DICE! An @ADragoons Mentioned in Dispatches Podcast Special (Advance) Edition #Wargame #Boardgame #RoleplayingGame
I will be recording a special episode of the Armchair Dragoons Mentioned in Dispatches podcast in the very near future where we will discuss dice in gaming. At the risk of looking like a poser (because I know I am far from a true dice fanatic) I’m posting my dice collection for reference during the episode – and (hopefully) for your viewing pleasure.
The 2021 RockyMountianNavy Dice Collection
2021 RMN Dice Collection (Photo by RMN)
Role Playing Games
Traveller5 Dice – Very chunky and heavy at 19mm; careful rolling these on a tabletop! (Photo by RMN)
Fantasy Flight Games GENESYS (aka Star Wars Roleplaying) – Specialized dice (Photo by RMN)
Evil Hat FATE Dice – look to be 16mm sized (Photo by RMN)
Gamescience
My GameScience Collection – Do YOU believe the hype? (Photo by RMN)
Sirius Dice
A relative newcomer – Tube ships with 7 polyhedral plus an extra d20; this is the “Spades” set with a lone spade in place of the 1 on the d20 (Photo by RMN)
Chessex Collection
12mm (left) and 16mm (right) for lots of wargaming use (Photo by RMN)I actually bought these to replace the black and white dice in Blue Water Navy (Compass Games) because I wanted the “proper” Blue for NATO and Red for the Warsaw Pact (Photo by RMN)More Chessex sets – Occasionally called upon for various roleplaying games or wargames (Photo by RMN)Hey, wait a moment…haven’t I seen these before? I must really like that color…. (Photo by RMN)
Common Dice
“Acquired” over the years…I don’t think my parents were left with a game that had dice inside the box. These are the larger ones (16mm) (Photo by RMN)
More “acquired” or orphaned dice. Top right are 16mm, bottom row is 12mm. More on the colorful ones in the upper left in a moment (Photo by RMN0
Some real castoffs – The top are small (~10mm or smaller) but the larger is a 2-4-8-16-32-64? The bottom are older d10/d20 which are some of the oldest gaming dice in my collection (Photo by RMN)
Microdice acquired from those pocket collectible construction games (12mm for scale) (Photo by RMN)
This is one of those “collections” found in a discount store; useful for experimenting or prototyping games (Hmm…how could I use this Jack die in Advanced Squad Leader?) (Photo by RMN)
“Special” Dice
When you need d6 for a space-themed game; I actually dislike the way they (literally) roll (Photo by RMN)
My Star Fleet Battles Dice (Photo by RMN)
Dice Accessories
Dice bags – Alas, I don’t actually have a Crown Royale bag but I do use that smaller HP mouse bag for travel (Photo by RMN)
Dice Tower – Mine’s a bit small (but perfect for 12mm or 16mm). Unfortunately the Games Tavern is no longer in business (Photo by RMN)
My well-worn 10″ dice tray with 19mm, 16mm, and 12mm dice shown (Photo by RMN)
Since 2d6 is so common in wargaming, it is helpful to understand the odds when rolling. Marc Miller in the rules for the Traveller 5 RPG goes way into depth on the the topic with an entire appendix, The Dice Tables.
The Dice Tables appendix from Traveller 5.10 Core Book 1 – Characters and Combat
As quick as many people are to dismiss the Traveller 5 RPG (“too complex” is a very common remark) there is lots of good design inspiration within what is admittedly more a toolkit than a simple set of rules. One dice use that has inspired me elsewhere is Flux where you use 2d6 to create results from -5 to +5. Useful for a random modifier? Hmm….
Flux from Traveller 5.10 Core Book 1 – Characters and Combat
Not Shown
My dice collection shown above EXCLUDES dice that come in the many games sitting on my shelf. Within those many boxes I can find everything from the standard d6 to d10 and even the occasional d20. I also have specialized dice like the Battle Dice in the Commands & Colors series from GMT Games, Compass Games, or Days of Wonder. There is also the specialty dice found in the Birth of America/Europe series from Academy Games. Heck, even the latest Conflict of Heroes game from Academy Games, Storms of Steel, uses a specially marked d10. Even Root (Leder Games) has a special combat die.
Which raises an interesting question I hope we dig into during the episode; What is the best use of dice in a wargame? The hobby started with the d6. Once RPGs came along the d20 became popular which actually led to the availability of polyhedral die like the d10 (where 2d10 can actually make a d100). Some wargames replace dice with cards (for example see Tank Duel! from GMT Games) while others make the d6 the centerpiece of the game (Table Battles from Hollandspiele). Lowered manufacturing costs also allows publishers to enable designers to use special dice (Commands & Colors, etc). What do you think the future of dice are in wargaming?
Rocky Mountain Navy Gamer 
Dice will always be with us, nice collection. I have sooo many that I doubt I need any more. I do like card based systems like Feudal Patrol https://www.bucksurdu.com/feudalpatrol/ and Combat Patrol https://www.bucksurdu.com/combatpatrol/ which incorporate dice and cards
Thanks for reading and thanks for the game tips!
Your collection is indeed remarkable!
Thanks…you’re too kind!