"Making game markers for Frostgrave/Land of the Free" Topic

During the process of setting up my gaming room, I decided to make my own gaming counters and markers for the games that I'll be playing. I made a full set of homemade counters for Warhammer a few years back, and saved loads of money doing it.

So I went ahead and did the same thing for two games I'll be playing soon: Frostgrave, and the historical AWI game Land of the Free.

One of these sets is based on Lionheart Artisan's set they make for Land of the Free. The Frostgrave set is based on Litko's acrylic set. Both of these sets are really nice, but I just couldn't justify spending $50.00 USD for a set of historical game counters that are only usable with one game. Litko's Frostgrave set is priced more reasonably at $17.99 USD. But for me, it saves money and frees up funds to buy minis and other things.

I simply bought a couple bags of generic wooden shapes that you can get practically anywhere, online or at a retail store. They makes circles, ovals, triangles, shields, etc.

I just painted the shapes in simple base colors and then copied directly all of the gaming information from the website images of the markers from the vendor's sites.

I did all The Land of the Free in a tan base color and used a fine black marker for the information. For the Frostgrave set I did several base colors, using red for the wound markers. I also used black marker for the majority of the information, the only exception being the large "Initiative" marker which I hand painted the word in white paint.

I finish off the sets with some Americana water-based brush on varnish which greatly increases their durability.

It only took me a few hours to do each of these sets. I would say that all told both of these sets cost me a grand total of about $6.00 USD, just the cost of the wooden shapes and a little craft paint.

Some pictures:

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Look good. I had a gaming friend who printed out tiny labels for his 6mm WW II army figures, using a Laser Prnter, and 4-point font size. He then cut, and glued, these labels onto the small bases of his figures, and vehicles. That way he could look at the base, and know exactly which unit it belonged to, as well as which force -- he had mini's for all of the major players in the War: Great Britain, American, Soviet, German, and Italian.

I would suggest experimenting with Laser Printers. Regular paper will work, just use a small amount of PVA Glue to attach them, then seal with a varnish/clear coat. Inkjet printers will smear and smudge, when you apply a clear coat, unless you use an aerosol -- maybe.

I've been thinking of doing something similar for my plastic Army Men figures' bases, for the rules set I wrote. I would like to put their vital stat's on their individual bases so that no one would wonder what they were, or have to look them up on the Reference Sheets, or in the manual. They're on the quick reference sheets, but this would make it easier: just look at the base, then look at the CRT table only. Quicker, more efficient, easier. Haven't gotten around to it. Haven't played it in many years, which is why I haven't done it yet. Still, a great idea. Cheers!