"Game Clean Up Time" Topic

I find the amount of time spent cleaning up is rarely mentioned….after a few Dark Ages games, it's time to put away my Vikings and Saxons. Since the units got all jumbled (they are organized for Clash of Empires but we played Hail Caesar and Lion Rampant) they need to be sorted, grouped and then put back in their boxes. Here I am making a start, with about half the stands now sorted….

I'm guessing I'll spend two hours pulling the stands out of their transport boxes, sorting them, and putting them back away (game was played at the club, not my place). In part because when leaving the club I don't want to sort then as the gents with the keys have to wait for me. Even so I guess it took 90 minutes to clear the table and put away the dice, terrain, markers, etc.

Extra: Yes clean up time is a pain. Since I try to never transport my gaming stuff (other than for shows), I get to leave my games up here at home and tear them down at my leisure. This allows me to remove all of the figures, remove the trees and then start removing the terrain pieces and storing them away on my shelves. I then have to remove any foam pieces from under the mat/covering followed by vacuuming up all of the flocking I put down.

It is time consuming to say the least, and I have to do this over the weekend.

Too right. I divide my table up so that when my friend comes to play we can quickly move along the table to the next game. Maximises game time, reduces set up time.

Sadly it then means a whole mess for me to clear afterwards

My group helps me clean up. Everything goes on the shelves. Sometimes I like to leave the game set up for a while. Then I put it away. I like looking at the figures and terrain so it is enjoyable to me. Buy, yes, it does take a few hours to do.

Matthew

I am glad to see that I am not the only one who has paint racks on the game table. I took over the last 2 x 6 feet to use for a large painting project.

For what it is worth, here are a few ideas from my own experience:

1. Play skirmish – fewer figures to put away
2. Have players put casaulties into their storage containers
3. Play multiple games on the same terrain – did this at a convention playing 3 different games on the same terrain.
4. Facilitate assistance by having boxes or shelves labelled
5. Offer to buy a round of drinks after all the toys are put away

Mike

My thoughts since I and the gaming group play with the membership miniatures, not just our own personal collections, so post scenario clean up is always a concern for time.

1. Have well labelled miniature and hopefully a coding system understood by all the gamers. My collections.. FOW 20mm WWI, WWI, Naval miniatures, very large 25/28mm napoleonics, 15mm ACW etc, all have every miniature base labeled and color coded plus the coding is visible from looking at the miniature rear base facing/edge. Every single or multiple based/individual based miniature is labelled and coded. There are thousands and thousands of these based miniatures. Even if completely new players join in, afterwards they can sort out the units and place common unit miniatures as a group cluster pending placement into the storage boxes.

2. Have the storage boxes all labelled and marked out for miniature placement. 2nd DB Legere regiment (3x9 miniatures) goes into that slot or placement in the storage box. The storage area is sized for the unit of miniatures (3x9 based miniatures for 2nd DB Legere)… so if a miniature or two is missing or too many attempted to be placed… the gamer can realize simply by the size of the predetermined storage area. slot or labelled zone.

3. The storage boxes are labelled on the outside as to what they contain and I also use pictured unit or profiles of the contents. Thus the same storage box cover is placed with the correct storage box bottom containing the miniatures.

4. Using these methods… at a glance review of the final results is possible. Only if two units have mixed miniatures placement could there be an error… but at least all miniatures accounted for after clean up.

5. A group napoleonics game with eight players could have 20-40 units per player on the tabletop scenario end. Each unit has 4-10 miniatures in size, mostly individual basing. Quick math means we have easy 1500 miniature to handle or more. After miniature losses removed to side table, the miniature are found in two locations, tabletop and side table. So we have to bring the "losses" back to the main scenario tabletop, rejoining the units back to full strength, then place into the storage boxes, many times not even your own collection that you painted. Soon how we finish the job in about 30 minutes, including the terrain and table pack up process too.

5. Terrain, generally the hardest to manage in my option… but even these items have common storage boxes well labeled. Game equipment… dice, rules, tapes, charts etc, again well labelled storage locations or boxes.

6. A new process… I have taken to photographing the actual box contents when properly stored/placed in storage box and gluing a 8x10 photo blow up into the storage box interior top lid/cover. This only works if the box is complete and not likely the contents to change…. but several of the collection are now complete so a possible project into the near future. Big plus for this idea, any gamer can quickly realize "how" the miniatures look or positioned (facing the unit's miniatures) when properly placed into the storage box…. and duplicate same.

7. Start the process of clean up during play…. have a few minutes…. collect the used drinks cans, organize your miniature battlefield losses, basic tasks that don't interrupt the scenario play. Little thing add up and cut clean up time when the scenario ends.

8. New gamers to the group event…. well worth the time for you to assist them with any basic "clean up" task for a few moments. Let them become involved, basic instructions given, and let them understand the processes in place. After a game or two, they are veterans of the job at hand. There will be "screw ups…." but nothing that cannot be resolved. So what if the 101st Line has two 69th Line miniatures for now…. most likely means the 69th has the 101st joining them, or a third unit is involved. We always confirm the unit is "proper" when pulling out the units and before the scenario starts to catch those errors, and the second game corrects any mistakes on storage.

9. Missing miniatures…. Yep it has happened. All the miniatures have returned to their storage boxes/ placement and one unit is missing a miniature or two on final box contents glance. Eight gamers are searching high and low. Generally not a problem in our residence group games, since the hidden miniature turns up at a later date. For several months we looked for a Russian pioneer miniature till recently… becoming an inside joke at times. But, months later… he appeared with the US Navy….. somehow his travels found him with the miniature ships. For regional conventions, the final search under the table has always found something. I now look twice and under the nearby tables for good measure.

10. Then the joy of in house/residence gaming…. I have all the time in the world to pick up the tabletop. I personally feel that if I have the scenario game in my residence, the least I can offer the fellow gamers, apart from food and drink, is a prepared scenario game (miniatures, terrain and charts) before they arrive, just pending their miniatures if needed, and freedom to leave after the game with my offer to pick up the entire scenario. Simply done to offset their traveling time and distances involved. Just means more playing time for all.
But generally, all the gamers just help towards the clean up without a spoken word. Tradition and common custom for the group.

Napoleonic 25/28mm storage in cut down apple boxes:

Typical 25/28mm napoleonic game for one player frontage view:

A smaller 25/28mm napoleonic (really FRW) game at the Pyramids:

Same storage thoughts apply for all the periods and collections. WWII 20mm miniatures have their own labelled storage boxes and interior slotted space. 25/28mm Ancient collections their storage boxes placed and stored just like the shown napoleonic collections with strong box racks and visible box contents identification.

Lastly. Extra Crispy, I enjoy playing 28mm Clash of Empires (COE) ancients gaming too. Even with the large number of painted 28mm miniatures to return to their storage boxes.

Love the charge markers. I picked up some on close out – had charge and a written number 1 to 8 on one side and retreat and a written number on the reverse. I never knew how much I needed them for TSATF until after purchase.

Tradition in one group I've played with is that everyone assembles units and markers after the game, leaving the local expert to know what box they go in.
My policy in larger away games is to keep the storage cases handy and open if at all possible, and keep putting casualties away as the game progresses.
I should think the people standing by to lock up would help as they could, if not for courtesy, at least to be done sooner.

Full table battle set up and break down can take longer than the game some times. Luckily our gaming club is a residence so we have time to clean up.

TMPWargamerabbit, very good system. I do similar. All bases are metal, all storage boxes are lined with magnetic sheet, with grid labeled with a paint pen for each individual base, colour-coded, and exterior labeled and numbered.

I maintain an inventory listing by box number and location. This saves me time and energy when gathering my forces, or returning them to barracks after the battle. We apparently both subscribe to the saying about a place for everything and everything in it's place. :- )

Some very good ideas here.

some could say we're all a bit anal….& they'd be right!

When you have to buy, paint & base all this stuff, it behoves you to care for it & sorting your stuff is the first step.

I also do the magnet lined box.

Each box is then labeled and goes in to barracks:

I don't do an inventory because it's easy enough to open all the boxes for an army and find what I need. Each box is 12 x 18 and armies are usually just 1 or 2 boxes. In some cases I do label infantry and cavalry separately.

I need to do an inventory or something with SciFi because that is the one genre that I don't have "armies" for – I tend to assemble forces on the fly. So I do have to hunt for "those red armored troopers with the cool jet packs" or whatever.

May add I also keep MS Excel spreadsheets of the painted inventory, the unpainted projects inventory, and my "needed items" requirements to control spending on this glorious hobby.

Another point, maybe quick thought. A reason why I label everything…. so my gaming son can identify what the units are in case of my untimely demise. Even taken to make a video several years ago with detailed discussion about what each box (back then) contained and what the miniatures represent, for the heirs. Due for making a new update video next year (every five year plan). Mentioned these written and video assets in my will too for the estate. Came from experience helping a gamer friend's sister who handled his estate…. she didn't have a clue what her brother's collection was or contained.

Condotta..and Extra Crispy… we think alike. I hope those "barrack stacks" are well attached to the walls for support. Living in earthquake country makes securing the barrack foundation a must for me. The napoleonic collection has 94 green ex-apple boxes alone (20x12) for the 25/28mm individual nationality collections (22k+ miniatures). Then there is the other periods… WWII 20mm for FOW and 28mm ancients, both combined are larger in apple box numbers, to fill out the storage shed (24 x12 feet). All that massed lead…. nuclear fall out shelter from the radiation is common joke.

While we do a post-game analysis, our group helps the GM clean up. In the very least, bringing the troops to the end of the table, in roughly whatever commands we had, so the owner can put them into the carrying case/box/etc while standing in one spot. In some cases, we get a box to put our commands in, so you have multiple people putting away stands.

Dice, markers, charts, etc are also put in piles, containers, etc. -- easiest for everyone to do.

On site clean-up after a convention game of StarGrunt II is pretty fast for me. I usually need 15 minutes or less to put all the figures into their small plastic boxes (1 squad per box); all of the buildings, other terrain features, and vehicles into one or two large plastic boxes; rules and play aids into a banker's box; and the table cloth into a bag if it didn't fit into a large plastic box.

At that point, the table is clear for the next game. I have a folding two-wheeled cart on which I carry everything out of the game room.

Later, however, when I'm putting together the next game, I need an hour or more to sort the figures into the squads I want. I usually just put their small plastic boxes on the dining table, arranged like a TOE.

I use the 0.14 liter Really Useful Boxes for squads. The boxes hold 5 to 10 figures comfortably. If they seem very loose in the box, I'll put a piece of foam in with them to hold them still.