Even though mathematics is pretty close to being Nuffle’s language, it is not an absolute truth. Heresy? Not at all! At Blood Bowl, every game turn is different. Sometimes, 1 in 6 odds is what will send you to heaven. Other times, it’s 35 in 36 odds that will send you to hell.
“Hey Taureau, slow down on the numbers! What should I do?”
Basically, you have to decide which risky dice rolls you will attempt at the beginning of your game turn and realistically evaluate whether they will succeed or fail. If you bet that they will work (unlike veteran coaches, the experienced coaches often still show some form of optimism), you must prepare your calculated risk by performing all the safe and hazardous support actions necessary to your gamble’s success. It is a common mistake not to prepare for one’s good fortune.
Likewise, if you have a pivotal play to attempt during your game turn, previously rolling dice unrelated to the main action is an invitation to receive a double-skull that will steal your team reroll. In a hinge game turn, each die roll must be motivated by a very good reason.
“That’s all stressing me up!”
Another mistake experienced coaches often do is to be the only one rolling dice. Rolling dice invariably leads to some failures, but also to some disasters. Naively throwing all your flashy dice on the pitch is almost certainly what prevents your opponent from doing the same and, by ricochet, that makes you responsible for his good fortune. You have to realize that trying your luck can sometimes be worse than relying on your opponent’s bad luck.
If you indulge in a lot of dice rolls early in the game, you can expect to lose. As a rule of thumb, when comes the urge to spill a wheelbarrow of shiny dice on the pitch, take a deep breath, relax and wait until the drive’s end to do so.
“Okay, understood. What should I do next?”
Remember that failures happen every blood bowl game. A tiny part of those will be horrible … very horrible! It is statistical! You must always be prepared for your opponent to fail a critical die roll. If you are never in a position to take advantage of your opponent’s bad luck, he will always seem to be born under the brightest lucky star. You do not need to be the only one sweating on some crappy Go For Its. Learn how to let your opponent roll dice so that your cursed self can be reintegrated into Nuffle‘s good graces.
After realizing that you are rolling far too many dice, you will wonder what to do instead. Your game’s understanding will have improved, but your results will be worse because these big die rolls, sometimes they worked … and they even won you games. At this very frustrating step in your career, you will have to develop your positioning to push your opponents to roll more dice and thus to generate exploitable failures. Do not despair as it will come with study, practice and some post-mortem analysis of the gambles you chose to roll … or not.