Look, I know why we use dice in our wargames. They provide that random element to our games. They take away the uncertainty of things. They stop everything from being completely predictable.
Well, that's what they are supposed to do...
But if, like me, you have the dice throwing skills of an inebriated seahorse then you're going to find that snatching defeat out of the jaws of victory will become an increasingly common experience.
I don't know why this is. My pool of dice has grown over many years. It's a Hodge podge of GW dice from starter sets, gem dice from my RPG days, posh sets purchased in the hope of improving my odds. And more recently with the arrival of the new Sylvaneth Battletome, I went mad and purchased their faction specific dice. Did they help me? Not one flipping bit. Doesn't matter how hard you have to look at them to decipher the result of the roll. When you know what a '1' looks like, you're covered...!
I'd like to be able to blame this on poor army selection, but that would only get me part way towards the weekly defeats I regularly experience. And if you play Chain of Command or Sharp Practice, it's not like you're going to be responsible for choosing each element of your army. So I can't use that excuse at all...!
In fact, while I'm on the subject, it's not just dice. Even the card deck for Sharp Practice seems to be against me... I seem to spent each turn watching my opponent draw card after card while my forces just stand around waiting for Tiffin...
It's either I'm the unluckiest soul on the planet, or my dice are all crap. So if anyone knows a good manufacturer, please tell me in the comments below!
Still, any game I play will bolster my opponent no end. So if you ever want the laugh of your life as I roll many more 1's than is statistically possible, or if you want to see an army, no matter how lovely or cunningly constructed fall apart long before you engage them, then I'm your man.
I can actually match you on that front! A VERY long time ago when I became a student, I joined Birmingham University Wargames Society. Just as I joined, the Society had started a Renaissance game using the (then new!) first edition Renaissance rules from WRG with 15mm 'strip' Minifigs. My army was Flodden period Scots (lots of pike!), while Paul, one of my fellow students, had the matching Henry VIII English. You can imagine how many Scots v English games we played over the next three years.....
ReplyDeleteOne of the features of the rules were that each player rolled a six-sided dice for each unit in melee - and in all of our games (bar 2) - I rolled sixes and Paul rolled ones - much to the detriment of hos army!
We swapped dice, borrowed dice from other club members, and even once just to try to be fair, I lent Paul a pair of positively loaded (i.e. more 6's) dice to try to even things - he still rolled ones!
In the end, he sold the army in disgust when he left.
I have never had that happen in any other game, so either Paul was jinxed or I was!
Ian
I feel Paul's pain. Not that I'd ever sell off an army, I could never do that. But as to swapping dice, I've done that. With the same effect I must add! 😜🤪😆😆
Deletesalt water bob your dice..
ReplyDeleteI will give that a go and let you know if it makes any difference!
DeleteWell, they smell... slightly salty. No discernable difference yet... Maybe a dice tower will help? Either that or I'm just crap at rolling dice full stop!!!!!
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