How to deal with a cheater

In my 12 years of 40k i have seen many things. However, none that irritates me more then somone who knows thier codex and breaks, bends, minipulate in blantant fashion its rules, and pushes the game mechanics to win them a game. We all call this cheating, or at the very least foul play. But what we never cover is how to deal with it. It is in my experiance around gamers, that it seems to be handled in one of three ways. One is the extream flying off the handle and going beserk, although fun to watch it tends to leave a bad taste in ones mouth. Two is the passive aggresive way of handeling it and saying nothing. This leaves you bitter, and the other guy a bit smug. The third one is one that i have seen a few times, and i have to say i tend to enjoy this one, being professional.

What is being professional? and what is this guy talking about? Being professional takes a few easy steps.

One, you should look at your opponante and ask them to grab thier codex and army list. Review the rule. This can be done in a polite fashion. However when you run into those people who lack tact and common dignity. Then i recomend a stern voice and a smile. Both of you go through the rules and see what they say. If a decison cannot be discused, then move on to step two.

Two: Call a frigging judge over you arrogant tool bags!!!!!!!!!!!! It helps us when a person who is in charge comes over a mediates the situation. This is when you have to keep your cool, and make your argument. Dont whine or plead..it makes you look like a pansy general that any Private would not want as thier leader, and would take you behind a barrick and put a bolt round through your shoulder mellon. When the judge makes his call, challange him and ask why...but dont let it get out of hand. If ya cant win the call, cause it isnt coverd in a FAQ or rules, well then suck it up and do research when you get home, you can always call back and talk about it later.

Three: If you were right...dont be a jerk, congradulations you were right about playing with toy soulders..you get a star and a hat. However make sure you write the judgement down after your game. It's a good referance and, it will show you what was rules on before the next time it is called apon . Now if you are wrong...dont be a whimp, we all make mistakes and as a wise man once said...."Its ok to complain on the ride home with buddies, but in the mean time your getting stomped.......concentrait boy!"

Four: If it is decided that the player was cheating, It should be left up to the judges to rule his punishment. This is where players and tournement holders part ways. It is in my opinion, that the player in question should get a warnning his first time, however this does not mean if the cheater is blantant that he should be let off, instead he should be given a warnning and also a loss of points after it has been proven he was cheating. This will teach the cheater not to do it again and also allow for him to keep his pride, since he can be left to play on. However, on a secound offence in that game, he should be hung and shot...wait wait wait, thats not very PC, skip that. Instead the player should be removed from the tournement and told if he does it again, then he is banned from all tournaments in the future.

So, where is it our responsiblity as players to keep cheaters fair? You have to speak out and be honest in what you see. You must talk to the judges and owners of the store you frequent. They want to know whats up, but they dont wanna hear ya whine about it, just be strait forward. However as a owner and a player you should hear both sides of the argument. This opens communication and debate which help in making things like this less frequent.


Some things to look for, and how to prevent a cheater :

1: pre mesuring
2: how people move thier models( we all seen 6" turn into 7 and 8"
3: make sure you know core rules, and question when you dont
4: Make sure you review the opponants army list( this is so you know his abilitys and points)
5: If it seems like to much fire power at that speed, it usally is.
6: special abilitys that just seem really broken
7: watch a man and how he roles his dice( if they only turn over once...something aint right( i got nailed on this once with casino dice, although i was rolling them, they needed to flip a few more times( i still argue they are the best).. i have seen guys just plop them down over and over again and some how 4,5,and 6's are a majority everytime. role those puppys.
8: game speed: The guy who is speed gamming is usally not letting you see dice or is trying to pull over a fast one( this is differnt from two players moving quickly cause they know the rules) The secound is the slow gammer, he is slowing ya down cause he knows he is in trouble( yes i am aware when you imperial guard players and ork players have 200 models to move it takes time, im dumb...not that dumb) if it seems to slow or two fast, say somthing.

9: the most imporatant one is know your rules and read as many codexes as you can. This helps you know opponants rules. Reserch is key in this game and it helps us know when we are being tricked or mislead.


Well i hope this helps... im sure you will agree with some of what i said and question other parts...and yes we all make mistakes, i do all the time.