To double down on this, I like to talk about my opponent's specific moves I thought were really clever or unexpected, or my general battle plan going in and where exactly it went wrong. Also how Im going to punish the dice.
Being sanguine about what went wrong is really the key; it sucks, but you gotta look forward to the next game. My second ever match, I ran Murderwing against Wrecka Krew on Tomb World--got absolutely whalloped. Shrugged, laughed about it with my opponent, and crossed my fingers that my next game is on Volkus.
Private Kowalski was looking forward to seeing his newborn child for the first time and Jimenez had a wedding date already set. And they both stood to close to each other when the Squig came...
I once had an enemy Sly Marbo jump out of my land raider, throw his demo charge and nuke that land raider, then jump back into that burning husk to avoid the lightning claw terminators that had just exited right before he did,
There was a lot of 1s rolled that game.. I kinda miss 5th
Works sometimes; when I was nrw I played against a much better player that never had any input or advice, just "better luck next time" that got stale fast
Real talk last time I played my Guard in big 40K I brought Caiphus Cain along, who then got caught in an explosion. I was half hoping they’d roll enough damage for him to get blown up just so I could say that he got blown off the battlefield and that’s how he survived.
"Damn. You really got me. Well done, good game!" and a handshake.
Avoid harping on about where you realized you fucked up, unless you're having a general discussion about how the game went after.
If you're having a post game chat about key moments, then it's fine to say "Yeah I should have kept my melee guy back, but I just couldn't help myself but charging, I was too eager for that a quick kill."
But I also know it's harder for some people to lose. My old flat mate didn't WANT to be a bad loser, but his face always started going red if he was doing badly, which made the game feel kinda tense and awkward.
I have another friend who goes into hyper focused mode when it's going badly. So he can't small talk at that point.
Both those friends know they do it, and try their hardest not to.
I'm fine losing, even though I want to win. When I play with someone who's a bad loser, I have a habit of gentle parenting, almost apologizing for doing well. "Yeah... sorry... I'm sorry for destroying you, but this is the best move I can make right now. Sorry for killing your leader."
I'm kind of like your friends. I don't want to be a bad loser. I want to be able to just enjoy playing a game with some friends, but it's hard not to let the emotions get away a bit if it all starts rolling downhill, especially if I realize I made a hug blunder at the very start/deployment that doomed me and meant I spent a few hours in a hopeless situation or I think I have a good thing going, but the dice just fail to let me do anything I have tried to set up.
I'd like to say I'm at least not as bad as my cousin who wants through his risk pieces across the living room when he was losing, but I did have a game once where I chucked some dice after I had three of my units attacking a Khorne lord on foot of some sort for three rounds and took off one or two health because I just kept whipping so badly.
I feel like the reverse of that sucks just as much. Recently played a game that I was ahead by a lot for most of, but my opponent was actively complaining about no way to win, and the messed up really bad, made a lot of mistakes, etc. For 3 rounds. They then came back bottom of 5 to win by 3 with the help of some good secondaries and my failure to remember the had a unit in reserve still that I didn't screen out. They won by 3, which is fine, but the way they doomered, back handedly almost, about the game the whole time left me feeling incredibly stupid for losing it the way I did. It was almost like they were trash talking in a roundabout way I guess? It's hard to describe lol
Laugh. When your dice come up all 1’s, laugh it off. Curse the dice with a chuckle. Congratulate your opponent for playing well and offer a rematch once you’ve got some dice that don’t hate you. Everyone gets pasted as a result of bad luck, it’s a fact of the game.
Next time you could roll nothing but 6s and your opponent is the one cursing their luck.
Exactly. Me and my best bro play frequently and we both have some atrocious rolls. Now when we gather a handful of dice we both go "Let's see how many 1s I roll!" and toss 'em into the tray. Reverse psychology, lol, now when we roll 1s, we were expecting it. And if we roll lots of 6s we are super excited because we were looking for all the 1s.
For me, I always help the other player while we are playing if I can, even to my own detriment. I always remind them of options or mechanics they may have forgotten or overlooked, and in turn I remind them of my team's capabilities. For a skirmish game, kill team (and most GW games is general) has a fuck ton of moving parts, arguably too many. Helping eachother out makes any loss feel way less demoralizing, because the lessons are learned as the game unfolds, and it diminishes that competitive try-hard zeitgiest that plagues a lot of gaming commuties. Helping eachother make good decisions during the game helps everyone get better and have fun.
I second this, it’s not a gotcha game and in an ideal world, everyone would be aware of all the team rules.
If I’m starting to win too much (doesn’t happen often…), I start making risky but wild cinematic moves, like throwing a body where I normally wouldn’t, to try to even it out.
Shake hands and ask for another game. If you know your opponent is more experienced, ask about what mistakes or misplays you made during the game. If you think your opponent is at the same level or worse, ask about plays that they saw and made that turned the tide of the game. If you’d like phrasing, genuinely ask “What do you think I could do better strategy wise to make the match closer?”
Don’t blame the dice, that just takes away from your opponents win and makes them feel bad. I really only talk about dice rolls if they’re crazy (all crits or all 1s and 2s).
Honestly, just not caring about winning or losing and just having fun playing the game with someone else.
Casual is the time to make dumb and funny plays that may not work ever in a competitive setting, but are extremely fun to experience by the players involved.
People have fun when it seems like you’re having fun with them, too!
Try to look at the game narratively. Its the grim dark future of Warhammer forty thousand, not everyone wins all the time and even the most dangerous and capable factions regularly face dire consequences. If you can try to view each game as a story, makes it easier to lose. So my chaos space marines got demolished by adeptus custodes? Time for them to skulk back into the Eye of Terror and cook up another scheme to stick it to the Corpse Emperor and his progeny!
Dunno, just wanted to say that my first game against Chaos Cultists I had no idea how they worked. My opponent got a few mutated and I had no way to kill them, lost like half my team by the end of T2. Previous edition, it was like my 4th game or smth. I conceded at the start of T3, the game was basically over, but the dude wanted me to finish playing just so he could count the tacops points better. Felt like crying after I left the shop
When you know you're losing, just recontextualise the games and go for small wins, like trying to kill a specific operative who has been scoring against you all game. Makes it more fun than just giving up entirely.
Im not saying dont ever concede, but if you are going to concede, do so by the end of turning point 2. The games winner is usually clear by TP 4, but its nice to let your opponent have their moment and get that W undiluted.
And Id say if you are calling end of TP2 I would offer a re-rack. Same map. same mission. same operatives and loadout.
If you want to we can see this game to TP4 but I Really flubbed that deployment. For me, the fate of this match is written, I would like to concede the win to you but we could re-rack and play again if you want? (I think travel, setup and selection always takes up a huge chunk of time and don’t want to cut the game short if it can be helped)
Start getting violent when taking your minis off the board and start saying "nuh uh nuh uh nuh uh" when your opponent does everything and when the game is done say "I went easy on you I only let you win cuz I'm nice"
Instead of the goal being to win the entire game as the victory... pick something like Grots scoring a touchdown as the victory... halflings injuring another player...
Lone infantryman made a lone stand against 5 genestealers..., he's toast, but how many did he kill that he shouldn't have?
If an opponent is having a great game I root for them. I'll offer suggestions it point out things they might not have seen or thought of, basically I'm not above being the narrative event for their team's glory story.
Also I add in some threads for revenge at a later stage in a comical way, so that they know it's all in good taste.
Likewise if I'm stomping them, I go out of my way to revisit moments when the game could have swung in their favor, hopefully helping them see it in their next game.
I'm there to have fun, win or lose, I'm just happy to have a game to play against an opponent.
1) Never blame dice. You may have rolled awful and below average all game, and/or your opponent may have rolled amazing and above average all game, but never blame dice. Blaming dice denies the agency from your opponent, and amounts to saying they merely "got lucky". Even if its true, it speaks of being a bad loser.
2) Acknowledge your opponent's skill expression. Skill expression in KT is ultimately down to things like positioning, scoring effectively, denying opponent scoring opportunities, managing or denying threats and countering your opponent's team and strategy. All of these aspects of the game are usually in a players control, I.e., not down to dice. So always good sportsmanship to acknowledge the skill expression, and congratulate them. Plus, if you see it done, you can potentially learn and improve your own game.
I kind of disagree, knowing when to blame the dice is far more important, especially if you can laugh it off. Sometimes you do actually whiff every important roll and if I won I would absolutely tell my opponent that they got robbed by rolling all 1s on a melta.
Fine, but if your opponent then said that you only won because they fluffed a roll, its not exactly losing with dignity.
Also - for me, I am yet to play a game which was otherwise perfect, and only dice lost it for me. There has always been something that was in my control that I could have done better, or a misplay I made, and so blaming the dice is easy, and a cop out. But really scrutinising yourself and seeing where you made mistakes is always better imo.
My recomendation, whether casual or competitive, thank them for dat asswhooping and maybe ask for suggestions where things went off the rails. I think the most important part is try to stay positive and not get outwardly angry. Sometimes its impossible, and in those cases I just apologize after the game
Play the best moves. It’s rewarding for the opponent to have an enemy putting up a good fight; try playing the objectives, scoring secondaries as much as you can even if it’s over
It’s good training + you’ll have a better time
Also when it’s really over, you can agree to end the match, and state what you would’ve have done with your units for the last turn.
Its just a game. Handshake, a "congrats, good game" and later if you want analyze your mistakes so you can improve, keeping in mind this is a luck-based game. You know, like an adult
I like to dissociate from myself a little. You know how when you watch a battle report you can cheer for and appreciate the good moves of both sides? That’s what I do but with my opponent and myself. Ultimately it doesn’t matter whether my space guys eat your guys or get shot into oblivion in the process, it’s cool either way.
Then when the opponent whoops my butt I get excited, because ultimately what they did was awesome and not a personal attack.
Of course it’s ok to be reasonably upset as well. When it’s a particularly devastating situation I give myself like 5-10 seconds to be devastated and groan about it, before congratulating my opponent on their good move and/or luck.
Also remember that while luck can 100% swing a game, it’s never nice for the loser to point that out first, even if the opponent rolled nothing but 6s.
Remember this important phrase: “Sometimes you get speed-bagged.” There are some competitions where you just get walloped and I think approaching it with a “dust yourself off and keep moving forward” approach is important.
This has been the game for me. I’m not wired to lose. You have to play an infinite game. Meaning this one round means nothing because you can play more in the future and you’ve really lost nothing. It’s an infinite mindset. If you go into the game thinking it’s all or nothing- you have already lost and it will ruin your experience. When you lose the key components to your plan, laugh! Because that’s goddamn life and your little solders are feeling it ——- not you !! Laugh at their demise and promise to be a better god to them in their next life. Remember your have unlimited amounts of plastic bodies to through at a win.
I just always try to remember that warhammer is a silly dice game. If I wanted to play something without randomness, I’d play something else.
When I’m in a kill team game, mentally I’m playing both sides a bit, both to get into my opponent’s headspace which helps me make better plays, and to turn the game into a simulation of a combat scenario as opposed to a competitive tactics game. When my Eldar get torn apart by Raveners, it’s a cool grimdark moment that reinforces the brutality of the setting instead of just a frustrating loss.
I find this to be a lot easier in Kill Team than big 40k because games aren’t long enough to really become a slog after the point I know I’ve lost, while in 40k there could be another hour or two after that point.
Treat every game as a practice to improve in the future. Thank for the game and ask for insight.
In my local community we usually talk about the game afterwards and share our thoughts. It's important on every level, because even experienced players do misplay, and also important even if you win, because you still might have done something wrong but win with pure dice. But it's extra important for beginners. When I win with or just wipe a beginner, I always try to explain why that happened and what decisions of theirs let me do this.
I feel like I’ve had nothing but lopsided games personally lately, either I absolutely massacre the other guy in points or I’m shellacked by turn 2. Either way, I think to myself how I’m fulfilling one of the two roles in a competitive game, even when it’s casual- somebody’s gonna win and somebody’s gonna lose. No sweat either way, I still got to sit down and have a fun game of pew pew with my army dollies.
Primary reason for being there should be spending free time with the homies, then secondary reason should be you get to see your guys do cool stuff, then third reason can be underneath those two reasons and that's the feeling of winning and losing.
Take pictures and make your own battle report, then after brain storm on different options, either deployments, or where to send things.
Definitely keep the reasoning to yourself, it's a dice game, and you don't want to take anything away from your opponent if they actually did win.
You can have fun with it and sarcastically go SHOOOt, Darn It, Now I'm myad, using humor to disperse some of the bad feelings.
Try to view the game as a cinematic experience. You're driving somewhat - but it's about the excitement of action.
Play fast and don't overthink. So many times the game presents 5 options where there are seemingly equal pros and cons to. Don't dwell on should have but focus on opportunities
Play for both sides - cheer your opponent and get them cheering for you.
Take BIG swings in casual - and understand that failure is the likeliest outcome and those successes will feel so sweet.
I have gotten stomped plenty of times. It is still a good time playing the game. I like playing this game. Losing is part of it.
Sure, i definitely still curse the dive when they fail me or lament my mistakes or poor strategy, but if I do i usually try to do it from the perspective of pumping up my oppenent.
"Damn, bro, you stomped me! I messed up that last activation badly. I had no idea how to deal with your positioning, you had me dead to rights! Good strats, dude, X play earlier was so cool, when your Y took my Z. Next match I'll be ready so prepare yourself!"
Ya know, i just try to behave in such a way that it is clear I am not bitter or sad that I lost and point out the fun, cool parts of the game. Hell, i am not above earnestly acknowledging when a cool play happens, even if that play involved my operatives getting crushed.
It's all about having fun, narratively compelling games. Sometimes that involved losing.
The problem I have noticed in most adult hobbies is that people take it too seriously because the hobby is the only thing they have going on. So of course if your only hobby outside of all your work and familial obligations is going poorly you're gonna be at least a little disappointed.
The way to fix that is to have more hobbies. That might mean painting becomes as important as playing to you, then you can get your ass kicked but still feel superior to the hordes of peasants with their grey plastic.
Maybe that means doing another hobby completely, picking up an instrument, some sort of rec league sport or just something like running/biking and hitting PRs.
The more diverse your sense of self is, the less any individual set-back will effect you.
I always ask for advice to do better next time, not only does it personally help but it helps me become a better player, I’m pretty bad at the game so I personally do need the advice tho
I think being a graceful loser is genuinely just a matter of practice, like anything else. I played Magic the Gathering for a long time and started to dabble into taking it more seriously and competitively, and lost A LOT of games, because Magic is a game where you lose a lot. That's how it goes, even the very good players have win rates that aren't that much higher than 50%.
Now the issue is that, unlike MtG or another TCG, it isn't as easy for most people to play a high volume of matches with a tabletop war/skirmish game. Especially with most TCGs having an online versions of the game, it's super easy to crank out a ton of matches. With a game like Kill Team a lot of people may only get to play once or twice a month, so each loss is gonna feel worse. So my recommendation for getting better at losing is to find another place to practice losing (probably not Magic the Gathering, you already have one expensive hobby). Find some kind of game, be it tabletop or videogame, where it's easy and accessible to churn through enough games to get accustomed to the feeling of losing.
What i like to do is set my own personal goals in each mission! Try to pull off a specific maneuver, kill enemies with certain weapons, stuff like that. I tend to be highly competitive (negative), so I keep myself sane by feeling like I actually accomplished something, even if I'm getting absolutely smoked.
I find playing my army to the best of my ability a reward within itself. I also think about this speech from one punch man by mumen rider gets me hype regardless of the matchup.
If your metric of enjoyment for the game is "I won" you're always going to suffer when you lose.
If its to play the game, it gets easier.
Push to do intetesting things try new strategies. Sometimes dont play to win but play to deny your opponent a win can lead to more fun games ( and sometimes more victories)
Embrace the rule of cool and do stupid things that seem like fun
Tie your enjoyment to more moments in the game than the final tabulation.
However this mostly works if you lose a game thats somewhat competitive.
You can sometimes just get Beaten badly, where you feel you didnt get to really try and that does suck.
Frankly, own it, call out " yo man just got stomped gimme a mo" feel it push through it and go again.
Normally good players hate to stomp as much as they hate being stomped so they'll give you the beat
Lean into the visuals of it. I remember a guy getting hatchway fought by an AoD captain with the power fist so I just narrated it as the captain punching his power fist through the door, grabbing the guy and pulling him in like a horror movie. It changed the whole feeling of the game. Also we have one teen player in our group that gets very frustrated sometimes and has to work on not getting sad and upset self admittedly; so I get a kinder bueno in the beginning and give him one of the halves before proceeding to stomp him.
In a casual game I like to think of it as less losing and more just practice. You want to learn to play the guitar? gotta practice and fuck up a bunch. Shoot 3pts? Better get out there and just keep shooting 3s till you get better.
You learn every time you lose. Or you should. You can ask your opponent if there was a big mistake you made that you didn't see. Was there anything you could have done different. Also always remember it is a dice system so sometimes you just lose even playing smart. Just enjoy that you get to play a game you like and spend time with a hopefully enjoyable opponent.
Hype up your opponent, be more invested in the “story” of the game. When the vetguard sniper spikes all 6s to blast a CSM Chosen’s head smoove off, it’s an objectively cool moment, even if it’s your Chosen.
It’s easier in 40k where you don’t know each guy by name and the named characters are plot-relevant book characters instead of your blorbo, but it’s a good mindset to transfer into any wargame.
You’re both celebrating all high rolls and celebrating all low rolls and just playing the best you can.
For me, as a guy with an unfailingly self-deprecating sense of humour, I just joke about my screw-ups and laugh it all off.
My last game involved me killing Angron with my Redemptor Dreadnought and then me subsequently getting absolutely woodchippered when the rest of the army hit my lines like a tungsten rod from the heavens in the next turn. We had a beer about it, and left that game as friends.
Life's too short to allow yourself to be salty about the result of what is essentially just a game. That's the way I've always seen it, anyway.
Smile, laugh, don’t take it seriously. When something doesn’t go right, laugh along. If you act all sad or disappointed or even angry when things go wrong, both you and your opponent will feel bad.
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u/WillingBrilliant2641 Aug 02 '26
Narrate your soldiers' misforunes in a vivid and comedic manner.
Cheer your opponent's moves and his models' successes.
Talk about things you might improve, gather insight, advice.