So there you are, knee deep in a Warhammer game with all your pretty minis marching across the table, and your opponent struggling to counter your thought-out strategy. Without warning, a stray customer or bored staff member drags up a stool, cracks open a new 2-liter of Mt. Dew and comfortably settles in to watch the remaining 2.5 hours of your friendly game.
He is "The Sidecar," and he's there to provide commentary, play-by-play and after-the-fact tactical advice only when things don't work out.
And by the Gods, I know this character well. He'll pick up one of my painstakingly-painted, and strategically-placed models and say "wow he looks pretty cool" and then set it down in a random spot on the table. First rule of gaming etiquette: ASK before you grab someone's item.
The second rule is obviously regarding the fact that you do not have an open invitation to take part in someone's game. I don't want your opinions, your comments, your advice. I don't come into your home, sit on the arm of your futon and say "whatcha doin?" And like most parasites, they are hard to get rid of. Engaging them in conversation only welcomes them with open arms. And ignoring them doesn't get the point across.
For this type of parasite, I always keep extra granola bars in my army case and I start eating them. This usually makes the Sidecar hungry. It may leave your table in order to satiate its appetite. But it may also have its own food on-hand, in which case, the hunger strategy fails.
And I honestly don't have a good backup plan.
I finally have grown to simply confront them...firmly, with maximum polite rebuke.
ReplyDeleteThat is usually flustering enough to them to actually desist for that game. Enough times, and they will actually start to give your tables a wide berth.
Failing that, a taser to the genitals can work wonders....