Assuming you've placed your dials and have been waiting the entire time - maybe. Did you ask him if he was ready more than once and did you know it was actually 5 minutes or did it just feel that way?

I think the key is if he actually had dials down and picked them up to change again more than once, I would ask him if there was a problem before calling over the TO. Maybe if he is a new player, he is taking longer than you due to indecisiveness and just needs a prod.

Yes, I had already set my dials.

Honestly I forgot if I told him multiple times. I probably did.

It was actually five minutes. We set a timer on a television at the one LGS this happened at.

He's not a new player.

When I did tell him that he should pick up the pace, I was told in an angry tone something like, "Oh, you want to call the TO over? Dude we have 40 minutes left and it is a crucial turn and you slow play when you play swarm." So I just let it pass because I don't feel like getting in an argument.

The reason why I was hesitant to reply is because I wanted to treat the situation as a hypothetical. The details don't really matter all that much, the question is simply, "Is 5 minutes for a planning phase too much?"

This is what I wanted to know, because the details do matter. I don't think you'll get an absolute answer on the hypothetical, because Slow Play is not absolutely defined anywhere and there is no time established for setting dials. One interesting thing is that he commented that you slow played with a swarm. When I play Swarms, I actually feel a little guilty for taking so long, but realize it's harder to set dials for 6-8 ships than it is 2-3.

I think this is a good example of why this is subjective and there's not really a good response.

I would guess that you were not intentionally slow playing your swarm and he may not have been slow playing his list either.

I know this is not a definitive answer for you and may be a bit frustrating to hear, but it really is something that is determined in the moment.

I wanted it to be treated as a hypothetical so that it would be more easily applied to future situations. I used to be a proponent of a flat round limit but have been convinced otherwise, so when I come across slow play (very rarely) I don't really know how to deal with it. If I'm going to suggest that we speed the game up and my opponent is going to get butt hurt about it, and then when I suggest a flat round limit I'm told that won't work because one game will hold everyone up (which is correct, this was pointed out to me when an old guy that was new to the game took forever to set up his list and actually play). This is why I'm frustrated. I suppose I could just let him get butt hurt and feed off his anger, lol.

He seemed to imply with his swarm comment that I was inherently slow playing because I fly 6-8 ships often, not because I was purposely slow playing.

I've been playing wargames for close to 17 years now, and X-wing for about 8 months. In every game I have played, movement is the most important part of the strategy; and it is the most important in X-wing.

Because of that, even in competitive environments, I don't mind my opponent taking a bit longer on a crucial turn to make their decisions. In fact, I take it as a compliment. The position I have placed them in is such that they have to seriously consider what they are going to do next to be able to salvage the game. It is inevitable that there are going to be turns where something unexpected happens where you have to carefully plan everything out. Just go with it, that's the joys of competitive play.

Now, that being said, you also have to be aware of slow playing. In the example you gave, I would not say he was slow playing. If he took that long to figure out what he was doing with a single ship, maybe. If he took 10 minutes to figure out what he was doing with the 4 ships, maybe. But if there are 40 minutes left in the rounds, and that was the only time throughout the entire game he took that much time to plan his moves, I wouldn't call him on slow playing.

Really, there is no fast and hard guideline as to when to call someone on it. It is all in your judgement if you think they are doing it intentionally to try and gain an unfair advantage in the game.

I don't think 10 minutes for 4 ships is a, "maybe". The situation I describe is already borderline. That's excessive for an 8 ship swarm player let alone 4 ships.

I also don't think it matters at what point in the game slow playing happens. Whether it happens with 5 minutes left or 40 your opponent is still being denied time.

I think our lack of willingness to go after this sort of thing or to wait until your opponent has wasted 8 minutes already to speak up allows this **** to continue. I'm not innocent in my lack of actually getting the TO over either, but I think we really should. Players that take it as a personal offense that they're having the TO called on them kind of deserve to have the TO called on them, haha.

I'm pretty shocked at the number of people who think taking five minutes is reasonable. I wouldn't necessarily accuse someone of slow play (cheating) for doing so, but if they do that regularly they are certainly a slow player who I wouldn't want to play against in a casual game.

I don't think 10 minutes for 4 ships is a, "maybe". The situation I describe is already borderline. That's excessive for an 8 ship swarm player let alone 4 ships.

I also don't think it matters at what point in the game slow playing happens. Whether it happens with 5 minutes left or 40 your opponent is still being denied time.

Your situation is hardly boarderline. Taking 5 minutes for 4 ships is actually rather reasonable. Maybe you are able to think on the spot and instantly plan out every move perfectly with little hesitation. Good for you, but not everyone can do that. Some people need to consider all of their options, consider what is the best place to move, how they want to attack, whether they want to disengage, will they do their moves in the right order, what are the chances of running into an obstacle or bumping another ship, what are you planning on doing, how is that going to affect them.

I regularly run 4 - 5 ships in my lists, and that process alone can take me upwards of 30 seconds to a minute; and that is just the preliminary thought process. Then when I start fiddling with dials, I begin to see cracks in that plan and have to rethink how I am going to do things, especially at a crucial moment where buggering up the whole plan because of one bad move can make or break the game.

And how do you judge when too much time has been taken? Say your opponent has 8 ships and takes 8 minutes to plan their dials, pretty upsetting that they are wasting so much time right? Especially if you have two ships and have your dials down in less than a minute. What if you have 5 ships and take an equal proportion of time, one minute per ship, to plan everything out? Now are you upset that your opponent has taken 3 more minutes than you have?

Where is the line drawn? When is it acceptable to take time and when is it not? How many times can an opponent take some extra time during a match to plan out their moves before you call foul on them? What is a reasonable time allowance per ship?

Like I said, there is no hard and fast rule or guideline to follow. Are you going to be upset if your opponent takes 8 ships and for 90% of the game is able to get his dials down in 2 minutes, but one turn he takes 10? Like I said before, take it as a compliment that you have put him into such a position that he really has to think about what he is going to do next. Personally, I'd rather my opponent take a bit of extra time to ensure he is doing his absolute best instead of rushing through and making stupid mistakes. I want to win the game by beating their best effort, not by capitalizing on stupid mistakes.

Personally, I'd rather my opponent take a bit of extra time to ensure he is doing his absolute best instead of rushing through and making stupid mistakes.

The very nature of timed tournaments will exclude some players from playing at their 'absolute best'.

This thread demonstrates that slow play will always be a contentious issue.