CDO Forums

Well they don't think we would buy it in the U S .If it was metric.
Wow that suxs i thought it was in inches  for the us

As far as I'm aware, we Brits still use Inches, etc. We've just also adopted the metric system.
Rather like how we use both Celcius and Farenheit, and how the weights system is so convoluted I've made no attempt to understand it. At least the monetary system has been streamlined, rather than holding on to ha'pennies and crowns.

Warhammer/ 40k were both written before metric was introduced.  It would have taken a fair bit of work to re-write everything, something they probably should have done for 6th ed.

They won't do it now IMO. They could do it for 8th ed, but it would effectively invalide all 7th ed lists instantly.  Sure they could say in the rulebook 'ignore everything in inches and multiply by 2.5', but GW isn't that smart.  They won't even price thing properly, either in 50p increments or £1

In the UK, the metric system is used for anything in industrial, professional or scientific fields (because it's a lot more sensible and useful than Imperial measurements), but the Imperial system is used in every day life. Road signs show distances in miles, people talk about height in terms of feet and inches and weight in pounds (or stones, actually - 1 stone = 14 lbs). This isn't so much the case now, because the metric system is used for everything in schools, so most kids are growing up not knowing about Imperial measures, but it was very much the case in the 80s when Warhammer was written. You can see the difference in later games though - anything not directly derived from Warhammer (Epic, Battlefleet Gothic, Lord of the Rings) uses centimetres instead.

i thought lord of the rings used inches?

i think the free plastic rulers in epic were not only metric but blue!

to be honest i cant see why this makes any difference. inches are usually written bigger on a tape measure so easier to see, so probably the best way, and also lets movement values not get too high. imaine testing against your movement if it was in cm instead of inches. absolutely absurd.

plus the metric system sucks. sucks worse than euros.

Uh...yeah...because movement rates are expressed in inches in Warhammer. Since centimetres don't divide exactly into inches, why would it work?

Also, to those who dislike the metric system, you really ought to try making scientific measurements in a system where lengths, weights, units of power, etc. have no relationship to one another - the SI system is pretty much the most useful tool for measurement ever devised. 1 of anything is equal to 1 of anything else.

I blame the British for this mess. Their pesky 400 year Empire is the root of all this. Add to the fact that we were former colonies of theirs and you can see why, were so backwards in regards to measurements. The US is now a miss-mass of metric and IS measurements. <shakes fist at Great Britian>

well the european union is slowly forcing its metric system on us brits. i think it hits loose food sellers the worse.

shopper: "can i have a pound of mince please"

butcher: gets calculator to work out how many grams is in a pound. because of trading standards law says to customer "thats 454 grams, will that be ok"

shopper: "is that 1lb?"

butcher: "yes"

shopper "well ill have 1lb of mince please"

it really is all very pointless trying to change it. imagine going to the pub and asking for point something of a liter of a beer, instead of a pint.

rather randomly everything at work is measured in mm, so for example the floor space we are working on might be 12562mm, i think its a bit excessive that someone has to go around before us every time and measure thing exactly to the mm.

Epic was in metric wasn't it?

Worst thing about the US is their complete refusal to use both systems.  Almost everything is in imperial only (usually known as English units)

Which is exactly why I hate the European Union - we get nothing out of it and have to give up lots to be a part of it.

Still, everyone I know just ignores the metric system when it comes to weights - pounds and ounces for the Esher shopkeepers, thankyouverymuch.

How can we mind our P and Q without the old system? Rebellion I tell ya!

like i can measure ha ha .I say thank england for the lanuage.Not one of us here can speak it with out a accent but ME

heres a curious one abut the european union.

there is a webstore called modelsforsale.co.uk (i think) and it sells fairly cheaply the usual plastic model kits. really great for putting together 1:72 scale napoleonics or getting a 1:35 tanks to turn into an ork battle fortress.

but heres the thing, they are based in the UK, and if i want to order from them i have to pay on top of the cost a european sales tax, yet, if i lived outside the EU i wouldnt have to. I questioned this and was told by modelsforsale that they cant do anything about it, i have to contact my local european representative minister bloke.

so i e-mailed him

waiting
waiting
waiting

about 3 months later i get a reply

apparently the EU isnt allowed to tax people from other coutries,as most export trade does, but is allowed to tax one englishman buying from another englishman a european sales tax. And there is nothing he can do about it either. Correct me if im wrong but arent we getting screwed over here?

This is a misleading argument. It has nothing to do with the merits of either system - the issue is just one of the transition from one to the other. If we followed the logic of "don't change something that's good enough as it is" then nothing would every change. We'd be living in caves and wearing fur because that was 'good enough'. I mean, of course it's going to be hard to switch over - moving to decimalised currency was the same - but would anyone prefer to go back to shillings and half-crowns and all that nonsense?

Also, it has nothing to do with the European Union. America is being pressured to move to metric too, and they're not involved with the EU. The metric system, while French in origin, is the standard for all scientific communities and all industries everywhere except the USA and that's because it's better - the pressure is coming from within, not without.

There's no law banning imperial measurements in the EU, you just have to have the metric equivalents too (the only exception being roads measured in miles and feet).  You can even see the metric equivalents for pints in pubs.  It's the people who completely refuse to even touch metric that cause the problems.

Im staying away from metric, I've seen the future (...well the continent) its scary, beer in half liters we should go back to measuring in spans then no one knows whats happening cept you

yeah its really stupid sometime ill get a nut and it will be 1/4" hex, and then the next nut will be like 5mm hex. I have to carry arund 2 sets of allen keys with me, 1 metric 1 imperial.

and their is nothing saying metric is actually any better than imperial, its just easier because its all the same. i still beleive its the EU thats causing the problems. why try to force metric on the UK when the UK doesnt want it. It has cost thousands of tax money and doesnt actually do anything different. might as well have bought another millennium dome.

Ahhh.wouldnt the world be an easier place if we used lifestock as currency?

Its confuzzling for me, as im raised at home to use imperial, but taught at school to use metric :S

Totyally agree with ya, thats why as soon as i leave uni, im off to the States BOOHYAH!!!

Grew up with Metric all my life, and then 2 years ago I get a job that I need to know by sight, measurements in Imperial... I am getting better at it, but sheesh, its like travelling back in time to the stone age... 16ths of an inch :| lame

POLITICS THREAD ALERT! WARNING - WE ARE IN DANGEROUS WATERS HERE

Now don't get me wrong, I'm a very politically active person myself, but contentious political issues wreck forums. By all means discuss metric vs. imperial but can we PLEASE stay away from dicussing the EU. Otherwise before you know it there will be blood.

Calm now