I find it’s easy to be sporting when I’m winning, but not so much when I’m losing. That’s particularly true when bad luck has a role to play. I’ve had a few games lately where dice luck has been particularly important. Each one of those games elicited a different sporting response from me.
During Game 3 of the Masters I benefited from someone else’s bad luck. Tomek couldn’t roll a 7 on 2D6 about seven times in a row and ultimately gave me the win. When I killed Terminus I literally leapt for joy and when he failed the Tough check I shouted ‘Yes!’. I don’t think there’s a sportsmanship element there. I was celebrating my win, rather than celebrating his loss.
In a campaign game recently I played Eoin’s Nemo2 list and was well outplayed. My dice luck was horrible in that game, but not to the extent that it made a tangible difference in the game. In that situation I was fine. I may have cursed at my bad dice, but as I was losing anyway I was okay about it.
Last night’s game was a different story. In that game Ethan and I had polar opposite dice. His were (for the most part) on fire and mine were truly awful. Unfortunately, in a close game it made a big difference. My losses were huge and I had to try two ‘Hail Mary’ assassination runs to finish off Rayvyn. I wasn’t as karmic in this game as I had been in the last. I really felt the impact of the bad dice and this had a negative effect on how I played. It was a good game, but I became a little ratty towards the end. I definitely shouted ‘F*ck’ at my dice at least once! Ethan remained a consummate gent.
So there are three different games with three different behaviours. I try to be good at every aspect of the wargaming hobby and while I enjoyed all three games I need to ensure my opponent does as well. I need to accept that bad luck is sometimes part of a game that involves dice!
So? What’s the secret to remaining calm? I obviously don’t know the answer to that, but I suspect recognising the ‘symptoms’ is the first step…
Until next time,
Owen