Wargame Mechanics Index

Polyhedral / quality dice

Die type varies by quality or situation.

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Watch it played 4 moments

  • 7:46–8:35
    9-Player Pyrrhic War Campaign | TURN 1
    Little Wars TV
    Rule in play Pyrrhus uses momentum for bonus diplomacy

    Steve plays his momentum token to take a bonus diplomacy check on Catania, successfully rolling to bring the city into his orbit before deploying both of his armies there.

  • 10:33–11:50
    5-Table Tombstone Wargame
    Little Wars TV · Ruthless
    Rule in play Doc Holliday Blasts Ike Clanton

    All players roll d12 initiative for the OK Corral shootout, and Doc Holliday wins the draw to fire a double-barrel shotgun blast into an unarmed Ike Clanton. The referee calculates the double-barrel bonus and extra d6 damage, which the player records directly onto Ike's character roster sheet.

  • 12:45–13:16
    9-Player Pyrrhic War Campaign | TURN 4
    Little Wars TV
    Rule in play Storming Corfinium with a siege roll

    Steve attempts an assault against the minor Roman city of Corfinium, requiring a roll of 6 or higher on a ten-sided die to breach the defenses.

  • 13:25–13:55
    Epic Agincourt Wargame
    Little Wars TV
    Rule in play English archery rolls three consecutive ones

    The English player measures archery range to the advancing French vanguard, but rolls three consecutive ones, inflicting negligible damage before close combat.

Moments picked automatically, by AI watching the video or reading its captions, and linked at the timestamp on YouTube. Quotes are from the captions.

How games do it 7 games

3engine

Each force rolls a special die whose mix of green, yellow and red faces reflects its morale grade.

How it works

Rabble 4 yellow/1 green/1 red; Militia 3/2/1; Line 2/2/2; Cavalry Elite 1 yellow/3 green/2 red; Infantry Elite 1 yellow/2 green/3 red.

The number of colors of the different types on any die is based on the morale state it is portraying.
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2engine
AvD (average die)Legio VI Julia Augusta

Better troops roll an average die instead of a D6 for control tests and moves.

How it works

A Grade units and B-C Grade light troops roll an AvD rather than a D6 for control tests, reducing extreme results; all non-march moves use 1 AvD as their base die. All other rolls use D6.

Roll 1 AvD for A Grade and B-C Grade light troops, 1 D6 for others
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2engine

Average dice (2,3,3,4,4,5) are used for movement, combat and CP generation.

How it works

An average die is a d6 numbered 2/3/3/4/4/5, giving a 3.5 mean with a narrower spread; it is used for most movement, combat rolls and CP totals, while d6s add variance for militia, skirmisher and cavalry extra movement and for fire.

And what about 'Average Dice'? (six-sided, but numbered 2/3/3/4/4/5 so they give the same 3.5 average score as a D6 but with a more even spread).
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1engine

d10s drive fire, melee, morale and initiative; d6 for pursuit tests.

How it works

Fire, melee, morale, initiative and officer casualty rolls use d10; the post-melee cavalry pursuit test uses a d6.

Infantry: Roll 1 D10 per 4 figures firing from 2 ranks deep.
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1engine

d20 for gunnery and hit location, d6 for morale, criticals and fires.

How it works

Gunnery and hit effect use one d20; crew morale (per editor's note), critical sub-tables and firefighting use d6.

Guns: to Hit: roll one t-..enty-sided die pl us m:xlifiers ... Fi re: Roll ld6 per crew factor as follows:
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1engine
d6 for melee, d12 for shootingHordes & Heroes: Ancients & Medieval

Melee uses d6 (2d6 with a general), and shooting uses one d12 per stand or artillery piece.

How it works

The game needs a few d6 and about 8 d12. Melee adds a single random d6 (2d6 for generals) to fixed factors, and shooting rolls d12s against target numbers.

A small number of six sided dice, ‘D6’, for hand-to- hand combat and about 8 x twelve sided dice (8D12), for shooting.
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1engine

Each kind of resolution uses its own die: d20 for cohesion, 2D6 for combat, d8 for direction.

How it works

1D20 is the cohesion die, 2D6 is used for the CRT and movement orders, and 1D8 for deviation direction, with '/2' rolls (1D8/2, 1D20/2) for distances. Scatter tables use larger combinations such as 2D8 and 4D6.

Three kinds of dice are required to play the game: One 20-sided die (1D20), one 8-sided die (1D8)
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