This is the first time in close to a month that I’ve played Sega’s fantastic Valkyria Chronicles. It’s low-selling, rendered in a beautiful watercolor style and features John DiMaggio (Bender) in a bit part as the flamingest anti-tank gunner (features loud f-word) ever portrayed in fiction.

Tanks are the crux of my problem. I put Valkyria aside – as is my wont with games – to play something else for a while. I decided to pick it up again today and take another step toward finishing the job. The battle I’d left on is an open field engagement involving a complex trench network.

I sweep through, keeping my units carefully in the trenches to avoid artillery fire, moving them in pairs and providing ample sniper support to make sure they’re not facing too many enemies head-to-head. They can die permanently. After taking a few more turns than I probably should have, I manage to clear the way for tanks. Now it’s a simple mop-up operation to take the enemy’s base.

Wrong, the other guy pulls his trump card – one of the game’s eponymous Valkyrians – an ancient race that used giant lances that shoots lasers. No problem. I’ve fought her before and then she had a giant tank to back her up.

What I’d forgotten is that the enemy had a smaller giant tank this time. Most tanks in this game have a weak spot, a giant glowing heatsink on the back. It a one-hit kill, a fact that’s explained repeatedly early on in the game.

But yet I didn’t pay attention to the way I was facing. Not only was I at an angle where the giant barely mobile tank up on the hill might hit my weak spot, I had pointed my weak spot directly at the giant barely mobile tank up on the hill.

Exploding and sadness ensued.

This doesn’t just apply to my failings as a leader on the battlefield. I’ve known people to forget essential shooter skills (no-scoping, quickscoping, circlestrafing, proper melee technique, etc …).

So, my neologism question is this: What would you call losing skill in a video game due to disuse? For once, I’m at a loss for clever things to serve as a base.