Of Dice and Men

A recent discussion about standardizing dice at tournaments has prompted me to post some thoughts about dice, random numbers and the intrinsic biases that emerge.  I am going to start with a single basic premise:

Game design decisions are based on an expectation of a uniform probability distribution for dice rolls.

For those whom math is not a strong suit, I will explain what I mean by this.

Why Going First Makes You Good

Strike First, Strike Hard Show No Mercy

Today I want to speak about a topic that has been on my mind since the start of 6th edition - do you take first or second turn in games.  Conventional wisdom has been to always take the second turn as Daemons to deny the enemy one of their shooting phases.  I am here to tell you that conventional wisdom is wrong - against normal armies.

1850 - RTT - G3 - 10-14-12

Game 3

With some judicious deleting of repeat pictures I was able to find some more space on my memory card for this final game.  I also tried to reduce the resolution of the pictures but I could not find the function on such short notice.

Mission: The Scouring

Deployment: Hammer and Anvil

Opponent: Chaos Space Marines w/ Daemon Allies

My opponent in this mission is Craig who just came off a game against hyv3mynd

1850 - RTT - G2 - 10-14-12

Game 2

I am in good shape after the first game - scoring max points against my opponent which means I was at the 'top table' and expected a good matchup.  I drew Doug, whom I had played in the last tournament (written up here) when he brought Grey Knights.

This time he brought a guard army with him that had a lot of anti-Daemon firepower.

Mission: The Relic
Deployment: Vanguard Strike
Opponent: Imperial Guard

1850 - RTT - G1 - 10-14-12

In stark contrast to the last tournament I played in, this time my daughter decided to sleep through the night and left little doubt that I would have the chance to play Saturday.  I arrived without coffee about 20 minutes before the tournament and the format remained the same, although it was a bit tighter with respect to the rules.  The winner was based on W-L record over 3 rounds, which just about guaranteed there would be a tie with the fifteen to twenty people.

The tie would be broken by battle points - which is where the tighter rules this week came in.  For each mission the number of objectives was set by a TO roll at the start of the round which kept some mystery in it, but made sure each player could score just about the same number of points.

As usual I brought my Daemons with me as usual with the list discussed in this post.

Game 1

Mission: Big Guns Never Tire
Deployment: Dawn of War (12" from board edge)
Opponent: Eldar

RTT - 1850 - Daemons Tournament List

It is that time of the month again, a magical moment when my wife has the chance to visit her parents in her home town.  More relevant to me, and this Blog is that it just so happens that the last several of these visits have corresponded to the monthly tournaments at Millenium Games.

Last time around I played a slightly different Daemons list that emphasized heralds - this was on the eve of the Lookout Sir! changes and 1 surprise FAQ later I had to change my strategy.  You can read all about that list here.  If you look really carefully- I would look at those posts labeled Battle Reports - you can also read how that list played out for me.

Da Boyz Painting - Horrors (nxt 5x)

With a deadline looming I have been taking all the extra time I can to get some painting done and it is starting to show some results.  I finished these five guys last night while the wife was sleeping (and so was the little one).

 

I was actually dreading painting the banner - I was really indecisive as to what colors to use for it, but I like the way it turned out.  The warm colors of the fire against the colder blues really makes it pop.