[Master Belisarius]

I support the Hank's words.

"Therefore I say: One who knows the enemy and knows himself will not be in danger in a hundred battles. One who does not know the enemy but knows himself will sometimes win, sometimes lose. One who does not know the enemy and does not know himself will be in danger in every battle." Sun-Tzu, The Art of War, chap 3
(Thanks Geo!)

For example, if you know your ships and the enemy ships, there is not any luck when you start a battle... but if you don't know the performance of your ships compared with the ships of your enemies, then, the result will be pure luck.

A good player always will try to reduce the random aspects of the game.