Part 73: The Dice

Rules: The Dice

This will be the last aside I've planned before I start with the scenario in earnest, but should be quicker to explain than the rest. Unlike most wargames, GTS uses 10 sided dice (d10) for all its resolution mechanisms, and most dice rolls in this game are roll-under checks, so you have to roll equal to or less than target in order to be successful. The dice range is from 0 to 9, with 0 being an automatic success, and 9 being an automatic failure, each regardless of modifiers.

Troop Quality checks are a basic roll under of the Troop Quality for the unit.


_{More charts!}

The combat results table is structured quite ingeniously. You only need to cross-reference the value you rolled with the type of weapon you fired, and if the enemy is armoured or unarmoured, and you have a result. The way the table is structured means that usually the best roll possible is the highest roll under your modified Fire Rating. So, if you have a Fire Rating of 5, rolling a 5 will be a better result than rolling a 1. The only exception to this is that rolling a 0 usually has a fairly good result as well. This means that a high Fire Rating is both more likely to hit, but can also have a bigger effect on the target. Pretty neatly done for a single dice roll.

But what do those results mean? I will be explaining them in more detail later, but for now:
- C is Cohesion hit: a representation of both taking some light casualties as well as command and control starting to break down for that unit.
- S and S? are Suppression: Suppressed units are less effective and basically can't do anything apart from trying to get out of suppression. You can avoid being suppressed by doing a Troop Quality check, but if you pass it, you get a Cohesion hit instead. The question mark means that the unit is suppressed only if they fail a Troop Quality check.
- 1 is a Step Loss: If your unit is a 1 or 0 step unit, this basically means they are Eliminated instead.
- E is Eliminated: The unit is lost regardless of number of steps remaining.

There's a lot of other stuff to cover for Combat and Assaults, but explanations will have to wait until we have done the first turn.