Time Machine: 1+4 = 14, 6+2 = 62

Following is an article by gamer Peter Hunt that appeared in the March 1972 issue of "The Wargamer," a 26-page publication with typed pages and a cardstock cover but a wealth of useful content. It is interesting among other things because it was the product of a world where standard, six-sided dice were still the norm but where their limitations were sorely felt by gamers. The author offers some innovative ways to apply dice to different situations. While he has a good grasp on the difference between linear dice results and the bell curves produced by rolling 2d6, however, his math breaks down and his contention that rolls of 11 or 12 are equally likely using this is clearly flawed. 

Following is an article by gamer Peter Hunt that appeared in the March 1972 issue of "The Wargamer," a 26-page publication with typed pages and a cardstock cover but a wealth of useful content. It is interesting among other things because it was the product of a world where standard, six-sided dice were still the norm but where their limitations were sorely felt by gamers. The author offers some innovative ways to apply dice to different situations. While he has a good grasp on the difference between linear dice results and the bell curves produced by rolling 2d6, however, his math breaks down and his contention that rolls of 11 or 12 are equally likely using this is clearly flawed. 

There are so many dice systems floating around it's difficult to keep up with them anymore. You can use the British average dice, one standard die, the standard pair, or any number of these at one time, all the way up to eight or more. 

Some systems are fairly good, others little more than basic. The mathematical logic behind a few is vague. 

Here's one more of those systems, not totally new in concept but little used by wargamers. It involves the use of two dice strictly for firepower and morale though it's probably possible to work out a way to use them for melee, too. 

First, each die should be a different color. For the sake of simplicity, let's refer to them as red and white. 

Now, instead of adding the numbers of the dice roll as with the standard system, the numbers are combined. The white die refers to the first digit, the red die to the second digit. For example, a roll of 1 on the white die and 5 on the red die is combined to give you a result of 15. If the 5 had been on the white die and the 1 on the red die, the roll would have been 51. 

With this system you have a spread of 36 possible numbers, each with every bit as much chance of being rolled as the other 35. The spreads are 11 to 16, 21 to 26, 31 to 36, 41 to 46, 51 to 56, and 61 to 66. Since each has an equal chance of being rolled, the odds of rolling any one of the numbers is 35 to 1. Or, computing it on a percentage basis, each roll represents slightly more than 2.7 percent. 

The 36 variables combined dice rolls offer mean greater flexibility and more realistic wargame results. 

Using one die to resolve firepower, morale, or whatever leaves you with only six possibilities. True, there are 36 ways to roll the 11 numbers that can result when using the standard addition of two dice. But the spreads are far from equal. For example, you have roughly a 2.7 percent chance of rolling a 2 by adding the results of a two-dice roll, the same chance as rolling an 11 using the combining system with different colored dice. But that's where the similarity ends. 

The percentage of a roll of 2 or 3 with the standard addition method jumps to roughly 8.2 percent because there are two ways a 3 can be rolled, a a 1 on one die and a 2 on the other or the reverse. However, the percentage goes from 2.7 percent to roughly 5.5 for producing rolls of 11 or 12 using the combining method. That's because there's only one way to roll each. It's easy to calculate the differences if you're familiar with the standard dice percentages. 

Applying the combination system to the wargame table is relatively easy. Say you want it to compute Napoleonic Musket Period fire. The musket was a woefully inaccurate weapon whose effectiveness at 75 yards is believed to have been between 15 and 25 percent. Rolls of, say, 11 to 16 could be hits with a musket. You would receive an effectiveness of about 16.5 percent. For each extra 2.7 percent effectiveness, add the next highest numbers: 21, 22, 23, etc. 

If you use a roster or step-reduction system, this dice method makes it easy to slowly and proportionately reduce the firing power of units suffering casualties. Say you've given your average company of musket infantry a 22 percent capability. That would mean a dice roll of 11-16 and 21-22 would score a kill every time it fired at full strength. Say you also divide the company into four sections. As each section is eliminated, lop off the two highest numbers from its next dice rolls, thus cutting it by about 5.5 percent each time it suffers a hit. 

You can even divide your companies into more or less sections, arranging them to proportionately fit whatever percentage you wish to apply to them. A little experimentation will give you a better idea of how the system works as well as ideas on how to apply it.