Losers always quit, winners do the prep work then quit.

It was with a heavy heart that I sat across from Jim, I knew I would lose, the interesting part would be in the how.  Let me tell you how I got here...

You see Jim is the best player in the UK, he has won masters on several occasions, being beaten by the slimmest of margins and strength of schedule alone at this years event., and I...I'm a noob who has played for a year and a bit.  In fact, let me go back further, let me qualify that, because Im a Noob who has played around 50 games all told, with a 50/50 WLR, and a declining form.   Why is my form declining?  Quite Simple...Gamer ADD has made me go full fucking spastic when it comes to WM(DISCLAIMER:  Spastic is not really used as term of denigration in these parts any more, its just a nice shorthand way to say fucking idiot). 

I first experienced a tournament last year, almost 14 months ago now, and instantly fell in love with the whole format and experience.  I didnt do too badly either, 2/2/0 and a respectable attrition rate on the losses.  I got better after a couple of months and then fucked it all up by starting to play "other" games:  Malifuax, Infinity, Memoir '44 and C&C:Ancients being the culprits. 

My WLR started to skew toward the loss, and week after week I would be playing a boardgame or a cardgame and then every so often a tournament would come up and I would take to game 3 before I remembered the rules, let alone the plays.

Multiple invites to mates places to play the game went by as I spent week after week in a job I was fighting to keep, missing all the fun and games and the weddings of good friends.  The only thing that kept me going through the last year(as must be the case for so many of you) was the thought of our wonderful hobby and the friends you can make through it. 

The Tuesday nights away from reality, pushing pieces from one side of a board to another kept me sane frankly.  This dripped and dragged for a year, and there I was, across the table from the best player I know or that I am ever likely to meet, and in all previous encounters before the year of toil, I would fight Jim to a close win(for him), and yet on that Tuesday, I wasted his time with unprepared and unplanned mish mash of a list.

  So how do I turn this around and make myself someone worth playing against?  
One simple thing that can improve anyones life in any area.  Prepare. Nothing more, nothing less, just prepare.  Heres my own plan for whats left of January: 

• Create a list and stick to it, change what doesnt work one thing at a time.
• Paint the things I will use most often, not the random shiny
• Make a concentrated effort to play games more often and against as many people as I can.

Sounds simple enough, and points 1 & 2 are easy.  

 

The only one that will need more work is point 3, between The Job ( I fully plan to find a job this year that lets me have at least one weekend in 52 off...) and my lack of driving ability, getting games whenever and wherever is a push.   I can deal with the driving part in an achieveable and managemable way, it requires time and money, but if I dont spend money on toys I cant use I can spend it in a way that allows me to use the toys I have.

So in this obligitory first post of the yearm I have a resolution of sorts, finish my driving lessons before I hit my next birthday and get the fuck out and play more.

I hope, sincerely, that you all have a good year, that the holidays were fun and that this year you get out and make some new friends, put yourself out there and get it done.  Its up to you.