So I had an incident this weekend during a casual tournament where I was about to perform a very tight decloak with Whisper. I called my decloak and placed the template. My opponent then put his finger down on the base of his ship, Wampa. I had just called a great move and I could see that I was about to execute it. As I picked up Whisper my opponent coughs, moving Wampa. I paused for a second as my opponent apologized and moved Wampa back into position. I had not called a great move and I could not decloak as intended. Play resumed and I lost by a wide margin as I had lost interest in the match.

I know now that when it happened I should have called a judge over, but I didn't because it didn't occur to me to do so at the time. I made sure to remain polite and after the match I commented humorously on aspects of my opponents play that I found distasteful and wished him luck.

So how should I have handled this? I feel like I probably would have lost anyways, but that nudge really bothered me and I didn't know how to react. I felt like I was robbed and wasn't sure if I should have called for a judge or if I would seem like the jerk or what. I was pretty surprised by my opponents attitude and play considering it was supposed to be a fun tournament. I guess I felt like I had to be more forgiving in a fun setting. What if he really did have to cough involuntarily while holding down a ship I was trying to vaporize that round? What if he really truly believed that by setting his hand on the table and letting the evades slide onto the playmat he was actually doing us a favour by not disturbing the ships with the dice?

What if, indeed.

So when should you throw that hand up and call for someone unbiased? How do you deal with shady play and what are some ways to recognize it if you are unfamiliar?

I had just called a great move and I could see that I was about to execute it. As I picked up Whisper my opponent coughs, moving Wampa. I paused for a second as my opponent apologized and moved Wampa back into position. I had not called a great move and I could not decloak as intended.

I'm confused by this statement. You 'just called a great move', but after he moves then undoes his move, you had NOT called a great move? What do you mean by this?

Play resumed and I lost by a wide margin as I had lost interest in the match.

You are uninterested in the match because your opponent coughs? Or was the ship never placed back into the correct location?

I'm surprised your opponent didn't just give you it since he coughed. Whenever I'm measuring arc or whatever and it's close and then I accidentally bump a ship I usually just then rule in favor of my opponent. It's courtesy I think. I made the mistake, no way in telling anymore, so we'll rule in favor of you.

In your situation I would had probably done same thing as you and let it get in my head for the rest of the match. The correct call would be is have a judge come over and hopefully he'll side with you, but he can't tell where the ships were originally. Curious to see what others say about it.

So I had an incident this weekend during a casual tournament where I was about to perform a very tight decloak with Whisper. I called my decloak and placed the template. My opponent then put his finger down on the base of his ship, Wampa. I had just called a great move and I could see that I was about to execute it. As I picked up Whisper my opponent coughs, moving Wampa. I paused for a second as my opponent apologized and moved Wampa back into position. I had not called a great move and I could not decloak as intended. Play resumed and I lost by a wide margin as I had lost interest in the match.

I know now that when it happened I should have called a judge over, but I didn't because it didn't occur to me to do so at the time. I made sure to remain polite and after the match I commented humorously on aspects of my opponents play that I found distasteful and wished him luck.

So how should I have handled this? I feel like I probably would have lost anyways, but that nudge really bothered me and I didn't know how to react. I felt like I was robbed and wasn't sure if I should have called for a judge or if I would seem like the jerk or what. I was pretty surprised by my opponents attitude and play considering it was supposed to be a fun tournament. I guess I felt like I had to be more forgiving in a fun setting. What if he really did have to cough involuntarily while holding down a ship I was trying to vaporize that round? What if he really truly believed that by setting his hand on the table and letting the evades slide onto the playmat he was actually doing us a favour by not disturbing the ships with the dice?

What if, indeed.

So when should you throw that hand up and call for someone unbiased? How do you deal with shady play and what are some ways to recognize it if you are unfamiliar?

Call the judge over.

If your opponent gets angry with you, they're clearly acting irrationally and their feelings should be discarded. They're taking plastic spaceships too seriously and need to be irritated on purpose.

Once I was playing Codenames with someone who was taking the game way too seriously. So I started throwing my games on purpose and he got angry and made a fool of himself. It was hilarious.

It's honestly not that hard to explain to a judge without sounding like a jerk. "Judge, my opponent was trying to help keep everything in place as I performed a de-cloak, but coughed causing him to move the ship he was holding. The de-cloak looked clear before the ship moved, but now I'm not so sure. What's the best way to make sure a ship gets put back as closely to its original position as possible, and how do we proceed from here?"

Crappy dice-rolling technique is a pet peeve of mine. ROLL the dice. DO NOT "slide" or "flip" them, and ESPECIALLY DO NOT ROLL THEM ONE AT A TIME. These are timed games, and you're wasting both of ours. I know our local TO would have no problem calling someone out for something like that, but ymmv.

Agreed with the below:

I'm surprised your opponent didn't just give you it since he coughed. Whenever I'm measuring arc or whatever and it's close and then I accidentally bump a ship I usually just then rule in favor of my opponent. It's courtesy I think. I made the mistake, no way in telling anymore, so we'll rule in favor of you.

If I bump a ship, I always ask my opponent if my replace is OK according to them.

If my opponent doesn't offer the same when they bump, then I basically just barge in and move it according to how I saw it, and say, "I think it was a bit more like this", and then ask them if it's OK, until we meet consensus.

Usually works out fine.

I had just called a great move and I could see that I was about to execute it. As I picked up Whisper my opponent coughs, moving Wampa. I paused for a second as my opponent apologized and moved Wampa back into position. I had not called a great move and I could not decloak as intended.

I'm confused by this statement. You 'just called a great move', but after he moves then undoes his move, you had NOT called a great move? What do you mean by this?

Play resumed and I lost by a wide margin as I had lost interest in the match.

You are uninterested in the match because your opponent coughs? Or was the ship never placed back into the correct location?

1: I saw that I was able to perform the decloak when I laid the template down, then my opponent accidentally moved his ship after which I was unable to perform the move that by all rights should have cleared.

2: I lost interest in the match after I realized I had just been cheated out of a key opportunity early in the game. Watching my opponent gently slide dice onto the table thereafter did not help either.

So I guess I learned an important lesson. If in doubt, call the judge.

So you would have made the decloak with a high likelihood. Opponent does something that SPECIFIC that upsets board positions but then "resets" the board. You now no longer can do what you were going to do.

I'll say you should call the judge. Maybe it was an innocent accident especially if he had been coughing occasionally when everything wasn't hanging on the line but if that is his only cough and it come up at that critical time it sure seems like a diversion to me allowing him to pull some funny business.

If one player is responsible for nudging a ship -- it happens! -- then my feeling is that the other player gets final say in the replacement location. (Within reason ... the game rules say to be as accurate as you can.) If you can't agree, then call a judge.

I have a much deeper loathing for sloppiness and and imprecision with templates and movement. I don't expect perfection, and speed is good, but when the template isn't in the guides, the player needs to slow down. Had a very bad game at NorCal Regionals like this.

Since it was a casual tournament I think you should re-position his ship and if he has a problem- THEN call a judge over.

I've had a shadier trick pulled on me (nudging a ship a few inches while I glanced at the round clock at a monthly store tournament) and I truly regret not calling out the shadiness.

You don't need a judge for this. The rules state that a bump is resolved by the non-bumper.

Any time I bump a ship, I ask my opponent if hes ok with the new position and place it accordingly. If bumping screws up a maneuver, I readjust accordingly(within reason). Same goes for any tabletop game I've ever played.

Direct from the FAQ

Bumping Ships If a player knocks a ship over, he must endeavor to replace it exactly as he found it. If there is any disagreement about its placement, the player’s opponent has final say over its position, though he must attempt to match the ship’s original position.

This is not only common courtesy, it's the rules. Though I could see some rules lawyer arguing that the ship didn't actually fall over. Anyways, this is how I would rule it in an event that I am the judge.

Where this really gets dicy is when one person thinks something was nudged and another doesnt think it was nudged. I had this happen at the Ohio regionals. Someone was doing a sloop and holding the template over a ship base. In hindsight we should have spotted out the interfering ship. As he placed his ship down it landed on an asteroid, but he lifted it again to confirm position. That's fine, but as he did that, the asteroid shifted. Of course when he came back down he was no longer on it. I told him that he was on the asteroid and it had nuged off but he would have still been on it had it not nudged. I felt bad for the guy, but to his credit he didn't put up a fuss and accepted his mistake. It likely cost him the game and he was not in a cheerful mood as he packed up and left. I hope he doesn't think I cheated him.

If it was that obvious you would make it, and after the fact you couldn't, why didn't you speak up? I'd have said I clear wou have made that. If he argued ID say you coughed and move the piece, it was more like here. And show him. If he was still unsatisi I'd have called a judge over.

IMO from your side sounds shady

I would simply chalk this up to a once warned, twice shy sort of moment.

As others have said, the non-bumper (you in this case) has the final say according to the FAQ. If the non-bumper does not exercise this right in the round in which it happens, it becomes the same as any other missed opportunity .

If you didn't know it was your place to say something, now you do. That should be the end of it.

Either way one of two things happened:

• Your opponent intentionally faked a cough/bump to re-place the ship in a way that put you at a disadvantage, and when you remained silent, he got away with it., or
• Your opponent actually coughed/bumped the ship, put it where he thought it should be, and you remained silent, so that he went on thinking nothing of it, but you were silently hurt, or surmising the worst of another player.

That's why it's probably best to say something every time - since keeping silent if you feel you've been wronged only hurts you in the long run. That's a road that can only suck joy out of this game. (That's my opinion at least)

Id say to my opponent:

"The position you just set Wampa in doesnt look correct. Im pretty certain before you nudged Wampa that I was going to fit in this decloak. Can we try to reposition Wampa to make it work?"

When accidents are at fault, asking the question can't hurt! Just be clear that you felt very clear about it just before the nudge incident (as long as you aren't lying). Also be clear that you want the game state to be as preserved as possible.

You'll only regret NOT speaking up if you were, in fact, lying about that final position of Wampa yourself. (P.S. dont do that!)

I say call a judge when they owe you dinner.....

you'll need a judge present when you have an

If it was that obvious you would make it, and after the fact you couldn't, why didn't you speak up? I'd have said I clear wou have made that. If he argued ID say you coughed and move the piece, it was more like here. And show him. If he was still unsatisi I'd have called a judge over.

IMO from your side sounds shady

He didn't speak up because of the pervasive attitude of "fly casual" and fear of your opponent being a Bonzo Madrid and throwing a fit.

We have 3 groups of people in these situations:

1.) An actual cheater.

2.) Someone who isn't cheating, but takes offense at having a judge called or a rulebook pulled out.

3.) Rational people.

Group 3 > group 1 > group 2. I'd rather you just cheat against me than be a NPE player. At least cheating is funny.

after the match I commented humorously on aspects of my opponents play that I found distasteful

Work it out so that you're both happy, or call a judge if there is a real disagreement.

Also, fly casual. Many people say it and agree with it, but not many actually get it. Have fun, and don't fret over a game.

Being passive aggressive is nothing to brag about.

after the match I commented humorously on aspects of my opponents play that I found distasteful

Eeeeeh, I don't find that to be all too humorous or cool. You should have spoke up when there was any dispute. Agreeing to continue kinda' forfeits your right to blame anything else on that instance, and then treating someone poorly because of it when they likely have no idea what the issue is only makes you look like a prick.

Work it out so that you're both happy, or call a judge if there is a real disagreement.

Also, fly casual. Many people say it and agree with it, but not many actually get it. Have fun, and don't fret over a game.

By which I mean to say I addressed my opponent like I would any other adult with whom I have a problem. I said my opinion and then laughed it off and wished him well on his way. It wasn't meant to be a dramatic moment and it certainly didn't affect the rest of my day. As for my opponent not having any idea what the issue is... well, when someone outright tells you they don't like the way you roll your dice and why, I don't imagine there is much room for confusion.

Anyways, I just wanted to share the story and gain some insight to the situation and I think I've done that. So in closing, for anyone still wondering, you should never feel afraid to call the judge over, and never worry about the social implications of such a decision. We're human beings trying to enjoy a game, and sometimes we all make mistakes. Never be afraid to ask for help resolving the issues that can arise. I honestly didn't know what to do when the nudge happened and I didn't think it was all that accidental, but I froze up and didn't know what else to do. Next time I know to call a judge.

Being passive aggressive is nothing to brag about.

Passive aggressive? If speaking directly to your opponent after the match is passive for you then I'd hate to see your aggressive!

Being passive aggressive is nothing to brag about.

Passive aggressive? If speaking directly to your opponent after the match is passive for you then I'd hate to see your aggressive!

You mean like handling it in game when it actually matters and the situation can be remedied?

Being passive aggressive is nothing to brag about.

Passive aggressive? If speaking directly to your opponent after the match is passive for you then I'd hate to see your aggressive!

You mean like handling it in game when it actually matters and the situation can be remedied?

I've already explained why I hesitated to call a judge. It's a mistake I won't make again. If I'd come here to brag about encountering some WAAC ******, well... I didn't. So, not sure what your argument is. Handle the matter in game, well I think we all came to that conclusion on page one. If you're concerned about the feelings of someone I scolded, well what can I say? Maybe don't cheat at X-Wing?