So I have a number of disabilities, and one of them in particular is relevant for Infinity. It's something that prevents me from driving - not legally, but morally. As a consequence of it, I have GREAT trouble telling distances and speeds, especially in anything like a timely manner. It just wouldn't be safe for me to be behind the wheel, when I wouldn't be able to tell when to start braking in order to avoid an accident, every time I had to come to a stop behind another car. So it would be criminally irresponsible of me to drive a car, as while it would be legal by my country's laws as long as I could manage to pass my license exam, I would be a danger to myself and others every time I went on the road. How that relates to Infinity is that I'm absolutely HORRIBLE at evaluating distances, being as likely to think a shotgun's in +6 when a rifle isn't in +3 range yet as I am to think I'm in a HRL's +3 when I'm actually in optimal SMG range. However, I have found one thing that aids me greatly, and gets me roughly up to par with most of my opponent's abilities. I will get my tape measure, and pull it out to the distance I need to know. I don't put it on the table, or between two models or anything. More often than not the tape is pointing straight up, with it in a position that I can see both it and the relevant part of the table, but not angled to make it easier to measure or anything, and a lot closer to me than the models are. It's a way of reminding myself what 8" LOOKS like, since without it I'm likely to think that I'm evaluating 8" when I'm really doing 4" or 12", since without having that visual reminder I have NO IDEA what 8", or 16, or 32 actually MEANS in the real world. I know 8" is less than 10", and half of 16", but no concept of how long an inch is or how to relate the distance between two models to a measurement system. I understand that this is... less than ideal, to say the least, for someone who plays miniature wargames with a no pre-measuring rule, but I really enjoy playing them and I don't think this gives me any sort of unfair advantage, as it merely brings me roughly up to where everyone else starts from. I still have to go through every step my opponent has to in order to make the evaluation from there, all it does is mean I have some concept of what 8" or 16 or 24 MEANS at that moment. My opponents in systems I've played in the past have had mixed responses, and I just wanted to check. Is this okay by the rules? And would you be upset if your opponent pulled out their tape measure, but made no move to pre-measure and said they were just reminding themselves of what (distance) looks like?
IDC when facing newcomers, but in more formal games I would like to forbid pre-measuring to prevent such occasions. "Okay, So I'll be like 16.1 inches to get +3 Mods.. and you cant." Trust me, this happened earlier days, and I was not so happy about it. Mutual blindness is eventually, fair. P.S) But after like 6 months you can measure chain rifle's magic range with your bare eyes... :D
To be honest, this is something you should talk to each opponent about and it might be some what specific to what you playing For me, it's the sort of thing that on club nights, I wouldn't care about and would let you do whatever was helpful for you. At tournaments, I might suggest leaving say 4 tape measures on the edge of the table at say 8", 16", 24" and 32" - Easy to quickly glance at so not disruptive, fair for both players (even if they start on your side - so easier for you). The other thing that might help you is knowing what the size of some of the buildings are. This is something most gamers probably do naturally, look at say a micro-arts building and know that that is 4" x 8" - so that's your 8" reference on the table. Remembering where the deployment zones end on a table can give you 12", 24" and 36" references too. in any case, it's definitely not something that could be decided here, it's really going to be opponent specific :)
After 20 years wargaming... i still screw up guessing 32" when I have a hmg facing off against a sniper... it's 32.5" every damn time xD
In theory I agree with you, mutual blindness is fair. But in practice, when one player gets to the point they can 'measure chain rifle's magic range with your bare eyes' and the other has a brain problem that flat-out prevents them from doing so... perhaps one is not so blind as the other? Those are some good tips, thanks! Now to buy four extra tape measures! ...either that or measure buildings at the start of a game and keep them in mind. Hm. One's a lot cheaper than the other, but if I was getting into miniature wargaming looking for cheap, I picked the wrong hobby! :D
If it´s not a super serious game (like tournament), just play Infinity with pre-measurement. Yeah I said it. Nothing bad will happen, the world will not end, the game will not break, it will just... change. Some things will behave differently, like mines, but most things will just be fine. And I´m not saying it will be better or worse. It´s just that it will be a nice game for both sides. You don´t have to take the extra time to guess (and get annoyed when you guess wrong), and the guy/gal on the other side of the table doesn´t have the dilemma of "should I play nice to compensate for the disability (but may feel cheated out of a good match) or hard and feel bad because I took advantage" When there is something on the line however. Ask your gamepartner and the TO.
Good point! If I ever get back into the tournament scene for any miniatures game, this is definitely something I should run past the TO, first.
I personaly wouldn't have any problem with it if my opponent had any kind of disability. The easiest way by money and transportation i can think of would be this: bind some cords on a metal(key)ring in different colors and cut them down to the wished rangebands, or one single cord with knots or colorations in 8" brackets and a additional ring on the end (for better use).
The span from my little finger to my thumb with my hand splayed out is ~8". I own an 8" ruler that sits in my DZ most games (for lack of space not on the playing surface). I can estimate the DZ by eye on many of the mats I routinely play on (I know where the 12" mark is). I know what roughly buildings are longer/wider than 8" (although I've never bothered measuring and committing to memory the dimensions of buildings). I routinely think 'you deployed at the front of your DZ and I deployed about half way into mine, so the perpendicular distance is ~30" so it's probably just outside 32" ' In short, I have access to a 'measuring tape' at the most pertinent distances on most tables I play on. So long as you don't actually measure the distance on the table, I'd have absolutely no issues with it if you explained why before the game started. This would be true of tournaments as much as any other way of playing. Equally, however if your opponent went 'sure, do you mind if I do the same?' that wouldn't be unreasonable.
Most terrain that we play on that's not made by our resident tattoo artist is going to feature terrain in standard sizes (usually 4", 6" or 8" per side). Each table is going to have two templates that are necessary for anyone with DTWs. Each table is going to have at least one CD-sized (10cm/4") near it. Many tables have playmats with perpendicular features that are going to have at least a few known distances such as road width associated with them and some tables (including my own*) are going to have even more grid-like distances that will be known to at least some people and even though they are made in Lady Liberty's own measurement units, they sufficiently conform to imperial units that conversion to inches isn't a problem. Many people will have more or less useful biometric distances (my elbow to finger tip measurement is exactly 18") In short, preventing someone from fiddling with a GW style Red Hot Poker or a measuring stick strikes me as petty. Just don't put them down near the troopers. * The beginnings of a new table I ordered yesterday has a magnet every 50mm and fairly regular pattern cut through it for LED lights...
As well as buildings using objectives for gauging is very helpful. Supremacy they are a 12 from the sides and 16 from deployment backs for example. That really helps you dial things in better.
Just get an 8" ruler and leave it nearby. I see my opponents glancing at their rulers when deciding to do stuff all the time! and those particularly made for infinity that have something like an 8, 4, and 2" side are what most of them use so it works for other distances just as well. Also for you guys that have mats that have predetermined standard tiles or lights, if you are playing a friendly game, I strongly suggest sharing that tip with your opponent the first time they play on your table if they are learning the game
If I ever do something like that, I'll make the measurement non-standard and slightly irregular to screw with that type of players and also OCD. Like, tiles of 9.15-9.6", aligned at 7° off to prevent measuring zones.
Plastic 'measuring sticks' are a standard piece of equipment in almost every other miniatures game. Get an 8" stick, leave it next to your dice, measuring tape, and not-in-use markers, and explain that you use it to quickly check ZoC, when it's needed. Nothing illegal about this, and I'd be really surprised if anyone gave you a hard time about it.
It's still kinda dishonest. As someone who hates premeasuring, I'd very much prefer if he just said he's gonna use it to judge distances since he's got problems visually remembering how long 8" is.
I don't think it's pre measuring, if you have some ruler/tape around, in your hand, but not on the table. So IMO you can check how long 8", then look at the table however you like. Knowing how long your whatever finger is then using that for measurements is not ok. That's the same thing as using a ruler. Setting up measurements next to the table is not okay imo, you are measuring DZ/half table/whatever (some of this info is available during deployment though), which may be useful for setting up domination zones.
Hello, I think you have a lot of good answers. In championsips maybe the "pre-meds" or the "reminder" could be a problem, but in friendly matches I don't think so. However a lot of players use a little rule with 8" long and marks every inch to make some actions faster than with a tape-measure, maybe this could be a solution to you in ITS. Another fix, I think most of the players use it, in the deployement fase you should locate wich elements can help you as reference: "that building in the table center", "that container in the limit of your deplyement area" and so. Most of the players know how long are the templates in inchs. So the chain is almost 12" (fast your deployment distance). A mine or shotgun template are like 8", the limit of the Control Zone from any model. With this in your mind (or in a posit) you could for sure face the most of the meausures you need in your matches. I have a friend who have problems to calculate the results of the rolled dices and in the end he needs only a little patience from his oponnents. Good Luck! (Sorry for my terrible gramma XD)
Seems perfectly reasonable to me. After all, if anyone were to disallow it, they would have to require that all templates be hidden throughout the game until they're being used... And not for nothing, but I completely disagree that there should be a stricter standard for tournament play. Just my opinion.
And buildings. Don't forget that all buildings and unit bases need to be hidden until they are used :p
