"measuring sticks etc" Topic

Does anyone know of commercially made measuring sticks or tools available to purchase in the UK for DBA 3.0, for large base widths, i.e. 60mm (for 28mm figures)?

I highly recommend making your own with 30mm threaded nylon standoffs. Get three sets:

One set of black male/female:

One set of white male/female:

One set of female/female for the end caps in either white or black:

You just screw them together into alternating sections of white and black to make a measuring stick as long as you want, each section perfectly machined to 60mm long (or 30mm or 90mm or 120mm or whatever you want), and put a female/female spacer on the last post sticking out of the end. Voila! Cheap measuring stick. The nylon is indestructible and won't damage your miniatures (or your fellow gamers…).

I did this for my 15mm miniatures using 40mm standoffs. I haven't seen any listings for 60mm standoffs, but you could get 20mm standoffs if you want more granularity options.

- Ix

Caveat emptor:

• Make sure you get the same threading (M3, M4, M5, etc.) on all sets; there are often 2-3 choices available
  
• Make sure you get the same width (typically 5mm or 6mm). This can be hard to determine from many listings on Amazon or fastener vendor web sites, so do your research before buying. I paid extra for one set because it was the only vendor I could find who explicitly specified the width.
  
• You can also get these standoffs in brass and sometimes alumin(i)um, which looks very classy, but could chip the paint off of miniatures. I didn't like the idea of gamers waving around long metal rods in the presence of fragile acrylic paint jobs, so I went with nylon.

First, let me say that they are pretty easy to make by yourself. I have taken a piece of thin balsa wood and card, cut it into strips that are either 30 mm wide or 60 mm wide and then cut it into lengths of five base widths, and then marked off segments that are 60 mm wide. I have made 60 mm˛ Barker markers. Also some pieces that are 60 mm wide and 30 mm deep for measuring it recoils and pursuit. I made one piece that is 60 mm deep and 180 mm wide marked off in 60 mm sections to use for shooting template.

Commercially available devices made in UK (or at least sold In UK)
link

East Riding Miniatures
link

I understand that if a person attends one of the society of ancients DBA league events it's possible to get a measurement template.

A good source in the US perhaps not too expensive to mail to UK, is Litko
link

Here are some other ideas for homemade devices:
link

I just use a piece of card 1BW wide and 5BW long and marked every BW with the troop types that can move that distance. It can alos be used to adjudge firing arcs in DBA v3.0. Simple, effective, costs pennies.

We use wooden dowel or squares for measuring sticks.
AS you can see various sticks on the table during our Ligny game last year.
Some for artillery ranges, marked and painted.
Others for cavalry or infantry movement cut to size, 6", 9" 12" 15" or 18". The white piece on the end indicates how much movement is reduced by turning.
Most home improvement store have these.

[URL=http://s219.photobucket.com/user/tjm3/media/Ligny%20and%20Waterloo/Plancenoit%20205.jpg.html]

Shoot, I use bamboo skewers that I mark off at appropriate intervals. Pretty cheap (especially after having kabobs).

Thin enough to go between bases and as noted above bamboo is less likely to chip paint.

A lot of brilliant suggestions, thanks. I 've sent of for the ERM cut out marker as its cheap, but I like the idea of the skewers.

Now can someone tell me a fool-proof way of measuring wheel distances for groups? I think I've always fudged this and I'd like to know how to do it properly. As you might be able to tell I am mostly a solo DBA player.

Hobhood 4, shoot me a pm, and I'll show you a pic of a great method for wheeling, which is system-independent, and it doesn't need a dedicated, pre-marked "wheel" stick…

Yes, just use bamboo skewers or thin bits of wood, mark them and then paint in alternating colours.

Thanks Warhorse, but can I pm you if you are not a supporting member?

I currently use bamboo skewers but I think I'll go with Yellow Admiral's method to accommodate artillery ranges.

I've had decent luck with dowels and red sharpies.

I've made a lot of wooden dowels into measuring sticks too, and I use alternating colors of wood stain instead of paint. Stain won't peel off or chip, and it looks very classy. I draw the lines on with a fine-point permanent marker first, stain the entire rod in the lighter color, then stain every other band in a darker stain color. You could also use this same technique on a 1BW-wide flat wood slat.

I don't recommend scoring the marks between bands into the wood. Scored marks on a thin dowel inevitably become break points.

If you want colors, it turns out you can "stain" unsealed wood with acrylic inks. I made a whole set of naval measuring sticks out of dowels using alternating bands of FW acrylic ink in Cyan (light blue) and Prussian Blue (dark blue). The ink soaks into the unsealed wood just like a pigmented wood stain. For good measure I also varnished the rods when I was done, but that may not be strictly necessary.

I recommended the screw-together standoffs first because they're precisely machine-measured (important in millimetric-intensive ancients tournament games) and require zero krafting skillz.

- Ix

I've looked into 30mm threaded nylon standoffs. unless you buy bulk they are not any cheaper than ones made specifcally for the job I got mine productsforwargamers but there are other companies that sell them