"The Dice "Problem"" Topic

I love the rules but the dice convention of rolling, looking converting the number on the face to the number of hits and so on is just annoying. Was there ever a solution for this?

Put the number of hits on the dice.

You might need an awful loot of dice though.

About half a dozen, but you're not going to get a good specific answer to a vague question. If you tell people what rules you're complaining about, someone may have already done something.

The obvious thing is to adjust the mechanism so that the number of dice rolled is the number of potential hits: everything above a certain number is one hit, and all other dice are misses.

Or, as Jim says, buy blank dice and write the number of hits. But if the rolls have to be adjusted for formation, range, armor or cover, you'd need different dice. Probably multiple colors would be helpful.

If you tell people what rules you're complaining about, someone may have already done something.

Since he posted his question on the Battlesystem board, I would presume those are the rules he is discussing.

Ouch! Good point, Bill, and my apologies, tsofan.

tsofan, I've been playing 2e BS since around 1995 -- I assume you are referring to the 2e version… Sounds like it, based on your dice question, but I have never played the 1e BS version.

Anyway, regardless of version, I have never come across a solution for your issue. I agree, it is a hassle to remember the number-rolled-equals-X-Hits. There is no simple answer. The mechanism is fairly straight-forward, though inconvenient. You might try painting/marking the faces of the various dice you use in the game, and color code the faces to correspond to the number of hits scored. For example, using all white dice, paint/color each face which corresponds to a single Hit, in Yellow; paint/mark each die face that corresponds to 2-Hits, in Red; paint/mark each die face which scores 3-Hits, as Blue; etc.

It will be labor intensive, and time-consuming, but it will work. Then, all you need remember is the number of Hits scored by each face color, adding them together, to determine the total number of Hits scored.

Honestly, I use a table on my own Quick Reference Card design I made: double-sided, with what I considered, "missing", information (Morale ratings/effects table, in color).

PM me an e-mail address, and I will send you a PDF version of my Reference Cards, which you can print as often, as you like. I laminated mine, such that they will last for many years before I even think of re-printing them. Cheers!

Yep second edition of Battlesystem. The color coding seems like a really GREAT idea! Let me try that. I will need a BUNCH of dice though. It will be easier than hand numbering a mass of dice!

You could speed things up by painting the number of Hits on each die face: less paint, no color coding system, just add the numbers painted on the faces. I would suggest painting a large, zero, on the faces numbered 1-3.

The important thing will be to use white dice, for ease of seeing the contrasting numbers which you have painted on each face. Try using either enamel paints, or the Paint for Plastic, brand of paint, available online, or from Michael's Craft Store, in the USA. The paint may wear off, over time, but it is relatively quick, and easy to repair. Make sure to paint thick numbers, which cannot be misunderstood. KISS: Keep It Super Simple. Cheers!

I was a playtester for battlesystem and it was much faster to run a battle than chainmail.