no question here, just a simple position.

At first, I thought rerolling the d10(v9) was a certain losing position, but if it rolls an 8 there's a slight chance of winning. Still, rolling the d12(v2) is at least a little better, isn't it? Rolling either an 8 or a  12 gives some hope [not much in either case, but both are better than the d10 rolling an 8]

Viewing Game #725674 
Tournament Legal challenge, copying communication from game 725034
This game was last modified on Tue Dec 27, 2011 17:08:04

* Next Turn * Player: lephantman13 *Perfect Memory* * Next Turn *
Button Man: Ron Graham    Score: 34 (-8.6 sides)   Rounds Won/Lost/Tied: 0 / 1 / 0 (out of 3 round(s))
Captured Dice: Option 10/20 20-sided die

Dice	Konstant 6-sided die	10-sided die	12-sided die
Value	4	9	2
Dice	10-sided die	Option 4/10 (with 10 sides)	Option 6/10 (with 10 sides)	Option 10/12 (with 12 sides)
Value	5	4	1	12

Player: ElihuRoot *Dead Dude* *Fanatic* 
Button Man: Cesare    Score: 47 (8.6 sides)   Rounds Won/Lost/Tied: 1 / 0 / 0
Captured Dice: 20-sided die, V Mood Swing 6-sided die

twin die d(6,6) vs. vanilla d12 -- which to reroll?

haven't done the math yet -- and it's probably pretty close -- but the tension to me is hat
the twin die rolls a little higher on average, but also is less likely to roll a "12".

Button Men Game #723466 
Tournament Legal challenge, copying communication from game 722199

Skills in this game: Twin, Reserve, X Swing

Player: ElihuRoot *Dead Dude* *Fanatic*
Your Button Man: Krosp (4 (6,6) 12 12 X)   Score: 42 (14.6 sides)   Rounds Won/Lost/Tied: 0 / 0 / 0 (Out of 3 wins)
Your Captured Dice: Twin Die (both with 10 sides), 4-sided die

Twin Die (both with 6 sides)	12-sided die	12-sided die		X Swing (with 7 sides)
9	5	10		3 Captured last turn
6-sided die	12-sided die
6	11

Opponent: theAlmighty *heavenly* *Silver Medal in Men's Basketball* *Silver Medal in Men's Fencing* *Silver Medal in Men's Judo* *Gold Medal in Men's Table Tennis*
Button Man: Cammy Neko (4 6 12 (10,10) r12 r20 r20 r(8,8))   Score: 20 (-14.6 sides)   Rounds Won/Lost/Tied: 0 / 0 / 0
Captured Dice: 4-sided die, X Swing 7-sided die

what's better? Capturing the bigger die or rerolling the bigger vulnerable die?

Button Men Game #725034 

Skills in this game: Option, Focus, V Swing

Player: ElihuRoot *Dead Dude* *Fanatic*
Your Button Man: Oni (4 10 f12 f12 V)   Score: 31 (-3.3 sides)   Rounds Won/Lost/Tied: 1 / 1 / 0 (Out of 3 wins)
Your Captured Dice: 12-sided die, Option 6/12 6-sided die

4-sided die	10-sided die	Focus 12-sided die		Focus 12-sided die
2	5	1		9 Captured last turn
10-sided die	12-sided die	Option 4/12 (with 4 sides)
7	6	1

Opponent: lephantman13 *Perfect Memory*
Button Man: Mischa (10 12 12 4/12 6/12)   Score: 36 (3.3 sides)   Rounds Won/Lost/Tied: 1 / 1 / 0
Captured Dice: V Swing 11-sided die, Focus 12-sided die

Iago and Bill and Diro and Chang [not a problem, just an observation because of a recent game involving Chang]

These are not completely equivalent, but
(A) after 1200-1900 games, why should Iago have a 4% better record than Dirgo? Is it their respective button groups? [should look at the breakdown of their games by opposing button, and somehow renormalize]
With a  probability of winning of about 40,  the standard deviation after 1200 games would be  about 0.7 %
of course that assumes the games are independent, and all are 40%, etc. -- still 4% is nearly 6 standard deviations...

(B) Chang seems *way* too low, doesn't it? the option dice aren't as simple as an X-swing but
you have so many more options here, including NO twenty-sided dice, or having one 2 sided die
[you could have  20 20 20 4, 20 20 20 8, or 20 20 20 20  which captures much of the power of the 20 20 20 X recipes -- but you ALSO have 20 20 20 2, and 2 8 20 20, and all sort of other variants that could be very useful.] I do suspect that Chang is easier  to misplay, but, with perfect play has the potential to do about as well and maybe even a bit better than Dirgo/Iago.

103	Chang (TL)	2/20 2/20 4/20 8/20	Fantasy	1270	2314	3584	35.43%
93	Bill (TL)	20 20 20 (V,V)	Dork Victory	1639	2069	3708	44.2%
51	Iago (TL)	20 20 20 X	Soldiers	1935	2541	4476	43.23%
158	Dirgo (TL)	20 20 20 X	Majesty	1210	1875	3085	39.22%

What's more important?

Should the universe be more concerned with my d6  showing 6 or my d10 showing 3?


Viewing Game #723023 
This game was last modified on Tue Nov 15, 2011 22:38:45

* Next Turn * Player: TheUniverse *My Birthday* * Next Turn *
Button Man: MAX(p)    Score: 23 (-18.6 sides)   Rounds Won/Lost/Tied: 2 / 2 / 0 (out of 3 round(s))
Captured Dice: Twin Die (both with 8 sides)

Dice	4-sided die	6-sided die	X Swing (with 4 sides)
Value	2	3	4
Dice	4-sided die	Konstant 6-sided die	10-sided die	S Swing (with 6 sides)
Value	1	2	3	6

Player: ElihuRoot *Dead Dude* *Fanatic* 
Button Man: Theano    Score: 51 (18.6 sides)   Rounds Won/Lost/Tied: 2 / 2 / 0
Captured Dice: 20-sided die, 18-sided die

OK, which scares you more -- d10 stinger or d12?

Doesn't it depend mostly on context? If my  Shadow d20 was still around with a moderately high roll,
I might care more about the stinger -- but how likely am I to be the victim of a stinger-abetted skill attack this round?


Button Men Game #722218

Skills in this game: Stinger, Shadow, X Swing

Player: ElihuRoot *Dead Dude* *Fanatic*
Your Button Man: Mordred (s6 10 10 s20 sX)   Score: 35 (-1.3 sides)   Rounds Won/Lost/Tied: 2 / 2 / 0 (Out of 3 wins)
Your Captured Dice: 20-sided die

Shadow 6-sided die	10-sided die	10-sided die	Shadow X Swing (with 4 sides)		Shadow 20-sided die
1	6	1	3		2 Captured last turn
Stinger 8-sided die	Stinger 10-sided die	12-sided die	X Swing (with 4 sides)
6	10	10	2

Opponent: TheUniverse *My Birthday*
Button Man: Buck (g8 g10 12 20 X)   Score: 37 (1.3 sides)   Rounds Won/Lost/Tied: 2 / 2 / 0
Captured Dice: Shadow 20-sided die

Select an attack:  Power Attack Shadow Attack Skill Attack

there's no question which die should MAKE the attack

But do you gain more by taking the focus d4 with value 1  or the d20 with value 4?


Viewing Game #719489
This game was last modified on Sat Jun 25, 2011 23:12:05

* Next Turn * Player: TheUniverse *My Birthday* * Next Turn *
Button Man: Vincent    Score: 45 (-4.6 sides)   Rounds Won/Lost/Tied: 1 / 2 / 0 (out of 3 round(s))
Captured Dice: None

Dice	30-sided die	30-sided die	Option 6/30 (with 30 sides)
Value	19	13	23
Dice	4-sided die	4-sided die	Focus 4-sided die	Focus 12-sided die	20-sided die
Value	2	2	1	4	4

Player: ElihuRoot *Dead Dude* *Fanatic*
Button Man: Scorpion    Score: 52 (4.6 sides)   Rounds Won/Lost/Tied: 2 / 1 / 0
Captured Dice: 30-sided die

Berserk Dice...

Remember, Berserk dice (A) don't count for initiative, (B) can't perform skill attacks and (C) when they perform berserk attacks, they are replaced by a normal die of half the number of sides (rounded up)...

first off, do you agree with our choices of swing dice? [note that I lost round 1 and kept my 30-sided berserk swing die for round 2. F had a 20-sided berserk swing die from the beginning and has not yet had an opportunity to make a change.]

Secondly, do you think I should do a berserk attack here?



Button Men Game #722749
This game is 'for fun' and does not count for player rankings.
Arena Game: Random TL BM from Bruno!

Skills in this game: Berserk, U Swing, X Swing

Player: ElihuRoot *Dead Dude* *Fanatic*
Your Button Man: The GM (4 8 12 16 BU)   Score: 35 (-2 sides)   Rounds Won/Lost/Tied: 0 / 1 / 0 (Out of 2 wins)
Your Captured Dice: None

4-sided die	8-sided die	12-sided die	16-sided die	Berserk U Swing (with 30 sides)
4	1	12	4	19
Berserk 8-sided die	Berserk 8-sided die	Berserk 20-sided die	Berserk 20-sided die	Berserk X Swing (with 20 sides)
7	6	12	8	13

Opponent: Finngall *Man Isle* *Fanatic*
Button Man: Bruno (B8 B8 B20 B20 BX)   Score: 38 (2 sides)   Rounds Won/Lost/Tied: 1 / 0 / 0
Captured Dice: None

Select an attack:  Power Attack Skill Attack Berserk Attack

Results from last turn

Rolling Dice... Determining Initative... It is ElihuRoot's turn to go first.

Buttonmen 101

basic question -- which die should I take? not at all hard, but a basic computation. This would be in chapter 1 of my graded buttonmen-puzzle book

Button Men Game #721205
Tournament Legal challenge, copying communication from game 720250

Skills in this game: Stinger, X Swing

Player: ElihuRoot *Dead Dude* *Fanatic*
Your Button Man: Clare (6 8 8 20 X)   Score: 49 (-3.3 sides)   Rounds Won/Lost/Tied: 1 / 1 / 0 (Out of 3 wins)
Your Captured Dice: 20-sided die, 12-sided die, Stinger 10-sided die

6-sided die	8-sided die		8-sided die
4	1		3 Captured last turn
Stinger 8-sided die	X Swing (with 4 sides)
3	4

Opponent: Limax *Wombat* *Is a MAN* *Fanatic*
Button Man: Buck (g8 g10 12 20 X)   Score: 54 (3.3 sides)   Rounds Won/Lost/Tied: 1 / 1 / 0
Captured Dice: 20-sided die, X Swing 20-sided die, 8-sided die

Oh, it's so good to be back! But how do I play this game, again?

if I TAKE the rage button, I'm giving him an extra die,  if I DON'T take the rage button he'll get one more change to avoid rolling the 20-sided die for sure.
Button Men Game #721061 

Skills in this game: Rage, X Swing

Player: ElihuRoot *Dead Dude* *Fanatic*
Your Button Man: Brigid (8 8 X X X)   Score: 48 (-8 sides)   Rounds Won/Lost/Tied: 0 / 0 / 0 (Out of 3 wins)
Your Captured Dice: 20-sided die, 10-sided die

8-sided die	8-sided die	X Swing (with 20 sides)		X Swing (with 20 sides)
6	7	9		3 Captured last turn
8-sided die	Rage 12-sided die	20-sided die
1	7	19

Opponent: dakeyras *Lamb*
Button Man: Reggie (8 10 12G 20 20G)   Score: 60 (8 sides)   Rounds Won/Lost/Tied: 0 / 0 / 0
Captured Dice: X Swing 20-sided die, X Swing 20-sided die

Never reroll a 30-sided die that is safe from attack.

That seems like a sound instinct, doesn't it? But is it always true?

Can you see the justification for rerolling the d30 with value 30 in this situation? Is the
argument compelling? What if the mood swing were just a regular d12? or a d4?


Viewing Game #719620
Tournament Legal challenge, copying communication from game 716780
This game was last modified on Thu Jun 23, 2011 10:40:03

* Next Turn * Player: theAlmighty *heavenly* *Silver Medal in Men's Basketball* *Silver Medal in Men's Fencing* *Silver Medal in Men's Judo* *Gold Medal in Men's Table Tennis* * Next Turn *
Button Man: Vincent    Score: 33 (-14.6 sides)   Rounds Won/Lost/Tied: 1 / 0 / 0 (out of 3 round(s))
Captured Dice: None

Dice	30-sided die	30-sided die	Option 6/30 (with 6 sides)
Value	8	30	5
Dice	4-sided die	Konstant 6-sided die	8-sided die	Option 10/20 (with 20 sides)	X Mood Swing (with 12 sides)
Value	1	1	3	17	1

Player: ElihuRoot *Dead Dude* *Fanatic*
Button Man: Fan Chung Graham    Score: 55 (14.6 sides)   Rounds Won/Lost/Tied: 0 / 1 / 0
Captured Dice: 30-sided die

the two clearly best choices feel very different to me, but are actually fairly similar

When I saw this situation, I had an instinctive reaction....but then, I realized another move was nearly as good, and maybe even a bit better.

the two choices are:

• take her 20-sider now, don't allow it to roll again! 
•  don't reroll your own 20-sider, what are you, crazy? use your 6-sided die, leading to two subchoices:
• take the 12-sided die, you want it to have a chance of rerolling high?
• take the 4-sided die, 5 times out of 6 he'll have to reroll his 20-sided die and you'll have a very good chance it will reroll 18 or less, with the 12 sided die stuck at value 1.

I think the move one chooses instinctively in this situation says a lot about the sort of person you are -- but what does that even mean? And are these options really as close as I'm implying?

Button Men Game #717790

Skills in this game: Twin, Option, Shadow, X Swing

Player: ElihuRoot *Dead Dude* *Fanatic*
Your Button Man: Gratch (6 s(8,8) 20 s20 X)   Score: 41 (-11.3 sides)   Rounds Won/Lost/Tied: 1 / 0 / 0 (Out of 3 wins)
Your Captured Dice: Option 6/20 20-sided die, Option 4/8 8-sided die

6-sided die	20-sided die		X Swing (with 4 sides)
2	18		2 Captured last turn
4-sided die	20-sided die	Option 6/12 (with 12 sides)
2	13	1

Opponent: Alljazzedup80 *Speaks with Dice* *admits to liking country music* *Fanatic*
Button Man: Bush (4 20 4/8 6/12 6/20)   Score: 58 (11.3 sides)   Rounds Won/Lost/Tied: 0 / 1 / 0
Captured Dice: Shadow Twin Die (both with 8 sides), Shadow 20-sided die, X Swing 4-sided die

Bleah, I think it will be hard to do the definitive analysis

But what do you think? do the speed attack to take two of his dice out, but leave the monsters and all my big dice with small values? or take out his big twin die with value 15, but leave the radioactive might die exposed? or take out his bigger twin die with value 11 and reroll the mighty-speed, and both of the large dice? or is there even some other reasonable option?

I have an opinion,but I could very easily be persuaded that I'm wrong.


Button Men Game #717072

Skills in this game: Radioactive, Twin, Mighty, W Swing, Speed

Player: ElihuRoot *Dead Dude* *Fanatic*
Your Button Man: RandomBM (6 z%H8 z12 20 %H(12,12))   Score: 35 (1 sides)   Rounds Won/Lost/Tied: 0 / 0 / 0 (Out of 3 wins)
Your Captured Dice: None

6-sided die	Radioactive Mighty Speed 8-sided die	Speed 12-sided die	20-sided die	Radioactive Mighty Twin Die (both with 12 sides)
2	1	10	4	6
7-sided die	10-sided die	Twin Die (both with 10 sides)	Twin Die (with 10 and 12 sides)	Twin W Swing (with 4 and 4 sides)
2	5	15	11	5

Opponent: randomlife *randomly randomized randomizers* *Fanatic*
Button Man: RandomBM (7 10 (10,10) (10,12) (W,W))   Score: 33.5 (-1 sides)   Rounds Won/Lost/Tied: 0 / 0 / 0
Captured Dice: None

the moment after I clicked the button to make my move, I realized I'd made an error

3 possible moves -- shadow takes d4:4, shadow takes SXd4:3, or skill attack taking SXd4:3

one is obviously wrong, but another one is almost as obviously wrong -- but it wasn't almost as obviously wrong enough for me, alas.


Button Men Game #714221
BM Online BGG Microbadge!

Skills in this game: Shadow, X Swing

Player: ElihuRoot *Dead Dude* *Fanatic*
Your Button Man: Angel (s4 6 s12 12 X)   Score: 28 (1.3 sides)   Rounds Won/Lost/Tied: 2 / 0 / 0 (Out of 3 wins)
Your Captured Dice: Shadow 8-sided die, 10-sided die

Shadow 4-sided die	Shadow 12-sided die	X Swing (with 4 sides)		6-sided die
2	10	1		2 Captured last turn
4-sided die	8-sided die	Shadow X Swing (with 4 sides)
4	8	3

Opponent: maka 
Button Man: Tiffany (4 s8 8 10 sX)   Score: 26 (-1.3 sides)   Rounds Won/Lost/Tied: 0 / 2 / 0
Captured Dice: 12-sided die, 6-sided die

I think I need to take the d6 shadow, but with which die? all 3 have their merits...

Button Men Game #714216
Reverse Battle From Game 712532

Skills in this game: Morphing, Shadow, X Swing

Player: ElihuRoot *Dead Dude* *Fanatic*
Your Button Man: Mau (6 6 8 12 mX)   Score: 17 (-11.3 sides)   Rounds Won/Lost/Tied: 0 / 1 / 0 (Out of 3 wins)
Your Captured Dice: 8-sided die

6-sided die	8-sided die	Morphing X Swing (with 4 sides)		6-sided die
3	3	3		6 Captured last turn
Shadow 6-sided die	Shadow 10-sided die	12-sided die	X Swing (with 4 sides)
3	8	8	1

Opponent: theAlmighty *heavenly* *Silver Medal in Men's Basketball* *Silver Medal in Men's Fencing* *Silver Medal in Men's Judo* *Gold Medal in Men's Table Tennis*
Button Man: Starchylde (s6 8 s10 12 X)   Score: 34 (11.3 sides)   Rounds Won/Lost/Tied: 1 / 0 / 0
Captured Dice: 12-sided die, 6-sided die

I'm not dead yet!

What's my best move? [remember, that twin V can't be set any lower than 6 and 6]

Skills in this game: Turbo, Twin, Poison, Shadow, V Swing, Speed

Player: ElihuRoot *Dead Dude* *Fanatic*
Your Button Man: Mr. Peach (6 z(8,8) ps(12,12) (V,V)!)   Score: 8 (-8 sides)   Rounds Won/Lost/Tied: 1 / 1 / 1 (Out of 3 wins)
Your Captured Dice: 8-sided die, 12-sided die

Poison Shadow Twin Die (both with 12 sides)	Twin V Turbo Swing (with 12 and 12 sides)		6-sided die
24	14		4 Captured last turn
10-sided die	10-sided die	Poison Shadow Speed V Turbo Swing (with 12 sides)
2	10	10

Opponent: fnord *fnord* *Fanatic*
Button Man: Werner (8 10 10 12 pszV!)   Score: 20 (8 sides)   Rounds Won/Lost/Tied: 1 / 1 / 1
Captured Dice: Speed Twin Die (both with 8 sides), 6-sided die

Select an attack:  Power Attack Shadow Attack Skill Attack

Submitted by James -- should one take the poison now?

Not such a great position

I'm in big trouble here no matter what I do... but, given that I have to reroll the 10-sided die anyway, do you think it makes sense to take the 2-sided die, just to give me that extra 1/10th chance of survival?

Button Men Game #712342

Player: ElihuRoot *Dead Dude* *Fanatic*
Your Button Man: Adam Spam (F4 F6 6 12 X)   Score: 17 (-8.3 sides)   Rounds Won/Lost/Tied: 0 / 0 / 0 (Out of 3 wins)
Your Captured Dice: Option 7/13 7-sided die

Fire 4-sided die	Fire 6-sided die	X Swing (with 10 sides)		6-sided die
3	2	10		4 Captured last turn
2-sided die	Option 7/13 (with 7 sides)	Option 7/13 (with 7 sides)	Option 7/13 (with 7 sides)
1	7	7	6

Opponent: randomlife *randomly randomized randomizers* *Fanatic*
Button Man: Shamrock (2 7/13 7/13 7/13 7/13)   Score: 29.5 (8.3 sides)   Rounds Won/Lost/Tied: 0 / 0 / 0
Captured Dice: 12-sided die, 6-sided die

Not hard to do the math, but maybe counterintuitive

What should Limax do here? There's only one move that has any chance of winning. You can work it out carefully, or you can use your instinct -- but your instincts may betray you!

Correction -- there are two moves that have *some* chance of winning, but one is a small chance and the other is a VERY small chance.

Viewing Game #711912
Reverse Battle From Game 711736
This game was last modified on Fri Jan 28, 2011 10:33:16

Player: ElihuRoot *Dead Dude* *Fanatic*
Button Man: Nethershadow    Score: 45 (27.3 sides)   Rounds Won/Lost/Tied: 2 / 1 / 0 (out of 3 round(s))
Captured Dice: 20-sided die, X Swing 4-sided die, 8-sided die

Dice	6-sided die	10-sided die	Shadow 10-sided die
Value	1	9	9
Dice	8-sided die	Poison 16-sided die
Value	5	13

* Next Turn * Player: Limax *Wombat* *Is a MAN* *Fanatic* * Next Turn *
Button Man: Shepherd    Score: 4 (-27.3 sides)   Rounds Won/Lost/Tied: 1 / 2 / 0
Captured Dice: Option 10/20 10-sided die, Option 6/30 6-sided die