The Worst Habit a Wargamer Can Have?

[@fredesca8648]

I don’t blame my dice when they fail me. I replace them with new ones while I burn the old ones for their failure. Burn the bad juju away.

[@orkloven]

I'd spend a fortune on dice if I did that.... 😂

[@josephbevan1036]

Yes. Each die has an inherent level of reliability based on its past performance. Bad dice can ruin an entire collection just by proximity, so they must be cleansed. It is the way.

[@krisdray673]

It is best to execute the offending dice with a small sledge hammer in front of the other dice. It is more motivational that way. Doing it in front of your opponent has the added benefit of really throwing his game off.

[@maxschmidt666]

A friend of mine has a dozen dices for Pen and Paper RPG. Every time he botches, dice will be replaced for the rest of the session. It happened once that he had no more dices left over and started borrowing them from other players.

[@nilsingvar7319]

This is the way.

[@gildedbear5355]

My bad habit is watching youtube instead of painting or finding people to play with. At least I'm taking ownership of my failing?

[@jimbou2349]

You can "watch"youtube while painting👍

[@gildedbear5355]

@@jimbou2349 I know, but it's just so easy to start up youtube without setting up to paint... also, all the other excuses that go through my head 8)

[@GeneJordan]

@@jimbou2349 and then the paint dries on your brush before it can get to the model. I listen to audio books or podcasts instead.

[@Zspear234]

One thing I started doing was watching videos/podcasts related to the game I'm working on. For example, I was working on some Monsterpocalypse and had a battle report playing in the background. It helps keep you in that mindset.

[@cptncutleg]

Try playing some heavy rock or metal while painting. Chase the thoughts away so you can bury yourself into painting.

[@MrSphinchee]

I think Uncle Atom got fed up with someone's crap.

[@JorisVDC]

No, I think Uncle Atom has the adult conversation with his nephew that only keeps complaining.

[@colonelkilling2425]

I've been a fan for a while. I've never seen him so angry.

[@Ronkjo]

Passing the blame or avoiding responsibility is something that we all do, but as always... taking responsibility of ones actions, helps you grow not just in wargaming but as a person... Uncle atom’s helping you not just to be a responsible Wargamer but also to grow as a person, 10/10

[@JesusProtects]

Doesn't fit in wargaming context tho. If there is a very low percentage of something happening and it happens it doesn't mean it's your fault and you need to do better next time. Sometimes we can't control certain things, thinking you can change a bad roll by "being better" is nonsense.

[@MarkZX14R]

Blame yourself .. but without emotion .. be analytical and ask why things happened and what you can do to prevent re-occurrence :)

[@Bitterguy14]

I disagree, you should use emotion but be aware of it. Feeling good, confident, or happy with you analysis or even feeling bad about the problem with the first place involves emotions. When you let them guide you without any realization/thought that they are is when problems occur.

[@MarkZX14R]

@@Bitterguy14 I have met many players who "get down on themselves" and let that negative emotion creep in to suck the joy out of the hobby for them. As someone who audits and investigates for a living I always recommend being analytical of the system or process you have in place without "getting down on yourself" for failings. The key to bouncing back is understanding that we all make mistakes .. it's called being human. Ask any successful person and they will tell you the key to success is to keep failing until you get it right .. those who truly fail are those who give up at one of those failure points. In my experience the "give up" comes from allowing negative emotions like "I am never gonna get this" to start creeping in .. Smooth seas don't make great sailors :)

[@Jormyyy]

I'm glad I (usually) have the mentality to catch and call myself out when I mess up in a video game for example. It's a good mentality to have to recognize when a mistake is your fault. I hope I can apply this to when I (hopefully soon) start playing 40k tabletop.

[@Dehalove]

@@Bitterguy14 I agree

[@TheRocketYeti]

" A poor craftsman blames their tools." I really love that quote and invoke it when I think "I need that new compound miter saw." or " I need athat fancy new brush." ... It's saved me a lot of money and improved my skills in a lot of areas because I focus on getting better at what I do, and not buying my way up.

[@HeadHunterSix]

You may be misunderstanding the quote. It's about blaming the result on the lack of skill. The corollary is: A good craftsman knows that good tools can improve his results even more. You'll get better results with better brushes and more suitable paints. Sure, an expert can get great results with cheap brushes and craft paints - but even they will get better results with the right tools. Don't blame your tools for bad work, but credit where it's due when they contribute to your success.

[@Mrphilipjcook]

You can't hammer a nail with a hacksaw though.

[@bellportbattlebunker4682]

@@Mrphilipjcook But a compressor nail gun will be more efficient, which is HeadHunters point in case it was missed. The original quote "A poor craftsman blames their tools." refers to despite having superior tools, making excuses for your inferior craftsmanship by blaming your tools is bad form. PA-CHOW!

[@Mrphilipjcook]

@@bellportbattlebunker4682 doesn't Pachow! Normally relate to a link? I assume you were directing me to a nail gun sale 😂 As for a bad worksman blames his tools, I'm afraid that's never held water with me, but then, I've always worked for cheapskates who give you garbage tools, 😂😂😂👍👍👍

[@bellportbattlebunker4682]

@@Mrphilipjcook Yeah, the pa-chow was my attempt at humor. Glad you got it. ;) I worked for a guy as a handyman the summer before I went to college, and he would always buy, instead of rent, whatever power tool we needed for the job as he would say, "I don't want you guys complaining that you don't know how to use this thing again after I teach you."

[@bigbrowntau]

In my gaming group, after we finish playing, we ask the question: "What did I learn about the game today?" Was it a unit was better/worse than expected, was a list poorly written, was deployment not the best...and we all talk frankly about what worked and didn't work. It makes for a great improvement, and teaches us all to take responsibility for our own actions. And occasionally the conclusion is "Gee you rolled badly at that critical moment...but why was you list built around passing that roll?"

[@finnley905]

It's always better to acknowledge your mistakes, that way you don't make them again.

[@JohnSmith-fu2kz]

Wow... you are lame

[@aaronweeks1989]

my bad habit is not being able to stick to a single army long enough to get more then two units painted

[@samuellewis2100]

That's were skirmish games (Kill Team is my latest obsession) really shine. I've got three armies on the go for Kill Team atm, and it's much more manageable than if I had those three on the go for 40k.

[@mouseketeery]

Like Samuel Lewis says, Kill Team (presuming we're talking 40K). I'll bet you can repurpose the models you have into a Kill Team, and it's easier and less wasteful (of both your time and your money) if you want to try out different factions and forces (or if you just fancy painting them 'cos you like the models). In addition you have a lot less daunting painting requirement and you get to actually play your little guys sooner. I'm painting my 4th team at the moment and am contemplating whether or not to do two more so that I end up with two each for Imperium, Xenos and Chaos.

[@Tombonzo]

Yeah, Skirmish is way more manageable- especially for newcomers to the game! I’m enjoying Age of Sigmar Skirmish and or smaller Armies to play with!

[@paulmdowney21]

Is there an Age of Sigmar skirmish game? I love the AoS models and have often been tempted to pick up a few but I didn't want to commit to a full army. If there's a skirmish game that would be ideal.

[@Tombonzo]

Paul Downey why yes there is in Fact! GW (or your local store may have it) sells an AOS Skirmish Book, with rules specifically for Skirmishes. For instance, each Figure is its own unit. Watch some Battle reports on it or reviews here on you tube. I bought the book and can’t wait to play these Battle Plans (there are 6 in the book) you can play them as a campaign OR play them individually. I’m sure we can think of ways to make your own as well.

[@crazeh8]

Life is 10% out of your control and 90% how you react to it.

[@Spekd]

This 😆

[@bloomjieun]

Love this.

[@TLKjoe]

Is that a funhaus shirt? That's a funhaus shirt. Uncle Atom is best uncle.

[@bombarded15]

that just hit me like a brick, love them both lol

[@Bobbymaccys]

“That would have worked if I had rolled better” is my reaction to most things that go wrong for me

[@JasonSkee]

I’ve been working on a language change for the last few years. Instead of I did not have time, to I chose to make other things a priority. It is a slow change but it has worked for me to have a honest conversation with myself on what is important. It is still a work in progress like any new habit.

[@_Graia]

The worst habit a gamer can have is not respecting the power of “PACHOW”! 👊🏼💥

[@ApollosEdge]

In education, we call this the 'Growth Mindset'. Absolutely agree!

[@tabletopminions]

I like the sound of that. I'll have to look more into it. Thanks for watching!

[@bellportbattlebunker4682]

@@tabletopminions aka self-reflection.

[@byebyebuy]

@@tabletopminions At university we were taught "fail faster"

[@bencruz563]

Even when there are external obstacles, you only have full control of your behavior. "The unexamined life is not worth living."

[@ssnakeshitful]

Putting the blame on yourself will probably work when related to the hobby, but please don't overdo this in life. It's one of the top reasons why many people feel like complete failures and face tremendous anxieties. It isn't always a recipe for a more successful career, a more successful life in general - instead, it can be a prelude to depression.

[@MattsHobbyWorkshop]

The Dark Prince You are so right! I spent years blaming myself for everything, I mean every TINY thing. I got more and more depressed to the point where I lost my family. It is true we have to self-evaluate to better ourselves, but it is also crucial that we "be kind" to ourselves as well.

[@printandplaygamer7134]

I think Uncle Atom's point is to take responsibility for the things you can control, and not cop out by painting yourself as a victim or a martyr. There are things you can't control, certainly, but there are often steps to take to mitigate those uncontrollable things that *are* within your power. You'll usually lose rolling for a 6+ on a single d6, for example, but maybe you can maneuver your squad so that you get some plusses on the roll, and only need a 4+. You can't make your horrible, abusive boss any less horrible or abusive, either, but you *can* start looking for a different job. Don't be a victim of bad rolls and bad bosses...just get yourself to a place where a 4 is a success, and you have a better boss.

[@Blunderbrows]

This is what I wanted to make sure was acknowledged. Uncle Atom’s suggestion to recognize the factors that are within your control and take steps to improve where you can is absolutely solid advice. However, that’s a concept that takes lifelong practice to master, and not everyone is automatically in the mindset of viewing failure as an opportunity for personal growth. The idea of “blame” and “who’s fault is it” is ingrained from childhood in many cultures, and I’m afraid many viewers will hear “blame yourself” first and miss the more crucial elements of his advice.

[@Minodrec]

Christopher Wilding really He has a more recent video about taking things calm and cool in hobby related field. Being upset is part of human nature. I meet more ppl that simply don't paint or play enough for fear of being bad than ppl that don't progress because they blame others. Ppl that complain are actually playing/painting so they are progressing. It's not even rare for them to chill out and analyze the situation later. The all "put the blame on you" mantra is modern BS coz ppl don't like to hear other's rant. It's so rare to see ppl actually trying to explain the salty person what happened. They aren't even manifesting that the rant is making them feel bad. Instead they blame others ppl rant for them having a bad time.

[@nickmartin6130]

Find Jesus, or ask Him to find you, glory be to God!

[@dikrot]

I have to admit at the start I was thinking if you get bad dice rolls there's not much you can do about it... but you are right there is always a chance of bad rolls so WE need to build a list robust enough that if a unit gets a bad roll it's not game over

[@HeadHunterSix]

The whole point of success in wargaming is: The fewer rolls you need to make, the lower your chance to fail. Good generals don't rely on luck for victory (but it's helped!).

[@NeoNaiche]

Thankee for putting this information out. It's so satisfying to know that we're not alone.

[@ReganSpor]

Okay well you can blame yourself for being unlucky, but that's a useless endeavour. You can make it to the final and still be second to someone who got lucky. And you shouldn't blame yourself for that. They drew the right hand, made the right decision, got a swing turn by going high risk, high reward. When it comes to the game win or lose you are at the mercy of chance. You can give yourself the best chance, that doesn't mean you'll win. The hobby side of things I agree with. Avoid procrastinating. Be responsible, don't give yourself the excuse.

[@lv100Alice]

Well you decided to play a game that have luck elements so you are still to blame

[@borghe]

The difference between the top guys and the others, is that the guys who are always at the top miraculously find themselves in do or die situations less often. And that happens because every single action in the game has a level of quality. Was that the most optimal choice that could have been made, or was it just good? Or was it even pretty bad, not at that moment, but how it might affect your game 4 actions down the road? And even at the top cuts, it looks like two players are playing flawless games and it comes down to luck, but are they really? At play that high it becomes difficult for average players to see less than optimal plays occur even though they are still really solid actions. Luck does happen. It can sway things and a big roll or lucky hand can crash the best laid plans, but the truly best players, in any competition of any game.. know when they got smashed by luck, but more importantly (and more frequently) know when they were just outplayed.

[@Bitterguy14]

While it's true you can mitigate how much chance effects you. If you force yourself into a situation where you have to kill this one unit or its game over then it's mostly your fault because you failed to remain flexible/have a backup plan.

[@Billchu13]

Look up mentality for other games of chance, like poker. If you made the choice that would work a majority of the time, say 60%, but it didn't work, you probably still made the right choice (unless there was an even safer plan of action).

[@printandplaygamer7134]

@@Billchu13 That's exactly the point. Knowing which choice is the 60 and which is the 40 is the key. Yeah, 40% of the time, you're going to be "unlucky" because you took the 60% choice, but you're going to come out on top 60% of the time. That's 10% more than the guy who's guessing or flipping a coin (who only wins that choice 50% of the time), and 20% more than the guy who thinks the 40% choice is the better one, either because he doesn't know better or--worse--knows better, but "has a feeling about this roll." Add up a bunch of +10% to +20% outcomes over the course of a game, and you'll see the better player win most of the time (but admittedly not always), because there are *lots* of 60/40 decisions to make, and *most* of them go to the 60. Poker is a great example, because there's LOTS of chance in poker, but the best players *understand* the odds in any given situation, and play according to that understanding, and clean out the players who "trust their gut."

[@frugalyak]

OMG, this is why I love this channel! It's my "Zen and the Art of... Miniature Painting and Wargaming".

[@Hamun002]

Hey Adam. I really appreciate this video. I’ve been struggling a lot in my wargaming(and other hobbies) and it really results in a huge fallout with some of my friends and teammates. I need to remind myself of the issues and when my lack of preparation is the cause. Thanks for framing this in a healthy way. Happy wargaming!

[@tabletopminions]

I'm glad to hear it, and I hope it helps. Thanks for watching!

[@blakemerrithew9162]

the dice blaming is the fun of the game. I remember when i would play with friends we would come up with stories for units who roll badly. Like the empire gunnery unit that hit(wounded) 5 guys the whole game. They were drunks who did not understand how a gun works and all the casualties suffered were from looking down the barrel and pulling the trigger to see how guns work.

[@lunahula]

I think it might be better to call it always 'Responsibility' rather than blame, because blame maybe can wear you down in terms of self worth. But taking responsibility over things is always a good thing. e.g. Well this paint job isn't as good as I liked, I blame myself I am a terrible painter. Instead; This paint job didn't come out as good as I wanted, I need to watch more videos, read up on it more, practice more, if I don't have the things I need, get them and try again. I know this is probably what you mean, but responsibility is an important thing in society as well as in personal development we don't get enough of these days.

[@HeadHunterSix]

Responsibility, integrity, accountability - they're all inter-related and they're traits of every successful individual.

[@lunahula]

@@HeadHunterSix Indeedles!

[@saunba6007]

Hm, i can't totally agree about the dices never are to blame. I remember a very short game (2 turns or something) were a sorotitas player got almost all of his shield of faith saves and his IG opponent failed every single wound and save. No matter what he tried. and after his lemon russ burnt, his straken died, his veterans was gone and all the damage he had done was to kill 1 sister retributer before they heavy boltered the 'lucky' scions to the throne he gave up. i cuold totally understand why he blamed the diced it was awful even the sororitas player was sad about that bad luck the IG guy get by his dices. For the most part, yes, it's your own fault, but sometimes there is nothing you could do if there are dices which hate you. P.S. Sorry for my rather bad english, it's not my native language.

[@crocgator3693]

Saunba Lemon Russ lol

[@will4127]

Maybe he lost because the Russ he fielded was a lemon.

[@matthewgagnon9426]

I've definitely had games where I've rolled poorly on every single attack/defense roll. I know I make misplays plenty of times, but there's been too many times where I charge in and roll super 1-2s super disproportionately with no 5s or 6s as Orks.

[@jameshatfield8410]

Great video - As a poker player, this is also very applicable, it's not a coincidence that the same players constantly do well in big tournaments. Thanks for the videos 😀

[@_Cervantez]

I've been out of the hobby for over a year now, but I always come back to this channel for life advice

[@FettuccineSouls]

I can’t believe you’re wearing a funhaus shirt. Heck yeah

[@tabletopminions]

I like to watch some of their stuff (and some Achievement Hunter stuff) before going to bed at night. Watching them play some video games saves me the time of playing so many video games. I buy some of their shirts to support the channel, and because they're cool shirt. Thanks for watching!

[@felipelabarca3682]

Tabletop Minions ah, a man of culture I see

[@capitanulloa5728]

@@tabletopminions Achievement Hunter is awesome!

[@iamtib]

Your point on why we are seeing the same person at the top at different tournament is very good. I come from the Magic the Gathering competitive scene and this game, much like Warhammer, has variance: in Warhammer it's the dice, in Magic it is the cards you draw from the too of your deck. And so it is prone to comment like "I never drew X card, I drew too many lands and not enough active cards, he topdecked X and beat me, I never drew my sideboard cards" etc. But, as you pointed out, we are seeing the same players winning tournaments over and over. Some pro players just keep on winning whatever the tournament format is, the deck they play and the opponent they face...just like Warhammer. At first it was hard to understand and hard to come to terms with this. Sure there are top tier decks (just like there are top tier armies in W40k) but here and there you see a deck that you've never seen before or a deck you thought was bad winning an event. I had the very human response "well they're just lucky, they only faced their good match ups" etc. SURE there is some luck involved, it would be stupid to completely deny it but, and here is my point: good players make their own luck. They make luck happen. It stroke me when I started playing at high competitive events (to qualify for the Magic the Gathering pro tour for example): some players, through clever navigation in the game, taking the right course of actions with basic cards, put you in a space where EVEN IF you draw your best card, you cannot win. This is what I mean when I say "good player make their own luck". When I understood that I should stop relying and what I COULD DRAW from my deck and focus on what resources I already had in my hand, my view of the game shifted completely and I started winning more and more. I still got comments like "you are so lucky, you topdecked, I drew nothing to stop you" but I think people are saying this to protect themselves from regret and hard feelings. I was guilty of that at the beginning but when I reallised it had nothing to do with it, instead of this sort of comment when I lost a game, my questions to my opponent were rather "why did you do that at this specific moment? how did you know I had this card in my hand? why did you wait on that?" etc. And I learned so much. So to come back to Warhammer, there is no such thing as "the dice don't like me, he rolled like a master etc" and people who claim they're unlucky therefore they cannot win are just lying to themselves. The odds are the same for everyone, you cannot control that. But you can control everything else. Play to your army's strengths, play to your opponent's weaknesses and make you luck happen. Games are won as early as the deployment phase not in the rolling of dice.

[@elliottselman6746]

I've played games where it was turn 3 before I actually got a hit and wound in Warhammer, and my buddy was rolling 5s and 6s like mad. That was definitely down to the dice. However, aside from crazy situations like that, this video is right, and as a Magic player, you nailed it. Too many situational cards in a deck, can lead to a variety of cards in your hand that don't work at that moment, and you've screwed yourself. A better player than I, can build a deck that always works, and that's what I need to work on

[@a-blivvy-yus]

Another one where this is a factor is videogames - turn based strategy in particular, but there are other games with RNG elements that affect the player too. I learned my lesson from 40K, but I've applied it to XCOM, and FTL, and a few other videogames I play. I've also given advice to people who have the same problem. My second or third time playing 40K in a store, I was starting to get a bit overconfident, and I got *destroyed* - there was one moment where I rolled badly, and I tried to put all the blame for my loss on that one shot that "should have hit". The store manager came up to me and shut down my complaint with a simple answer: "If your entire battle plan was dependent on a single roll, it wasn't a good plan." If you're playing any game where you have to roll dice to get a hit on a target, you better not build your entire strategy around a single shot that has to roll a hit. If you do, it's not a good plan. If you need one model to survive to a certain point in the battle in order to win, then you need to be able to guarantee that model's survival. If you can't, it's not a good plan. If you have a powerful model your force can revolve around, you better have a second model that's just as powerful, or a squad that can fill the role when it goes down - because it *WILL* go down if it's the core of your plan.

[@rmcgavock1]

Atom, hard truths are difficult to hear but necessary sometimes ... good advice. By the way, I like the new t-shirts.

[@maplecote]

"The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, / But in ourselves..."

[@jamesfranxx6151]

2:18 for someone new thats just learning how to do paints and what not being able to see what might of been the cause of it not going right or looking decent is important i fully understand the importance of not just pushing everything onto something but it's still important to learn the tricks with humidity and whatnots

[@jinchoung]

we live in a world and in a time when this message is needed in every aspect of life.

[@ivangroznyuk]

Dice Gods. I had a Reiver Combat Specialist in Kill Team swarmed by Genestealer Cultists and he accounted for 2 in 3 turns (25 attacks) I won the game but it was when the Reiver was supported by my intecessor Sgt leader that I broke the Genestealers. True though. Even when lady luck has abandoned me I can usually trace a defeat back to an action or lack of one.

[@andtheinternettkills]

Back when I was a sergeant in the army I had a saying: share the fame, take the blame.

[@craigalexander1191]

This was a great video. The one caveat is please be self reflective but don't let it get de-motivational. Lots of other videos on this channel are also about not getting deterred. Like everything in life, you need balance.

[@trajan4770]

I personally don’t like losing... I love it because it shows me where I need to improve but I’ve gotten to the point where people now complain. I don’t get why they complain. I guess it’s easier to do so than to get back up after the knock down and grow stronger

[@stuartbaxter-potter8363]

There are totally games where the dice can snatch victory from your grasp. I played an event mission where we fought over grot tokens and at the end of your turn you rolled a d6 for each token you controlled, and on a 1, your opponent got to move it 6 inches in any direction. I rolled two 1's over the course of that game and ended up losing by a single point. Best thing to do in that situation is to recognize that these things happen and move on to Game Two. I still had fun, my opponent had fun, and we got to keep the grot tokens after the game. Wins all around.

[@Garenex]

Blaming the dice is a very common noob crutch in Heroscape, but if someone wants to learn and get better, you can generally walk through the different moves they could have made earlier in the game. Most competitive players are very willing to teach newer players.

[@nightflyer4866]

This is Extreme Ownership, Jocko Wilnik. Own your mistakes otherwise you can’t take credit for your victories

[@PittsPilot]

I just re-watched this and I've got to say this is a great motivational video to watch any time someone is feeling out of control or looking at why they failed. People like to say that control is an illusion in modern times, but I don't think that's entirely true. We do really have control, to react, to learn from the past and to make plans to address past failures in similar situations in the future. Great video Adam!

[@SuperDuperHappyTime]

I had this game early in my 40K life where I deployed nearly my entire army in Drop Pods, against Tau with plenty of anti-DS stuff. That part was entirely my fault and I learned a lesson for the next game. What isn’t my fault, is that ~3/4 of my rolls were 1s or 2s. I got a Yahtzee of ones for one squad of 5, had two plasma blow up, failed a charge, and had an entire 10 man squad (not in drop pod) killed in two salvos of Fire Warrior shooting. At the end of the game, my opponent (who knows my other army is Nids), said “Its like you forgot you don’t remove models by the fistful.”

[@animeator]

This video has reminded me that I'm running low on glue... this is what shopping lists are for. Also I never blame the dice... except one die. A d20 that has become known in my circles as The Red Devil for always getting a 1 when lives are on the line. It's also the punish-die for whatever player forgot theirs...

[@romanholiday8956]

I just discovered your videos a few days ago and they really good. I chuckle a little bit when I watch some of the videos like this one. You're sort of the "wargames philosopher" lol. A good thing mind you. It was just funny to come across, but good at the same time. This is actually a good medium for people to learn these types of life lessons in general. Given that a lot of the folks that play are still pretty young, it makes good sense to have videos like this one. I imagine there are older folks that still need to learn things like this, but I'd like to hope that most people of a certain age have come to understand lessons like this one (and the one about "that guy" etc). I mean this all as a compliment, in case it isn't coming across this way. I think it is a noble effort on your part - some folks genuinely don't have patient parents that can teach lessons like this and you have a good temperament for this type of thing. So, keep up the good work.

[@truskor]

Attributing once own failures to outward situational factors and the failing of others to their person is called the 'general attribution bias' in psychology. It is one of the universal challenges in our development as a person.

[@LordByte]

A trick I used to make sure it's my strategy, and not the dice, is "counting dice". Each time the roll was below average -1, each time above average +1, average rolls are 0. Generally you will end close to 0 but if you end a match at -7 (it happens), you know the dice may have had some of an effect. Same goes the other way round ;)

[@harrymanback3475]

It's taken me 40 years to work this out. Wish I'd seen this vid 30 years ago 😉👍

[@rodneyr5266]

Agreed 100%. Being accountable to yourself and taking responsibility for our actions is the path to growth and self improvement. Great advice.

[@ricon0suave]

Idk if I'd call it "taking blame" so much as "taking responsibility"

[@jonathanp1621]

When I saw a notification for this video, I first thought it was "not painting your miniatures"...

[@shiwan8]

I read a book about this. It’s called Extreme Ownership. The title alone is something too many people don’t get.

[@manda60]

As a model railroader, my bad habit is "forgetting" to clean my track.

[@YvraineSimp]

I have tried explaining to my game group about mitigating the dice roll and I feel like you explained it better. I felt like I had to gimp my lists because I don’t want to crush them. Which if I knew my opponent did I’d feel slighted.

[@longchampe]

Life lessons with Uncle Atom. This is great, there are a lot of people out there who've never been taught this and need to hear it.

[@schlockfather]

I like your channel a lot. I find it to be very relaxing.

[@a-blivvy-yus]

I've had *ONE* 40k game where I can honestly blame the dice hating me in one round of combat. I had a Space Marine Assault Squad with a Chaplain attached, we charged into a squad of Tau Fire Warriors. Both units had 6 models when we engaged. My unit had almost 30 attacks between them, with 9 power weapon attacks that would ignore armour saves. All my models had better strength than the enemy's toughness, giving us an advantage on our hit rolls. We had higher initiative so we attacked first. The end result of all my attacks was a grand total of 6 Tau left standing. That would be all of them. I literally didn't land a single hit. In return, they *wiped us out entirely* and turned the tide of battle. With this in mind, I have played many games of 40K, and that particular encounter is the *ONLY* one I've had where I can honestly say a single incident with a single string of bad luck was the definitive tipping point of a game. Every other match, someone made a mistake, or someone did something crazy and unexpected to shift the balance of power, and the dice were absolutely *NOT* the deciding factor in how it happened. No matter how good a player is, if there's RNG, there's always a (slim) chance the RNG will just coincidentally happen to roll badly for you. And a long enough streak of bad rolls can break a game. The trick is that those massive strings of bad rolls are so ludicrously rare that you can functionally ignore them. You might get this in one or two games over a decade of active play. But you probably won't.

[@Immolate62]

Sometimes, things happen that are both outside of your control and are completely unpredictable. However, taking the responsibility for even situations like these is your way of saying, "self, you CAN do something about it. You CAN be better-prepared. You are NOT a victim of a never-ending stream of circumstances. You are responsible and therefore capable of acting, even in situation beyond your control." It's really just about giving yourself permission to act, as opposed to following our most-base nature of accepting our powerlessness and doing nothing. Victimization mentality is poison. Even if you are a victim by any reasonable standard to which nobody would disagree, don't act like one.

[@HNXMedia]

What I learned from this video: Uncle Atom has the Cobra Weather Dominator

[@philiphaugaard757]

TL;DR: I completely agree with you, short anecdote down below emphasizes why. I've just had an argument with my roomie, who at the moment can't paint. Danish winter is moist or frozen.. the end. Meaning it's impossible to prime outside. I kinda thought ahead and spent every night over two weeks, readying, assembling, priming, etc. all my models, two months ago. So I have the option to keep painting, all through winter. While my roomate has to wait approximately 5 months (because autumn, winter and spring, in DK is basically just one long cold, stormy, rain or snow cloud.)

[@AgentPedestrian]

In winter I just started priming in an old shoebox under the kitchen fan on highest with the screen propped down and wearing a face mask. Haven't got the time to wait 6 months for the weather to change.

[@TarotNathers]

A warhammer army collection, much like an Empire, is not built with a single grand, magnanimous gesture. It is built out of a foundation of small, dedicated actions. If you don’t care to find out how to lay bricks, you will never build a road anywhere. The theory of broken windows holds true just about anywhere. Small moments, build the greatest memories.

[@LordPadriac]

The dice thing can be valid up to a point. Yes you need to learn the rules of your chosen game fully, you need to learn how the specific units you've chosen work in your game, you need to learn how to form an army of your chosen faction to best make use of it's overall strengths and minimize it's weaknesses - but - there are many times that those malevolent little chance cubes come up shit every single roll in a game. As an example I was playing DnD one week and couldn't miss a hit, was doing bookoo damage and had passed all my roles at one point to charm a blue dragon before the end of the session. The next week that character died after rolling a series of ones for his hit rolls twelve times in a row and finally dying because I rolled a one three times in a row after rolling a one to hit the twenty fifth time. That's a rule popular in my area at least. If you roll a twenty to hit you already get critical damage as the rules state, then you roll the D20 again and if you get another natural twenty that goes up to double max damage, roll a third 20 and you get an instakill. To balance that if you roll a one you already miss but you have to roll the D20 again. If you get a second one then you have to roll your damage against yourself, then you have to roll the D20 one more time and if it's another one you are instadead. No reprieve is possible. My brother is a math teacher and we sat down the next day to figure out the odds of rolling a one on a D20 twenty five times in a row like I did and it basically shouldn't have been possible. Like it was more likely a tornado would drop a live shark on me in my kitchen than rolling a one twenty five times in a row on a D20. The dice can suck no matter what anyone wants to say. Every time you roll a die there's more chances than not that it will come up shit. The only way I've found to minimize that is to always use a dice tower. It does seem to help the dice rolls to be a bit more evenly distributed between good a crap. It also prevents the whining from the opposing player that you're somehow cheating the dice roll when your dice are coming up aces all night.

[@antoniomonteiroai]

Amazing material! Keep up with the videos, excited about observing even more of them

[@terrainaholic]

Setting a hard goal like a time frame for finishing a table kind of dose the same thing. Your forced to adapt to all the problems that will inevitably happen and over coming those hurtles. Its the juggling of what you need to do that forces you to be the focus and ultimately if you fail or succed you know it was all you.

[@Redskies453]

My bad habit is taking on grand projects and getting them 80% and not finishing. I'm learning to chop things up more. It's better to finish 5 models than get 20 models efficiently up to 25% and then leave them on the desk. Painting a hero means trying not to burn out during the excitement phase and being too over it to commit to the detailing and finishing phase.

[@surfingmoose]

It's always the dice's fault. It can't possibly be mine. All I needed was 3 sixes from rolling 50+ dice and only got one. (That is actually true).

[@BloodpactORG]

Well. There are many options wargamers tend to not take. Like *not* moving a unit the maximum distance so they can stay within range of two targets to have a plan B, no matter how likely the odds are of plan A succeeding. Things like that. On some level, at some point, you could probably have made a different choice to not have to rely on only those 50 dice.

[@tilleul6917]

@@BloodpactORG True. But there is too much rng in a lot of wargaming combat system.

[@whistlejacket6082]

I feel like a lot of the fun of tactical wargaming is minimising the amount of luck involved by picking the best possible decision probability wise, and removing the dice rolling and stuff would take that out of it

[@petermayer1287]

The moment someone claims he has 'bad dice', I know I'm talking to an idiot. It's great that you address this topic directly and in a fair way.

[@Axonteer]

Huh i prime whenever it pleases me, balcony if all is fine, carpark entrance when its windy, and inside the carpark when all is fd up- always have a plan b and c so i dont need to find one when time is critical.

[@JadeDude1973]

As far as the dice go... I feel like the best players build lists that minimize the possibility of bad rolls affecting their performance. If you're hitting on 2's and re-rolling 1's for example, the dice have to REALLY hate you to hinder you. Unfortunately not every army can make shenanigans like that happen...

[@derpimusmaximus8815]

Buying a new cupboard instead of emptying your cupboard of shame by painting what you've already bought.

[@deathguarddavegoogley2022]

You’re only 75% right Uncle Atom. There are environmental factors which can be ‘to blame’ for events which are out of an individuals control. It’s too simplistic to say it’s all down to you. You’re completely right of course that there’s nothing to gain (and energy to be wasted) by raging and blaming other things for failure. The secret is to learn from failure, no matter where the ‘fault’ lies.

[@tabletopminions]

Certainly. It's not a person's 'fault' that they got cancer (like both my grandparents on my father's side) but then the person who has it has to work with what they're able (doctors, etc.) to fight it. Blaming something or someone else for your troubles doesn't lead to fighting those troubles, it leads to giving up. Thanks for watching!

[@BoredLyron]

While I agree for the most part, even this mindset should start at "know your own personality". For most people and most things (myself included in most areas of life) this is a good advice. However there are certain personality types that tend to take this mindset too far in some situations. A CEO who micromanages everything because they see everything as their responsibility is one example. Another is a gamer, who overanalyzes their perceived mistakes and loses their enjoyment of the game. In regards to gaming, I fall to the second camp, though I'm trying to work it out. Trying to figure out where you failed when there was no fault on your part, isn't productive either. While I don't advocate it in most things, balance is the key here. Analyze your losses (and wins, for that matter), visualize how other plays would have worked out, ask your opponent and possible spectators, what mistakes they noticed in your game. In the end, if serious effort was spent finding mistakes and none were found, there might not have been any. Don't lose any sleep about it. Tl;dr: don't blame yourself for losing an unwinnable situation, but learn to understand that those are rarer than you think. And even in those situations, never blame the dice. You chose to play a game with a chance element. If that sometimes bites you, that was still your choice.

[@mikesprague]

Uncle Atom dropping it like a TED Talk - gold!

[@wezab]

I agree with him but for slightly different reasons, although ultimately it is me who has to be the solution and not the dice roll. I found in the wargaming that I had two issues. I have appalling dice rolls, even after I gained the experience needed to game better. I have literally rolled 6 "1"s when trying to wound with a strength 10 template. Even now, my Rangers only wound once in 3 games, but that might be saved. And the result of this was that I became too timid and let the opponent dictate the play. The other issue was the fact that when I first started gaming, I had put a lot of work into painting my figures and I literally couldn't stand to see them killed in the game so I was over cautious. Nowadays I stack my shots on one target per turn, take bigger chances on movement and taking shots and have a strategy that I have learned to stick with. I am a lot more competitive as a result and understand it was still me that was losing and it is me that is winning, occasionally.

[@stump182]

Taking responsibility for the negative outcomes in your life also gives you more control over outcomes in the future and lets you take full credit when you succeed.

[@log6709]

I want to go to sleep at night with a bed made of your voice. It is so relaxing

[@muesliman100]

It's funny, I do occasionally expressly make sort of bad lists by including sub-par units (in warhammer fantasy) that way if I play against someone less experienced I feel less bad when I lose a game. Losing games has to happen because else my local wargaming scene collapses, I think. This does also mean however that I shouldn't go blaming the bad units out loud afterwards cause that would kinda take away from my opponent's victory. I also however don't really feel like I'll have to improve my wargaming tactical and list-making skills that much to be able to be an enjoyable player both for myself and the opponent.

[@timbuktu8069]

I generally blame my opponent for *tricking* me into rolling badly.

[@brentnorton1602]

Everyone has a plan till you get punched in the face. 40k: Everyone has a plan till they start rolling ones.

[@MansMan42069]

Mike Tyson, Emperor of Mankind

[@Moritz606]

This is a really good video. I have a psychology background and those mechanisms you describe are pretty accurate. It is very easy to externalise your failings to protect your self confidence from getting harmed. There are many ways, especially on tournaments you hear alot of people say "yeah I lost against X unit because it is overpowered/unbalanced", in which case you should ask yourself if you knew it is OP then why didn't you play it or play a counter to it? There is also a defensive mechanism in which people will bring especially hard to play/weak units so they can blame their losses on their weak list composition.

[@AlluMan96]

Taking responsibility is a very important part of life, but I think equally important is to figure out when or if blame is needed to be dished in the first place. You may have lost a game for an oversight in your list, not being as familiar with the meta or just making a risky gambit that didn't turn out well and while yes, you can trace it back to yourself and blame yourself for it, is it really something you need to carry a burden over? In a big tournament you were trying to win? Yeah, sure, but you also need to rememeber to turn that attitude off when you're just playing at the game store or with your buddies at home. Sometimes, you gotta just take a step back and realise that it's not that big of a deal. Eagerness in seeking improvement from every misstep in your life is certainly productive, but it's also an incredibly stressful way to live life and can ruin hobbies if you over-apply it. It can lead to the "I'm bad" death-spiral, where your mounting failures eventually begin eating at you as you place more of yourself into your attempts to improve and become overly fixated in where you went wrong. It's a balancing act though, as becoming too lenient and ready to just throw up your hands and say "It is what it is" can lead to bad habits around becoming neglectful of accountability on any level.

[@tapioperala3010]

A good general will not forget luck, but he will minimize it. - Sun Tzu

[@tabletopminions]

Exactly, and that guy was wicked smart. Thanks for watching!

[@Thadak1sm]

I cant blame myself for not being able to prime. I basically live in the swamp.

[@louisstout9952]

So much important life/wargaming advice!! I gotta make a confession, you've always been like a second dad to me. Love your vids!!

[@Black_Blow_Fly]

I remember one game in sixth edition... Abbadon has two wounds left and an Ork Boyz squad wounds him twice on overwatch... I rolled two 1s for his Look Out Sir! rolls then proceeded to roll another two 1s for his armor saves... I lost my sh*t and was cursing out loud for like 10 minutes. I went to see a good friend I was so upset and told her what happened. She said "Look you have no control of the dice, it’s just not worth getting upset about it." Since then I’ve never lost my sh*t about dice ever again.

[@chuckaroobob]

While I agree with most of what you said, I'd like to point out there have been quite a few times when the dice did actually cost me the game. It's true players can minimize the risks and mitigate the disasters, but when the dice decide to head south there's nothing a player can do. During a game of Metagaming's Trojan War, I rolled 14 D6 and got all ones. The result was not just a miss or a fumble, the CRT said "Attacker Eliminated." Game over. During a 3rd Ed War$ Fantasy tournament I had 8 units, all leadership 10. Needed a check at one end of the line, 10 or less on 2d6: failed. Failure caused check on next unit; failed. 8 times in a row. By the time the units rallied the enemy guns had ended the game. I understand these are extreme examples, and maybe I'm in the bottom 1% of luck, but never doubt the power of dice!

[@OctopusGrift]

I lived in a room for 2 years where I didn't have a space to prime, so I bought bones minis. Which are better if you prime, but can be painted without primer.

[@CharlieO_]

Ha! "You are the CEO of your own [insert thing you want to manage]" and "Blaming your self is not evil - it's a pathway." are both tools I've used to help my kids understand things better. I have a LOT to say on this, but I'll keep it to a single, functional idea: the difference between the bad blame (we'll call it blame) and the good blame (responsibility) is not in dividing everything into one category or another, but in realizing that we are totally allowed, and in many cases invited, to take on the extra burdens that make things work better. In that way, we change burdens into benefits, blame into responsibility and we can change a loosing situation into a winning one. Neither is it about winning a tournament, but in identifying the translatable skills into other parts of your life. Notice too that skills are mostly habits that we view as good or productive, if you don't consider 'skill' as 'innate tallent', and there! a whole, working philosophy in a bite sized chunk. Thanks for setting me up, Atom! I'm gonna make my kids watch this video. Authoritarianism is a philosophy, too.

[@rabardy2992]

Cool vid. My biggest fault is universally a tendency for procrastination... It's something I've struggled with for years despite many efforts to overcome it. Enjoying your vids - very entertaining, and more importantly, but grounded and informative. Thank you.

[@Awsompick]

My bad habit is a complicated one. I'm arthritic but really enjoy wargaming and the hobby side, but i also have an issue of just not following through with taking steps to make the hobby side easier on me. I know i need to put tennis balls on my brushes to hold them easier, and take my time painting models,but i also wanna play games with them. So thats for sure a thing i need to work on

[@scarfymonster]

When you own your failures, you own your success. When you own your success, you own your destiny.

[@jzyjewski]

The other side of the coin, for me personally, is to not only blame yourself, but to actually do something about it too.

[@AzraelThanatos]

I can see some major limitations to this. Sometimes it is just the fault of the dice or the spray. Not as often as most claim it, but it is sometimes just down to bad luck. Have a game where you can succeed on simple things at a roll of 2+ on the dice, well, it's kind of an issue of luck if you're rolling snake eyes repeatedly. You might also win the same way because you're getting a lot of very high rolls. Primer does go bad, and at times you might have a month to get ready for a tournament and not have a single day where you can prime your minis due to the weather, it's just bad luck there. Your primer can go bad on you and create other messes that can't be cleaned up easily...I'd had some expensive models where my primer went wrong on me and ended up a tacky mess on the surface that was almost like tar, it didn't want to come off no matter what I did and didn't actually harden for weeks. I've also had times where it was my fault. The big thing where I really remember a lot of individual games where it was decided entirely on luck, who rolled better determined who won in a very close game.

[@SirJustinTheLion]

This is a really great video Adam and I believe that it's something everyone needs to hear.

[@goodjessehobbies]

Also, try and avoid taking a stance like, "I just suck at this", "I'm just not any good." It's SIMILAR to blaming the brushes or the dice or what have you because it is an absolute. "If I am just NO GOOD, then there's no reason to attempt to figure this out or try and change anything." Taking ownership of the situation is more important than blame alone.

[@proven22x52]

take advantage of your best foils in the best situation, like fielding your kastelan robots on the front line, last skirmish they reflected killed 4 times, great cost imo

[@BTML498]

6:13 - Okay it's confirmed, not only has Uncle Atom fallen to Chaos... He's also working for freaking Cobra. Seriously though this is my first "cold spell" since getting into the hobby. I forgot how much I hate winters in New York. Not only that, but I'm completely crippled for miniature painting, because yeah I can't prime jack with the weather like this. My solution: I'm getting into the airbrushing game. AND! I used Uncle Atom's videos to learn. Pa-Chow kzbin.info/www/bejne/mKivioaeiJuGf8k I love this channel.

[@BlazyCrane]

I agree with this in all of life. But there are just some nights when the dice are iced colder than a penguins balls

[@jboyler1]

My worst habit is licking my paintbrush. My wife HATES it.

[@johnleptien7870]

Glad I subbed. The 1920s Chess Master, José Raúl Capablanca, once said, "You may learn much more from a game you lose than from a game you win. You will have to lose hundreds of games before becoming a good player."But...you have to want to be a student of the hobby (ot life in general) to learn. BTW: just bought my first min, so not quite in this game yet.

[@a6two]

I agree completely. But people don't like the blame themselves. To help with the tabletop one I started doing a debrief with my self and if my opponent was up for it with him or her too. Win or lose I take a few minutes and go over what happened and what I could have done differently and what could that outcome have been; or what I did do and why did everything happen the way it did. I have found that helps a lot.