A quick warning this is a definite ramble post!
Now that three tournaments over two weekends is behind me, I can take a moment to reflect on the games I played.
I started Originally wanting to win 50% of my games in the first weekend. 3 or 4 out of 7 would do me for my first two tournaments.
I ended up winning all 7.
I can honestly say that out of those 7 games when I started them, only 1 of them was a game I was confident I could win.
The other 6 I looked at and knew they would be a serious challenge. Of those 4 of them were games where I thought that it was going to be an uphill struggle, and in the end I won 3 of them comfortably.
What I am trying to get at here is that I have a negative outlook on how my games will go. I see what is against me, and can do a good assessment of what it counters in my army and what I counter in it.
This has resulted in me on several occasions stating to my opponent that they have won the game (normally because of one poor combat / round of shooting for me or a good one for them). Now a chunk of the time when I make this statement I am right.
However in one crunch game at the end of the first tournament I was convinced I was going to lose. The army I was facing had beaten me up a couple of times, and the player is a top class player. He doesn’t get over excited or overly depressed when things go wrong he just keeps playing.
However (and this just proves that your mental attitude doesn’t affect the dice one way or the other) I ended up winning it after a string of unlucky rolls for my opponent and a sting of very lucky ones for me.
Now I ended up winning something like 7-4 on kill points, but with only 1 model left on the table at the end of the game with only 2 wounds left it was a lot closer than the KP suggested.
I guess what I am trying to do, is to tell anyone reading not to take the dice rolls personally (a piece of advice I was given recently). If you do, then you end up with awesome highs when it all goes well.. but the lows behind it can ruin not only your game but your opponents. This isn’t something I want to do, but I am fully aware that I have done this in the past, and even with a supreme effort it will probably happen again in the future. After all I sure as sure am not perfect.
The advice was given to me after my first tournament in these 3, and it certainly helped me take a more relaxed approach to the games on the second tournament.
Now I do not mean don’t celebrate when you roll 13 dice and don’t fail an armour save, or that holding your head in your hands when you roll the same number and don’t get higher than a 2.
Just remember no matter how you feel the dice will do what they do. Having a Positive Mental Attitude (PMA) will not get you better dice rolls (contrary to what people tell me). What it will do is allow you to ignore the absolutely terribad dice rolls you get when they are followed or proceeded by the amazing ones your opponent gets.
With a PMA you are much more likely to enjoy your games, much less likely to forget your rules, or to move your models or to shoot with them. You are also much less likely to ruin your game or your opponents.
Something for people to think about, most of all me. I can talk the talk... but I really need to walk the walk with this one.
And for those of you who put up with me in foul moods during or after games, or for those of you where I have ruined a game for you (I hope there arent too many of these), or even annoyed you in a game, let me publically apologise. Its not my intent.. and I promise I am trying to improve!
Now that three tournaments over two weekends is behind me, I can take a moment to reflect on the games I played.
I started Originally wanting to win 50% of my games in the first weekend. 3 or 4 out of 7 would do me for my first two tournaments.
I ended up winning all 7.
I can honestly say that out of those 7 games when I started them, only 1 of them was a game I was confident I could win.
The other 6 I looked at and knew they would be a serious challenge. Of those 4 of them were games where I thought that it was going to be an uphill struggle, and in the end I won 3 of them comfortably.
What I am trying to get at here is that I have a negative outlook on how my games will go. I see what is against me, and can do a good assessment of what it counters in my army and what I counter in it.
This has resulted in me on several occasions stating to my opponent that they have won the game (normally because of one poor combat / round of shooting for me or a good one for them). Now a chunk of the time when I make this statement I am right.
However in one crunch game at the end of the first tournament I was convinced I was going to lose. The army I was facing had beaten me up a couple of times, and the player is a top class player. He doesn’t get over excited or overly depressed when things go wrong he just keeps playing.
However (and this just proves that your mental attitude doesn’t affect the dice one way or the other) I ended up winning it after a string of unlucky rolls for my opponent and a sting of very lucky ones for me.
Now I ended up winning something like 7-4 on kill points, but with only 1 model left on the table at the end of the game with only 2 wounds left it was a lot closer than the KP suggested.
I guess what I am trying to do, is to tell anyone reading not to take the dice rolls personally (a piece of advice I was given recently). If you do, then you end up with awesome highs when it all goes well.. but the lows behind it can ruin not only your game but your opponents. This isn’t something I want to do, but I am fully aware that I have done this in the past, and even with a supreme effort it will probably happen again in the future. After all I sure as sure am not perfect.
The advice was given to me after my first tournament in these 3, and it certainly helped me take a more relaxed approach to the games on the second tournament.
Now I do not mean don’t celebrate when you roll 13 dice and don’t fail an armour save, or that holding your head in your hands when you roll the same number and don’t get higher than a 2.
Just remember no matter how you feel the dice will do what they do. Having a Positive Mental Attitude (PMA) will not get you better dice rolls (contrary to what people tell me). What it will do is allow you to ignore the absolutely terribad dice rolls you get when they are followed or proceeded by the amazing ones your opponent gets.
With a PMA you are much more likely to enjoy your games, much less likely to forget your rules, or to move your models or to shoot with them. You are also much less likely to ruin your game or your opponents.
Something for people to think about, most of all me. I can talk the talk... but I really need to walk the walk with this one.
And for those of you who put up with me in foul moods during or after games, or for those of you where I have ruined a game for you (I hope there arent too many of these), or even annoyed you in a game, let me publically apologise. Its not my intent.. and I promise I am trying to improve!
Comments
I'm all for the positive mental attitude and always fighting until the end. I blogged about an opponent recently who just gave up partway through the game and was convinced he was going to lose, when the game was actually very much still contested.
Pete
Something I am trying to learn from lol.
The main thing for me is that I do my best not to ruin someone elses game with my attitude... the dice rolls can do that all on their own.