Sportsmanship And Dice: Take 2

Soldiers Playing Dice; Michelangelo Cerquozzi

SandWyrm here. Taking all of the feedback from both here and The Back 40K into account, here's a revised set of rules. Instead of being up front in the 'How To Play' section, they've been moved to the back of the book in a 'Sportsmanship' section that won't be the first thing that new players see. I've also softened some of the language and removed the unenforceable rules.

Ensuring Honest Rolling

In casual non-competitive games, or when you’re just learning to play M42, it’s perfectly fine to use whatever six-sided dice you happen to have around. If that’s the case, go ahead and skip over this section. You won’t need these rules unless you wish to play in a club or tournament that requires them.

But ensuring honest competitive play at events such as tournaments does require a few restrictions on the types of dice that players can use and how they are rolled.  This is to discourage some of the more common forms of cheating and ensure that everyone has a good time.

Legal Die Sizes

There are a staggering number of companies that manufacture and distribute D6 dice. In every color and style imaginable. But this variety does cause some problems for competitive play. Dice that are too small can be difficult for an opponent to clearly read. On the other hand, dice that are too large are easily rolled in ways that ensure that certain numbers are more likely to come up.

The minimum legal size for any die used in a competitive game of M42 is 12mm. This corresponds to the size of the Chessex™ dice that are commonly sold in blocks of 36 by most dedicated game stores.

The maximum legal size for any dice used in a competitive game of M42 is 16mm. This corresponds to the ‘standard’ size of die used in most classic boxed games such as Monopoly™.

No Hand Made Dice

While some hobbyists enjoy designing and casting their own dice, this introduces too many possibilities for introducing weights or geometry optimizations into the design of the die itself.

All dice used in competitive games of M42 must be machine made. Players may not use dice that they have made themselves. Nor may they use dice made of hand-poured resin or other ‘hobby’ materials. Regardless of the source.

No Damaged Dice

All dice used in competitive games of M42 must be free of cracks, dents, holes, chips, or any other visible surface defect. Dice which appear to have been partially melted or otherwise deformed shall also be disqualified from use.

No Mono-Color Dice

All dice used in competitive games of M42 must be have their markings painted in a contrasting color to the rest of the die. White or clear dice marked with white paint are not allowed. Black or dark-tinted dice marked with black paint are not allowed.

Custom Glyphs

Many players enjoy using dice that substitute  one or more of the number markings with letters, pictures, or symbols instead. These markings are called Glyphs.

A player’s Glyph dice may have been selected to fit their army’s theme, or may have been given to them as part of an event they once attended. As such, they can add a lot to the fun atmosphere of an event.

However, to avoid any confusion, there are a few restrictions that must be followed when using these kinds of dice in a competitive game.

If some or all of a player’s dice use glyphs, then all of the glyphs on all of the dice that player uses must represent the exact same result. It is not permissible for some of a player’s dice to use a glyph to represent one number, such as a ‘6’, while others use a glyph to represent a different number, such as a ‘1’. This rule applies even if the glyphs used are different in design or color.

The Luck Must Be Shared

If both players are using the same dice for their rolls, then there can be no suspicion of wrongdoing. Even if you think that some of your dice are ‘Just Lucky’ you must allow your opponent to roll them too!

At the beginning of a competitive game of M42, before either player rolls for sides or initiative, both players will take at least 16 of their own dice and put them in the middle of the table. This is the Common Dice Pool.

For the rest of the game, only dice from the Common Pool may be rolled to determine the result of a test. Either player may use any of the dice in the pool for any test.

If is still permissible for other dice (even illegal ones) to be used as wound counters or as other marking aids, so long as these are different in color or size from those in the common pool. But these marker dice may not be rolled to determine the outcome of a test.

Cocked Dice

It sometimes happens that a rolled die will come to rest against a model or bit of scenery that prevents it from lying flat on the table. This can cause disagreements when the result of the cocked roll is particularly good or bad.

A die shall be considered to be cocked if it does not land flat on the gaming surface of the table itself. Any die that lands on a piece of movable terrain, even if flat, shall also be considered to be cocked. As shall any die that falls to the floor or otherwise comes to rest anywhere but the gaming surface of the table.

All cocked dice must be re-rolled.

If the surface of the table is particularly heavy with terrain and models, you and your opponent may choose to make your rolls in a box lid or on other surface instead. If this is the case, then all further rolls by both players must use the same method.