GAZZA Posted April 29, 2007 Report Share Posted April 29, 2007 Here's a weird question that has always bugged me: why is HERO schizophrenic with regarding to measurements? All of the "in game" measurements are in both imperial (ie "1 inch...") and metric (ie "... equals 2 metres"). What's that all about? Being an Aussie, I obviously am more familiar with metric (although who am I kidding - I've been gaming for over 20 years, and HERO is one of vanishingly few systems that use metric at all), but I wouldn't really care that much if it was consistent. If the system were brand new I'd speculate that it was because "battlemaps" typically have 1 inch hexes or squares, but I don't believe that they were around way back when Champions 1st was released. Anybody know? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MitchellS Posted April 29, 2007 Report Share Posted April 29, 2007 Re: Measurement in HERO The game uses 1" as a scale because most hex mats [we called it hex paper] used 1" as a common size. I've played Hero on 1/2" hex mats and 1.5" hex mats. So really the 1" only refers to the size of the mat you're using. Since Hero Games was a US company it was also easier to use inches for people who only used a ruler. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vondy Posted April 29, 2007 Report Share Posted April 29, 2007 Re: Measurement in HERO Its a legacy notation from the bad old days when RPGs had just emerged from the primordial ooze of the war-gaming world. Hex maps and tactical measurements were all the rage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Obvious Posted April 29, 2007 Report Share Posted April 29, 2007 Re: Measurement in HERO When I'm reading Hero material, I always read 1" as "one hex" anyway. I've played using 25mm hex maps, 20mm hex maps, 5mm hex printouts, open space on the table (using inches). An inch as the "default" for a hex comes about because most minis are 25mm, and, being a game of American origin, it originally translated that into 1 inch. Just call it a hex and the imperial/metric thing goes away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost-angel Posted April 29, 2007 Report Share Posted April 29, 2007 Re: Measurement in HERO That and 1" means you can get a ruler, tape measure or similar device and use that if you didn't have one of those nifty hex maps. I carry a tape measure in my briefcase just for that reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silbeg Posted April 29, 2007 Report Share Posted April 29, 2007 Re: Measurement in HERO When I'm reading Hero material, I always read 1" as "one hex" anyway. I've played using 25mm hex maps, 20mm hex maps, 5mm hex printouts, open space on the table (using inches). An inch as the "default" for a hex comes about because most minis are 25mm, and, being a game of American origin, it originally translated that into 1 inch. Just call it a hex and the imperial/metric thing goes away. Exactly! In fact, for years, I used a 21mm Chessex megamat, because I thought it was nice to be able to get a little more on the battlemat. Now, I have a 1" (25mm) mondomat, but almost with that I had gotten the one with the the 1 1/2" hexes... would have made using HeroClix a little easier. However, since we really don't care about the clix game itself, we just chop down the bases. I know, sacriledge, but it is our game. In any case, knowing that it is 1" means that we can always grab a tape measure (or yardstick) and measure distance. I admit that the fusion of metric and standard/imperial is a little bit odd, but oddly enough, we never really worry about it. Of course, if we could wean ourselves off of MPH, understanding velocity in KPH would certainly make the calculations easier!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Anomaly Posted April 29, 2007 Report Share Posted April 29, 2007 Re: Measurement in HERO I carry a tape measure in my briefcase just for that reason. Briefcase full of rule...rs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GAZZA Posted April 30, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 30, 2007 Re: Measurement in HERO Just a side note - as previously mentioned, I'm an Aussie. I doubt it would come as a shock to discover that our tape measures actually don't have inches on them... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Obvious Posted April 30, 2007 Report Share Posted April 30, 2007 Re: Measurement in HERO Some benevolent gamer god smiled down on us when the metric system was created. How else can you explain 25mm to an inch? Very easy conversion. Whenever I'm reading about artillery, I know that a 155mm gun is pretty big, but I'm never sure how big until I convert and realize it's about 6 inches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GAZZA Posted April 30, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 30, 2007 Re: Measurement in HERO It's 25.4, actually. For what it's worth, because the battlemats they sell over here are made in the same place yours are, I have both a hex and a square map of the appropriate scale. But I honestly don't have a tape measure with inches on it. Anyway, what's with you Yanks? You threw out everything else that was British when you won your independence - driving on the left, the letter "u" in lots of words, the spelling of words ending in "re" (or "er" for you lot - "center", "theater", and so on) - but you kept the silly measurement system. Talk about inappropriate priorities! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Anomaly Posted April 30, 2007 Report Share Posted April 30, 2007 Re: Measurement in HERO It's part of what gives us our unique "charm"... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted April 30, 2007 Report Share Posted April 30, 2007 Re: Measurement in HERO What charm? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rapier Posted April 30, 2007 Report Share Posted April 30, 2007 Re: Measurement in HERO What charm? Charm Monster? Charm Person? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Anomaly Posted April 30, 2007 Report Share Posted April 30, 2007 Re: Measurement in HERO Lucky Charms. "They're magically delicious!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silbeg Posted April 30, 2007 Report Share Posted April 30, 2007 Re: Measurement in HERO It's part of what gives us our unique "charm"... Yeah, that's it. Insanity is oh so charming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Obvious Posted April 30, 2007 Report Share Posted April 30, 2007 Re: Measurement in HERO It's 25.4' date=' actually. [/quote'] True, but .4 mm? That's a hair's breadth. We can safely ignore that until we get to some really big numbers. Anyway, what's with you Yanks? You threw out everything else that was British when you won your independence - driving on the left, the letter "u" in lots of words, the spelling of words ending in "re" (or "er" for you lot - "center", "theater", and so on) - but you kept the silly measurement system. Talk about inappropriate priorities! Hmm...good point. Except there really wasn't a metric system in the 1770s. And when it first came out, the only ones using it were the French, and we were practically at war with them at the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GAZZA Posted May 1, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 1, 2007 Re: Measurement in HERO My understanding is that they built you a famous statue and helped you kick out the Brits. You might have thought a little gratitude was in order. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Obvious Posted May 1, 2007 Report Share Posted May 1, 2007 Re: Measurement in HERO They did help us kick out the Brits and later on made a pretty cool statue, but in between they were interfering with FREE TRADE! We don't stand for that crap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorpheousXO Posted May 2, 2007 Report Share Posted May 2, 2007 Re: Measurement in HERO They did help us kick out the Brits and later on made a pretty cool statue' date=' but in between they were interfering with FREE TRADE! We don't stand for that crap.[/quote'] No! Indeed we sit down for that, it's a lot of work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reality Czech Posted May 2, 2007 Report Share Posted May 2, 2007 Re: Measurement in HERO Any sentence containing the words "French" and "War" is at least 60% likely to be amusing. I stopped taking French in high school because I couldn't remember all the different words that all translate in English to "surrender" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GAZZA Posted May 3, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 3, 2007 Re: Measurement in HERO A fairly recent phenomenon, though. Napoleon almost conquered the world, after all. Much like the Italians - laughable in war now, but they do have the Roman Empire in their history. And in any case - the US has its own share of problems in war, does it not? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basil Posted May 3, 2007 Report Share Posted May 3, 2007 Re: Measurement in HERO Hmm...good point. Except there really wasn't a metric system in the 1770s. And when it first came out' date=' the only ones using it were the French, and we were practically at war with them at the time.[/quote'] What makes it even odder is that the US was one of the first countries to use a completely decimal monetary system. Why we didn't snap up a decimal measuring system is very hard to explain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh Neilson Posted May 3, 2007 Report Share Posted May 3, 2007 Re: Measurement in HERO What makes it even odder is that the US was one of the first countries to use a completely decimal monetary system. Why we didn't snap up a decimal measuring system is very hard to explain. Particularly when the alternative still in use bases its measurements on the appendage of a member of a monarchy which the US fought a war of independence against... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtelson Posted May 3, 2007 Report Share Posted May 3, 2007 Re: Measurement in HERO It's 25.4, actually. For what it's worth, because the battlemats they sell over here are made in the same place yours are, I have both a hex and a square map of the appropriate scale. But I honestly don't have a tape measure with inches on it. Anyway, what's with you Yanks? You threw out everything else that was British when you won your independence - driving on the left, the letter "u" in lots of words, the spelling of words ending in "re" (or "er" for you lot - "center", "theater", and so on) - but you kept the silly measurement system. Talk about inappropriate priorities! The 1" is actually completely irrelevant, since 1"=1hex=2meters you can really get away with any consistant measurment and call it a hex (25mm=1hex, 1 foot =1hex [if you're really large], etc). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveZilla Posted May 5, 2007 Report Share Posted May 5, 2007 Re: Measurement in HERO I carry a tape measure in my briefcase just for that reason. I thought that briefcase was full of rules? Edit: Dang. Beaten to the punchline. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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