COMBAT DICE UPDATE - FMG

Hey Jeremy,
I am curious because I don’t know how combat dice, or ANY dice for that matter, are made.  You sent the last shipment back because the colors were not right, correct?  Do they melt the dice down, change the color then reform the new dice?  Can dice be melted down?  They are made of a type of plastic, aren’t they?
Afterwards, they have to paint all the little white dots on sides 2-6 and the new national symbols on the 1 side, right?
Just curious about the process.

So they don’t have to totally re-make the dice, just re-paint the national symbols on the “1” side?  Well that’s some good news.  That should go fairly fast.  I mean, yeah there are a lot of dice to re-paint, but it’s better than totally scrapping them all and starting from scratch, isn’t it?

Boy, you can tell how much I use my combat dice.  I have a number of them that the national symbol has a lot of chips and scratches in them.  Mostly in German, Japanese, British and American dice.  The Chinese dice just don’t get as much use so they all still look new.  Same for the Italian dice.  The Russian dice get a lot of use, but their symbols must be stronger because they all still look perfect, or at least I just haven’t noticed any wear yet.

knp7765 - I have yet to recieve my FMG Italy Combat Dice. What would you say is an accurate description of the quality of the dice? I thought they were 100% chip resistant? I’m a little surprised that they can get scratched and chipped…

@Lozmoid:

knp7765 - I have yet to recieve my FMG Italy Combat Dice. What would you say is an accurate description of the quality of the dice? I thought they were 100% chip resistant? I’m a little surprised that they can get scratched and chipped…

The national symbols are silk screened on … there’s absolutely no way they can be made 100% chip/scratch resistant.  Even the highest end dice end up having the white (or whatever other color) pips wearing/chipping over time and use.  I imagine the only way to make them scratch resistant would be to encase the dice in yet another layer of clear plastic/acrylic.  But then we’d probably have to pay twice as much for them.

The quality of the dice however … superb.  Much better than the dice that come with most board games, and I’d say near casino-quality.

Cool! Thanks, Rorschach. I can’t wait to get mine…

Oh yeah, these combat dice are fantastic.  The ones that I have that are showing some wear I have used A LOT.  With the dice all tumbling together and banging into one another, eventually there are going to be a few small nicks here and there.  I don’t think there is any way to keep them in pristine condition other than not using them at all, and what would be the point of that.

That idea of encasing them in another layer of clear acrylic is interesting.  However, like Rorschach said, it would probably up the price.  Also, if the layer of acrylic wasn’t 100% even, it might affect the roll of the dice.  Like maybe every roll ends up in a “5”.  No hits even with battleships or bombers, yet no good for tech research either.  I think “5” is the most useless number as far as dice rolls for A&A is concerned.

@knp7765:

So they don’t have to totally re-make the dice, just re-paint the national symbols on the “1” side?  Well that’s some good news.  That should go fairly fast.  I mean, yeah there are a lot of dice to re-paint, but it’s better than totally scrapping them all and starting from scratch, isn’t it?

As someone who has spent the past 13 years as a silk screen printer I can tell you if they are just re-screening that side they are going to look like crap.

The way silk screening works, they really don’t have much choice but to scrap the entire lot and start fresh.  It would actually probably be faster to scrap it and start over anyway.

Well dammit!  So much for keeping a little hope for a speedy outcome.  Oh well, I’m sure they will eventually get it right and with any luck it won’t be too much longer till we get our cool new combat dice.

Is the factory that is working on the combat dice the same factory that is making the combat units?

@FieldMarshalGames:

@knp7765:

Well dammit!  So much for keeping a little hope for a speedy outcome.  Oh well, I’m sure they will eventually get it right and with any luck it won’t be too much longer till we get our cool new combat dice.

Is the factory that is working on the combat dice the same factory that is making the combat units?

Agh…. Yes

Hmmm.  For some reason I thought they would be made in different places.  They are such different items.  I know the theme is the same (WW2 Gaming) and they are used for the same form of activity, but the items themselves are so different –- little plastic men, tanks etc. and dice.  Well, I guess a lot of these factories can make a wide variety of things.  Heck, my first job as a teenager was for a company called Federated Merchandisers and they made a lot of different little things that you wouldn’t think would be made in the same place.

@FieldMarshalGames:

They have a standard Dice machine but we choose the colours.  They did get the Dice colour correct, but the National symbols that are silk screened on had some incorrect colours!  So the dice themselves are fine, but the symbols on the “1” side were incorrect.

I am still awaiting update on this production.

Hey FMG,

Any news on the progress on the dice? I’m very very very eagerly awaiting the day they’ll be available again :)

anzac is brown?

Yeah, I can see what you mean Jeremy.  The roundels look kind of sloppy compared to the images you showed us before.  Plus, the ring around the crown for the ANZAC dice is too thick.

I am wondering about the color of the actual dice for ANZAC.  I thought they would be closer to that steel grey of the ANZAC pieces from Pacific 40.  These look almost like the dark tan color of the UK units from the original Pacific game.  Is this the color you plan to use for your ANZAC Combat Units?

I would add that the bad batch of Anzac dice have not only got their blue ring line too thick, but it is also the wrong shade of blue - too light, sky blue! That’s bad…

Honestly, do some people even read the replies…… i see the frustration, he always has to explain himself multiple times…

So you can understand my frustration….    Notice the poor print quality and colours of the attached picture.  The samples that are shown on our site are PERFECT.

I can’t send you guys this CRAP!!  We are working to have it corrected ASAP.

Not attacking anybody, just see it happening all the time….