The Plan? Sure the plan!
There is a Plan?
So there seems to be a plan. After my last RTT where I had an issue with my last opponent of that event it was recommended that I keep a Game Journal. An idea I took to heart and for most of all my Crucible games I kept said journal with my thoughts on the game, what I expected, and things I could improve or issues I was able to figure out (or was informed of)
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| My game Journal's first entry |
This journal is a method for me not to say things aloud when it would be inappropriate. Something I am still not 100% on but for an off the cuff idea I would like to believe I did well. To me this is progress, to others, it is not quick enough of the progress they desire.
This is fine. I can only fix things so fast and if it is not going to be fast enough then so be it but I am not going to stop trying.
As I said in my last blog post, this blog will either show my journey or wither as my journey comes to an end in this endeavor. Still, I will go down fighting.
Back to the Plan. The Plan is simple really, I will be keeping this journal going through every game I make it through but before every game I will be writing these four things down.
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| The Plan! |
Now, you may be asking yourself, what makes these four things important? Well, I have been told that I am only at events to win. Personally I do not see it as I go into every game expecting to lose (see next journal picture) but that is what people see so maybe my body language is saying something I don't notice (VERY POSSIBLE)
This means #1 is very important. Remembering that this is just a game and that I am just there to play a game, laugh at my terrible dice rolls or what feels like the absurd luck of my opponents saves and just enjoy the experience is important to me. The most important thing.
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| My first Crucible GT journal entry |
Now what can I control? Well my Attitude for one. This was an issue in my last Crucible game and was a trend throughout the event. I think in at least 2 games it was not an issue but out of an RTT and the 6 round GT... that is not a great sign is it?
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| The last game of the GT, vs Todd's Necrons. Mission 33, bottom of T2 |
For the last game, it was another game vs Todd. This game started as disinteresting for me. I didn't see a path to victory but still wanted to play it out, I even told my opponent as much. My demeanor shifted on T3 as I got more interested in how the game would turn out, my prediction of a blow out was wrong and I still expected to lose. My opponent and observers saw this as me pushing to win and being scummy and honestly I do not blame them. My opponent said what I was doing was angle shooting but based on what was explained to me, I am not sure I was.
Let us go over what my understanding of angle shooting is. As far as I understand it, it is abuse of rules by not letting your opponent know, gotcha's, things that limit the information your opponent is getting and then using that to your advantage.
This is something I personally can not stand. Let us take this game. For the entire event we are treating all walls as first floor Line of Sight (LoS) blocking and that LoS blocking going 5" up (even if there is a break somewhere that is under that). At the start of the game, I made my opponent aware that if he put his The Silent King model inside the Obscuring piece of terrain, I would be able to draw LoS to him and be able to shoot him.
This was me preventing a gotcha moment because the model is FAR larger than 5" tall and getting True Line of Sight over that 5" mark from how far away I was would be EASY and not fair to him. My War Dogs on the other hand measure under 5" (I think my tallest is 4.5" tall with the snake body) which means I can never go into one of those big pieces and draw LoS to something on the other side based on the rules we agreed on and the event was using.
From what my understanding of what my opponent meant is more in the literal term of angle shooting. I would make sure that a small portion of my base was able to see his base. Not his model but his base, I tend not to draw LoS to parts of a model unless they are the only thing sticking out and even then I ask my opponent if they meant to shift that model to prevent that when possible. Circle bases this is always brought up but non based vehicles or oval bases this is not always possible, but I will work with my opponent to see if it is possible to prevent me getting that LoS to bits
To me I am not sure that is incorrect. The game is played on limiting LoS and getting LoS, at no time did I tell him, I can see you but you cant see me. This was my 3rd game vs Todd and not letting him just get full shots into me was vital if I was to see the game through. Especially as he has seen what my War Dogs can do when I get enough into firing positions.
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| Bottom of T3 |
By T3 the game was interesting. I was limiting Primary which I did not expect to do but was still under the assumption I would lose. It is Necrons, he would get 38+ points on secondary, and 30+ on primary and I would be stuck out by 4-10pts once again. It turns out I could not be more wrong. Banners racked up to 8pts by end of game, I got 15 on Ruthless Tyranny and my no prisoners made it to 12 and because I was able to steal secondaries and live on the outer 3 for multiple turns my Primary looked like 4, 8, 8, 12 and because it is mission 33 I got 15 on the mission secondary meaning I capped at 45.... I was stunned.
This is not a blog about victory though, this ties into what I can control. My attitude. I should NEVER of been disinterested. I should of just told Todd that I am curious on how this game turns out and try to stay neutral or up all game.
The issue is, I go down when I am losing and go up in mood when it seems I am winning. I have looked back and have seen it. To me in the moment I dont see it but it is the thing I need to be MOST aware of.
Moving on to number three. This is just having fun with the game. Game 5 was close to a success to this for me I think. If I had kept my head when I missed a few key consolidates instead of having the outburst I did, I think my opponent Johnathan would of been fine as we were joking a lot on dice rolls. His Beast of Nurgle was a solid BEAST! Tanking two turns of my Stalker's Slaughter Claw and then dealing 8 mortal wounds! What a monster!
I need to have fun. This is number three because if I remember that I am there to have fun and that I should only care about the things I can personally control (my attitude, my game play, my actions, my banter) then having fun is the only possible outcome.
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| I have to stop being pessimistic about games and just play them out. Who knows what could happen? |
Number 4 and the current end of the list (likely not the final addition though) is that I am only human. I WILL make mistakes and I cannot beat myself up over them. I am in control here and being human means that mistakes will occur, bad matchups will happen, terrain will be pain, etc. So what?
The whole point of the journal and the blog is to become a better person. In the end if I fail at this GT it does not mean I give up, it just means I have far more to learn before I can try again.
In the end I expect to make a mistake and that is fine. I am human. The question is, can I show improvement to myself? Who knows, just like the final game of Crucible against Todd, I will not really know the answer until I play it out.
This one came out faster than I expected so I will release it early. Tomorrow I was advised by the host of my next GT (who is giving me a chance when people he has known longer than me have advised against it) I should have better idea of what issues were actually communicated to the staff of Crucible about my play and behavior.
That is what the next blog will be about. What can I do to combat those issues.
Thanks for reading and remember the war against the Grey is not unwinnable!
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