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My long-time friend and opponent has an issue with my dice. It's not that they aren't random. It's not that they roll too high or too low. It's that they just don't physically roll on the table. No matter what surface they are on, or how I roll them, they thunk down on the table, don't bounce, slide an inch or two, and maybe flip from one side to the next. They hardly ever roll completely over. He states that this can apparently get me booted from tournaments????

I've never really heard that before. Would anyone else find that annoying or complain about it?

Yes? What on earth are wrong with your dice?

'Dropping' dice so that they hit the table with the side you want face up because they don't roll is a pretty basic die cheating technique.

Buy a dice tower.

And at the very least, put some stank on them.

...would I be too bold if I assumed you were using Bicycle dice? Mine were, and they were kind of heavy. The workaround is I would use a big cup to shake them and pour them into the dice tray.

Roll them like anyone else would? Cast them sideways a bit and juggle them in your palm before you let go.

I second the cup. It can be a bit noisy if you are rolling 72, however.

 JimOnMars wrote:
I second the cup. It can be a bit noisy if you are rolling 72, however.

I have a Pelican case for this. I just shake it and open it. Roll made.

Don't worry, Games Workshop has you covered.



Granted, it entails buying dice made out of solid unobtanium for the requisite cost, but I think they throw in the manual for free.

Joking aside, the dice tower/cup suggestions are probably solid. I can see where having dice that don't bounce all over the table and end up cocked or bouncing onto the play area is nice, but if it's coming straight out of your hand that way then the not-rolling action does become suspicious when in reality it is just genuine luck (which is...kind of the point of using dice for most games). While the idea you could "program" the dice in your hand may seem out there, people can pull off some impressive sleight-of-hand and in a very competitive environment people will push the limit on things...or at least have paranoia that others are doing so. I've not heard of any such rules, but I could certainly see how the accusation might fly which is just needless drama to spoil a game you're doing well in.

Put the dice out of direct contact with your hand during the roll though and that should be sufficient to keep people from thinking you're a master magician.

I'd just get new dice.

I'm always sceptical when someone is using funky-odd-dice. What's wrong with your standard D6, eh, eh?

Though I save my true scepticism for when people have specific dice for specific rolls. No Sir, you won't be using your 'special Ld dice'. Just grab any old ones and roll already.

Are you using the 20mm casino dice? They don't roll well. You're meant to toss those at a wall/bumper on a felt table. Bring a large box top and, as Lorek said, put some stank on em.

Or better yet, don't use casino dice at all. They do NOT roll more randomly in a wargaming setting than any other type of dice. Just use regular 16mm dice like every one else. If you are obsessed with the idea of "precision dice" then get backgammon dice. Designed to roll on a small table without bumpers and milled to precision measurements.

When I roll I cup my hands together, give things a shake, and whip them out on the table with a 45 degree angle. I don't look to see what side is facing up when I throw them.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
I'd just get new dice.

This would be my suggestion as well.

Dice are cheap and plentiful. Get new ones and stop messing around with those clunkers.

 cuda1179 wrote:
My long-time friend and opponent has an issue with my dice. It's not that they aren't random. It's not that they roll too high or too low. It's that they just don't physically roll on the table. No matter what surface they are on, or how I roll them, they thunk down on the table, don't bounce, slide an inch or two, and maybe flip from one side to the next. They hardly ever roll completely over. He states that this can apparently get me booted from tournaments????

I've never really heard that before. Would anyone else find that annoying or complain about it?

in Tourney's they go by the rule of thumb if they don't tumble and roll they don't count, think minimum permitted is 3-5 tumbles, but not sure.

I don't see where you mentioned what type of dice you're using.

 cuda1179 wrote:
When I roll I cup my hands together, give things a shake, and whip them out on the table with a 45 degree angle. I don't look to see what side is facing up when I throw them.

So you cup your hands together then basicly place them on the table after a shake? or you throw them forwards a bit?

honestly if you can hear them shake then they should be random and it would be better for keeping dice from flying to the other side of the room.

then again just a dice tower would make life easy for everyone involved.

and for tournys... dunno you might have to send the TO a video of your dice rolling technique in advance and ask if its ok.

If you don't have enough money for new dice, just get a little plastic bin for a couple of dollars and chuck them into it to make your rolls.

Use those big Bicycle dice as counters or something instead once you get good dice.

The dice I use are a combination of some casino dice, one I found in the store's bits box, and a number I found in a boxed game of "Yahtzee Baseball" I hadn't played since the late 1980's.

Just to clear things up, when I roll, I loosely cup my hands and rattle the dice around for a few seconds (yes they are tumbling in my hands) before throwing them onto the board with decent force.

It's not that they aren't random. Trust me, I've had my terminators killed by cultists in CC before. In the last 4 games I've played I've had 3 Perils of the warp. They just don't tumble more than 360 degrees after hitting the table.

Large dice and square edged dice don't roll well. Hence why people are suggesting a cup, a dice tower or new dice to solve the not-rolling problem.

Even if you shake them in your hands some people might be suspicious because it's totally possible to shake dice in your hands in a way that makes them rattle but doesn't actually change their position so that when you roll them you have a good chance of rolling a predetermined number.

What on earth is "stank"? It sounds like a euphemism...

Obviously we need a video for demonstration purposes and science. ^_^

Good gravy, what's wrong with today's schools?

"Put some stank on it", in this context, means to put some extra force behind the roll.

No, it's not a drug reference.

I assumed it was some Americanism that had something to do with skunks.

 Shadow Captain Edithae wrote:
What on earth is "stank"? It sounds like a euphemism...

It means to put some English on the roll. You know, some spice? Some pizzazz?

*sigh* Kids these days, you can't talk to them...

Here you go. Its kinda sad there's a tutorial on how to roll dice properly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6ILqwtezvo

The kinds of problems I'm seeing described in this thread is why I hate it when I see people using casino dice to play 40k. I'm always a little suspicious when dice just drop onto the table without rolling. Casino dice are not good for wargaming; they are designed to be thrown hard against a back surface (like on a craps table), not gently let go from someone's hand. I like to see some action when people roll dice as I can be sure then that the dice were not dropped with a 6 (or whatever) facing up on purpose. Plus casino dice are large and heavy, which can damage models if they hit them.