I don't know exactly where I came across the idea or how it got planted but I'll share it with you regardless. "Every piece of art you create is practice for the next one." This isn't exactly a revolutionary concept by any means until you really start to dig into the particulars.

One of my other hobbies that I've stuck with through thick and thin, through drought and flood, is writing music. No pesky RNG there and it's fully my own little thing I have total control over. It is something that has always given back when I find the impulse and inspiration to do it. It's something that is for me, by me, the purest manifestation of thought and agency. Even if I had no way to express it with tools or voice or hand rhythms, I would be able to think it, and hear it back in my mind. Yet, there is nothing like translating what you think and hear into song and having it inform your next creative thought like a ricochet. Like a good game of tennis.

Also, it let's me practice finger dexterity which proves handy in some situations, for the bachelors and bachelorettes out there.

So let's get into a way I go about thinking about this concept of practice:

"How did this specific song, I wrote years ago, influence my latest song? Did it even? If so, I should qualify how it did in which way."

One thing I do ever so often is go over songs I previously wrote, listen to every element, think about the frame of mind I was in when I wrote it.

"Why does the melody go like this here at this point, when it could go like this instead? This one synthesizer is a great sound, I gotta go find the patch and export it. The drum programming is lazy, some things never change. Bottom line, what do I like about it and what do I not? What can I use down the road and what is better left alone?"

The task in listening to prior music I've made is sometimes vain and self indulgent, where I smile and think 'Hey, I made this! And I like it! Eat my whole ass modern music'. But most the time it's about thinking about how it all came together, the processes, the methods, the choices to yield this cumulative outcome we call a song.

There is so much I could go over with inspirations from what I listen to but that's self indulgent (unless you really wanna chop it up), to the exact tools in the process, to the very reason I have specific sound to my music, to my steadfast refusal to self promote it.

ENOUGH!

So one of my frustrations with Blood Bowl as a game is that I have often taken a similar approach to it where I want to know the guts of the game and the why of it, the how of it, and how to make it kind of my own thing by how I interact with it. It is a game, a hobby, many different things to many different people. I have accomplished 'making it my own thing' going through various stages since I picked up the game back in 2012ish via Cyanide.

I can hang with the best coaches in one offs.
I can win some tourneys.
I can have a good time win or lose by how I play.
I can win a league.
I can come close to winning a league thrice.
I can develop and choose players that help leverage how I want to play.
I can be a steward for a league for a spell.
I can walk away the game for a spell to handle business but be absolutely enthralled with excitement at the next opportunity to play.
I can also write about it when business dictates that I can't dedicate 90 minutes to anything without heavy forewarning.

And yet...

One of my gripes is that I could never figure out a useful way to do analysis of Blood Bowl in the same way I could with my own music. I know that's bananas and hubris to think that I can cross apply methods and means so artistically but there were some obvious overlaps that I couldn't unthink or forget.

First, how does one define practice for a game where the very nature of playing the game is practice for the next one? If you play Box or Ranked as a form of practice and team building for tourneys, how consciously are you playing with a practice mindset? What if Box and Ranked are your 'main event' and there is no other venues to practice. How do you approach the learning in real time?

Personally, I didn't see games as practice per say but each serving a purpose. Box and Ranked was about scratching a gaming itch but also building teams and cool players and being a spiteful contrarian. And tourneys were about testing team and coaching mettle and seeing how far it took me. Leagues were about the social and the winning and the building. I suppose Box or Ranked was my practice but I just couldn't be bothered to take it seriously sometimes. Other times, if the match was against a particular coach, I would focus intensely on it. Other times, I would be alt tabbing between a Paradox Game or checking in on Twitter or work emails and helpdesk tickets, things of that nature. If that was supposed to be my practice, it certainly was shoddy at best.

Second, if you do engage in thinking of 'practice' games, what are you searching for consciously while you play? Do you go back and look at replays? One of the pearls of wisdom within Blood Bowl advice is, 'it depends'. This is absolutely the case where the factors that go into decision making are rarely ever identical or similar from game to game to game. From your team, team type, team state, opponent, opponent team type, opponent team state, board position state to all the RNG goodness that is sewn into the fabric of Blood Bowl.

I found it really hard to learn anything from replays because of my ease with reconciling why I did what I did in the moment but also because in watching other people's replays, I couldnt entirely suss out what the rationale of some moves were. Yes, you can form some hunches on the moves made and the positions taken but...the exact reason why eludes. I have attempted to do real time documentation of my games where I play narrator twice and it's actually really hard to play and narrate. Two different cognitive tasks that would take some practice to get conversant with. And I really don't like my own voice which puts me in a bind when pouring over 90 minutes of coaching narrative. It's also why you are privy to some long winded writes with long words.

Third and finally, what do you actually retain from game to game, practice or not? Do you remember positioning that worked, moves or chains of moves that worked, the hard choices and the perfunctory ones? Moments where you had a few options and got a Turn Over with your first action, like Nuffle intended? Do you think about the Blood taken and given? The sorrow of losing or the validation of victory? Where does your mind go when the game is over, if anywhere beyond the next task in life for you?

This is where the Gambling Addict can be a real bastard - when one is in the throes of a binge or bender or whatever you want to call it, the next task is to seek another fix. Another game. Another hand. Another hit. With substances such as coffee or nicotine you can feel it in your brain, in your body, the signs of withdrawl, the symptoms of a missed schedule. And the abatement of both is obvious and within grasp - a sip from your favorite mug and a long drag off a vape. With gaming and gambling it is different. It is digging out of a hole, seeking to avenge the prior fiasco and make it right. But without the mindset engaged to most likely yield that outcome. It is trying to get through the dice, the cards, the game itself with sports, waiting for the payoff of a win that isn't earned, but given to you as some sort of Justice for prior injury.

Over the years I've played BB, I've noticed that I play less when I win. I also play better when I play less, to a point. And when I play more, I play worse, after a point. This is exactly surprising to none but it speaks to the potential that perhaps, conscious or not, there are things we take away between games and how you interact with the game and the purpose it serves for you will affect those takeaways. If the primary purpose of me interacting with FUMBBL was in winning or losing, then I have obviously been going about it all wrong so I will rule that out. As I stated before, it has been contextually important depending on the venue within Fumbbl the game is taking place.

So what's a guy to do when he plays his best sparingly, plays his worst when chasing losses like he does with anything he touches and doesn't actively and consciously think about things like dice and odds? You take a breath at the start of the turn and go through The Process. The Process is a stab of how I would approach the game after some time away. It is not complete or fully fleshed out but serves as a guide to get back into the flow after time away. It is as much a tome of what I think I should think about from memory as much as it might be useful to a reader or two.

The Process:
Identify Turn. Specified - Offensive Drive/Defensive Drive.

Identify Strategic Objective of Opponent. Qualified - Defense/Offense. Specified - Turn 8/16 or Nah. Qualified - Ball Possession.

Identify Strategic Objective for Self. Qualified - Defense/Offense. Specified - Turn 8/16 or Nah

Identify Tactical Team Positioning. Qualified - Tactical Position to impede action against ball, Tactical position to move board position for next turn, Tactical Position to Score Next Turn, Chaining opportunities, Surfing opportunities

Identify Individual Positioning. Qualified - Tactical Position of Scoring Threat, Tactical Position of Most Likely To Be Depitched, Tactical Position of Biggest Strength or Weakness, Tactical Position of Biggest Depitch Threat, Tactical Positioning Ball Carrier Tactical Position of Guard/Reactive Positional Skills. Specified - Respective Skills of Each Player.

***

Evaluate Moves That Require No Dice. Qualified - Limit Opponent Tactical Next Positioning, Set up Surf or Chain Opportunities, Provide Assist, Create Scoring Threat.

Evaluate Available Non Blitz Blocks. Qualified - Pitch Removal, Board State Change (Specified - Engagement, Disengagement, Impede, Advance), Chaining or Surf Opportunities, Opening Hit On Ball Carrier. Quantified - 3d6,2d6,1d6,-2d6,-3d6. Specified - Assists Needed to Change D6 Function. Qualified - Actions Needed to Provide

Evaluate Available Non Blitz Dodges. Quantified - 2+->6+. Qualified - Tactical Positioning Moves, Assist Generating Moves.

Evaluate Available Blitz Options. Qualified - Objective. Specified - Tactical Position of Scoring Threat, Tactical Position of Most Likely To Be Depitched, Tactical Position of Biggest Strength or Weakness, Tactical Position of Biggest Depitch Threat, Tactical Positioning Ball Carrier Tactical Position of Guard/Reactive Positional Skills.

***

Reconcile Individual Player Skills Against All Evaluations

Reconcile Actions In Case of Negatrait

Reconcile Risk of Turn Over Against All Idenftications and Evalutions

Reconcile Reward Against All Identifications and Evalutions

Decide Order of Moves. Qualified - Maximizing Reward, Minimizing Risk, Two Action Combos. Three Action Combos, X Action Combos

Evaluate Effect of Moves. Qualified - Position, Retaliatory Risk

Integrate Effect of Move For Subsequent Moves

Evaluate Other Dice Laden Moves. Qualfified - Non Blocks, Non Dodges. Specificed - Pickups, Handoffs, Passes, Catches

Integrate Other Dice Laden Moves into Order of Moves

Decide.

Take a Breath.

Execute First Move.

Integrate Outcome into Next Move Choice.

Execute Second Move.

Integrate Outcome into Next Move Choice.

Repeat Until No Moves or Turnover.

End Turn.

Again, this doesn't cover everything and doesn't speak to all situations or particulars. There is a different way to approach
OTTDs and I don't feel like telling people how to approach those except, practice, practice, practice. And build the tools to do it if you can. And build the tools to stop them if you can. You won't regret it.

To essentialize The Process:

What do I need to do at this point in the game?

What tools do I have to do it and best accomplish it?

How should I do it precisely?

What order should I do it in?

Where will it leave me at if I succeed, fail or neutral?

The Process just serves as a way to consciously approach your turn and a lot of the Identify and Evaluate parts can and should be done during your opponents turn. When I wrote about playing other games and doinking around on Twitter, etc etc while also playing Blood Bowl, my focus is on that and not coming up with an Uncle T recipe for the turn. Sometimes that's okay for the venue of the game such as building in Box or Ranked. Most the time it isn't.

Over the years I've played and socialized about Blood Bowl, I have come to feel that the essence of the game doesn't lay in averting risk, nor does it entail taking undue risk. It is about making the right moves at the right time - from the big plays to the little ones, having a clear sense of purpose/objective with every move and action, technical proficiency in evaluating available options and their macro and micro risk/reward, and praying to Nuffle to validate the choices you make with the dice.
I think this taps into a missing part of The Discourse surrounding Blood Bowl when it comes to coaching advice - we simply don't have the ability to really do a real time analysis of the chain of Indetify, Evaluate, Reconcile, Integrate, Execute from coach to coach to coach. It also takes some strenuous hand holding to do this even when that is your explicit purpose. Folks have asked me for advice from time to time and some time ago there was even a push to do mentorship site and I am always happy to talk Blood Bowl and let my noodle pour out all over the table. But it is hard to give useful advice about specific what-to-dos for reasons such as 'The Pete W Effect'.

One concept I coined some years ago was 'The Pete W Effect' which describes the nature of Pete W as a coach and his skill selection and inapplicable nature of skill selection advice. It can be summed up in the idiom "What works for Pete W, works for Pete W". Pete W, from what I've seen and known about him as coach is that he had penchant for specific skills on specific players that defied convention but...also seemed to have no negative impact on his outcomes. People sang his praises and extolled his acumen, unconventional as it was at times. So why aren't there more Pete W's who can defy convention and prosper?
Because he was operating in a state of understanding his tools and team he built and how to use them effectively, situationally/contextually, coupled with Next Turn purposed positioning. Among the coaches that I regard as some of the finest, this describes so much of what they do. They don't thrive because they have a better team (though often they do). They don't thrive because they play so close to the odds or play to depitch (though often they do).

They thrive because: They understand their players and their team and the potential and limitations. They are creating their own better odds in the moment and next turn advantageously more often than their opponent is. They are capitalizing on bad dice for their opponent more often and more painfully than vice versa. They are consistently increasing the risk load on their opponents's turn while diminishing it on theirs. They are consistenly creating annoying situations that demand attention while not paying Nuffle's Positional Ransom for doing so. They don't whine about dice because they aren't playing around the dice.
How they do it can be seen in the replays, it can be talked about in detail, but it can not be learned until it is practiced. Iteratively. And yes, bad dice happen and can fell even the best coach any given game, but once you get to a place of 'dice happen' and feel pretty good about the next game, damn the Team State! Well, you just might have a good long term hobby in Blood Bowl on Fumbbl.

Appreciation to all the coaches I've played and the specific ones whose brains I've picked about Blood Bowl, giving me food for thought. This was a goddamn beast to write that took a while to write due to days and nights being broken up by 'business'. If I don't have the time to play, I can at least still think about it right? RIGHT? Write! ;)