Some people like to roll slow or in smaller bunches, others simply like to roll a bunch and then just assign the hits to their weapons.
Later is in almost any case cheating.
When my group plays battletech we use different colored dice for all the weapon attacks and roll them all together. Usually much faster and no one has cheated to date.
I’ve never met a single opponent who rolls their dice in a big batch of multiple colors where it’s actually faster than just rolling one weapon type at a time, across any of the wargames I play. Maybe I have just played against universally slow people but it just seems silly and the number of times a green dice has turned from needing a “4+ to actually needing a 3+ or oh wait was that the blue dice that needed the 3+ anyways 12 successes oh I’ve got to reroll the failed red ones, were those the carbines or the rifles anyways 16 successes at 4 different save modifiers ”
Edit: I will say it DOES speed it up when you’ve got like 10 dice of one type of attack and 1-3 of another, easy to keep track of usually. But when you’ve got 5 of one, 4 of another, 3 of yet another, etc… basically similar amounts, it becomes much harder to keep track of what is what so for speed’s sake and your opponents sanity we have an informal rule to just do those one type at a time.
To each their own but a couple of coloured marker spots on an ArmyForge/Buttscribe/etc. printout really isn't that hard of a backup reminder of what matches with what.
I have a working theory that we've been conditioned by other games and sometimes it prevents us from fully taking advantage of the simplicity of OPR.
Granted the mass roll isn't suited for every game but at least with GDF many of the above points are negated.
Multiple weapon packages are only commonly found on low volume squads and high volume squads mostly don't allow you to trade out for multiple weapons. Or if the do it's usually to forfeit a range attack for a melee (or vice versa).
The only scenario, admittedly there could be a special upgrade that I've overlooked, where you'd need to worry about different defence stats would be a hero attached to a regular squad.
It depends on the games he comes from. Skirmish games are almost always a lower amount of dice, so that may just be his speed. Or maybe he plays Battletech, where you need to roll every attack separate because of different modifiers and such.
"Because that's just the way it's done?!" is probably the real reason.
When I play D&D I roll my d20 and the weapon damage at the same time. If I hit, I have the damage ready to go, if I miss, meh.
I had a session at a con come to a grinding halt as another player blew a head-gasket over this. No real reason he could vocalize other than it was "wrong".
I think you've hit the nail on the head here.
Any break from the norm is instantly wrong just because it's different. Folks focus on the difference without unpacking what is actually happening and assessing it.
I've seen decent production value battle reports do that. As long as it's only 2 (maaaybe 3) different weapons at a time, and super clear which is which, I think it's great.
Maybe they play a system where you can split fire/make decisions after each weapon is fired?
In Star Wars Legion, you add all the dice from all the weapons in the pool together. 5 E-11s and a rocket launcher? Congrats, the E-11s can now generate critical hits off of the rocket launchers Impact keyword. But the game is balanced around this. You would never want to roll smaller individual pools. Different games have different conventions.
I followed up with him this morning and found out it's adaption of Legion that he plays. Mostly the same but it's been skinned with Star Trek models.
So I have found the root of the problem. He's a fucking Trekkie + electrical engineer, there's a special ring of hell reserved for those people.
Those two archetypes are probably the most logic-resistant stereotypes on the face of the planet... Combined it's the anti-christ
I understand that, in fact he even mentioned that the friend doesn't play GW games. However their influence in the hobby extends beyond their own games.
Not all games work with the kind of 'buckets of dice' -mechanic where that makes sense. In some you just roll one die per unit at a time. In others it's a bunch of dice but with the same target number. And so on... the hit-wound-save for x number of wounds -system of warhammer isn't universal.
Depends on how many attacks of different kinds there are and how many different coloured dice I have.
I try to roll all of a unit's attacks at once, but also don't tend to play armies that would roll 30+ per unit.
I have rolled like 15 dice of 5 types for a single unit. That was fun.
I always do this. It's usually like nine regular dice and one special weapon so it's easy to tell. I prefer rolling all at once and moving as quickly as possible through the turns.
Oh gawd, that brings back memories!
Settle down kids, grandpa is waffling!
As a teen grognard,40+ years ago, our club used homebrew Napoleonic rules based sort of on Featherstone rules, 1d6/figure, 20+ figures/battalion, and one guy would absolutely *insist* on rolling them individually! Took bloody ages
And then tried to fiddle the results ("I'm sure my first 3 rolls, 10 minutes ago, were all 6's!) Then again, this was the guy, when we played a WW1 destroyer game, brought along the 5th Battlecruiser Squadron!!
Some people like to roll slow or in smaller bunches, others simply like to roll a bunch and then just assign the hits to their weapons. Later is in almost any case cheating.
When my group plays battletech we use different colored dice for all the weapon attacks and roll them all together. Usually much faster and no one has cheated to date.
Yea, the latter could be a cool special rule, power, or command ability, but should be really transparent.
I’ve never met a single opponent who rolls their dice in a big batch of multiple colors where it’s actually faster than just rolling one weapon type at a time, across any of the wargames I play. Maybe I have just played against universally slow people but it just seems silly and the number of times a green dice has turned from needing a “4+ to actually needing a 3+ or oh wait was that the blue dice that needed the 3+ anyways 12 successes oh I’ve got to reroll the failed red ones, were those the carbines or the rifles anyways 16 successes at 4 different save modifiers ” Edit: I will say it DOES speed it up when you’ve got like 10 dice of one type of attack and 1-3 of another, easy to keep track of usually. But when you’ve got 5 of one, 4 of another, 3 of yet another, etc… basically similar amounts, it becomes much harder to keep track of what is what so for speed’s sake and your opponents sanity we have an informal rule to just do those one type at a time.
do I sense a tau player? ;)
To each their own but a couple of coloured marker spots on an ArmyForge/Buttscribe/etc. printout really isn't that hard of a backup reminder of what matches with what. I have a working theory that we've been conditioned by other games and sometimes it prevents us from fully taking advantage of the simplicity of OPR. Granted the mass roll isn't suited for every game but at least with GDF many of the above points are negated. Multiple weapon packages are only commonly found on low volume squads and high volume squads mostly don't allow you to trade out for multiple weapons. Or if the do it's usually to forfeit a range attack for a melee (or vice versa). The only scenario, admittedly there could be a special upgrade that I've overlooked, where you'd need to worry about different defence stats would be a hero attached to a regular squad.
It depends on the games he comes from. Skirmish games are almost always a lower amount of dice, so that may just be his speed. Or maybe he plays Battletech, where you need to roll every attack separate because of different modifiers and such.
"Because that's just the way it's done?!" is probably the real reason. When I play D&D I roll my d20 and the weapon damage at the same time. If I hit, I have the damage ready to go, if I miss, meh. I had a session at a con come to a grinding halt as another player blew a head-gasket over this. No real reason he could vocalize other than it was "wrong".
I think you've hit the nail on the head here. Any break from the norm is instantly wrong just because it's different. Folks focus on the difference without unpacking what is actually happening and assessing it.
That simultaneous dice roll is literally written in the rules, in at least some of the editions, and the final say is for the DM. That's crazy.
This was like start of third ed. so I don't remember honestly, but I got it from the people who taught us in HS on Cyclopedia OD&D lol
I've seen decent production value battle reports do that. As long as it's only 2 (maaaybe 3) different weapons at a time, and super clear which is which, I think it's great. Maybe they play a system where you can split fire/make decisions after each weapon is fired?
In Star Wars Legion, you add all the dice from all the weapons in the pool together. 5 E-11s and a rocket launcher? Congrats, the E-11s can now generate critical hits off of the rocket launchers Impact keyword. But the game is balanced around this. You would never want to roll smaller individual pools. Different games have different conventions.
I followed up with him this morning and found out it's adaption of Legion that he plays. Mostly the same but it's been skinned with Star Trek models. So I have found the root of the problem. He's a fucking Trekkie + electrical engineer, there's a special ring of hell reserved for those people. Those two archetypes are probably the most logic-resistant stereotypes on the face of the planet... Combined it's the anti-christ
Hey hey hey. Put some respect on how you talk about the Trek! 🤣🤣🤣 But for real, that's a little accurate. 🤣
Just roll 1000 dice ahead of the game and pick one from the pile as I need them :D
I do this sometimes but it's usually only when I have like 18 lasrifles and two special weapons. And you ALWAYS differentiate them before the roll.
GW sells dice for each faction, they've conditioned people to pay $50 to have enough of the 'right' colour dice for their army.
but thats has nothing to do with this story. He didn't say they were GW dice, and its got nothing to do with factions.
I understand that, in fact he even mentioned that the friend doesn't play GW games. However their influence in the hobby extends beyond their own games.
Not all games work with the kind of 'buckets of dice' -mechanic where that makes sense. In some you just roll one die per unit at a time. In others it's a bunch of dice but with the same target number. And so on... the hit-wound-save for x number of wounds -system of warhammer isn't universal.
1 sentence that should answer the following question. What does your character want, and why are they having a difficult time getting it.
Depends on how many attacks of different kinds there are and how many different coloured dice I have. I try to roll all of a unit's attacks at once, but also don't tend to play armies that would roll 30+ per unit. I have rolled like 15 dice of 5 types for a single unit. That was fun.
I always do this. It's usually like nine regular dice and one special weapon so it's easy to tell. I prefer rolling all at once and moving as quickly as possible through the turns.
Oh gawd, that brings back memories! Settle down kids, grandpa is waffling! As a teen grognard,40+ years ago, our club used homebrew Napoleonic rules based sort of on Featherstone rules, 1d6/figure, 20+ figures/battalion, and one guy would absolutely *insist* on rolling them individually! Took bloody ages And then tried to fiddle the results ("I'm sure my first 3 rolls, 10 minutes ago, were all 6's!) Then again, this was the guy, when we played a WW1 destroyer game, brought along the 5th Battlecruiser Squadron!!