The Art of Losing by peo2223

There are a lot of articles out there which try and teach you the best ways of improving your game, team selection and tactical knowledge. These articles are on the whole very informative and helpful and have no doubt helped me to improve my games. However I find that while I am improving I am a long, long…long way off actually being able to challenge for any tournament or league title. I therefore lose most of my games. Despite this though I find myself enjoying the game more and more and have decided to write this article in the hope of inspiring other people in a similar situation and pass on the ways I find to still enjoy the game even when being humiliated!

Go Stunty Early

This might sound strange advice to give to people who are either new to the game or just starting out as stunty teams by their very nature tend to go squish a lot and have a whole host of problems with low strength, movement and more big guy issues than I care to mention, but there are distinct advantages. Firstly, no one expects a stunty team to be amazingly successful. Even the best coaches are left frustrated when they watch the fifth failed bone head roll in a turn, rendering their attack useless. This therefore removes a lot of pressure from a coach to actually win. If you lose you can blame it on your goblins messing about too much or the fat little Halfling with too much butter on his fingers. Secondly the inducements are amazing for stunty teams and have undoubtedly swung games in the stunty team’s favour on a number of occasions. Whether it is the chef stealing all the opponents re-rolls or the lucky bomb exploding on the ball carrier’s head, the inducements are a massive psychological advantage for the coach using them and any opponent is all too wary of them and the one turn touchdown. Stunty teams also provide the most chances for genuinely insane and virtually impossible moves (see section on I don’t know Karate below) adding to the thrill factor, making the game hilarious at points. Above all though stunty teams force you to think about what you are doing and how you play the game. You cannot rely on the speedy, agile catcher or the team of reliable brutes to bash your way to victory. With stunty you have to learn quickly that Blood Bowl is a team game and when best to commit your men or hold back. It is because of this that stunty teams are the best way for you as a coach to identify how you have been playing the game, where you need to improve on and what are actually good tactics and what is in reality dumb luck. I have found that by playing stunty teams my game has improved dramatically because when I use tier 1 teams now I am instantly much more competitive and that is all thanks to the sacrifices of the little people who have gone before…but not necessarily come off the pitch!

A draw is not a draw it’s a Victory

I play in the GBBL, which is packed full of tournament champions and even international players. My chances of victory are therefore extremely small. If you are in a similar situation, don’t see yourself as just Cannon Fodder, you have the potential to make a dramatic difference to your league. By holding your opponent to a hard fought draw you can really affect the outcome of the league. Equally a close defeat can be the TD or Casualty difference that influences the league positions. Given the wealth of experience and skill level in the league I view any draw that I have as a victory as I have matched these Blood Bowl legends on the field and can (for a fleeting moment at least) see myself as their coaching equal. Enjoy your draws as it means that your tactics have held out and been proven to work, all you need now is a bit of luck and victory should be yours! When the time comes that you do actually win (which while rare has happened) the immense sense of pride you feel is amazing. Thankfully though I have usually been brought rapidly down to earth by my league mates in a defeat soon afterwards! I now tend to draw more games than I win or lose, which again reminds me I am heading in the right direction for success. I know no one plays for a draw, but by viewing draws as victories or at the very least being undefeated, you will start to get more enjoyment out of the game and can see them as a step in the right direction.

I don’t know Karate, but I do know Krazy…

As I am still learning the game and developing tactics and styles of play that suit me I inevitably make some big errors on the pitch. This has left me on many occasions with the seemingly impossible task of making two 5+ rolls before having the chance at a two dice their favour block on the ball carrier. My advice? Don’t beat yourself up, embrace these mistakes and just go for it. You’re probably scuppered anyway and unless you can work out how to redeem the situation quickly this could be your only chance to turn it around so man up and roll those dice! Yes you will probably fail and yes no coach in their right mind would ever consider doing such a reckless move, but you are not one of those sensible coaches because if you were you would be winning tournaments. No, you my friend are the life and soul of the Blood Bowl world, willing to take the risks that can make legends of your players and drive the crowds wild…Ok might be getting a bit carried away with that but there are benefits to doing these things. Firstly if you do manage to pull off landing the Halfling in 3 tackle zones, pick up the ball, dodge away, hand off and score the feeling of euphoric shock and disbelief is unmatchable. It is moves like these that become League and Tournament legends that are discussed over pints for months, if not years to come, not who won the game. Secondly if you do plays like that regularly your reputation grows as a bit of a crazy coach and consequently so does the fear in other coaches. What they once saw as a safe move, now is riddled with doubts as you just might try and break that cage which would destroy their game plan. These doubts can expose other opportunities for you to exploit. Now I’m not advocating doing insane moves all the time, what I’m saying is just enjoy it when you have to do it and do not expect success. That way you can find the funny side in it when things go wrong and enjoy the feeling that only comes with pulling off the seemingly impossible. As you improve you will notice the insane moves reducing, but there will always be that fear you will generate amongst other coaches that you just might do it.

Pick a Goal

Obviously the goal of every Blood Bowl coach is to win the game, the reality of doing this on a regular basis for some coaches is slim. So what is a coach to do when his players taste more blood and dirt than victory? Set yourself a goal. With each season I have set myself ever more challenging goals. The first season was to actually win one game, I have now set my sights on the dizzy heights of finishing around the mid table position. This is yet to be achieved, but by giving me something realistic to aim for I am remaining motivated and looking forward to playing each match. The same thing goes for tournaments. Unless there is a very heavy drinking session the night before with all the coaches, my chances of a glittering 1^st place trophy are about as much chance of a snotling killing a minotaur with a look. Since going onto play tournaments I have set an aim of winning some of the other trophies on offer, such as Most TDs, Most casualties and Stunty Cup. I am pleased to say that I have achieved these, but they haven’t happened all at once or on the first attempt. I am now trying for Best Painted, which is a long way off. By focusing on one type of play though I have learnt and developed as a coach. The trick will be to combine these playing styles so that I can actually compete, but it has brought on my playing style learning about how to score quick TD’s, which skills work best for destroying opponents and that Scrappa is a must if you are ever going to win with an Ogre team. As for the painting…well they’re not blobs of paint anymore, but I’m still no Devinci!

Admire brilliance

There are times when you just have to acknowledge the genius of your opponents play. I have watched in shock and awe as three of my players have gone for a painful crowd surf from an expertly thought out and executed turn which I did not think was possible. When something like this happens, do not get angry or frustrated, you need to applaud! It is moves like these that you should be inspired to try and carry out. By applauding you share the enjoyment. Blood Bowl should be a healthy and friendly competition and by acknowledging your opponent’s brilliance it encourages this feeling. Who knows, by complementing your opponent they may even tell you how they did it so you can shock and amaze others…everything is possible.

Name your players

Sentimentality usually has very little place on the Blood Bowl field as it is hard to be caring when you’re getting your face smashed in. For the lower ranking NAF coaches (and even those at the pinnacle of their game) there can and I believe should be a soft spot in your heart for the little guys on the pitch. Let’s face it you have been there all excited when they first came out of the box, picked their colours and spent time and effort getting them to look just right before they even made it onto the pitch, why shouldn’t you invest a little emotion into seeing them develop? I find that by naming my players I get to embrace and enhance the feelings of nervous excitement as they ‘step’ onto the field and do something amazing! It also gives a nice release of annoyance when you fail to do something so simple like picking up the ball as you can have a go at the player!(My Amazon blitzer Jessica got a good telling off when she failed to pick up the ball 4 attempts in a row!) Please don’t take this as me being some weirdo who actually thinks my players are real, I just find it adds a bit of fun to the fantasy game we play. It also opens up in house opportunities for league star players if you want to use them as Morg is never just a number and one of your players could be a league legend for years to come!

Experiment with new skills

The fun with being at the bottom of the talent pile is that it gives you the freedom to try out any combination of skills amongst your team. Watch in amusement as your opponent shakes their head in disbelief as your dodging troll moves into the perfect position to block their attack and roll around laughing as your frenzied goblin pushes their minotaur into the crowd! This will be the only time you realistically get to experiment with the full range of skills on offer to you as a coach because when you improve and move up the rankings you will have to pick your skills carefully to give you that competitive edge. However by picking odd combinations and trying new things the advantages are that not only will you surprise the opposition, but you may even surprise yourself. Picking skills is like cooking, sometimes strange ingredients make amazing dishes when mixed together. By experimenting you will eventually find a recipe for success that works for you!

Remember it IS just a game

At the end of the day when it is all said and done, Blood Bowl is just a game and everyone needs to remember that. Some of the worst games I have ever played are those that I have ended up winning and all because the opponent was taking every dice roll and turn so seriously. The best game I ever had was at Dobby Bowl where the score became irrelevant and both myself and my opponent were actually cheering each other’s successes (with him scoring a lot and me causing a lot of casualties) I am yet to experience a match again where I have laughed so much and my opponent has joined me in a chorus of ‘PILE ON!!’ while I am killing his players. So my biggest advice is that it really doesn’t matter about winning in this game, as corny as it sounds it is all about taking part as there are small morale victories you can gain throughout any match, but what really matters is getting together with your mates, rolling some dice and having a laugh at all the amazing successes and probably more so the epic failures!