My game group only flies casual, on my home. Quite "mature", aged 34-45. 90% of time we consume a moderate ammount of beer. A few weeks ago two x wing fans from another city came to share a Epic Play X wing. They were surprised, they play in a game club where nobody drinks alcohol.

So... Are we a bunch of overaged and overweight vicious players, or ydo you also open a can after finishing a Fat Han?

Well, I don't drink alcohol at all, so no, I don't. Also, the bulk of gaming that I do is in a public FLGS so alcohol isn't allowed.

That said, I have heard lots of people mention drinking and gaming, so I don't think it's all that unusual.

I do wonder if it is a European/American thing. Where are you located? Not a hard and fast thing by any stretch, but since so much miniature wargaming here takes place in stores, compared to over there where it is more gaming clubs.

X-wing is basically as close to the clichéd "beer and pretzel" game as a miniature wargame can be.

No I don't drink alcohol either never liked the taste and its never done more than give me a weak buzz no matter how much I drink.

You can have a laugh playing with or without the booze though it's about the friends your playing with.

Yeah, it is about the people you play with. We are from Spain, and after 30 years playing wargames, from simple ones to monster games, we play to have fun, not to "kill" your opponent. Soccer in the Tv, a full load of cokes and heinekel in the freezer, and roll them.bones !!!

"Gaming sober is like... err... hunting sober" - Jimbo

I only game with friends, so it depends on what we're playing. Cerebral stuff like Twilight Struggle, tends to be relatively booze free. X-Wing and Armada, a few drinks. We play Death Angel down at a local pub, gets some perplexed looks from some folk. But I've seeing others play LCG/CCG games there too.

I am not a beer drinker, but when among friends, why not?

We are within the same age group and know a good drink wont hurt your gaming.

We just go for quality instead of quantity.

So I provide friends with a decent Chimay Bleu or Duvel and flush the Heineken through the sink.

Myself, I prefer a good glas of mead

...flush the Heineken through the sink.

This is good advice regardless of what other activity you're doing. I don't think I've ever had a bottle of Heineken that wasn't skunky.

EDIT: As for the thread topic, go crazy. When playing at home, I often open a beer before I start and another one to toast my win or console myself on a loss.

Beer.

X-wing is better with it.

My FLGS has a couple beers on tap so I tend to have a pint or two while playing.

I'm over here trying to come up with a drinking-game variant.

No I don't drink alcohol either never liked the taste

I find this so weird .

Not that I think you should drink, or that I think less of people if they don't, it's all up to someone to choose what they drink.

But to say that, when there are so many tastes and flavours. It's not as if a dessert wine tastes the same as a pint of Guiness or a 12 years old Cragganmore or a shot of Tequila or... well you get my drift.

I find it very hard to understand that people dismiss that enormous spectrum off hand.

That being said, again, drink what you like. Unless it's battery acid, that stuff is bad for you.

I'm over here trying to come up with a drinking-game variant.

Soft, or hardcore?

Hard: whenever your green dice fail you, take a shot.

Two turns, down for the count.

No I don't drink alcohol either never liked the taste

I find this so weird .

Not that I think you should drink, or that I think less of people if they don't, it's all up to someone to choose what they drink.

But to say that, when there are so many tastes and flavours. It's not as if a dessert wine tastes the same as a pint of Guiness or a 12 years old Cragganmore or a shot of Tequila or... well you get my drift.

I find it very hard to understand that people dismiss that enormous spectrum off hand.

That being said, again, drink what you like. Unless it's battery acid, that stuff is bad for you.

It all tastes like wee to me, and I don't see the point in paying £60 drinking stuff I don't like that'll only end up flushed down a toilet and I won't even get drunk.

Other people enjoy it but it's not for me.

Beer.

X-wing is better with it.

As long as it's not that gassy American stuff no one likes an opponent when they spend the night farting and burping, it's funny the first few times then it gets old.

No I don't drink alcohol either never liked the taste

I find this so weird .

Not that I think you should drink, or that I think less of people if they don't, it's all up to someone to choose what they drink.

But to say that, when there are so many tastes and flavours. It's not as if a dessert wine tastes the same as a pint of Guiness or a 12 years old Cragganmore or a shot of Tequila or... well you get my drift.

I find it very hard to understand that people dismiss that enormous spectrum off hand.

That being said, again, drink what you like. Unless it's battery acid, that stuff is bad for you.

It all tastes like wee to me, and I don't see the point in paying £60 drinking stuff I don't like that'll only end up flushed down a toilet and I won't even get drunk.

Other people enjoy it but it's not for me.

Ethanol isn't quite flavorless, but it's very neutral. So alcoholic drinks taste like (a) what they're made from and (b) what you put in them. So wheat beer tastes different from whiskey, which tastes different from a cosmopolitan (a cocktail made from vodka, orange liqueur, lime juice, and cranberry juice).

Again, no pressure here to start drinking. But when I was (not actually all that much) younger, I was under the same impression: alcohol tastes bad, so why drink it? Then I became friends with a bartender and my brother started working for brewers, and I found out pretty quickly that the reason I thought alcohol tasted bad was because I'd been drinking cheap, crappy alcohol .

That, in turn, was because I'd mostly been drinking in college and around other college students, whose perspective on drinking tends to be limited by budget and availability. If what you've had to drink is beer that costs $10 for a case of 24 and you drink it all between Thursday morning and Saturday night, you're going to have a very different perspective from someone who spends the same $10 on a six-pack of good beer and drinks it over the course of a week.

It all tastes like wee to me, and I don't see the point in paying £60 drinking stuff I don't like that'll only end up flushed down a toilet and I won't even get drunk.

Other people enjoy it but it's not for me.

Won't get drunk? How much have you had in one sitting? Have you downed a whole bottle of whiskey before? Some people have amazing natural tolerances to alcohol, but eventually you will get drunk. Hell, even Andre the Giant could get drunk if he drank a keg of beer.

It all tastes like wee to me, and I don't see the point in paying £60 drinking stuff I don't like that'll only end up flushed down a toilet and I won't even get drunk.

Other people enjoy it but it's not for me.

Fair enough, though spending €90 in an evening is rather excessive. !

I haven't been drunk in over a decade really (gods I'm getting old ;(). These days, when I drink, I drink the good stuff that costs €90 a bottle and lasts me a long while. . Maybe a glass a week.

And the occaisional wine with dinner.

Which also answers the question in the OP, I don't drink when playing games usually. I wouldn't comment on someone having a beer late in the afternoon though, or in the evening. If it is around lunchtime, then that's a different matter.

I bet those guys who came over don't have hair on their chests. I don't think I've had a game night where I haven't drinken. I like the thick stuff though, stouts and porters. I prefer to chew my beer. My rule is "nothing in a green bottle". Heineken, rolling rock, etc. It might just be coincidence but it's held true so far.

I agree with the above statement on "how can you say you don't like the flavor of any alcohol. Beer alone there are thousands of flavors. I love the chocolate and java beers. Mixed drinks you can go anywhere. A long island done right will have 4-5 different alchohol and a squirt of lime or lemon. Can't even taste the alcohol. Or you could do a mudslide that is basically a chocolate shake. mmmm It's your choice to drink but I'm sure I could find something that you'd like.

You must have different Heinekens than we do (though it isn't my favourite either, I prefer Grolsch for beer). I've had much worse stuff, like fancy water with some foam.

You must have different Heinekens than we do (though it isn't my favourite either, I prefer Grolsch for beer). I've had much worse stuff, like fancy water with some foam.

Heineken in the U.S. is bottled in pretty green bottles. It's very recognizable, but it's also prone to being lightstruck/skunked. I can't remember ever having a Heineken that wasn't skunky.

You must have different Heinekens than we do (though it isn't my favourite either, I prefer Grolsch for beer). I've had much worse stuff, like fancy water with some foam.

Heineken in the U.S. is bottled in pretty green bottles. It's very recognizable, but it's also prone to being lightstruck/skunked. I can't remember ever having a Heineken that wasn't skunky.

They switched from brown to green for domestic bottles in 2012 as well, but I've not noticed that. Then again, I hardly ever drink Heineken, so that must be it.

It all tastes like wee to me, and I don't see the point in paying £60 drinking stuff I don't like that'll only end up flushed down a toilet and I won't even get drunk.

Other people enjoy it but it's not for me.

Won't get drunk? How much have you had in one sitting? Have you downed a whole bottle of whiskey before? Some people have amazing natural tolerances to alcohol, but eventually you will get drunk. Hell, even Andre the Giant could get drunk if he drank a keg of beer.

I get tipsy at best I was challenged to drink a whole bottle of mead at Christmas and did but never felt anything but warm inside no loss of motor control or inhibition.

I also never get hangovers.

I've tried:

Cocktails

Spirits

Beer

Larger

Mead

Vodka

Sake

Many people have tried to get me drinking but I don't like the taste and I don't enough of a buzz to make it worth spending money on.

If I feel low I just meditate and raise my endorphins that way I've never needed external stimuli to improve my mood.

Unfortunately I have the opposite reaction to beer now. If I drink a couple of swigs of beer I get a crushing headache after 30 mins. I get the hangover before the buzz. It doesn't occur with spirits so I'm good with my dark rum.

I'm allergic to something in beer so I can't drink it anymore. I still enjoy it when my friends come over with their craft specialty beers.

It all tastes like wee to me, and I don't see the point in paying £60 drinking stuff I don't like that'll only end up flushed down a toilet and I won't even get drunk.

Other people enjoy it but it's not for me.

Won't get drunk? How much have you had in one sitting? Have you downed a whole bottle of whiskey before? Some people have amazing natural tolerances to alcohol, but eventually you will get drunk. Hell, even Andre the Giant could get drunk if he drank a keg of beer.

I get tipsy at best I was challenged to drink a whole bottle of mead at Christmas and did but never felt anything but warm inside no loss of motor control or inhibition.

I also never get hangovers.

I've tried:

Cocktails

Spirits

Beer

Larger

Mead

Vodka

Sake

Many people have tried to get me drinking but I don't like the taste and I don't enough of a buzz to make it worth spending money on.

If I feel low I just meditate and raise my endorphins that way I've never needed external stimuli to improve my mood.

It really depends on the mead. Some can be quite strong and others weaker than your average wine. A whole bottle could have only been the equivalent to a couple beers.

I don't know what a larger is, but I see no wine. Some wines are absolutely delicious.

Try 6-7 shots of tequila and tell me how you get on. You'll have a hangover I'm sure.

Try 6-7 shots of tequila and tell me how you get on.

I'd strongly recommend the alternative approach of not doing that .

Unfortunately I have the opposite reaction to beer now. If I drink a couple of swigs of beer I get a crushing headache after 30 mins. I get the hangover before the buzz. It doesn't occur with spirits so I'm good with my dark rum.

I'm allergic to something in beer so I can't drink it anymore. I still enjoy it when my friends come over with their craft specialty beers.

Could be gluten. But beer also dehydrates you. It happens to me too if I drink a beer when I'm too thirsty.