You've Heard of Nose Bags; How About 'Yes/No Bags'

Dice - Is There An Alternative?

What follows will not appeal to superstitious dice devotees.

There are dice of so many varieties, and some rulesets use so many that they can clutter up the playing area and even inflict serious casualties on figures if used with too much enthusiasm.

"Yes, and …?", I hear huge numbers of people enquire. Well it's like this, there may be a solution which removes the need for dice altogether.

"Yes, and…?", well it's called the 'Yes/No Bag'.

"The what!". Well at home when a group of us have a game or two on a Saturday night we have to put up with out of scale felines - 2 Siamese sisters to be precise, wandering around the playing area to carry out random terrain inspections, reviews of the troops and periodically sprawling out to seek the attentions of the participants. With dice involved there is also the possibility - only rare event though thankfully, that a cast die will be the subject of impromptu paw-play.

"And so…?". A recent incident (no pawplay or blood involved thankfully) got me wondering how we could take dice out of the equation on the tabletop; thus removing one potential CATastrophe. What do we use dice for I asked myself? Well there are a number of situations in which we use them but generally they:

Confirm or deny outcomes, and Allow for a quantifiable random input into situations to assist in determining overall outcomes. Mulling over this, and also having been lucky in a Church Fair 'tombola' recently, got me thinking about marrying the two ideas. Rather than having a range of numbered balls you could quite simply have positive and negative outcomes or answers to questions. When you look at how and for what dice are used it is easy to see that substitution of appropriate questions at decision points which we already identify in games would allow the substitution of a plethora of dice with a 'Yes/No Bag'.

Stepping back for a moment, however, there are a number of options which can be developed using the simple yes/no answer concept, provided that closed questions are asked prior to seeking a response from the 'Yes/No Bag':

Stick with whichever ruleset you use and develop a set series of questions which will enable the 'yes/no bag' to provide all of the answers;
Go for a far more open 'free kriegspiel' type approach in which the players may seek 'yes/no' answers to any question which they can both agree to ask. Using this concept the questions can be as simple or as complicated/loaded as both parties wish - provided they are closed. For instance you could ask; "Can my flank march arrive on this game turn at point 'x' with no losses or other effects on its' fighting ability?", or this could be broken down into three separate questions; a yes or no answer prompting another question to qualify the answer until time, location and state of troops is determined. The drawback (though some may see it as an advantage!) is that the limits of sensibility may be overstepped and silly things allowed to happen; or
Ask the 'Yes/No Bag' who won the battle and be done with moving all of those little men around the tabletop!

To look at option 1. - the less painful one for those firmly wedded to the rules and regulations approach (with good reason in most cases), instead of perhaps getting a first time overall result (but with a fixed range of consequences) for each eventuality with a single throw of the dice it would be possible to generate less predictable though more interesting ones in appropriate situations.

"OK show me?"

Take one bag or deep narrow container (not too narrow otherwise you won't get you paws (sorry - hands) in, and fill it with about 100 red and 100 green plastic or cardboard counters (equal numbers of each please); the green will be yes and the red will be no. You now have a 'Yes/No Bag'.

Each time a question is asked in the game a counter is drawn WITHOUT LOOKING! To obtain the answer. The counter is ALWAYS REPLACED to maintain a balance of probability. "But if it's a container like that it's not a bag!" O.K. change the name! And so to the game - using DBA as my model.

Initial Deployment, etc.

For the initial set-up, etc. it's quite simple; "Does player 'A' choose terrain?" Does the player who didn't choose the terrain deploy on this edge?" (repeat until an edge is found!). Once camps have been placed; "Does the player who's side deploys first stick to the usual deployment area?" If not can he deploy 'x' paces further in, and if not does he deploy in half the normal area depth?" See what I mean? The only limit is your ability to put reasonable closed questions to the 'Yes/No Bag'.

Movement

Your train of thought may now move to movement.

Each game turn you could allow the 'Yes/No Bag' to determine who has the initiative; "Does player 'A' move first?". Once decided, the next bit is also quite straightforward - each element or group of elements may ask the question "Can I move?". Draw counters for each group or unit that it is desired to move to see if it can; only replacing the counters at the end of each sides' move. You may limit the maximum numbers of movement questions per side if you wish. You will notice two things:

At the start of the turn - before drawing answers from the 'Yes/No Bag' you have to decide which elements or groups you wish to move, and
Whether any or all of these actually move is a purely random outcome.

Essentially a completely unpredictable series of movement options is generated; no more allocating those vital tactical movement points to the most hard-pressed units! A real test of skill and faith.

You can even be cheeky and ask if a limited number (say 2 - or ask the bag this) of units may make a double move - a suggested amendment. Fording is easy - "Can I ford the river here?". Distant Shooting - When working out which elements may fire, ask the 'Yes/No Bag' whether the supports you want to assist are available. The firer may now draw one counter if he has an advantage of up to 3, or two counters if he has an advantage of 4 - 6, 3 counters if he has one greater than 6; and the defender draws one.

See what the mix is and the result is then determined:

If 3 or more 'yes/no' markers drawn:

3 'yes' Overwhelming high score win (2:1 or greater) on results table).
2 'yes' and 1 'no' High score win (but not 2:1) on results table.
1'yes' and 2 'no' Draw.
3 'no' Low score win (but not 2:1) on results table if return fire is possible.

If 2 'yes/no' markers drawn:

2 'yes' High score win (but not 2:1) on results table.
1 'yes' and 1 'no' Draw.
2 'no' Low score win (but not 2:1) on results table if return fire is possible.

When units are forced to flee a number of graded questions can be asked to determine how far - asm any or as few as you wish, to input a random movement distance. Simple isn't it?

Close Combat and Outcomes

As with the original ruleset this is conducted in the same way as missile combat, but you can ask the 'Yes/No Bag' whether the outflanking units you want to assist are available. Once decided, calculate the relative factors. The higher factor fighter may draw one counter if he has an advantage of up to 3, or two counters if he has an advantage of 4 - 6, 3 counters if he has one greater than 6; and the other draws one.

See what the mix is and the result is then determined:

If 3 or more 'yes/no' markers drawn:

3 'yes' Overwhelming high score win (2:1 or greater) on results table).
2 'yes' and 1 'no' High score win (but not 2:1) on results table.
1'yes' and 2 'no' Draw.
3 'no' Low score win (but not 2:1) on results table.

If 2 'yes/no' markers drawn:

2 'yes' High score win (but not 2:1) on results table.
1 'yes' and 1 'no' Draw.
2 'no' Low score win (but not 2:1) on results table.

When units are forced to flee a number of graded questions can be asked to determine how far - as many or as few as you wish, to input a random movement distance.

"Hmmmm…". Well there it is for what it's worth - or what you can perhaps make of it; an alternative to cubic dot calculations.

If you don’t like the thought of losing the use of your dice (there must be a medical term for such a condition), try substitution in certain aspects of your rules and see what happens.