while gently singing a lullaby, I can see some opponents losing patience.

One of my regular opponents has the opposite bad habit – he shoves destroyed units into a corner of the table. It means every so often I look round to guage how I am getting on and go 'Ohmygaahd where did THEY come from?!?!!' before realising they are deaders. Bugs the hell out of me.

Pat

As long as it does not hold up game play I have no issue with it.

No. It keeps things organized and safe.

Nor me, however …

… in many ancients games, morale, victory and defeat etc. are dependent on how many units an army has lost. It is much easier for the other player (who may well be unfamiliar with the army's composition) if the lost units remain visible to the side of the table.

In truth, it makes life easier, even with your own army, to have a ready visual note rather than wasting time having period tally-ups.

Hence, these days, I tend to put a discreet little red marker by my camp when I lose a unit. Then it doesn't matter what kind of jumble my losses are in, and whether they remain visible or not.

In other cases, not only does putting away sometimes waste time, it is also a little unfair on the other player(s) as 'figures already put away' is by far the commonest cause of miscalculations (and always in favour of the player who has put his troops back in their boxes).

I no longer play the precise mathmatical game of DBM(M), but in that game the exact number of losses is relevant down to the last stand of troops. Removing them from view can be a disaster. I'd ban it, but sometimes, say at tournaments, there is so little room it is tricky to have other options.

Phil
soawargamesteam.blogspot.com

I do it. I never liked them on the edge of the table. Too much risk of them getting knocked off. At home I game on the floor. I would do it at conventions for some games but there are those who have problems that prevent them from bending over.
VR
James Mattes

No

Seriously? This is even a thing to some people? Of course not. I've seen many a figure that was in the 'dead pile' either get thumbed by kids or knocked to the floor. Safe and away, is fine if it doesn't slow the game down. I've even seen at Convention games where the game runner (if he isn't an active participant) doing this for the players.

We take our casualties off the board when they occur, and try to keep them segregated by unit on a side board to make packing away easier.

No

No.

Back when I played IG, I always put them away. I had so many figures, and so many of them inevetably died that there's just not room on the table for all the casualties.

I don't usually do it with SoBH because the game is often decided on points of casulaties. Also, when you've got less than 10 figs on the table it's not much of an issue.

I start packing up my whole army if I take any casualties. Usually shouting " YOU, YA CHEATING BASTARD!" whilst I'm doing it.

Only if the 'killed figs' player was 'putting them away' in a huff or some sort of tizzy fit.

We used to have a player who would 'huff and puff' when his best looking figs were killed off and had to take them off the board. He would pack them away in a big 'show', ignoring the game til 'the special fig' was put away.

Me? I usually leave them on the board, unless its a Con. Then they get put away asap. More then once figs have gone missing from a Con game.

I pack mine away as they leave the table. I don't want them broke or lost, and it's easier than sorting it all out at the end…

Nothing wrong with packing up minis as the game progresses.
If "killed" miins are important for recording victory points, obviously there shouldd be some form of record-keeping as they are stowed away, but that's about it.