When two normal [six-sided] dice are rolled together, any number from 2 to 12 can be scored. Players new to wargaming might be under the impression that one number has as much chance of turning-up as another, but if you were to roll the dice a hundred times, you will find that some number will turn-up more often than others. The reason is simply that some combinations produce the same number more often. For example, to get a 4, you need ether 1+3 or 2+2 or 3+1, where 2 or 12 can only be scored by rolling 1+1 or 6+6. In total, there are 36 combinations the two dice can score, giving each a 2.7% chance of being thrown. The total percentage for each number are: 6 ways, 16.6% for a 7 5 ways, 13.8% 6 or 8 4 ways, 11.11% 5 or 9 3 ways, 8.3% 4 or 10 2 ways, 5.5% 3 or 11 1 ways, 2.7% 2 or 12 Armed with this knowledge you can produce some interesting scenarios and amendments to your rules. Suppose you have two artillery crews, one experienced veterans and the other untrained, engaged in counter battery fire. As the veterans should have more skill to hit a target, they roll two dice. The untrained gunners with less skill use a single die. To score a hit at long range a score of 6 or 7 is required. So the veterans have 13 ways of scoring and a 30% chance of a hit and the untrained gunners with their single dice 16.6%. At close range the chance factor can be improved to 5,6,7 or 8 to make an effective hit. This gives the untrained gunners two ways of making a hit with a 33% chance and veterans 20 ways, with a 55% chance. It's just bad luck if the irregular gunners out-shoot their regular opponents. Back to Table of Contents -- Lone Warrior #134 Back to Lone Warrior List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 2001 by Solo Wargamers Association. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com