Dealing With Rotten Luck

[Cap'nSmurfs]

So, it feels like I'm on the worst of the worst bad luck streaks at the moment.

I think I've been able to deploy/go first about twice in the last fifteen games. The last three or four times I've rolled a 1 on the roll-off. I've not seized the initiative in ages. My opponent's resulting first turn shooting trends towards utter mercilessness, and what I'm able to manage in reply plinks off their armour.

My reserves never arrive when I want them to.

When it comes to my shooting, I never seem to get penetrating hits (even with solid anti-tank weapons) and when I do, the damage table comes up diddly-squat.

Now, obviously this is a perception problem as much as anything (concentrating on the negative rolls to the exclusion of the positives) and I've probably had plenty of things go my way.

There's not a lot I can do about this either way. It's just that this persistent bad luck is really annoying me and putting me off playing and enjoying the game (I don't mind losing, but when nothing goes your way, it's really off-putting): But what are your tips and tricks for coping with runs of luck, good and bad? What do you do to keep your motivation up?

[Wildeybeast]

Remind myself that I play the game because it's a fun way to spend time with friends and kindred spirits and because I love the models and background, not because I want to win. Your luck will turn back around, just remember why you play the game to get yourself through the tough time. If you really aren't enjoying playing at the moment, why not take a break from it for a bit and use that time for modelling/painting?

[spaceman91]

When all hope is lost and i know it game over i do silly things to keep myself entertained. Eg: the rules for jumping off buildings are very funny, Tank shocking is always fun and never forget the death or glory charge at a unit that is 99.9r% going to kill me. A note on that last one when that 0.00000000000000000...1 comes good it is the best/funniest thing in the world.

[iamian]

I feel ya bub. I lost 13 termies in three seperate squads to bolter fire/ never seen so many 1s in so few rolls.

still, I had fun even though more than half of my scoring units were utterly crushed first turn.

[Calgar33]

I know that feel, played a game with my new budding Death Guard. Typhus and his fully knitted out Termies deep struck with in an inch of my foe, my buddy was kind enough to allow them to come in the next turn, when Typhus finally got into combat he turned himself into a spawn after defeating a champion in a challenge. The game before that my sorcerer got ate by his own rhino.

[Eberk]

Look at it from the bright side.

It can only get better :D

[Cap'nSmurfs]

I love tank shocking, it's never less than hilarious. Got a unit of Necron Immortals off an objective and almost off the board with a Rhino once. My opponent's face was priceless!

Thanks for the comments. It's an annoying thing but one which will pass. And yeah, I'm pretty sure it can't actually get worse than today's game, where my opponent rolled a Vehicle Destroyed every time he penetrated one of my vehicles. :)

[SotonShades]

At both of my gaming clubs I have become infamous for solid lists, good tactics and incomparable bad luck. What I have always done is try to find some humor in it. I start making up stories about how bad my guys are doing and why; like the only scout with the sniper rifle left keeps missing because pigeons keep flying in front of him, the flash gits that can't wound guardsmen because some geeky grot loaded cheese instead of bullets in their guns. You get the idea. People seem to enjoy it, more than one opponent at tournaments have thanked me afterwards for the laugh, and it keeps me sane. I have been known to do the same when things go well as well, which usually gets even bigger laughs. I'm sure that is more because of the rarity of the event, but I'll take what I can get.

[Cap'nSmurfs]

Yeah, that's more the sort of attitude I need to have, I think. :)

[KrewL RaiN]

My luck tends to be manipulated by Tzeentch way too often. I am pretty well known around here for my rediculous armour saves... and also some horrid bad luck too haha! From power overwhelming to what da heck is going on in an instant! I am a good sport about it though and make really good jokes. No one has ever had a bad game against me since I always have a good attitude.

Those dice can be fickle *****es! I can't get that mad at a game were there is so much randomness involved. I can get a bit peeved at bad luck, but I wont let it ruin my game. I had a tournament game were I lost my Tzeentch Harald and unit of Flamers to a bad mishap, yet still managed to win that game by one point! Lets just say, my infamous saves... one lone Horror refused to die, and was out of LoS to most of my opponents shooting hehe. It was quite the intense game! My Horrors were stupidly unkillable though that whole event. They were defiantly the MvP's from all the ridiculous things they did! (I hope their stat line doesn't change too much in the new dex, I rather like them as is... T3 and a 4++ is so funny :<)

If your bad luck is just eating at you too much Cap'nSmurfs, it doesn't hurt to take a little break. Don't force yourself to play if your just not having any fun or in a bad mood, it can make things worse mood wise. I try to remind myself not to play some online games when I am sour, because I know I will just get crankier :<

[Cap'nSmurfs]

I feel better after cooking, eating, hanging out with the wife and then doing a little painting. Thanks guys! And good to know it isn't only me! :D

[Lost Vyper]

And you can always buy a new set(s) of dice! Worked for me, when i began my gaming "career" and got my butt handed to me all the time. Now i rock with the club´s dice and it´s been alright since then (and i might be a better player :) ).

[Wolfshade]

I do not deal with bad luck as it does not exist. Everything is merely a statistical probability.

[Cap'nSmurfs]

I mean dealing with experiencing a run where the results of random chance aren't coming up in your favour very often (or aren't seeming to be, or aren't coming up on vital rolls), which as a subjectively experienced phenomenon, definitely does exist. ;)

Like the opening of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead: he keeps getting heads, which is statistically possible (if vanishingly unlikely), but it's a pain in the arse if you're calling tails.

[Wolfshade]

I mean dealing with experiencing a run where the results of random chance aren't coming up in your favour very often (or aren't seeming to be, or aren't coming up on vital rolls), which as a subjectively experienced phenomenon, definitely does exist. ;)

Ah I see, why didn't you just say that in the first place ;)
I play more games to get a more even distribution of results :)

I form a narrative, for instance Frank is my ML guy, he is famous for missing shots at distances of 1".