Sportsmanship scoring

This post:

http://www.wargamerau.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=59243


got me thinking. How does one define good sportsmanship in Warhammer?

I've had plenty of great games of Fantasy - in fact very rarely would I say I've felt cheated of a win and, heaven forbid, that my opponent was a bad sport. Having said that, if I was to score the people I've played (say, 1-5 with 5 being the best) not everyone would get full marks.

My confidence in scoring the other guy has increased with my confidence of my own ability and understanding of the game. Early on I would naively just smile and nod when someone claimed a rule to be right or just straight up told me that was what 'that unit' could do. I was blissfully happy in my ignorance and would say most of the time it wouldn't have made much of a difference to the outcome of the game. Nowadays I'm (somewhat) more inclined to challenge what I believe to be dodgy player.

Sometimes I can put my finger on something my opponent has done in the game to warrant lowering (hitting) their score but sometimes it's just a feeling I get from the game. The vibe. Marbo. Etc.

The reason this thread got me thinking was the vibe hit. Dropping someone's score because you just felt something was off, not quite right. I'm not talking dropping a 5 down to a 4. More like a 4 down to a 2 - a big drop, where the game was never going to be one of the best you've ever had against one of the best people you've ever played (those are usually obvious). Not being inappropriately generous is important because not every game you play will be amongst the best - something a '5' should really be reserved for.


The more I understand the game, the less outwardly dodgy play happens, and the more I feel my scoring of an opponent is intrinsically motivated.


Well, that was a rambling mess of nonsense...