NagoyaHammer 2019 - Sounding Board

[jus]

IME dice-rolling apps are actually slower..

No, they're not.

Tell you what. I'll unsleep my device by pushing a button, and you go ahead and count out 60 dice. Don't lose count!

[me_in_japan]

i dunno - Ive only played against dice apps once (I think it was you, Jus, actually) and didnt find them slower or faster. I think we're all pretty familiar with counting out however many dice we need and separating out the hits and misses. But, that doesnt invalidate the app. Certainly takes up less space than a big bag o dice (although I personally quite like having the dice in hand. Tis the collector in me...)

[job]

I’m kind of split on dice apps:

Pros
Large number of dice (20+) they tend to be quicker and more accurate in my experience
Less messy, no chasing errantly bouncing dice, no mixing up dice, no questions about cocked dice

Cons
Not as fast as throwing a small handful of dice (grab, toss)
Slightly diminishes the experience of waiting and sharing the visual experience of a dice roll. (I haven’t had the same hoot and laugh with a dice app that I’ve experienced with physical dice)
Difficult for everyone to view particularly on smartphones.

Also
- Also players who already have their dice in divided into easily counted groups, usually can grab up the requisite dice without much issue

My suggestion: maybe have between 10-20 dice for smaller quick rolls. Use a dice app for the bigger cumbersome rolls.

What do you think?

[The Other Dave]

I mean, I’m not gong to stop anyone from using an app, but at the end of the day the physical act of rolling dice is a big part of tabletop war games. I’m not going to require people use dice apps, full stop. If you want to debate the merits, feel free to start a thread, but I’m afraid it’s just not on the table for this event.

[OZMS2Tallgeese]

I’ve played a few games lately with Auxryn and he used the dice app. Worked out pretty well with his orks melee dice rolling.

P.s I think counting out the correct number of dice still takes longer than unsleeping a phone!

[The Other Dave]

P.s I think counting out the correct number of dice still takes longer than unsleeping a phone!

I mean, jus has a point with the 60 dice monster pool edge case, but still - not gonna come down one way or the other officially.

What I do have is a first go at guidelines for the 40K event - possibly "erring on the side of caution" and "erring on the side of lots of printed materials," but I hope my reasoning is apparent at least.

NagoyaHammer 40K event

Three 1000-point games, two hours each
 Rule of Two as per the FAQ (consult with me if you want to field Drukhari - I'm willing to make adjustments for their weird Patrol-focused special rules)
➢ Note that an Auxiliary Support Detachment or Fortification Network IS a Detachment for Rule of Two purposes!
➢ There are no other army selection rules, but please do consider time constraints and whether you, your playstyle, and your comfort with the rules can handle, say, moving and rolling dice for 80 cultists or termagants or boyz or whatever without bogging the game down. Note rules for deciding winners and losers in slow games below.
 Event Winner decided by best W/L record -> most VP scored -> fewest VP given up.
➢ Games that do not finish according to the scenario rules for battle length, but finish 5 complete battle rounds, will determine victor according to the scenario rules.
➢ Games that do not finish 5 complete rounds, but do finish at least 3 complete rounds, will count as ties for W/L record, but VP will be recorded.
➢ Games that fail to complete three full rounds (unlikely, knock on wood, with 1000 point games and two-hour time limits, but CYA and all that) will count as ties with 0 VP scored.
 All games each round will use the same scenario, chosen by myself.

Please prepare:
 A hard-copy printout of the Rules Primer (here owning the physical 40K rulebook is fine, but please put a post-it or bookmark or something where the core rules are).
 A hard-copy printout of your army list, with unit and weapon stats and relevant special rules written in.
➢ BattleScribe, for example, will do this for you, and it’s free, but to be super frank the act of typing out your stats and special rules into a document will do you a lot of good if you haven’t played all that many games.
 Some sort of hard copy of any Stratagems relevant to your army – either a document, or a copy of the relevant rulebook pages, or the cards GW makes, or what have you. It will probably be helpful to go through and winnow out any that are not relevant to the list you bring to the table.
 A hard-copy printout of the latest FAQ, with any rules or clarifications relevant to your army (including updates to global rules) highlighted.
 A bowl of m&m’s, with all the red m&m’s removed.

Philosophy notes: In all of this, one of my overarching goals is to not have people rely on the full rulebook and codex and all the page-flipping that requires, not to rely on books on tablet which are even worse for page-flipping than physical books, and to try to ensure that everyone has more or less the same baseline familiarity with the rules - hence the physically-highlighting-the-FAQ thing and so on. The idea is for everyone to have on hand just the rules they need for their army (but all the rules they need for their army), in a single easy-to-access and easy-to-scan hardcopy document.

In the best of all possible worlds, of course, people will have played a number of games with their army before the event and will only need to reference the rules minimally, but better safe than sorry and all that.

Politely-worded thoughts?