Robinette wrote:xelabale wrote:So the OP is saying that randomness is only true over a large sample, but inaccurate for a small sample? He's saying that's why good players adopt strategies to deal with that? He's saying that sometimes the dice aren't dead on their predicted outcome, but that they even out?
Well I never, I'm gonna have to rethink this whole concept of randomness...
wait---- What?......
sooooo, does this mean we should actually adjust our strategy to anticipate that we will LOSE men when rolling...
i think i get it now...
With 3 rolls, in the LONG RUN the stats say i'll win... win 2, win 1, win 0
But if we look at this the other way --- the rolls actually look like this.... lose 2, lose 1, and lose 0
So with 6 v 2 you lose the 1st roll (lose 2), now it's 4 v2...
2nd roll at 4 v 2 and i'll anticipate that i lose 1, now it's 3 v 1
uh oh... 2 dice vs 1... i'm screwed... MAYBE if i go down to 1 i'll likely get it, but ouch...
So the above 6 v 2 odds are supposed to be 89%, and if i take the pain of going down to 1 it will likely happen just like that...
I really think what we are missing here, is that with an 89% chance of victory, we expect to win handily...
but look again at that 3v1 position after the 2nd roll... which is precisely within the odds... yet very disheartening!
It's like yesterday...
i caught every
RED light...
some days it's all
GREEN...
but usually it's 6 of one, half dozen of the other... lol...
so try this little exercise...
it only takes 2 rolls to completely win, or lose... and yet................

(Mr C's head explodes...)
Luckily, you don't need to be a whizz bang maths genius (or even vaguely numerate for that matter) to play this game well, what you need is
strategic sense...Whether a player views that through a mathematical or psychological prism (as I prefer to) doesn't really matter..in the end if you truly understand the game, the dice are merely your weapon.
With regards to 5 on 1 or even 6 on 1..one certainly expects it to go through, but here is a little tester for you all.
You have to take out 3 groups of troops to win a game.
Group A: You have a single 1 to fight off, but must take out 1 territory with a single and another territory with a 2.
Group B: You have a 10 to fight off (again just one stack) and have to remove 12 armies seperated over four territories in a 3,3,3,3 formation.
Group C: You have two stacks, both with a 3. You have to remove a single stack 7.
You have a 7 to deploy..what's the optimum deployment?