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2013-12-07 13:51:19
20 votes, rating 4.5
20 votes, rating 4.5
Winning isn't everything... no really!
Well it's the cold light of day after a very tough loss. At the end of normal time in the FUMBBL Cup Final, I had a 68% chance of winning it (including the odds of any coin toss, assuming whoever won that would win with a one-turner gutter). Hardly overwhelming odds but anyone would bite your arm off to be there... I lost. So probably a good time to write a first, cathartic blog and reflect on this silly and great game of ours.
Firstly, dice are a big part of the game no matter how you play. And it's dangerous to look at just a few dice, or even one game in isolation. Sometimes dice will hit you in the guts hard, but you have to accept it because the fine balance of skill and unpredictability is what makes this game so entertaining. If you can't accept that, I guess you play chess instead.
Of course I'm gutted I didn't win the Cup, but you can't look at one game in isolation and get hung up on it. Looking at the full tournament, I certainly had luck in the later rounds... I only beat Ulrik and Jumbo-paragon on Overtime rolls which DID go my way (and had they not I would almost certainly have lost both), and Rafadavilla's dwarfs never had a chance after I got 2 blitz-TDs in the first two turns. I guess I can take at least two positives from the Ruffians' FUMBBL Cup run:
1) They did make it to the Final, and were only denied by bad luck in the end;
2) Winning isn't everything. I think we often lose sight of that when players get addicted and play so many games, and the forums are full of posts on skill selection and min-maxing. Much is also heard on forum posts and blogs of whiners on the site. In my experience they are rare on FUMBBL (and incidentally almost always poor coaches). In the FUMMBL Cup I was priveleged to play some really great opponents, and it was fun. The sportsmanship of all I met on the FUMBBL Cup run was admirable. Hitonagashi, Ulrik, Rafadavilla or Jumbo-Paragon must have been pretty gutted too in their games against me, they were also largely denied by dice. But they were all real gents and proper sports to the end. So that's another big positive I will take from the FUMBBL Cup - it reinforced for me that we have a core of really great people in this FUMBBL community. So long live FUMMBL and ENJOY this silly but great game!
Firstly, dice are a big part of the game no matter how you play. And it's dangerous to look at just a few dice, or even one game in isolation. Sometimes dice will hit you in the guts hard, but you have to accept it because the fine balance of skill and unpredictability is what makes this game so entertaining. If you can't accept that, I guess you play chess instead.
Of course I'm gutted I didn't win the Cup, but you can't look at one game in isolation and get hung up on it. Looking at the full tournament, I certainly had luck in the later rounds... I only beat Ulrik and Jumbo-paragon on Overtime rolls which DID go my way (and had they not I would almost certainly have lost both), and Rafadavilla's dwarfs never had a chance after I got 2 blitz-TDs in the first two turns. I guess I can take at least two positives from the Ruffians' FUMBBL Cup run:
1) They did make it to the Final, and were only denied by bad luck in the end;
2) Winning isn't everything. I think we often lose sight of that when players get addicted and play so many games, and the forums are full of posts on skill selection and min-maxing. Much is also heard on forum posts and blogs of whiners on the site. In my experience they are rare on FUMBBL (and incidentally almost always poor coaches). In the FUMMBL Cup I was priveleged to play some really great opponents, and it was fun. The sportsmanship of all I met on the FUMBBL Cup run was admirable. Hitonagashi, Ulrik, Rafadavilla or Jumbo-Paragon must have been pretty gutted too in their games against me, they were also largely denied by dice. But they were all real gents and proper sports to the end. So that's another big positive I will take from the FUMBBL Cup - it reinforced for me that we have a core of really great people in this FUMBBL community. So long live FUMMBL and ENJOY this silly but great game!
Comments
Posted by happygrue on 2013-12-07 14:51:58
Good blog, but I think even when luck is involved usually you can look back and find at least a few mistakes that might have helped. I know I can point to mistakes I've made in any game I've played.
If you had that last turn of regulation to play again, would you have marked the lino with just one man? I'm sure if cyric had lost he would be taking a hard look back at some the plays he made too.
But introspection aside, congrats for making it that far! Now go try to unforlorn something. ;)
If you had that last turn of regulation to play again, would you have marked the lino with just one man? I'm sure if cyric had lost he would be taking a hard look back at some the plays he made too.
But introspection aside, congrats for making it that far! Now go try to unforlorn something. ;)
Posted by DrDeath on 2013-12-07 17:44:03
Thanks Happygrue, yes I think I made a bit of a mess of the last turn, think I lost my concentration a bit after the client crash, then misclicked pile-on, got flustered. But he did have 4 players capable of scoring, hard to double-mark them all. Could have probably reduced the odds a little further, but oh well - hindsight is a lovely thing. Was surprised he went for a pointless 2D with a lino against a blitzer next turn, crazy ending!
Posted by Jeffro on 2013-12-07 20:04:52
Dice win dice games ;)
... that being said, it takes a good coach to take the myriad of good and bad dice he gets to manufacture a string of wins in a tournament as competitive as the FC. Grats to both you and your opponent.
... that being said, it takes a good coach to take the myriad of good and bad dice he gets to manufacture a string of wins in a tournament as competitive as the FC. Grats to both you and your opponent.
Posted by pythrr on 2013-12-07 20:23:28
yes ....
but no. Winning is everything.
but no. Winning is everything.
Posted by Winni on 2013-12-07 22:29:51
Teams with natural oneturners should autolose.
Posted by PurpleChest on 2013-12-08 03:44:50
Just like life dude, enjoy the race.
The finish line isn't all its cracked up to be.
The finish line isn't all its cracked up to be.
Posted by DrDeath on 2013-12-08 17:21:58
Thanks for the comments guys, much appreciated! @ Winni, that isn't really what the blog is about, but I don't think skaven are overpowered even with one-turners. Sure they're one of the better teams and have done very well in the last two FUMBBL Cups, but in Majors overall you couldn't say they were significantly better than say dwarfs, chaos dwarfs, dark elfs, wood elfs, chaos or orcs. If anything is broken I'd suggest it's certain dwarf teams with things like claw, tentacles and one-turner skinks - those certainly aren't in the rulebook, although they were earnt as fun Major prizes... but that's a forum topic in itself.
Posted by johnalex on 2013-12-08 23:41:36
The other half is losing.