"casualty markers for skirmish games" Topic

Here are three of the dozen or so now done.

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I take a photo of my painted miniature and download it into GROK. The AI will then do an image of the same guy lying dead. I tell it the size -- 28mm, on a 2" circle, on dirt and grass and rocks -- and a topdown view. Sometimes everything is correct first go, some times I refine it. The scout's revolver is too large, and I will correct that when I get a moment.

I will print these and glue them to 2" wooden disks. So for my skirmishes I have mounted. dismounted, and now dead-right-there versions of every fighter. For wounded I will just lay the figure down.

Once the AI gets one done right, it is very quick to give it more photos and say do these the same way.

If I want the man lying face down I photograph the back of the standing mini.

For generic Comanche warriors I can tell the AI to vary the colors of loincloth and shield, and I also specify an asymmetrical sprawl so I can mirror-image the print and get variety.

If I wanted to I could have the AI put the fighter's name on the dead markers. And I can add arrows, and how much blood is visible, to suit my taste.

Once you do the first couple it is very fast and not at all expensive.

The first one with the arrows in him has too regular a circle of rocks and grass tufts around him. It takes a few seconds for the AI to correct that sort of thing when prompted.

Truth be told, sometimes the AI's image of my painted miniature is BETTER than my paint job.

They do look nice.

Haven't tried it yet, but I expect I can do shield designs the same way and glue to the miniature. Comanches had feathers stuck onto shields and those would need to be added. Might have to do a little sculpting for those.

Interesting. They would certainly do the job.

Very cool – I had asked about this in a post without seeing these beforehand.

I am setting up to do a Bandera Pass scenario to playtest CYNTHIA ANN'S WAR. Rangers will have 15 or 20 men, Comanche two or three times more. Rangers start mounted but their captain will order them to dismount on first turn. I'll run it several times, with muzzle loaders and then with revolvers. Rangers will win if they avoid getting wiped out. Or Comanche can win by killing or driving away all the horses. The Pass was heavily broken by vegetation and gullies and such. The Indians' problem -- IF my rules work as intended -- will be making any sort of coordinated attack. If the rangers can collapse into a tight defensive posture they will be hard to dig out -- hence the alternate victory condition for the Indians of going after the horses.

It has now occurred to me that I can have wounded as well as lying dead.

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Very nice images, but no blood?

Bobgnar, that is a matter of personal taste. And my own inclination shifts. GROK will put as much blood as is asked for, precisely where I want it. I am trying to decide what I DO want.

For several decades my games were mostly at school with kids. THEY often liked the gore but I felt uneasy with too much of it. Which is why my Vikings always carried off pigs and not girls.

What I have just figured out with printable Comanche casualties is to make their loincloths white and their shield light leather color and bare. I will color the garments with fine point markers, and draw designs on shields, and so have a variety of dead or wounded guys. I can do blood the same way if I decide to.

Thanks for the question!

Cabone Curtain rings. Walmart with a sewing section.