Just who is TFG?

[Mr Mystery]

How do?

Starting this thread to avoid completely derailing another.

And it's all about the bane of the hobby, That Fooking Guy.

We've all heard of him. Some of us having even encountered him. But to my knowledge, nobody has ever truly defined him.

So who is he? What makes someone TFG?

For me, and in short. He's you. And he's me. And he's that guy over there. Could even be that rare girly gamer over yonder.

It's all down to the inherently passionate nature of our chosen hobby. We're all invested in different ways and to different degrees. And that means sooner or later we're going to clash with another hobbyist over something. Might be a gentle disagreement. Could be a serious 'and I'll never talk to you ever again, you gimp' type.

My personal definition of TFGdom?

Rules quibbles. No, not asking for my interpretation of a rule, or a quiet discussion. That's just polite and indeed sporting. But standing there, the entire sodding game with the rule book open, checking every little thing. Except of course in his/her turn. To give a classic example of 3rd-5th rules/measurement TFGdom? Insisting that my unit is ever so slightly (like, Gnats chuff distance) out of rapid fire range. Only to miraculously launch an assault between the two units in their own turn.

Confusing a cheap, one trick pony list for tactical genius. Warhammer example - an artillery dominant Dwarf army, all deployed on a single hill which they insisted they have in their deployment zone, rendering my entire tactical plan to getting across that board as fast as I possibly can, and hoping to hell I have enough stuff left over to put up a decent fight in hand to hand combat. Now this is a valid tactic, and in the run of things a good one. But it is simplicity itself to pull off. You wanna do it, by all means. But what gets right up my nose is when my opponent really does act like nobody else has ever used it, and they are a degree of genius to make Stephen Hawking look like a kid in remedial English by comparison.

Interfering in a game you're not playing in. You know, the back seat gamer. You've spent two or three turns subtly setting up something really fooking nasty for your opponent. The sort of move that won't just carry the game, but do so in style and aplomb. Only to have TFG point it all out to your opponent, up to and including revealing stuff on your army list he was yet to spot , like the fact I haven't taken Mindshackle Scarabs on any of my Necron Lords or Overlords, so that really risky combat would actually be a doddle for him. Wargear and stuff isn't declared to opponents under the core rules (tournaments vary, and fair play to them). Biggest issue here? It's bloody annoying for me, and frankly disrespectful to my opponent. I'll never know what he or she might have done without TFG mouthbreathing over us.

And that's about my three. Could be all. Could be just the one. Pull off any, and I'll be doing my best to avoid you in future.

But what about me? I've just got on my high horse there. Time to swing the leg over and jump off, because I did say I'm TFG.

Or at least, I am potentially TFG to someone out there. I don't like Tournament stuff. Not my bag at all. I prefer a gentle afternoon's gaming, and I would avoid someone wanting Tournament practice. That's actually quite dickish off me. Because of my own prejudice against Tournaments, I'm denying someone a game.

I'm a serious tinboy. I don't enjoy painting my models. I tend to find it a chore (except for that one odd week or so a year when I can churn out two or three armies). I tend to put in the smallest possible level of effort, without them looking too shonky. Yet that can have an impact on my opponent. Many people I know are really into their painting, and love nothing better than a game against someone who has poured a similar amount of effort into their army. I've denied them that spectacle. That's also pretty dickish, as when pushed I can actually churn out some fairly decent, if deceptively simply, paint jobs.

I really, really like my big games. 2k minimum for 40k, 3k preferred for Warhammer. And why not? I've got a decent job, I can afford a good amount of toys. Hell, if I wanted to I could easily procure a new army in my chosen size every single month. Yet I appreciate I'm lucky in this respect. Mix of decent income and lack of other fiscal restraints. So I rock up at the store, and book a table for a 2k game. Now, most gamers in my area can put together 2k 40 or 3k Warhammer. If they put in every unit they have. Me? My collections are plus sized. This means I tend to have a more cohesive large scale army than many can, and that does put me at an advantage. That too can be dickish. I've arguably just paid to win.

I don't take the games overly serious. Whilst I'm not one for leaving the table except for an agreed break, I do tend to pratt about a lot. That's just me. I do the same at work. If my opponent is wanting to concentrate, that too is pretty dickish of me.


Now, none of the stuff I do that I've identified as dickish is ever done with malevolence. It's just me being me in my hobby. But the point remains, despite the best will in the world on my behalf, there are things I do or don't do that will make me someone's TFG.


So that's my take on it. Over to BoLs for general discussiony chit-chat on this subject.

[Eldar_Atog]

Or at least, I am potentially TFG to someone out there. I don't like Tournament stuff. Not my bag at all. I prefer a gentle afternoon's gaming, and I would avoid someone wanting Tournament practice. That's actually quite dickish off me. Because of my own prejudice against Tournaments, I'm denying someone a game.

I would say that you are not being a TFG for just not wanting to do a tournament practice game. If you play casually, you are not going to be good practice. You are doing them a favor. Now, if you sabotage their practice game, that would be different. I don't get the sense of that from you though...


For me, it's very subjective. I've always been big on "fair play" and hating to see people taken advantage of. I consider it very unsporting for a player to take an army that his opponent has no way of dealing with. A heavy flyer list against someone with little to no AA or a heavy forge world list against someone without the means to deal with such a thing. I might never say anything to the player but I will make sure to not get dragged into a game with him/her.

Rude behavior is another. A friend of mine has a small stutter and can get tongue tied easily. During one game, his teammate would keep interrupting him asking him why he wasn't doing something and accusing him of being as useful as red piss. After about 10 minutes of this, I told him he was going to shut the **** up.



Now, I can be a TFG because I tend to be very opininated. I have no problem with sticking my foot in my mouth. After about 35 years of it, I could probably win a gold medal for it at the olympics. I try to be polite about it but there are times when I should have just left my big mouth shut.

[Mr Mystery]

That's the thing though. I don't enjoy 'comped' games, on account my armies tend to have a strong theme to them which 'comps' tend to affect quite heavily.

But would it really, really hurt me to help a brother out once in a while? Not really. After all, TFG begins when you put your hobby above the hobby.

I agree in general terms about not liking unfair play, like someone who prefers to stomp NooBs by preference, rather than because said NooB just happened to be their next opponent. NooB Stomping can be easily mitigated by talking the poor sap through the battle once it's concluded. This helps your erstwhile opponent to learn, and hopefully do a bit better next time.

And rude behaviour definitely. It's a game, there is precisely no reason to be a dick to anyone. And that includes being a dick to TFG. Fighting fire with fire has ever been a really stupid thing to do. It's very possible to politely decline a game, and if pressed, politely explain you didn't enjoy the experience, and do not wish to repeat it.


Regarding my hobby/the hobby.... This is something GW training encompasses, and it does make a lot of sense in general. You see, my hobby is themed lists, painted to the best I can be arsed to eventually, the sheer pleasure of just building kits, and playing in entirely friendly/casual settings, where nobody is keeping count. Those are the aspects that tickle my fancy.

The Hobby....well that's everything I enjoy, plus competing for Golden Daemon, aiming for first place in every tournament, kerb stomping NooBs (it's how we all learnt I'm willing to bet!), rules discussions, converting, scratch building, third party kits (not Chapterhouse ), WAAC, only painting, paying someone else to paint your army.....everything that could possibly be connected to rolling those dice. And it's constantly evolving. No aspect of it is more valid or more important than any other, except when it comes to My Hobby (capitalisation important to note there!).

It's when you don't respect The Hobby, and only stick to My Hobby that serious TFG piles in.

[John Bower]

TFG is the one who tells you while you don't have time to look it up of course that you can't do something in your turn because (insert reason here) only for you to find out he was cheating after the game and then deny that he was cheating and say "Oh sorry! I thought you were doing that, not that."
I had that in a game when I was still getting used to 6th; guy told me I couldn't use a psychic power because I'd come from DS; when I pointed out (after the game) that the power was a witchfire which I could use he goes; "Oh sorry, I though you were using the one from the Codex: Space marines, that counts as a blessing/malediction which you can't use after DS". I was livid, it probably would've offed their Fortress of Redemption; it was the Vortex of Doom, back when it was still in the marine codex. but in the event even then he'd have been wrong because it was still a shooting attack no matter what.

[Stone Edwards]

I certainly agree with the OP's 3 and will add another: someone who can't let anything slide even when they are winning by a large margin. For instance arguing that a blast that scattered onto their own units only hits 2 instead of 6 models even though they have hardly lost any models the whole game and are just about to table their opponent.

[lobster-overlord]

Regardless of how you define it, our only rule was "Don't be That Guy"

[Kaptain Badrukk]

I's say "that guy" for me is the one who allows other people to form his opinion on the hobby.
The guy who makes his decisions based on what he's heard on the internet rather than through experience.
In short he's the equivalen of the guy who throws rocks at a pediatrician's house because he heard he was a peado down the pub.

[Wolfshade]

Fortunately the closest my group has to TFG is "teh topper". When discussing games beforehand he goes "I'll take X Y and Z so that will totally annhilate you", the counter well if I take "A B and C it won't", "Well in that case I'll take R S and T" and so it goes on. In the game, if his first turn doesn't go as planned then he could end up quitting there and then. If he looses its down to luck or a unit under performing. Oh and watch out for the Monolith moving front to back... aside from that he is great fun!

Perhaps, if you don't have a TFG in your group, it is you!

[Morgrim]

There are times I feel I'm TFG, because I refuse to play a game above 1k points with a stranger. Mostly because I have very small, very heavily converted armies and limited income, so I'd rather take weeks on one unit than buy 4 units. 800 points is my sweet spot. I get very few games because most people seem to hate playing small games because they can't take their fancy combos in it.

[Wolfshade]

I prefer small games, I usually play at 1000. You have to make hard decisions about what to take and what not to take. You can try and build an "all-comers" army but really an "average" army like that will fall to any focused army.