"Dominos and Wargaming" Topic

The Society of Ancients recently published two wargames that substitute dominos for dice to generate random outcomes.

On a scale of 0 (no interest) to 10 (obsession), would you be interesting in playing a domino-driven wargame?

0

0

I played and designed a domino driven wargame.

Each player had a full set of dominoes – and they could use a domino as a dice result as created by a dice pair so o-o to 6-6, opposed rolls in a kind of stripped down old school wargaming way. Once the whole set of dominoes was used they could use them again.

Since the Doms were face down until the reveal it was tense, since some players thought they were being bluffed and put larger/smaller dominoes than they needed.

Other positive – you could not blame the dice gods!

I like dominoes for gaming, and have recently invested in double nines and double 12s for a game design (might not use all of the double twelves…)

1 – play it if presented by someone else.

0

Dice are designed to generate random numbers, eggs and dominoes are not.

7 to try

8 – worth a try, as I have a set of dominos to hand.
One downside is that a set of dominos is far bulkier than a few d6 if transporting a game.

I was all excited about this thread until I realized it wasn't about pizza. :D

5… depending on what sort of game it is… if the alternative mechanic adds to the 'feel' of the game (10?)… or if it's just a gimmick (1).
There's an RPG called Noumenon that I like, it uses dominoes for resolution. Normally I don't care for gimmicks like that, but the game is very strange and the dominoes seem to suit that strangeness well.

0

8

0

Double six.

6. I'd give it a go.

0

My cat is called Domino; he sometimes pushes the minis around on the table…

Other than that, 0.

0

Dice are easier to roll…. ;-)

Have used them, liked them, and would use them again – so say 7 or 8 to assign a number. I have a set of double 18's!

Dominos for wargames = 0

Dominos pizza = 5

Wow! Tough audience.

I'll declare an interest – I am one of the designers whose games are featured.

Dominoes, of course, are simply a mechanism for generating a random number/score between 0 and 12 with a greater probability of a result in the middle of the range.

Their game application is more like using a deck of cards than dice (finite permutation til recycled) but they are quicker/safer in play (particularly with younger or clumsier players as you shuffle them just by dumping them back in a bag and shaking them up).

The games are award winning Participation games from wargame shows and have been extremely popular with players of all persuasions.

Still, some good jokes in amongst the zeroes :)

Phil Steele
soa.org.uk
soawargamesteam.blogspot.com

I don't much care whether random number generation is done by dice, cards, chits, dominoes, or a Mersenne twister pseudo-random number generator; I think I'd probably draw the line at consulting the entrails of animal sacrifices, as the gains in period flavour are outweighed by the mess.

However, having seen Phil's games in action at COW, I can vouch for the fact that the awards they won were well deserved.

I would say "don't knock it until you've seen how it works", but this would of course prompt people to reply "I'm knocking" in a feeble attempt at domino-related humour.

All the best,

John.

Saw this and though pizza. Need food now.

Never considered them for gaming. Too bulky compared to dice or cards.

8 – Would like to try, as I have seen the Harfleur game at shows and haven't had a chance to play but it looks fun.

Ever a glutton for punishment, I would add that dominoes are significantly more robust than cards.

Taking card based Gladiator games around as participation games over the years, the more frequently used cards get worn out after a while (so, for 'Gladiolus', I am on my 3rd set) – Dominoes are tougher than cards, and slightly bigger than dice, thus far (easily more than 100 games) we had no damage and we've not had any lost on the floor (ouch! A wargamer that speaks too soon!) … Good for games that attract younger players.

So, inexpensive game components that are virtually indestructible that everyone knows how to use and which are less prone to getting lost than dice.

@ Venusboys3 … indeed not a gimmick, they have their own unique characteristics (e.g. you can play a domino 'face down' to reveal it later … you can sort of do similar things with a die roll, but it is less intuitive than having the domino face up or face down. Cards are like that but you can't instantly shuffle cards like you can dump dominoes back into a bag etc. etc.) …

Thanks John and Karellian – appreciate your comments.

Phil
soawargamesteam.blogspot.com
Society of Ancients Games page ( link ) You need to provide your own dominoes.
link

8 – to try at least once.

Earlier this year I was a 0 but I watched one of the games at Derby earlier this year (Elephant in the room link ) and to be honest it was a very fun game to watch.

One advantage was you did not knock the figures over by wrong bounces but you do need a bigger box to hold them

So now I have to say I would be happy to try so 10