Drills, exercises, training

[Commander Sasha]

Do any of you ever practice any aspect of gaming outside of an actual game?

I've been thinking about skills or techniques that you can practice on your own.

 

Do you ever get your models out when there is no opponent? Experiment with formations, practice range guessing, try movement techniques, things like that? The group I play in is quite strict(of which I am in favour); we discourage changing your mind if the squad you just moved is now impeding the movement of your next squad, forgiving a forgotten rule that should have been mentioned at the start of a phase, and suchlike.

 

In most spheres of education, one thinks about theory, but then engages in rehearsals before putting that into practice.

 

Has anyone got any gaming exercises they have found helpful? Do you ever set up micro-scenarios, the equivalent of snooker players repeatedly trying the same shot, or footballers working on set plays?

[carnosaur93]

i do measureing training quite alot... actually. giving myself small tasks such as "lay out two objects so theres a 6" gap inbetween them" or i will sometimes just guess the distances between objects and measure them afterwards

 

another thing i do often is to practice "guesstimates" such as "if i were to charge x unit using y unit, would it survive with z factors?" and then do a rough calculation after putting down my quick guess

[DarkGuard]

I often test out a unit's capabilities in shooting or assault various a variety of units, rolling the dice to see what rolls I would normally get (I have very bad luck so need to be prepared).

 

It's more about having a bit of fun and passing the time, but it has helped me understand what a unit can and can't do and therefore affects how I play said unit a little in game.

[redfeild32]

i set up a board and role and deploy two of my armies against every formation i can think of. This hekps me make shure i can handle any deployment. I also watch battle reports as sun tzu said know your enemy and know your self and you will win (something like that)i also look up gt first place tourament lists and deploy that in a way i think he would and set up my guys and go though what would happen on a first turn.

[ImperialGuardian]

Some things I wanted to point out for people that practice rolling to see how good weapon load outs are...

 

It is important that you keep in mind "what you are simulating" when you do this. You can mathematically calculate your exact probability of inflicting wounds without even having to roll dice. One could argue that this gives you a more accurate estimate of what to expect than actually rolling the dice.

 

This is not fully true... because there are two important parts to random probabilities. When you mathematically calculate how many wounds your unit would inflict, most people only calculate the average.

 

A very important part of randomness is the standard deviation... or in other words... the extent to which you do not roll anything close to the average. Nobody on this planet is more lucky than anyone else when rolling dice... but it is VERY important to know how badly things can potentially go... and how often they go either really bad or really good. By doing the manual simulation, you get a really good feel for how good the highs can be and how bad the lows to be... and you get a sense of the range of wounds you can inflict. This is one of the easiest ways to get a good feel for the standard deviation.

 

Just keep this in mind =)

[spartan249]

I practice using two different methods: Self Projection and Simulated Scenarios.

 

Self Projection: As I watch games, I determine who is doing better, place myself on the losing side, and work out what decisions I would make about how to proceed. It gives context to tactical situations and promotes a flexible mindset for me. In addition, it makes it more interesting for me when I don't have a game to play myself.

 

Simulated Scenarios: On long days where I'm at a venue and have no opponents, I'll occasionally pit two of my armies against each other and play both sides. In this way, everything is even barring dice luck and armies, as long as no bias is included in play.

[Commander Sasha]

I think I would definitely benefit from watching more games; when I'm actually playing, I'm very bad at committing what I've done to memory for subsequent analysis.

Taking photos might help, but seeing as I forgot to take any shots of my son growing up, what chance do I have of remembering mid-game?!?

[nurglez]

I can figure out rough stastics of my chances when rolling dice, however I hate math hammer.

 

I have test rolled a few shootings, such as 4 psycannon's vs armour 14, but that is pretty much it.

 

I really should so some measurement training, as sometimes I'm pretty sure I'm out of assault range only to find that I actually am, and my squad gets ganked...

 

Oh, and I'm part of the 'strict' gaming group of Mr sasha, I prefer to not let myself take things back, as otherwise how else will I learn? Happens very often with my Logan wing force, but less with my Draigo wing :lol:

[Commander Sasha]

As a couple of our group have just bought gaming aids, which look like geometry set squares, and have 1" and 2" edges for checking coherence and disembarking, we have been surprised at how much further we can spread units; we had previously been erring low.

[Captain Idaho]

I often test out a unit's capabilities in shooting or assault various a variety of units, rolling the dice to see what rolls I would normally get (I have very bad luck so need to be prepared).

 

It's more about having a bit of fun and passing the time, but it has helped me understand what a unit can and can't do and therefore affects how I play said unit a little in game.

 

I do the exact same because it cements an idea of the possible performance and what you can expect when units perform X action etc. It's better than Math-hammer because it does play with fractions (dice are one way or the other) and easier to remember.

[DarkGuard]

And it's more fun <_<.