I've been working on a better short hand for my math, based all around the number of faces on a die, divided by the number of faces that fail or succeed. There is a push VS pull in deciding which integer to use as the denominator.
My goal is to have a simpler calculus on hand, one that ascertains the volume of shots I'd really need to slay a foe.
When trying to do something positive with the dice, you take the total number of faces and divide by the number of faces that succeed. Positive means rolling To Wound and rolling To Hit; BS3+ is 6/4, BS2+ is 6/5 and Wounding on 5+ is 6/2.
When you are trying to negate something with dice, you divide by the number that slip past the succesful block. An armor save of 2+ is 6/1; a 4++ is 6/3; FNPs are the same where a 5+++ is 6/4.
Jim Vessel's Plague Bearer lists come to mind, with a good unit to study in wasted firepower, and we can link all these numbers together.
30 Plague Bearers, who are T4, with a 5++ Invuln and 5+++ Feel No Pain need to die to Bolter fire in one turn. How many Bolter shots are at the half way point of statistically likely? In units of 20+ Plague Bearers are -1 to hit, making BS3 act like BS4
In other words, 30 * 1 * 2 * 3/2 * 2 * 3/2 = 9 * 30 = 270
That is a lot of bolter fire, probably more than can actually be mustered, and to spend that many points killing 30 Plague Bearers! Ouch
So this math approach is supposed to be quick, so how do I actually calculate this quickly?
Well I know I'll need at least 30 bolter shots, and all the 6/3s and 6/4s play nicely -- 6/3 * 6/4 is 2 * 3/2, which is 3. So it shakes out pretty quickly to 30 * 3 * 3. It doesn't have to be exact, but gives a person a good scale to estimate by.
That same fire power would kill 30 classical Marines or 15 Intercessors. 210 Points VS 255, and doesn't include how Plague Bearers can return from the dead via the Demonic Icon.
My goal is to have a simpler calculus on hand, one that ascertains the volume of shots I'd really need to slay a foe.
When trying to do something positive with the dice, you take the total number of faces and divide by the number of faces that succeed. Positive means rolling To Wound and rolling To Hit; BS3+ is 6/4, BS2+ is 6/5 and Wounding on 5+ is 6/2.
When you are trying to negate something with dice, you divide by the number that slip past the succesful block. An armor save of 2+ is 6/1; a 4++ is 6/3; FNPs are the same where a 5+++ is 6/4.
Jim Vessel's Plague Bearer lists come to mind, with a good unit to study in wasted firepower, and we can link all these numbers together.
30 Plague Bearers, who are T4, with a 5++ Invuln and 5+++ Feel No Pain need to die to Bolter fire in one turn. How many Bolter shots are at the half way point of statistically likely? In units of 20+ Plague Bearers are -1 to hit, making BS3 act like BS4
| Number of Models |
Wounds per Model |
To Wound positive |
To Hit positive |
Saving Throw negative |
Feel No Pain negative |
Total Bolter Shots |
| 30 | 1 | 6/3 | 6/3 | 6/4 | 6/4 | 270 |
In other words, 30 * 1 * 2 * 3/2 * 2 * 3/2 = 9 * 30 = 270
That is a lot of bolter fire, probably more than can actually be mustered, and to spend that many points killing 30 Plague Bearers! Ouch
So this math approach is supposed to be quick, so how do I actually calculate this quickly?
Well I know I'll need at least 30 bolter shots, and all the 6/3s and 6/4s play nicely -- 6/3 * 6/4 is 2 * 3/2, which is 3. So it shakes out pretty quickly to 30 * 3 * 3. It doesn't have to be exact, but gives a person a good scale to estimate by.
That same fire power would kill 30 classical Marines or 15 Intercessors. 210 Points VS 255, and doesn't include how Plague Bearers can return from the dead via the Demonic Icon.
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