"Unit cards" Topic
14 Posts
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ochoin | 08 Jan 2020 5:51 a.m. PST |
I was watching the recent Little Wars TV review of Flames of War: YouTube link Evidently, the game provides unit cards with all the relevant data needed. This met high approval from the reviewers. I game several periods but the only periods that uses unit cards are my Sudan and Zulu War gaming , using The Men Who Would Be Kings. I would be interested in hearing from those who use unit cards, in which periods & the pros & cons of them. One negative, IMO, is they're a bit unwieldy, & if you have a force of any size, you're constantly shuffling through a deck of unit cards to find the relevant one. Your opinion? |
Wargamer Blue | 08 Jan 2020 6:23 a.m. PST |
You only need one card per unit type to quickly reference that unit types stats. I can't think of any game that would have so many different unit types that the card deck would be so huge that it became overwhelming. A small deck of cards replace rule books, and rule reference sheets cluttering the table. Cards are brilliant. |
JSears | 08 Jan 2020 6:44 a.m. PST |
I play a number of Fantasy Flight games that use unit cards. We leave the cards laid out to the side of the table. The cards also hold the (numerous) status tokens featured in fantasy flight games to take some of the clutter off the table. I prefer unit cards. I make them for games without them, as I'd waste a bunch of prep time before the game transferring the stats for my army onto a single sheet to reference during play. Flipping through the book to get unit stats during a game seems like madness to me! |
Sgt Slag | 08 Jan 2020 8:05 a.m. PST |
I play 2nd Ed. BatttleySystem (mass battles), and 2nd Ed. BattleSystem Skirmish games. Both use unit card rosters, the size of a business card. I print them out on perforated business card sheets, I get from Avery. Both games require tracking of casualties/hits, on the cards. I place the cards inside clear plastic, sheet protectors, with pockets for business cards. This keeps them organized, and safe from loss. When done, I can put them into a 3-ring binder, for future use. Units are subject to changes in size, and the listed Army Commander/Army can change, but as long as I write this in pencil, it can be adjusted, as needed, then put back into the sheet sleeve holder. The armies can be reconfigured by moving Unit Rosters from sheet protector, to sheet protector. Each player is handed one, or more, sheet protectors, containing their forces' Rosters. In theory, it is a great system. For the mass battles rules, I need to know when the Unit reaches 50% losses, as this triggers a Morale Check; each Roster card lists the original number of figures within the Unit, at the start of the game (figures are removed, as casualties mount). Figures lost from the Unit thereafter, also trigger a new Morale Check. Nice, effective, simple system… Most players, however, lose track which card belongs to which Unit, as Goblins, for example, may have 3-5 Units, all looking the same, all moving differently, across the table! To alleviate this confusion, players place the Unit's card, with the figures, on the table -- ruining the aesthetics. I came up with gluing a small wooden rod, on the back, right-handed corner, of each figure stand/base. I place a colored Fuse Bead on it, to denote Unit. All figures with the same blue/purple/brown/yellow/black/red Fuse Bead, belong to the same Unit, assuming they are all the same race of creature. It works, other than the fact that I have to tape a properly colored Fuse Bead onto each Roster card… Army Men example of the technique: link My Units vary in size, from game to game, so the Fuse Beads need to be removable. This means that colors for each Unit will vary, from game to game… It is still a work-in-progress. It would be easier if I could use small, numbered, blocks on the small dowels, but I would need 30+ of each number. "Still workin' on it, Boss!" Cheers! |
Extra Crispy | 08 Jan 2020 8:25 a.m. PST |
I started making cards for Flames of War years ago but as you say, they quickly become unwieldy. I have since moved to a different model for all of my games from fantasy skirmish to mass Napoleonics. Specifically, I make a QRS for each player. It is broken up by turn sequence, nicely color coded etc. AND it includes all the stats for the player's units relevant to each phase. So, for example, the part about movement will have a grid giving each unit's movement rate, speed through rough, cost to cross a stream, etc. It takes some time to prepare these in advance but it speeds play enormously! Also, I'm happy to make it multiple pages allowing me to use nice big fonts and pit things in logical order rather than slavishly trying to cram everything on to one sheet of paper. For an example download my Flames of War variant QRS/Roster combo: link (Just scroll down a bit……) |
21eRegt | 08 Jan 2020 8:00 p.m. PST |
I'm very fond of them, always found them useful and worth the tradeoff of clutter. |
UshCha | 09 Jan 2020 11:37 a.m. PST |
One has to ask. If you have no idea what is in your army, how did you come up with a credible plan for the battle? If you struggle with what is in your army DO SOME HOMEWORK and at least have the decency to show your opponent you have made some effort and are not wasting hit time completely. |
etotheipi | 09 Jan 2020 12:15 p.m. PST |
If you have no idea what is in your army So there is no difference between having "no idea what is in your army" and not having dozens and dozens of stats memorized (with dozens and dozens of conditional variants), especially if you did not put the force together on your own? |
ochoin | 09 Jan 2020 12:45 p.m. PST |
One has to ask. If you have no idea what is in your army, how did you come up with a credible plan for the battle? If you struggle with what is in your army DO SOME HOMEWORK and at least have the decency to show your opponent you have made some effort and are not wasting hit time completely. Perhaps a little harshly expressed but I do agree with the sentiment. |
Twilight Samurai | 09 Jan 2020 9:30 p.m. PST |
Just slightly. Social filters are good, please feel free to use them. |
etotheipi | 10 Jan 2020 7:34 a.m. PST |
Perhaps a little harshly expressed but I do agree with the sentiment I agree with what I think should be the underlying sentiment. I disagree that the presence of unit cards (your OP topic) is an indicator that players are not doing their homework. FTR In our primary game, QILS, we don't use unit cards. But QILS doesn't use unit stat information. That doesn't mean I don't think they are useful for games where one player is in charge of several types of unit with multiple varying stats, particularly stats that change WRT unit state. |
Wargamer Blue | 10 Jan 2020 10:51 p.m. PST |
@ushcha What a load of rubbish. |
Russ Lockwood | 13 Jan 2020 1:19 p.m. PST |
Depends on the rules system. Sometimes we use a one-page Quick Reference Sheet, other times a label for a base, and other times data cards per unit. Each has a plus and minus to using. |
Stoppage | 14 Jan 2020 10:04 a.m. PST |
@twilight 1. Excellent Film: link 2. Would you recommend any good sources for learning about "Social Filter"? |
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