Tuesday 27 July 2021

On the Starting Block

 


Preliminary ideas for troop type tokens with a few more to add. Very much a first draft (and with number five needing a little trimming!)  and work in progress but you can see the direction my thoughts are heading in.

I plan to have these tokens produced in laser cut MDF, 3mm thick. They will be quite small as they are designed to be placed on an existing block as required so I reckon they will be no larger than 11mm by 11mm. When ready I could use them as they are or could paint them. In the interest of economy I was thinking of using black as this forms a good contrast to the block colours. I also plan to have a only one such token per unit as having one on each block would not only mean I would need a lot of them but also the chances of them falling off would be far greater and so rather irritating during the heat of battle!

Most of the initial batch above are very much geared towards the pre gunpowder period. This was intentional as whilst I already have some suitable labels for the mechanised era I had nothing for the period prior to the 1700 to 1900 period.

I am rather excited about this as once realised it will increase the scope of gaming activities immeasurably meaning that I can fight battles from the time of the Pharoahs up to the present day using my core block collection with the appropriate token as required.

10 comments:

Tony Adams said...

Hi....Interesting concept. I use wood screws to represent soldiers. They are equally usable for any period whatsoever. It all boils down to what you want to do, fight wargames, create perfect replicas of historic soldiers or both. Each to his own. There is space in our hobby for ALL. I look forward to the next episode. Regards

David Crook said...

Hello there Tony,

The block armies are perfectly usable as they are but are very horse and musket facing in terms of the labels I have used. Using the tokens I am planning will expand their historical reach. Wood screw armies eh? I will be dropping by your blog to take a look at these - I would be interested in how you tackled cavalry for sure!

All the best,

DC

Tony Adams said...

Hi... Cavalry took many years to figure out for sure. However if you look under the Cavalry label you will see the whole laborious construction process. I really like your use of "tokens", with the right sort of perhaps computer generated labels just about anything is possible. I can remember as a young boy using my Lego bricks as soldiers, with different colours for the opposing sides so your use of blocks really strikes a cord with me. Regards

David Crook said...

Hi Tony,

Lego brick armies? Oh yes, I remember them well! The block armies came about as a way of turning a battle map into a 3d game. All i am looking to do with them now is to 'pimp' them up a little and the tokens would seem to be the best way to do it.

I will certainly take a look at your blog for some inspiration!

Kind regards

DC

Steve J. said...

Interesting ideas David. Personally I like to have the stuff written down on a label so I can see it easily as a distance on the table, but maybe that's down to ageing eyes more than anything else!

As for the symbols, maybe a bow and arrow for the archers, crosses swords, spears etc for the others? What ever you choose, I will follow this with interest due to making my block armies more versatile:)

David Crook said...

Hello there Steve J,

If I was starting the collection out from scratch I would certainly have designed the appropriate labels but as I now a dozen storage boxes worth across six single colours and one multicoloured set it made more sense to use a token/counter to indicate a specific unit type. These will only be used where there is a noticeable difference, for example, a bow armed infantry unit will have an archer token deployed with it. The tokens will only be sued where there are noticeable differences between the same notional types.

I need to finalise the designs first of all although I have contacted Warbases to discuss the feasibility of my idea. All progress will of course be on the blog.

All the best,

DC

sapere aude said...

I made something similar: in Inkscape I designed a symbolic body and arms combined with headgear and weapon. It is possible to combine different elements.
And there is my other kind of army consisting of 3d-printed blocks featuring mostly traditional army symbols. They work great for napoleonic wargaming.

Charles Litka said...

I wonder if you really need the circle. Maybe a simple outline of the weapon(s) would look better.

David Crook said...

Hello there sapere aude,

The idea of a 3D printed solution is a great one but is beyond my budget at present - perhaps when I retire! I have seen many ideas for the appropriate symbols to use for the tokens I am planning so there is plenty of inspiration for me.

My current thinking is to use the circle with the appropriate weapon but I need to spend some more time refining this.

All the best,

DC

David Crook said...

Hi there Charles,

The circle is an essential part of the design for what I am planning. The weapon outline option is still very much in contention though so I need to spend some time comparing options.

All the best,

DC