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Aben Zin wrote:
Is it wrong that I now want to create the Metric Fists chapter?

It's wrong, but in a way that needs to happen.

Maybe it's just about that, it's easier to sell imperial measuring tapes at countries that won't use imperial system, than to sell metric measuring tapes at countries with imperial system (as they might be readily available at harware stores or their measuring tapes might allready have both).

Just kidding. The most likely reason is that indeed... it was made in country that used the imperial system when it was published the first time.

If everything is in Imperial, how come we are using K? Isn't K short form for 1000 in metric? How ironic all measurements are in Imperial but the title is in metric.

I always wondered what is the Imperial version of K. LOL

Made in Britain in the 1980's where everyone used pounds, ounces, feet and inches.

Davor wrote:
If everything is in Imperial, how come we are using K? Isn't K short form for 1000 in metric? How ironic all measurements are in Imperial but the title is in metric.

I always wondered what is the Imperial version of K. LOL

It actually isn't.

The full name is Warhammer 40,000. 40k is an unofficial shorthand, where the K comes from the greek Kilo (chilioi), which means 1000.

I do not recall seeing Games Workshop refer to Warhammer 40,000 as Warhammer 40k.

its simple, the imperial system was invented here. while we are using metric for more stuff these days( its so much easier to use) we still measure our hieghts in feet but most other distances in meters.

 Madcat87 wrote:
It's so weird hearing other countries still using imperial in some things. Come to Australia and the only thing not in metric is typically a pint of beer and old people talking about mass..

Really depends who you talk to. Yeah, everything 'official' is metric, but quite a lot of people still measure in Imperial... And they're not all old folk.

Right, old people use imperial, because that's what they grew up with. Younger people use metric, because they grew up with both, but metric is more universal.

Younger people than that use imperial because they're hipsters and it's cooler to use your own system, rather than the standard one (a sign you can express yourself in units), or because they're making a statement about international standards, or are making fun of people who think they're being a snowflake by using imperial (so, they're using it ironically), or they're making fun of people who are being elitist as a way of being an individual (more irony), or they're making fun of people who are only able to differentiate themselves by satirizing the beliefs of others (double irony), or those who satire those who think that satire is a cheap and shallow form of identity, and are merely being contrarian (triple irony).

Inches are a great human-sized unit. The only problem with them really is the annoying way they are split up and combined into longer lengths. I mean base 8 for subdivision and base 12 for addition? Why would anyone ever think that was a good idea? A Metric Inch would be fantastic

Also I think we should push for attoparsecs as a formal unit of measurement for either wargaming to carpentry (the scaling factors end up with it being about an uinch )

 Flinty wrote:
Inches are a great human-sized unit. The only problem with them really is the annoying way they are split up and combined into longer lengths. I mean base 8 for subdivision and base 12 for addition? Why would anyone ever think that was a good idea? A Metric Inch would be fantastic

Also I think we should push for attoparsecs as a formal unit of measurement for either wargaming to carpentry (the scaling factors end up with it being about an uinch )

It's not base 8, its just that when you keep halving things you reach 1/8th. But since 1/16" and 1/32" are also commonly used in any profession that deals with that kind of accuracy, you can't really call it base 8 anyways.

 Grey Templar wrote:
No reason to convert kitchen appliances or basic household measuring devices over.

Still had to learn some Imperial because of this though.

becuase it's a British game. We use imperial, barely use metric system.

The guys that made the game probably thought in Imperial. It’s interesting to note that Epic was metric though. Was this due to the changeover or the larger market?
I have always thought in metric except with weight and large distances but even this has been metrasised after moving over to the continent.

I once tried to find a tape measure here with inches and cm. The bloke behind the counter just laughed. Oh well

 Orblivion wrote:

 Flinty wrote:
Inches are a great human-sized unit. The only problem with them really is the annoying way they are split up and combined into longer lengths. I mean base 8 for subdivision and base 12 for addition? Why would anyone ever think that was a good idea? A Metric Inch would be fantastic

Also I think we should push for attoparsecs as a formal unit of measurement for either wargaming to carpentry (the scaling factors end up with it being about an uinch )

It's not base 8, its just that when you keep halving things you reach 1/8th. But since 1/16" and 1/32" are also commonly used in any profession that deals with that kind of accuracy, you can't really call it base 8 anyways.

2x8=16, 4x8=32, so I chose base 8 as a descriptor. you might be right, though, and it is technically base 2. I'm not denying they are common units, I just don't like them very much as I prefer to work base 10

It's because in the grim darkness of the far future, Murica wins. I mean, the British are represented in game by Orks, while the Imperium is clearly the US. The Ecclesiarchy is the Bible belt, the Administratum is Congress, and CREED is Patton, Abbadon is Bin Laden, etc. etc.

Though seriously, it's like others said most likely, a d6 doesn't translate well with metric, since d6 centimeters is far less distancr than d6 inches, so you'd either have to do some weird multiplication for all distances involving rolls, or change dice to something like a d12, which gets messy quickly.

DogofWar1 wrote:
It's because in the grim darkness of the far future, Murica wins. I mean, the British are represented in game by Orks, while the Imperium is clearly the US. The Ecclesiarchy is the Bible belt, the Administratum is Congress, and CREED is Patton, Abbadon is Bin Laden, etc. etc.

Though seriously, it's like others said most likely, a d6 doesn't translate well with metric, since d6 centimeters is far less distancr than d6 inches, so you'd either have to do some weird multiplication for all distances involving rolls, or change dice to something like a d12, which gets messy quickly.

Except all voice acting for 40k shows that all non-british accents have entirely died out.

I agree with those who see the divide in Britain, imperial is still very widely used and is a cause celebre for some conservative elements of the press and the older generations. There was a massive outcry over the Metric Martyrs who were market sellers prosecuted for not giving metric weights for their produce. It is illegal to sell most items in imperial only, so things like pints have the litre equivalent underneath in smaller type. Pints in pubs seem to be an exception, not sure if they list the metric on the price lists too.

However, metric is definitely advancing and taking over. You never hear people talking about fluid ounces any more and aside from fuel consumption indicators in the car and in car adverts gallons are a rarity in discourse too. Younger people now definitely talk about their height in centimetres, etc.

What I want to know is how are there Brits on here who can buy petrol in gallons? Cars show their consumption in mpg but garage sell in litres and have done ever since I can remember. If they think they are buying gallons they are being ripped off big time!

I think a lot of people have a harder time estimating Centimeters compared to Inches. If I said 61cm how far would you visualize that to be on the table? "Um, well, I guess a bit over half a meter, so..." That'd be Bolter range in Metric.
Whereas people can generally figure out how far 24" is by thinking of it as two feet.

That and movement is easier in inches. It's bad enough having people "nudge" figures an extra half an inch, imagine if they could easily squeeze in a handful of Centimeters?

 Kain wrote:
Except all voice acting for 40k shows that all non-british accents have entirely died out.

Easily explained. Everyone in the US just adopted an accent to sound more like the Doctor.

Inches work with a D6, nice and simple. Other wise for things like run and charge moves we will have to be Buying D15's...................... aint no one got time for that.

It's bad enough having people "nudge" figures an extra half an inch, imagine if they could easily squeeze in a handful of Centimeters?

how could that happen if both is the same range .

Whereas people can generally figure out how far 24" is by thinking of it as two feet.

What you wanted to say was ,that for people from the AngloSaxon part of the world , find it easier to to know that two feet is .
Here no one would have a problem with knowing how much 61cm is , because the school helps for geometry are 30cm in lenght most of the time

Makumba wrote:how could that happen if both is the same range .

I was thinking because an opponent noticing you moving a figure an extra half inch seems a bit more likely than 3cm, from a visual point of view. Just my gut feeling when Centimeters are so much more granular, and thus a bit harder to see across the table how exact the measurement is.

 Ailaros wrote:
Younger people than that use imperial because they're hipsters and it's cooler to use your own system, rather than the standard one (a sign you can express yourself in units), or because they're making a statement about international standards, or are making fun of people who think they're being a snowflake by using imperial (so, they're using it ironically), or they're making fun of people who are being elitist as a way of being an individual (more irony), or they're making fun of people who are only able to differentiate themselves by satirizing the beliefs of others (double irony), or those who satire those who think that satire is a cheap and shallow form of identity, and are merely being contrarian (triple irony).

Maybe in the US. Here though, as has been pointed out, Imperial is still very much "the norm" for many things regardless of age or hipsterism. There isn't really any thought process or satire behind it for your average person, it's just how everyone around them does it so that's how they do it too. Case in point - miles per hour. If you're learning to drive in the UK, you're not going to start calculating what the road sign would say in kmph just so you can use the other part of the speedometer - you're going to read it in mph. Milk, for another example - while measurements for bottles are now presented in pints AND litres, the former is typically more prominent and/or appears first on the packaging.

Things are SLOWLY changing, but it'll take a while yet before we're fully metric - if we ever are.

Short version - get off your high horse, or it's liable to buck you off an imperially-measured distance any time now.

Here how nerdy i am...

It boils down to Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson and the early wargammers ( Wessencraft IIRC )

They figured out how many moves it would take for a model to get across the 4 foot tables they played on and scaled the movement to reflect a game that could be won / lost in about 6 turns. They used inches, so thats what got written down.

Super Ready wrote:Short version - get off your high horse, or it's liable to buck you off an imperially-measured distance any time now.

Actually, I think you were missing the point. I was making a satire of hipsters in a way that was quadruple ironic.

Yes, I have a goatee and thin specs and artwork I made on the walls of my apartment, thank you very much.

In that case get on the high horse you've clearly been missing all these years, you champion of the Internet, you.

Maybe he should get on and beat a dead high horse...

Am I doing it right?

No, I beat dead horses regularly as a commentary on people who disparage others for beating dead horses. Actaually, wait, no, I don't beat dead horses because people who beat dead horses as a commentary on people who disapprove of people who beat dead horses are just being contrarian.

Boy, I wish it were still the good old days. Back then I used to beat dead horses because it was the right thing to do. I beat dead horses back when beating dead horses had integrity.

But, then, I do like mainstream because hating mainstream has become too mainstream.


... I'm sorry, what were we talking about?

Well I was talking about it before it was cool.

Ninjacommando wrote:eh because imperial measurements are easier to use with the D6.

Actually this makes a lot of logical sense. The game itself is base 6 so a base 12 measurement system makes more sense than a base 10 system.

It is probably due to the prevalence of the imperial system in england though.