"Measuring......" Topic

People who are rather lax with their measurements…..what do you do ? Do you just let it ride ?

Yup, if they are slack then I play slack.
If they play to the milimetre so do I.

totally what AB says.

Pat

Well, there's lax, and there's cheating like . We can all be a bit lax, but you have to draw the line somewhere. Often about half an inch beyond where it should be.

Aehhh… If it's within an inch, I call it good. For both players.
The only game I play where it HAS to be 'dead on' is Pirates!!!

I give them a warning, then if it continues, I bring out the hammer and invoke the wrath of John.

Actually, gamers who are nitpicky over a mm or degree are the most annoying. It's a game!

I actually allow pre-measurement before the move, unless it is for a charge declaration. So this is not a problem. My system eliminates arguements such as "it was my intent to be outside the 20" canister range" etc.

If I know them, I mock them playfully

When I'm running games I correct anything that needs correcting.

In tournament situations I don't make too much of a fuss – life is too short … and anyway, in ancients tournaments there are no scoundrels (if people measure sloppily it probably just means age-related degeneration has set in …).. but I am no saint so it might make me more bothered about who wins.

In the nicest possible way, of course …

Phil

Depends, if the lax measurement ends up with one of my units being in range – I make sure it's correct Dean

Nothing worse than playing with someone who is lax with his measurement and gets out a micrometer for your movements.

I'm lax but I don't cheat. I know the difference. Not everyone I've played with does. I don't fuss but choose not to play with them if I can help it.

The only time it bothers me, is in a charge: some of the gamers I've played with, over the years, tend to be too lax on this, playing that if if is within 3-4 inches, it is a valid charge… Not! I let it slide, but it annoys me. I do not give myself that much leeway -- I play it to the nearest 1/2 inch (charge distance is typically 18+ inches!), outiside of that, and my charging troops are blown. It sucks to be me, but I loathe being called a cheater. It is a game, but I will win honestly, or I will lose gracefully. Boys cheat, men play honestly, no matter how badly they want to win. YMMV. Cheers!

Give em an inch and they will take a mile. I have always short ended my movement rates in rules I have written anyway so they are not getting over to begin with.
VR
James Mattes

I do catch my eldest son moving the ruler in one hand as he moves the unit in the other

I quit playing with them eventually. I can only take so much fudging so long. Two cases: codesigner of rules with moi, plays laxly and I follow suit, and I still get caught out by the advantages acquired by his laxness, when I am not looking: I dispute the move, he defends himself; bad feelings ensue, I quit, he continues to play with the group and I remain absent. second case: long-time gaming friend, actually STOPS using a tape measure at all and just sort of pushes his figures out there: "walk" moves are now full-blown trot distances, charges are 1.5 times listed distances. I follow suit, and he must have taken exception with my following suit because I stopped being asked to have a game….

I'm fairly easy going, and it's only a game when all is said and done (herecy I know), but there was one player at a club I went to for many years who was notorious, so we made a present to him of a 12" length of elastic marked off in inches; he took it quite well.

there was one player at a club I went to for many years who was notorious, so we made a present to him of a 12" length of elastic marked off in inches; he took it quite well.

Consider that idea borrowed I have a candidate in mind

Hi, After 35 years of tabletop it stoped playing Games where you have to measure and i play with squares and since than i am a very happy player and have rediscovered the Hobby anew.

Try it….

It depends on what their motive is.

If they are just naturally sloppy and imprecise, or nearsighted, I let it go; then I continue to be meticulous about my measurements, and I relax and enjoy the game.

If they are trying to get deeper into the killing zone I have created by my deployment, I let it go; then I unleash a storm of canister that will leave them measuring conservatively for months.

If they are doing it because winning is more important to them than the integrity of the game, or the respect of their fellow gamers, I let it go; Then I avoid ever gaming with them again.

I hate rules with fiddly measurement requirements. Close enough is good enough. Besides which, ranges and distances ae presumably based on reality, and in reality there ain't no such thing as an "exact" range. A gun that can shoot to 1,000 meters really means that sometimes you'll hit at 997.24 meters, sometimes you'll get 1007.634. It's an approximation or an average, not the actual limitations of the gun.

In the same way, men charging across a battlefield do not suddenly reach a precise distance and stop. Again, the distances are an approximation, not reality.

So if it looks like a reasonable range or distance, then let it be as if it were.

As long as the other player(s) are not constantly trying to move further than the limit then I have no problem.

It depends on the person.

If they are "loveable cheats" I generally just wink at it. A loveable cheat is simply a guy who gets an excess of zeal or excitement, a guy who cheats, sometimes so outrageously, it's funny. I remember one guy who in an ancient game had a line of Elephants faced on the other side by a flank of light troops and archers. In between was a woods. The player moved the elephats forward by pushing on them from the bottom of the bases. When he reached the woods he continued "pushing" the bases which of course pushed the woods in front of them, so it was a sort of "Burnham Wood to Dunsinane" thing. We all admonished him several times but each turn he would push forward, taking his cover with him. He good naturedly was sorry he had forgotten, but each turn… It was so hilarious we had so much fun laughing we let him have it. He was also personally just a really nice guy and a real pleasure to have around, no one really wanted to pound on him and we let him have his forgetfullness.

On the other hand the thing that forsts me if the guy is the opposite of a "loveable cheat." This is the guy who blatantly cheats and then tries to tell me that "it's in the rules" or "in XYZ they do this "or simply they didn't do it, or gives me some answer that insults my intelligence if I accept it. These are the guys who pee on your shoes and call it rain. That's where I draw the line. These people are usually just personally awful besides so its not any great loss if they get in a huff.

I figure if a guy has to cheat in a wargame, so long as he's not nasty about it, and is a pleasing individual otherwise- go ahead-- it's only a game.

As long as both sides play the same way loose or exact it doesn't matter.

Hex mats!

Unlike DAF I frown upon people measuring to ensure they just stop outside 'short range', 'effective range' or whatever; you move where you want, within the maximum permitted move, and if you get it wrong, you get shot-up.

People saying "I want to stop just outside whatever range" always conjures the image of the colonel yelling out "Sargeant Major, pace out the distance to the enemy, I want the men to halt just over 150 yards from them".

I've no issue with "I want to stop just outside whatever range" just so long as they are there or within a couple of mm. It can save time and I understand the itent, "They couldn't hit an elephant fr…ugh."