Do you ever lose your temper while playing ASL?

dur

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The only time I came close to losing it was during a playing of Frenec Josef Barracks over VASSAL. On my second to last MPh I forewent movement with a leader because I didn't think there was a reason to move him from his spot. However, by not moving him one hex to the left, I allowed my opponent to regain concealment of his last GO unit on his final turn, which allowed him to decline to attack in CC and win the match on my final turn since I couldn't hold him in melee.

I steamed about that one for about a week.
 

hongkongwargamer

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Me? Lose my temper all the time with the game as do most I play. However, there are some rules of thumb I always abide by.

1) I NEVER disparage my opponent when I lose my temper, it is always directed at my cardboard troops. It's not his fault my dice suck and the cardboard has no feelings.

2) I try to be creative with my cursing. Everyone has heard the usual list of swears and curses. It's the words you frame it with that makes for great entertainment. So while disparaging my troops and dressing down their sub-standard performance, I try to be inventive.

3) Know your audience. Some people enjoy the intensity of a good game, complete with swearing, others don't. Were I to play Ron Duenskie and we did not curse our lungs out, Ron would somehow feel cheated and wonder what meds I was on. Other players are put off by it, so I bite my tounge even during the most frustrating of sequences. The game requires a fair amount of mental exertion and frustration when you have spent the last four hours working yourself into a position only to see the boys defecate upon the sheets and wipe themselves with the curtains can be frustrating. Meh, part of the game. Heck, if my opponent comes up with a few combinations I haven't heard yet, I usually get a chuckle out of it.

Keep it light, respect your opponents style, so long as he never goes after you personally, or vice versa and enjoy the game. For some of us, that intensity and the language that goes with it is just a part of that. If we ever have the opportunity to play Jan, please feel free to cuss the lights out.
i was so busy scribbling down the rich & astonishing stream of New England creativity that i completely forgot what i was doing...
 

Michael Dorosh

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I don't but am sometimes tempted to call the waahmbulance for a regular opponent who gives such earth-shattering looks at my poor dice that I think they should melt, as he bellows out THANKS GAME after missing two morale checks in a row.
 

xenovin

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Me? Lose my temper all the time with the game as do most I play. However, there are some rules of thumb I always abide by.

1) I NEVER disparage my opponent when I lose my temper, it is always directed at my cardboard troops. It's not his fault my dice suck and the cardboard has no feelings.

2) I try to be creative with my cursing. Everyone has heard the usual list of swears and curses. It's the words you frame it with that makes for great entertainment. So while disparaging my troops and dressing down their sub-standard performance, I try to be inventive.

3) Know your audience. Some people enjoy the intensity of a good game, complete with swearing, others don't. Were I to play Ron Duenskie and we did not curse our lungs out, Ron would somehow feel cheated and wonder what meds I was on. Other players are put off by it, so I bite my tounge even during the most frustrating of sequences. The game requires a fair amount of mental exertion and frustration when you have spent the last four hours working yourself into a position only to see the boys defecate upon the sheets and wipe themselves with the curtains can be frustrating. Meh, part of the game. Heck, if my opponent comes up with a few combinations I haven't heard yet, I usually get a chuckle out of it.

Keep it light, respect your opponents style, so long as he never goes after you personally, or vice versa and enjoy the game. For some of us, that intensity and the language that goes with it is just a part of that. If we ever have the opportunity to play Jan, please feel free to cuss the lights out.
Yeah did not enjoy my game with Ron. I didn’t find out until later that he is always like that else I would have enjoyed is 15 boxcar explosion more lol. I also had somebody else flip out and start screaming at me while playing over a rule question and that wasn’t fun. To me it’s a game so I’ve not exploded yet but the game sucks you in and can understand why players become emotional engaged in the game.
 

Eagle4ty

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I am usually fairly even tempered but also have a highly competitive nature that will prompt me to become somewhat exasperated at times, normally with myself. A recent example was playing a scenario that on the 1st few dice rolls of a game I engaged with my only two StuGs, a HMG & MMG death star and a move to place smoke with a couple of 838 AE. The two StuGs totally crapped out the 1st losing Smoke on his first shot (s9 for Pete's sake), the second malfing his MA, The death star followed suit with another 12 (fortunately only 1 gun down), then on to MPh with both AE's rolling 6's on their Smoke attempts. This prompted a rather blatant whine form me at the moment to the effect, "Now THAT"S a way to start a game", spoken rather sardonically. (I did apologize for the outburst later as I retained my composure).

My all time most memorable however, was playing a scenario with one of my very best friends that had put me into a very tight spot (more likely I had put myself there, but he had me nonetheless). A bit befuddled and exasperated, I was taking some time to to mull over any way to extract my guys from the precarious position they were in. My buddy was sitting there twirling his hand in a circular motion indicating the clock was ticking. Glancing up I rather brusquely uttered, "I don't do that to you, DO I?" or something similar to that. Now he apologized for the action and I for the retort and we both now use that motion to break the tension if we're in similar situations, laughing at ourselves for taking things a bit too far.
 

dlazov

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I think that I over came the 'temper' thing back when Red Barricades came out and I was looking for opponents (back then you had to write up on a 3x5 card and post your name and number at a local brick and mortar hobby store that you were looking for opponents. So I get this call from this dude and he said that he used to play Squad Leader and wanted to play, and I told him that Squad Leader was outdated and that they had just produced ASL and I told him a bit about it. He said he'd check it out. About a week later I get a call from the same dude and he said he purchased the Rule book, Beyond Valor, Paratrooper, Partisans, Yanks and Red Barricades. He said he had read through Chapters A-D and was ready to play. So being the 'wise one' I suggested something simple from Paratrooper. The phone was silent and he said lets play The Last Bid from Red Barricades. I thought this dude is crazy. So I said Dude that is a massive and complex scenario, maybe we should start with something small. At which point he said something like "Are you a chicken?" I had to laugh and said "Okay Dude your on.". So a week later on a Friday I show up at his house and low and behold he has all his Russians set and pulled all the Germans for me. So while he was eating dinner with his wife and kids, I setup. He kept asking are you done yet? And would laugh and leave the room. Finally we did the first wind check and some time on Sunday his wife kicked me out to go get some sleep and take a shower. Over the next many, many weekends we played RB CG I over about 2-3 times. From all those sessions, we saw it all, and we never lost our tempers, and had many a good laughs. It helped we were both x-Army combat dudes.

My greatest ambush of all time was when I had a HIP Russian 9-2 with 2x 6-2-8 and 2x HMG in the center of a rubbled, gutted and burned out factory location and his half squad scouts walked right by them (he was using search quite a bit), he thought no one would stick a HIP anything in such an obvious place. (I think he may have said idiot).

Well in walks a German 10-2, with 2x 8-3-8, stacked with DC and FT, I was sweating bullets and with my best poker face waited till he was adjacent to them and said STOP! He was like no freaking way dude, and I proceeded to KIA, K, MC them all to death. The Hero of the Soviet Union 9-2 only lived for more minutes (1 full turn) before being zap to death. But to see the look on Mike's face when I sprung that trap was priceless and I'll never forgot it...

He just shrugged his head and we rolled on...
 

footsteps

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I get the zen thing. I lose total track of time. Next thing I know I’m 56 and my wife is saying dinners ready.
o_O And the last time you had checked, you were still in high school and hadn't figured out dating yet!
 

Carln0130

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I am totally Zen when playing ASL and will not let emotions divert my energy and concentration.
Well, you have been known to laugh at your own troops failings.........................
 

Carln0130

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i was gonna use "honorable" but I figured "shameful" is more lighthearted.

Cheating is straightup retarded but shitting in your opponents lunch sounds like fun! (...do you then split your bills or do you treat?)
So glad we always played VASL. My lunch was thus spared.
 

Sparafucil3

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I try to be as zen as I can but I fail. My problem is knowing the math and working out in my head that what just happened, shouldn't have happened by rights but her we are. When I get super frustrated at that, I tend to just walk away. That walking away is me either taking a moment to let the frustration pass, or me walking away to be done with it all. I will still be back to help put everything away, but I won't play past the point where I am about to become and asshat. I wish I was math illiterate. I could probably improve my own morale a long way. Sadly, I also know when it shouldn't go my way and that can be just as frustrating for me. -- jim
 

dlazov

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Jim- You need to rub dem dice, they like that and they like it when you blow on them, keeps em cool...once you bring math on their ears perk up and all bets are off and they will curse you and make your head roll..,just rub them gentle and forgets da maths
 

jfardette

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I also had somebody else flip out and start screaming at me while playing over a rule question and that wasn’t fun. To me it’s a game so I’ve not exploded yet but the game sucks you in and can understand why players become emotional engaged in the game.
OK to lose a game, a shame to lose an opponent, and a disaster if it costs you a friend.
 

Jacometti

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Well, you have been known to laugh at your own troops failings.........................
It is so much easier to laugh at another man's failings than one's own.

No one in his right mind should join my cardboard army......they deserve every -2 FFMO FFNAM I subject them to in my excellent plans
 

Sparafucil3

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Jim- You need to rub dem dice, they like that and they like it when you blow on them, keeps em cool...once you bring math on their ears perk up and all bets are off and they will curse you and make your head roll..,just rub them gentle and forgets da maths
Been there, tried that. Doesn't work. -- jim
 

PabloGS

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With my opponent or the game, never. But with myself, when I realize that I have made a mistake, bad deployment, etc., yes.
Or bad luck...

In the League, I was defending with Germans against the usual overwhelming mixed force of US tank/infantry. Every position counts, dummies here, a Stug in the woods there, your precious Panther on the flank, halfsquads with Faust threat in the front, etc... etc...

Then this rabble of raucous Shermans starts dancing in front of the Panther, making you think twice and thrice about turning the turret and shooting at the peskies. But no, fire discipline is primordial. First BFF shot by a BU Sherman, tries for APCR, gets it, needs a 5 TH, rolls it, needs a 3 TK, gets it. DONE! Man was I frustrated.

I think my anger at my nasty luck percolated into the laptop because it crashed with the blue screen of death like 10 minutes later into the game.

THE HORROR!
 
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