The DAGGER Rules of ASL Etiquette

or

"Nice Guys Can’t Lose"

This is a serious issue. It’s come to our attention that some of you don’t know the basic ASL protocol. This is not Robot-Warz, gentlemen, it is Advanced Squad Leader, the most rule-slinging, exception-noting and lawyerly game ever, and it takes a certain amount of politeness to do it right.

Now, all that may be overstating the case, so to speak, but there are some ground rules to which we at DAGGER like to see players adhere. Some may feel that these are strange or not appropriate, but this is what we feel is the norm at the local, regional and national level. We would like to see this be an international standard. (We would like to enforce it, too, but we’re too lazy and busy.) Here are the essentials, but keep in mind that some of these are most appropriate for competition and might not always apply. In any event, none of these things has much to do with your chances of winning the scenario:

Shake hands before you start playing. This is especially important at a tournament when you’ve never met your opponent, as it establishes contact outside of your impending contest. Some guys don’t care about this, and just want to sit down and hammer you, but we don’t agree. It’s good to focus on the game at hand, but you have to be a human first. ~ you’re just playing at home or with friends, this is obviously not so critical.

Help pull counters, grab chairs, etc. This is a small point. but can make quite a difference. Some cheese breath weenies go through entire tournaments letting their opponents pull counters, find overlays, etc. This isn’t right, and shouldn’t require high voltages to correct.

Be reasonable about scenarios, sides, balance, etc. From other than a victory standpoint. it is to all players’ advantage to give scenarios a try from various sides and with/without the balance applied. Note that there are some people out there who “only play the Germans” and other such rubbish. We don t hold much truck with these guys and neither should you But they deserve more pity than scorn, and your opponent deserves some flexibility from you when it comes time to decide on scenarios and options.

Take a reasonable amount of time to set up and, Agree on it - Talk to your opponent about how long you and he need to set up. Set at least a loose time-frame, agree on it. then stick to it. This is a heavily structured game in a lot of ways, and one of those is that you usually have to deal with another person. Make things clear to avoid conflict.

Leave during setup - Most scenarios are structured so that one player sets up at a time, without observation by his opponent. “Without observation” means that when your opponent is setting up, you check out and stay away until he’s done. Most people are good about this, but others come back every two minutes and/or accidentally “take a peek.” I shouldn’t even have to write this, but some guys do it.

Play straight - It is all too possible to cheat in ASL. Without going into any of the specifics, let me say that not only does cheating weigh on the conscience, it’s bad for your reputation as a player. The ASL circle is only so large. Don’t find yourself on the list of guys that no one (that knows about you) wants to play. I must admit that I (like my friends) have a short mental list of people that I will never seek out for a match. They earned their blacklisting through repeated horror stories of their questionable game ethics.

Adapt - Your opponent has his own level of knowledge of the rules, his own pace and his own style of play. He may talk a lot or not at all. You don’t have to surrender to his style. but it does help to adapt (Unless he’s a weenie and deserves to be crushed utterly/is in your road to total victory in the Mr. ASL Universe contest in which case you might not want to adapt.)

Consult an impartial party for conflicts — Having sat next to two guys  long match at Avaloncon, I can only say that there is usually someone around who can answer your question/resolve your conflict. Look for that person in preference to shouting at the guy across from you.

Know when to quit - When all hope is lost (as opposed to when the situation looks hopeless), stick out your hand and concede. All of us have suffered through a long night at the hands of some guy who wanted to play on, too foolish or determined to see the true futility of the situation, It can take a long time to chase down that last crew, and some Victory Conditions do say “At Game End.” Be real.

Shake hands - When the match is over, one way or the other, shake hands with your opponent, just as you did at the start. This serves to make some connection between two guys sitting down in front of a bunch of cardboard, as opposed to two guys fighting over a muddy foxhole.

Help take down - Even if the guy beat you in the last close combat with an ambush by a CX. encircled conscript half squad, you can’ just take off to let him clean up The Last Bid by himself. That’s very uncool, and childish to boot. If he wants a hand putting stuff away, you help him.

Don’t talk trash about your opponent - There are some classy guys in this hobby, who never speak poorly of any opponent or other player, regardless of boorish behavior, lack of knowledge of the rules or tedious play. You’ve all met someone who is universally quiet when it comes to badmouthing others, and when it comes to a small world like ASL, you should seek to emulate her or him.

Help out - ASL events take a lot of work. Match-making, scheduling, scenario design, conflict resolution, and rule clarification take time and effort. Do your part to contribute and be a positive on the ASL scene.

These are our suggestions for an ASL Code of Conduct. Its not something most of us would have to study but it would be good if all players were familiar with these ideas. Once familiar all of us could fairly begin to met out punishment for failure to comply.

These were originally published in "The Dagger". The author is Kurt Martin. They are used here with his permission.