By Calvin Rarie

Friends! It’s time we sit down and have a nice long chat about something that, I believe, that doesn’t get talked about very often: Points etiquette. As an event organizer, nothing really grinds my gears more than a points dispute–because as an independent party, how am I supposed to figure that out?

To be clear, I think we can agree for the most part that recording Victory Points during a friendly beer and pretzels kind of game of Warhammer isn’t that big of a deal. For the most part, who gives a shit who wins a game of Beerhammer? Age of Sigmar is a social game first and foremost, and the community has done an absolutely STELLAR job of putting that concept to the forefront.

However, if you go to major events–where competition is at its peak and people are deepest into their decision making–you’ll find folks using every imaginable method of recording Victory Point totals during a game. Dice? Super common. Points trackers? Yep, those exist. But there’s a problem with these methods that don’t get talked about, and that has to do with the social contract of the game.

Any game played in realspace–friendly or competitive–is played USUALLY with the intent of each player having fun, and in competitive events another layer is added where both players inherently understand that they are trying to have fun AND win at the same time. Balancing these two is an important skill that, unfortunately, some players cannot do without it being at the cost of their opponent’s ability to both have fun and compete. Being able to achieve this balance is dependent on being fair–and for some, being fair is anathema to winning, which is absolutely critical to their ability to have fun.

So what the hell does any of this specifically have to do with how points are recorded? Well, recording points is, more or less, the binding contract between the players, as it is how victory is determined. Dice can be argued against, because what if it gets bumped, falls off the table, or gets changed when you aren’t looking? What if you accidentally pick it up and roll it in the heat of battle? What if your method of tracking points breaks down, and you don’t remember the exact number of victory points both players have?

You’re stuck discussing with your opponent how many points each player is supposed to have, and now you’re in a position where you and your opponent can argue with each other over how many points have actually been scored. There are quite a few people out there who play the game–even at big events–just to have fun, and will just acquiesce after sufficient pressure even if the points total is wrong.

If you take the social contract angle as literal, then using dice and points trackers are verbal contracts, and while in normal life verbal contracts CAN be enforced, in an event or even a friendly game at home, there’s no 3rd party authority that can enforce it. As an event organizer, if it comes to down to an argument over points between players–and they’ve been using dice–I’m going to give them a draw. As an independent party, it’s impossible for me to prove either player correct, so the only logical choice is to score the round as a draw–scoring the round as a double loss is also a choice, but that’s a topic for another time.

What’s the answer?

So how do you prevent this situation coming up? It’s simple:

1. Write down your scores. Seriously, that’s the key here–written points (digital or physical) are a way more firm way to ensure accurate points than using other things to record your scores.
2. When you go to score, agree WITH YOUR OPPONENT what the score is, and how you got those points BEFORE you write that score down.
3. Write down your battle tactics and whether or not you scored them–that way if scores have to be recreated, you have a concrete way of explaining where those two points came from each turn.

If you call me or another event organizer to your table for a points dispute, I can tell you this–I will defer to the player who kept ACCURATE written points down over the person counting with dice.

Putting it in practice

So what are your options? I’ve got two in particular I recommend:

A) Scorepads–there’s a literal million options out there, but my personal favorites (because I made them!) are these Print-and-Play scoring sheets for the current GHB.

B) The Goonhammer Tabletop Battles App is legitimately awesome. It lets you track EVERYTHING, and is very handy when you’re not feeling the physical medium.

Ultimately, the choice is yours on how you end up recording your scores, but remember that in the pursuit of good games and good fun, accurate book keeping keeps all players honest, and an honest game is a fun game, so why not put the extra effort in?

If you’d like to help us continue our work, we’d love to have your support. All Patreon Tiers include Discord access, exclusive articles and regular contests. Our Tiers are priced to be within everyone’s reach, so please click here to join us today!