Speaking as a veteran who has played Warhammer for 25 years. Warhammer only becomes about bad dice rolls when you do not enact proper tactics or have a solid strategy to follow. The reason is the movement of the game is rarely random and movement you can control. Deployment you control. Unit facing you control. Charge distance you can control (get within auto succeed distance).
These parts of the game are where the game is math and chess (but with unlimited moves and the players having different pieces). This is also why I play undead and not orcs & goblins. Orcs and goblins has to much randomness in it. Its an army for players who want to subject themselves to chance.
Yes, a bad dice roll can make your 650 Mannfred go poof from a miscast and disappear in a dimensional cascade. Yup, still hurts....
But for the most part, winning the game is about avoiding having to make dice rolls until you got the odds as much in your favor as you can (i.e. flank or rear charges for example). Its also about forcing as many leadership checks, long distant charges, rout moves and other bad random events as possible on your opponent so he can't maintain his battle lines and follow a plan.
Trust me. Veteran players intuitively and consciously know these things. Warhammer is not a random game. Its a game of controlled odds and out playing your opponent. We've been doing a league for the last 6 weeks, I have won every game except one and I tabled two of my opponents, losing only a unit of dire wolves both times. Before that we had a 10 week campaign and I won my first 7 games in a row. Some were slaughters and some were very, very close. I know some damn good players. Great guys I've been playing against for 20+ years some of them and I've been tabled by these guys before too.
If you start to have bad moments and it seems to be dice at first, stop and ask yourself these questions: What actions did I take that lead up to those dice that went bad? Did I put myself in a poor situation that the dice were going to be against me? What could I have done to prevent that situation?
And, if you are losing, keep playing. Never quit. Just take a step back, take a deep breath, think for a moment. At that moment, say to yourself... "How do I still win this? and if I can't win it, how do I deal the most damage and make it as hard on him as possible?"
That question, those moments, staying in there and doing your best... That is when you became a better player, even by a couple baby steps. And years of doing that, that is what leads to being able to pull off winning streaks and make your loses just as damaging to the other guy. That is how a real general throws down and plays Warhammer!
I have gotten to the point where I learn from every game. I have learned a lot about the game from sources such as this forum and especially from helpful posters like yourself. There was one game with wood elves versus Daemons that I have no idea about and I wish to forget, but other than that I take a lot away from every game.
For example my last game - Skaven vs Nurgle. Glottkin, core Trolls, Festus warriors and Regen spells all around. I thought Scorch would be enough to deal with regen but it was not.
I learned a hard lesson about the storm banner. It should only be used in the event that your opponents shooting is a considerable factor over your own. It raged through two of my own turns and didn't even prevent a single shot from his hellcannon. Of course, I'll still take it every game, as it can easily be the difference between a loss and a win against many lists. Every game I have ignored the hellcannon was a great victory, and every one that I made it a priority target was a loss - another important lesson.
I also tried out a Verminlord Deceiver. I was amazed by the versatility of an extremely mobile T6 wizard. Unfortunately the Deceiver is completely unreliable in close combat. This really opened my eyes to the optimal ways to use a verminlord, and which might be better to take than others. I'm excited to continue testing and learning how to make the most of them.
While often a major point of contention, I finally started to appreciate "initiative or die" spells/effects. While I would feel dishonored to use them as a general tactic, there's no shame in using them to save your life.
A common lesson - I once again realized the necessity of being prepared. While an all regen list is a little cheesy, a simple ring of ruby ruin or warpfire thrower could have easily turned the game from a loss to at least a tie.
In regards to the points you make about magic, I understand and appreciate the points you are making, but I just don't personally enjoy any of that. Of course I always have at least two vamp wizards and make an educated choice as to which spells my level 4 will take based on the situation. I also appreciate the small level of face-palm errors that can occur, and how you can build a list to minimize their effect from ruining your game. But building lists around this can be very frustrating for me. For example, my WE features a mobile fast cav lvl4 caster. I would like to take a second wizard, but would prefer a different lore to expand the versatility of the magic that is available to me. This means I have to choose between the versatility of a second lore, or double up on the same lore just to circumvent the 9.26% my Weaver will miss out on the key spell I need. While I can appreciate the chance of a failed charge or a bomb being a dud, creating a chance of failure regarding the wisdom of my wizard is not fun, tactical or fluffy IMO.
Regardless, I was dealing with it without (much) complaint the best I could until Khaine showed me a better way. Unfortunately this "better way" ended up creating more problems than it solved. Aside from rolling for spells, Khaine has made me appreciate 8th magic a lot more.
The main issue with warhammer is their lack of support. What you have done is master the unsupported rules, flawed as they are, to make the most of them. I can appreciate that which that is why I prefer 8th over undefined Khaine. If GW properly supported their product there would have been a rules errata weeks ago answering confusion in he rules so that there can be no argument other than "I dont like it". Great support would have even tweaked the rules so that they are more appealing overall and most would not be ignoring them. GW business model is to keep a steady flow of the most gorgeous miniatures in the world and let everything else work itself out.
You might argue for balance or for rules you personally object to, but you cannot argue for properly supporting your product.