The size of your dice...

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**Chrissy_J**

... is it important to how a game is played? Are there rules regarding the size of the dice required, for certain games?

My eyesight's not what it used to be and as well as being marginally easier to see and read, I think bigger dice (16mm or so) are just, well, more satisfying to use than the smaller ones I've seen used in GW stores.

Or am I just being a bit weird? What's your opinion on the bones you roll?

**Ma55ter_fett**

Its not the size it's how you use them mate.

Really though you can use whatever size dice you want.

**ChaoticMind**

Personaly my opinion is just don't use the tiny 3-5 mm cheater dice and show what any alternate symbols are supposed to be.

**j_p_chess**

As an old dude myself I like esay to read dice

**namiel**

I prefer smaller easy to read dice. Dark with white spots and not to huge that chucking dice all over the place.

**Herzlos**

With huge squads it's handy to have the smaller 12mm dice, but it really doesn't matter.

I hate the semi transparent ones though, makes it nearly impossible to read whatever size they are. Plain opaque dice all the way.

**d-usa**

Dakka Dice all the way.

**Hereticdave**

I use 16mm dice, for some reason I just prefer them to the smaller dice that you get from GW.

**Saldiven**

You know, I think that what's more important than the size of the dice is that the contrast between the pips and the color of the dice is very strong.

I've always been frustrated by people who play with dice where the pips are almost indistinguishable from the dice, themselves. If I'm on the other side of the table from you, I want to easily be able to look at your roll and tell what each dice has rolled.

**12thRonin**

16mm chessex mainly for me.

**motyak**

My dice are really big, we just play in aircon all the time so that's why they seem small.

More seriously, dakka dice, Cygnar dice but with a pack of old GW dice from years ago in case my opponent wants regular dice.

**Riquende**

As long as the dice aren't so big and heavy that they risk breaking my models (they can break yours) then whatever.

**RiTides**

I like using 16mm dice, but have used 12mm dice in the past.

I dislike it when people use really, Really tiny dice, or also really large dice... full-sized casino dice can work okay for a skirmish game where you're only rolling several at a time, but for anything beyond that they're just too big, imo.

As others have noted, contrast on the dice is almost as important- I've not used a quite a number of dice because their contrast was too poor / too hard to read. I also always point out to my opponent that my custom dice all have the logo on the "6" face, and obviously if you have custom dice they all should have the logo on the same face. That should be Really obvious, but just in case

. Too easy to pull shenanigans otherwise!

**Zygrot24**

I have some 16mm Chessex I bought that match my army and I love the larger dice. But I also have a few 12mm sets that I keep around.
I have never bought GW dice.
Also, I can say for sure what dice should never be used: 12mm clear with white pips. That guy cheated hard.

**Riquende**

RiTides wrote:
As others have noted, contrast on the dice is almost as important- I've not used a quite a number of dice because their contrast was too poor / too hard to read.

I have a 'cheat' d20 for RPG GMing - it's completely transparent (no frosting or colouring) with black numbers on. Roll it close to yourself, declare a result in line with your desired narrative, and pick it up again before any players actually make out the number rolled.

No railroading here, honest!

**chromedog**

As an older bloke myself, I prefer 16mm dice, too.

So do many of my clubmates. They're just easier to read from across the table.

**Bullockist**

motyak wrote:
My dice are really big, we just play in aircon all the time so that's why they seem small.

More seriously, dakka dice, Cygnar dice but with a pack of old GW dice from years ago in case my opponent wants regular dice.

**Ovion**

The most common are the 12mm dice, simply do the space difference between them and larger.
16mm are relatively common aswell, but less than the 12mm, again, mostly due to space.

ChaoticMind wrote:Personaly my opinion is just don't use the tiny 3-5 mm cheater dice and show what any alternate symbols are supposed to be.

What's wrong with the 5mm dice?

I'm trying to track down a load atm.

(Not just for warhammer, but they're still amazing, love dinky dice!)

**Enigwolf**

What are you guys using for Scatter Die, for the 16mms?

d-usa wrote:
Dakka Dice all the way.

I want Dakka dice. :(

**Hereticdave**

Enigwolf wrote:
What are you guys using for Scatter Die, for the 16mms?

I use the 16mm scatter dice from the old inquisitor dice set.

**angelofvengeance**

You also have to take into consideration, that if they're too big they'll knock the models over and potentially damage some.

**Riquende**

Ovion wrote:
What's wrong with the 5mm dice?

I'm trying to track down a load atm.
(Not just for warhammer, but they're still amazing, love dinky dice!)

If you can find a source of boosters for the old Pirates of the Spanish Main game each of those has 1 tiny dice in it. I must have had hundreds, I know my dice pot still has a few at the bottom but carpets ate the rest.

**Ovion**

Riquende wrote:
Ovion wrote:
What's wrong with the 5mm dice?

I'm trying to track down a load atm.
(Not just for warhammer, but they're still amazing, love dinky dice!)
If you can find a source of boosters for the old Pirates of the Spanish Main game each of those has 1 tiny dice in it. I must have had hundreds, I know my dice pot still has a few at the bottom but carpets ate the rest.

Want that Pirates game too actually, as only just found out about it a couple of weeks ago.

Or if you don't want the tiny dice you have

**Leigen_Zero**

Try these:
http://www.thediceshoponline.com/dice/6382/Koplow-Wooden-JUMBO-30mm-D6-Spot-Dice

Just over an inch in size, should be better to see/deter model theives

**oadie**

While I would otherwise prefer the heft of 16mm dice, slightly smaller ones are nice when you need to roll more. For games like 40k, I think 12mm are the best balance between visibility and being able to make all the rolls for a whole squad in one go.

For most armies, at least. I picked up a 100-pack of 10mm dice for a few bucks from a cheap Chinese Ebay importer in anticipation of rolling for Orks. At that size and smaller, especially with any roundness to the corners, though, they pretty much necessitate the use of a dice box/tower with a nice, flat bottom, as they can get cocked on an errant grain of sand.

If I'm likely to be rolling half a dozen or less, in most cases, it's 16mm all the way, stressing clarity of results over aesthetics.

**oni**

I prefer 12mm and I very much dislike casino dice. Keep your fething casino dice the hell away from my models; in fact, best to just leave them at home.

**Eilif**

Standard size dice for most games. I like the way they feel and the way they roll and they're easier to keep track of.

However, I use small dice for "dice bucket" games like Kings of War, 40k, etc. Kings of War sometimes has huge numbers of dice to roll, so I've got 50 or so of the small Rackham (black with red pips and a dragon on one side) dice that I've been picking up used for almost nothing.

I have recently started using a dice cup so there's no longer any danger of taking out minis when playing small skirmish games on crowded battlefields. For Dice Bucket games I find that rolling in a tray is often the best solution.

As for GW dice, no matter what size you end up choosing, there's not many reasons to buy GW's overpriced dice when you can get better and cheaper elsewhere.

**Chrissy_J**

So, as a follow-on question, who uses a dice tower?

I can imagine the convenience of them if you're playing a small table, or even if each player has their own (easily identifiable) tower in the centre of the board, the tray of which is visible to all other players, but I expect their use would be limited if a game required more than a few dice per turn.

I'm building a dice tower as part of some Mordheim-type terrain, for a very simple game I play with my kids.

**oadie**

I have used a dice tower. Made it myself in my very early hobby days and, while it functions just fine, it will never again see the light of day. I wanted it to fit in on the table, so I made it as a ruined tower with a fenced in courtyard for the landing dice, to be counted as impassable terrain. I just didn't do it well.

I like dice towers, though - they can only make rolls more fair and keep everything nice and tidy, like a dice box that keeps you from cheating, even subconsciously. Should I start playing on my own table, I'll likely make updated versions in a similar vein (make the tower as terrain) to suit the relevant game systems (fantasy, grimdark, clean sci-fi, etc.). If I start playing in stores, I might make a collapsible wood/MDF version to tote along.

**Desubot**

Personally prefer bigger dice for basic rolling (like 10 shots at most)

But for dakka the cube of chessex or the bombardment cube comes out (they roll terrible)

Also as a regular preference i like high visibility dice light on dark pibs or vice versa and opaque not clear in anyway

I get really pissed off playing this one guy that has grey dice with grey pibs. ffs.