Ive been to gencon for the past 6 years and I think I remember when game science first showed up with their premium dice. They make great dice with sharp edges that apparently give equal access to all the numbers. The big question is, is the cost worth it? Do these translate to 40k or is this more of a problem with DD and other d20 based games?
Here is the two part video that started the discussion in the facebook group.
They're cool, don't get me wrong but he's right, they're expensive; almost twice as expensive. And secondly, they're made for role playing games so not available in 36 dice bricks like chessex. Essentially you're going to either buy the 16mm dice from game science at about 0.90$ here or at best buy 12 dice groups on amazon for $8-$18 and then have to go back to color in all your numbers with a fine paint marker or micro pen.
It's top of the line, yes, but its definitely a premium cost. If he started making bricks of 12 or 36 for a decent price (even a decent premium price) I'd be mildly interested for 40k. So far, on amazon I can only find groups of 12 of the 16mm dice for $8-18 for uninked, $21 for inked here. Not bad, really, but chessex sells their basic 16mm bricks for $4-$12.50.
I think another thing to keep in mind before the fairy dust gets too far up your skirt is that his comparison in their video was always to the DD dice, mainly d20's; where you're likely to get that egg shape that really effects the roll.
To test, I stacked 2 23 high columns of the 12mm chessex dice and did notice a small variation, which maybe matches up to the 1/5000 of a inch federal requirement to casino dice? I don't have my calipers to measure the difference, I wish I did, seriously.
This is a stack of 18 of the 16mm chessex dice. In this stack I really see no difference in the height.
My problem with people complaining about their dice is I feel like most of the time people remember how many 1's or 6's they roll because those numbers are associated with some kind of consequence; Terminator dies, psychic power denied, tesla arc, 12" assault, ect. With that, no one remember the number of times they roll exactly a 4, because very rarely if ever does that exact number have a consequence associated with it to make you notice it.
So if you really want to stop loosing sleep over your dice, you should purchase the game science dice. For me, I just don't feel sold and see it more as just one more expense in an already expensive hobby.
If you have bought a game science dice set, what do you think? How are they working for you? Share your dice thoughts here!
For me, middle ground is square corner dice over rounded corner dice. Rounded corners facilitates more rolling. I found some 36 bricks from some company called uncles hobbys or something that had square corners and were like $7 a brick. They do very well for 40K - very average.
ReplyDeleteI use my custom dice for Mantis Warriors, Tyranids, and Beastmen because I think they look cool. They're from Chessex and I've never had a problem with them.
ReplyDeleteThey're more expensive since they have a custom logo, but they really round out a sweet army well.
If I went to tournaments, I might look into seeing whether my dice could be a problem, but as it is, I'm happy with my cheapish dice from Orc's Nest.
ReplyDeleteI am dice-supersticious, but more because I think it is fun and kind of part of the "ritual" of playing the game. Starter set dice always seem to be terrible, while Purple dice seem to always be rolling boxcars for me. I also placed really well in a tourney using house dice, so I always reach for the "unlucky" house dice. It's fun and I really have never noticed anything so far out of average realistically that I would say it wasn't legit ... except for those starter set dice!
ReplyDeleteThose dice that came with the lasgun power pack. The maroon and beige ones? Omg I've never seen more unlucky low rolling dice than those.
ReplyDeleteI think there are weird luck sinks too. Like when Wolfson plays me, he ca't seem to ever jink and his dark lances don't do anything. I on the otherhand will roll ten dice, all hit and 6 of them are 6's.
ReplyDeleteThen he goes off to play somebody else and his dice are normal ... except for the part where dark lances don't do anything. Tht seems to be pretty normal!
I bought some Game Science dice - and truthfully there is no different in the rolling etc. I found them very frustrating as they are hard to read at times as the stain comes off you put yourself etc.
ReplyDeleteI also have Casino dice and found they roll the same as well. We just remember the really bad dice and really good dice - not all the rolls in between. Heck I used to have a dice buying addiction as I just usually scoured ebay for good deals on Casino and flat colored dice.
Right now I just have some Casino dice, random yellow wound dice, and just solid black with red pips dice I got when in Vegas from one of those cheesy gift stores. They were 12 for a dollar and the color is easy to see on the table top and they are big enough to feel solid as you roll them. They look like the Kerplunk or whatever dice you find online.
Really I just want people to have dice I can read. That is the most important thing.
I actually have a set of digital calipers. Want me to check a brick of dice?
ReplyDeleteCheck out this article. Their is a difference in which dice you roll, technically, whether gamescience are truly better, i dont know.
ReplyDeleteCheck this out:
http://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/That%27s_How_I_Roll_-_A_Scientific_Analysis_of_Dice
Study of Chessex dice cube width.
ReplyDeleteUsing a digital Micrometer.
Minimum width 0.4600"
Maximum width 0.4680"
Width of a human hair 0.007"
10 dice measured
0.4605 x 0.4630 x 0.4670
0.4620 x 0.4620 x 0.4650
0.4630 x 0.4680 x 0.4645
0.4620 x 0.4645 x 0.4620
0.4625 x 0.4620 x 0.4670
0.4615 x 0.4630 x 0.4660
0.4620 x 0.4620 x 0.4620
0.4610 x 0.4635 x 0.4600
0.4610 x 0.4645 x 0.4655
0.4630 x 0.4630 x 0.4665
I got the Chessex Pound-o-D6. 80-100 D6 for ~$14!? Yes Please!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.amazon.com/Chessex-Pound-o-D6/dp/B0015IUA7O/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1361589769&sr=8-4&keywords=pound+of+dice
The first pic is Gamescience dice...
ReplyDelete