"Materials Wargames tokens and markers?" Topic

What is the best material for whatever little tokens/markers you use to determine the status of units or as objective markers. Not just for utility but also for aesthetics. Do you prefer mdf, acrylic, metal, resin, hard wood? Painted or unpainted?

Do you have a preferred turn marker/dial?

Or do you make your own, painted and terrained markers for things such as "disordered", routed?

I saw a posting quite some time ago from a gamer who used a sensible, esthetically pleasing, simple arrangement. He made tiny terrain squares/circles. In each were either a couple of rocks, indicating various levels of disorganization, or there were small pieces of log/branches which indicated what the unit was doing (1 meant stand fast, 2 meant advancing, etc). I thought they were particularly imaginative, easy to read, and look like part of the terrain. Also, simple and cheap to make from odds and ends, and useful for any period. All in all, they fit the bill quite well.

I've debated this (in my head) many times. Tom offers what I think would look best. But then, I realize that markers like those he mentioned are not that readily seen. They blend too much.

My group generally uses mini sized pony beads. They're cheap, come in many colors, and are not too big. Plus, we play Shako II and Tactica alot, and "hits" accumulate per stand, and when the unit cracks, it and all its beads are removed.

Ideally painted, maybe terrained in keeping prices as described above. Plain mdf can be ok; I'm not a big fan of acrylic in bright colours for the most part. But I use tiddlywinks in green, yellow, red for 1,2,3 casualties in some games.

For some games (e.g. Ambush Alley, Altar of Freedom) I have casualty figs, broken gun carriages for tracking disorder, etc.

I'd love to do that for most of my games, but the added cost and time to paint make that the exception rather than the rule. Otherwise it ends up to be cardboard tokens and the like.

Whatever material you use, keep them small. My markers are typically only 1/2" square.

I think objective markers should actually be miniatures of some sort--treasure, captives or whatever.

Unit status admits of arguments on both sides, but since I prefer games with very few morale levels and no casualty counting unless I remove figures, two or three colors of nickel-sized markers are the default. Really, too many scales and periods. If all the castings were painted, I could be talked into a range of "natural" tokens by scale and period--but what are the odds of that? And tokens by scale, period and army would be much too much work.

The "turn clock" is a big--maybe 3"?--foam D20 kept off our usual 3x3 table.

Wool roving and animal figures are your friend.

Animal figures,, sheep, pigs, goats mounted on flocked pennies can indicate morale status. Put the list with the playing aides.

Wool roving (spinners supply from eBay), in grey or white is much better than cotton balls for smoke.

Use (grey or white) in indicate delay from new volley (broadside) or visibilty restricting round.

Tease it into tulip shapes, soak with thinned PVA glue, dry and glue to flocked pennies for shell splashes.

Also use for fog areas (althought fabric store "interfacing" works real good).

Cheap and easy.

Want to make fire or "brew up" markers? A bit of red or oreage roveing worked into the base of a black or grey tulip shaped PVA soaked roving makes a lovely marker.

Love the discussion but our British cousins need to realize that a lot of us Yanks don't know what they are referring to with wool "roving"?

BTW, I saw here, some time ago, someone using small dials with numbers for casualty markers. Anyone seen them or know what I'm talking about?

It is cleaned up wool that has its fibres aligned by being scrapped between "cards", which are paddles with a hundreds of bent finger wires embedded in them. When the fibres are aligned they can be spun into ,yarn which can be used for weaving.. Just go to eBay and enter "roving". Get white, black grey and dyed orange & red. You only need a few ounzes. …It is not a specific British term.

von Schwatz – Warbases make them, I use them and would recommend
link

Aside from the standard sheep, pigs and goats to indicate morale or disorder are there other artifacts that might also indicate that?

I like to minimize game-related tokens.

If I need these, I'll often print on, and cut them out of Shrinky Dinks plastic, (then oven-baked to thicken them), or on photo paper, the latter then mounted on black "fun foam" self-adhesive sheet, and the tokens cut out with scissors, or punched out.

There's also some sharp-looking, plastic colored cubes that I found at Meeple Source that I'm using for activation and casualty markers (often being small enough to ride on the base of a marked stand, or vehicle top).

Here's some custom markers I made for WWI Ost Afrika gaming.

The Maxim MG markers (for jam indicators) were from color photo images, those reduced and assembled within an image file (paper-sized), and ink-jet printed on Shrinky Dinks plastic, then cut out, and oven baked to thicken the plastic.

The out-of-ammo markers are rectangular plastic tubing, cut across to size, and with plastic sheet box tops.

I have just bought a pack of 70 small red reeds. I'll make terrain bases on 10c coins with 1-3 reeds on them as shock markers. Like the idea above for using twigs for disorder!

Mounted aides de camp make great message markers. And they are fun to paint.

If you don't mind number on the table the coins from the 'Pirates' plasticard game. Gold on black, nice typeface.

@Nine pound round Message markers?

@Last Hussar Are we supposed to all know the pirate game? Because I dont think I know it.

@Maxshadow I found a terrain site that sold tall self adhesive yellow grass for like Waterloo basing and then I lost it.

I wanted about 30 "hit" markers for a game and wasn't too keen on paying a lot for them. I just printed out a bunch of watch faces (1 to 12 round dial) glued them to a 25mm dia. base. Then used the tips off plastic forks as pointers (pinning them to the base). Total cost for 32 markers was less than a $1. USD

It was popular about 10 years back. Trouble is if you don't know it there's not a lot I can say. If you bought it you have the coins, if you didn't they are too expensive to bother with as markers

auction

@LastHussar

Interesting. Are these plastic or metal?