{"id":791,"date":"2024-12-28T06:41:20","date_gmt":"2024-12-28T05:41:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mechstrategen.de\/the-question-of-the-cube\/"},"modified":"2025-12-22T14:34:44","modified_gmt":"2025-12-22T13:34:44","slug":"the-question-of-the-cube","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mechstrategen.de\/en\/the-question-of-the-cube\/","title":{"rendered":"The question of the dice"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What influence does the choice of dice have? Quite a few people come up with the idea of replacing the two six-sided dice with one twelve-sided dice. It saves dice and possibly some time when rolling. But what influence does this have on the game mechanics of Battletech Alpha Strike? <\/p>\n\n

\"Battletech<\/figure>\n\n

Let’s remember the different methods for rolling dice in the combat phase<\/a>. What they have in common is that a critical hit is also generated on a result of 12. In the case of critical hits, a 2 (ammunition chamber hit) and a 12 (fatal cockpit hit) are usually fatal for a target. <\/p>\n\n

This means that if I choose a dice layout that increases the probability of a 2 or a 12, then I will tend to get more of these hits during the course of the game.<\/p>\n\n

On the other hand, I have to achieve a certain dice result in order to hit. Can I increase my chances of hitting if I choose a twelve-sided dice layout? Let’s compare 2D6 (two six-sided dice) and 1w12 (one twelve-sided dice) using probability theory. <\/p>\n\n

What does the probability theory say?<\/h3>\n\n

To understand the difference in probability between a twelve-sided dice (1w12)<\/strong> and the sum of two six-sided dice (2D6)<\/strong>, we analyze the probability distributions of the possible outcomes.<\/p>\n\n

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1. Twelve-sided dice (1D12):<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n

A d12 has the numbers from 1 to 12<\/strong>, and each number has an equal probability<\/strong> of around 8.33% (1\/12). This is an even (uniform) distribution. <\/p>\n\n

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2. sum of two six-sided dice (2D6):<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n

When rolling two d6 dice, the sum of the two dice is between 2 and 12<\/strong>. However, the probabilities are not equally distributed, as there are more opportunities to roll medium values (such as 7) than extreme values (such as 2 or 12). The distribution is triangular<\/strong> (with a peak in the middle). <\/p>\n\n