ITALY & CHINA COMBAT DICE - Help us design them!



  • yea that.

  • '10

    @Zero:

    Ok, Thanks for the input guys!  I will have this roundel but on the prototype #2.  I want to go into production ASAP so please let me know if you have any more concerns or comments.

    I like the other suggetions BUT they will not look right on a die, the “flower” will be to small.

    (Can’t wait to get them done, just played today and had to use stock BLACK dice for ITALY and stock RED dice fro CHINA… Blahhh)


  • OK good cant wait.

  • Customizer

    @Zero:

    Please Please Please use this image for the dice. The image you created has too small of a star. This image exactly resembles both AAP and AA50 chinese control markers.  A lighter green would be nice too. As for italy their dice is perfect.

    keep up the good work!

  • '10

    Ok, we are going to use the above CHINA emblem as requested by many.  They go into production in a week.  I will post picture of the production samples as soon as I have them.

    Thank you all again.

  • Customizer

    Are you also planing on creating black German AA50 dice? I would be very intrested in them. Keep up the outstanding work!

  • '10

    @Bob_A_Mickelson:

    Are you also planing on creating black German AA50 dice? I would be very intrested in them. Keep up the outstanding work!

    We may come out with a special Edition in the (Far Future) right now we are concentrating our efforts on ITALY and CHINA.  We made the GERMANY dice in the standard Field Grey as they fit in with ALL Axis & Allies games and other WW2 board games.


  • FieldMarshalGames,

    Wow they look great, + 1!  Thanks for the hard work you put into this.  Do you have a better idea now when we should see them on the shelves?

    Thanks,

    LT

  • '10

    @LT04:

    FieldMarshalGames,

    Wow they look great, + 1!  Thanks for the hard work you put into this.  Do you have a better idea now when we should see them on the shelves?

    Thanks,

    LT

    Production is a funny thing…  Sometimes it is fast, other times there can be delays.  I just approved the color (Match to the AA50 pcs) and the roundel emblems (Thanks for all your help here).

    Production will begin in about a week, lead time on production is 30 days.  Then I have to get the product to me and do packaging etc…

    I HOPE to have them in Jan, but any delay may mean I don’t get them out until Feb (Just being Honest)

    As soon as I have a solid date I will keep you all posted here.

    Thanks Again for your interest!


  • I’ve been really trying to imagine what the AA dice might look like (IL really earned his keep with that idea.) Text is a definite not. Picture of an AA gun? Naah. Seems a little too “Milton Bradley” kiddie to fit in with the other dice you’re making. Which are obviously first rate and geared towards the advanced A&A enthusiast.

    So I started thinking AA gunsight. Did some looking around. Most AA gunsights are very grid-like and somewhat plain (probably not something you’d put on a die.) But I found this one I thought had just the right classic lines for the intended purpose:

    This is a 40mm Bofors AA gunsight. I drew this in Illustrator. I was picturing it on a white or light grey (AA piece color) die with all the other sides blank. You spot that badass in a roll and POW-POW-POW! Plane’s goin’ down!

    Now I assume you screen print your dice so these lines might be too fine at dice size. If you used the original vector Illustrator file and screen printed it with a 300+ screen and using film (not liquid) emulsion… hmmm. Anyway, I drew the proportions matching an actual gunsight from a museum photo but the lines could always be beefed up for printing purposes if necessary.

    You say help us design 'em… we help design 'em!  :-D ~ZP


  • yea use that. The dice are blue (pale blue like the sky) with white pips. The image is in white.

    The new dice set would include just 15 dice, 6 Italian, 6 Chinese, 3 AA gun

  • '10

    I like this idea.  I think I would like the AA Die to have no pips what so ever…  What kind of markings could we put on the other 5 sides?  Flack exploding?  Lets run with this idea for a bit.


  • oh yea… good question.

    i think in terms of cost you can only choose either blank or pips on the other sides and i think they should be pips because of house rules where a two result would result in a damaged bomber ( it returns back to base and does not perform mission).

    If cost is included for a unique image on the other 5 sides, then something like the same image with flak bursts on 5 sides, and a bomber blowing up on the one result?

    I have a new idea: technology dice!  The dice could have an image of a wheel of industry or the standard flask and science desk setup or you have 2 dice: 1 with the tech image for success, then a second die that has the different techs on each side?

    I know its kinda wild.

    You could also make general dice for each nation:  each side has a unigue combat modifier you roll each turn for one battle

    examples:

    1= defender can retreat
    2= attacker +1
    3= defender +1
    4= Entrenched defense ( this would be all hits rounded in half – 5 hits is actually 2 hits)
    5= Surprise attack +2
    6= attacker repulsed ( they must retreat)

    these generals dice would be used a number of times during the game… like 2-3 times per game or the dice can be purchased like a special action like paratroopers?

    just ideas…

    also you can have a winter die for unique winter results that may effect a region of the map

    lastly, you can have a die that functions for sea invasions where the invading side needs to roll to see if the tides allow a landing.

  • Customizer

    I personally would prefer an image of a smoking plane instead of a gun sight, or perhaps a fighter inside a gun sight.  One thing you will need to consider is the fact that in AA50 a roll of 2 or less would result in a aa gun hitting. In my opinion your dice should be blank on all sides but two. One side would have the image of the plane being shot down representing a die roll of 1. The other opposite side of the dice should have another image either same smoking fighter as the first side that is faded out a bit, perhaps the die says radar under that image, or maybe the far side would have an image of a radar screen. This side would of course reflect a two being rolled. The dice should probably be white, though a light sky blue may be nice too. Just my thoughts.
          Another thought is that AA50 requires that Bombers and Fighters be rolled separately for AA Guns. Maybe the AA Gun Dice should include images of both a fighter being shot down on one side and a bomber being shot down on the other side. This would accomplish a similar thing as having the radar screen.


  • nice!

  • '10

    I am overwehlmed by great ideas!!!  I want to make them all but Im not BILL GATES!  I really like the idea of an AA die.  But the RADAR leads to a problem.  We have to move quick because the factory will be ready to start CHINA and ITALY soon.

    Can you guys do the following:

    1. Settle how the AA dice should look and function.  We need it to be ONE die as each variant raises my cost HUGE.  Even making the AA die is putting me back over budget  (But I want it too!)
    2. Post RADAR or FLACK image ideas.  I like the target above.  Remember this has to fit on a SMALL die surface (16mm)
    3. Decide this:  If the AA dice delays production of the ITALY / CHINA dice (Which are already designed and ready to go)…  Is it still worth it on this run OR can it wait for a future expansion?

    Thanks guys.  As members here can tell you…  I often so my appreciation in the form of Dice  :wink:

  • Customizer

    I prefer that you release china and India first. Float the AA Gun dice around for a while. The last thing you want is to produce a poor product because you rushed it into production. I will probably get murdered for this but it isn’t a good idea to go over budget unless you are absolutely certain your product will sell. AA Gun dice are nice but very few will buy in them by comparison to the the national combat dice you have already produced.

    I believe the product that has the greatest need to be produced is NATION SPECIFIC HALF TRACKS. It seems like every variant uses half tracks as mechanized infantry now. Another product that most A&A fans would love to see is fully nation specific pieces. Good case and point is Italy, which much to the dismay of A&A fans abroad, had only two nation specific pieces. The soviet union also uses many borrowed forces. Even Britain and USA use the same artillery, destroyer, submarine and transport. Get my point?

    This HYPOTHETICAL NATION SPECIFIC SET molded in AA50 COLORS would include:

    HALF TRACKS - for all six major AA50 countries.
    AIR TRANSPORT (paratrooper plane) - for all six major AA50 countries
    ITALIAN forces - Artillery, fighter, bomber, Complete Italian Navy
    SOVIET UNION forces - Artillery, Complete Soviet Navy
    UNITED KINGDOM forces - Artillery, destroyer, transport, submarine
    CHINA forces - one light green P-40 fighter.

    Producing these units would make fully complete Nation specific set of units for each AA50 country as well as adding mechanized infantry and transport planes for each of them.  I know i would definitely buy these and i don’t believe i would be alone. You should also be able to sell the set for a pretty good price.

  • '10

    @Bob_A_Mickelson:

    I prefer that you release china and India first. Float the AA Gun dice around for a while. The last thing you want is to produce a poor product because you rushed it into production. I will probably get murdered for this but it isn’t a good idea to go over budget unless you are absolutely certain your product will sell. AA Gun dice are nice but very few will buy in them by comparison to the the national combat dice you have already produced.

    I believe the product that has the greatest need to be produced is NATION SPECIFIC HALF TRACKS. It seems like every variant uses half tracks as mechanized infantry now. Another product that most A&A fans would love to see is fully nation specific pieces. Good case and point is Italy, which much to the dismay of A&A fans abroad, had only two nation specific pieces. The soviet union also uses many borrowed forces. Even Britain and USA use the same artillery, destroyer, submarine and transport. Get my point?

    This HYPOTHETICAL NATION SPECIFIC SET molded in AA50 COLORS would include:

    HALF TRACKS - for all six major AA50 countries.
    AIR TRANSPORT (paratrooper plane) - for all six major AA50 countries
    ITALIAN forces - Artillery, fighter, bomber, Complete Italian Navy
    SOVIET UNION forces - Artillery, Complete Soviet Navy
    UNITED KINGDOM forces - Artillery, destroyer, transport, submarine
    CHINA forces - one light green P-40 fighter.

    Producing these units would make fully complete Nation specific set of units for each AA50 country as well as adding mechanized infantry and transport planes for each of them.  I know i would definitely buy these and i don’t believe i would be alone. You should also be able to sell the set for a pretty good price.

    Thank you for your ideas.  To tell you the truth, we are already working on designs for some of these pieces.  I can’t wait to get them!!  I will keep you all posted on these developments once the COMBAT DICE project is complete.  I will start another thread in relation to additional pieces at a later time when that project is on the table. (Lets keep this one about COMBAT DICE).

    I will revist these pcs suggestions there and start that discussion.  I don’t want to get the community too excited about these yet as production will be late next year and the process will be much more involved than dice.

    Thanks again.


  • I still like the idea of having all other sides of the die being blank, but that’s just me. It won’t address the radar tech of course but tech dice would probably be another (future) product entirely. So for the cost of putting a flak or some other image on all the other “miss” sides you could instead use the additional image to create 2 different AA dice to represent both fighters and bombers.

    ~ZP

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