Making Scenic Counters for Stargrunt II

[number9]

For those who aren't familiar with Stargrunt II, it is a die-cut counter-filled experience. All units have at least 2 counters next to them at all times, one to represent leadership/troop quality, and one to represent morale. As a unit takes fire it accumulates suppression counters (up to three), and if troops become casualties, it accumulates wound counters (one per injured individual). Add to this counters for being "in-position", and other minor effects, and you end up with a rather unattractive collection of cardboard chits floating around your lovingly crafted models and terrain.

I was hoping I could appeal to the greater group collective here in helping me dream up reasonably simple scenic representations of the following effects:

Unit Leadership/troop quality: a measure of how well the unit leader receives and gives orders and a measure of the total units overall training. This is represented in counter-form by a solid color representing quality, and a single numeral from 1-3 representing leadership. A color isn't essential to establishing quality, but the numeric value of the leadership is.

Morale: a measure of the current morale of the unit. This is represented with 5 different degrees of morale; confident, steady, shaken, broken, and routed.

Suppression: a measure of incoming fire and the effect it has on a unit keeping its collective head down to avoid danger. This is represented by a counter with a little graphic explosion that says "supp" in the middle. Units acquire no more than 3 of these at any given time.

Wounds: a measure of who has been hit by incoming fire. This is represented by a red counter with a white skull. When a unit has a chance to determine the status of wounded troopers, this counter is removed.

Wounded: a measure of a model's status; that has suffered a wound that incapacitates, but does not kill.

All the other counters are incidental enough to avoid dealing with a scenic replacement. Vehicle markers are similarly simple to devise with plumes of smoke or fire.

I feel like suppression can be handled with small explosions or craters effectively enough. I was also thinking that wounds could be handled by small flags that have a comic word bubble attached to them that says "MEDIC!". I'm at a loss for wounded that doesn't involve buying and converting a lot of walking wounded models  and totally stumped with unit leadership/quality and morale.

Any ideas?

[Westfalia Chris]

For those who aren't familiar with Stargrunt II, it is a die-cut counter-filled experience. All units have at least 2 counters next to them at all times, one to represent leadership/troop quality, and one to represent morale. As a unit takes fire it accumulates suppression counters (up to three), and if troops become casualties, it accumulates wound counters (one per injured individual). Add to this counters for being "in-position", and other minor effects, and you end up with a rather unattractive collection of cardboard chits floating around your lovingly crafted models and terrain.

Loved Stargrunt II, but the counters are a pain to store properly (although not to use, as far as I´m concerned).

I was hoping I could appeal to the greater group collective here in helping me dream up reasonably simple scenic representations of the following effects:

Unit Leadership/troop quality: a measure of how well the unit leader receives and gives orders and a measure of the total units overall training. This is represented in counter-form by a solid color representing quality, and a single numeral from 1-3 representing leadership. A color isn't essential to establishing quality, but the numeric value of the leadership is.

Maybe build a drone-thing flying around the squad leader, which serves as a communication relay? Have the number painted on, disguised as a unit numeral or such?

Morale: a measure of the current morale of the unit. This is represented with 5 different degrees of morale; confident, steady, shaken, broken, and routed.

At a loss for this one. Maybe use a blank dice properly marked for each unit (adding a sixth symbol to make optimum use when not required for Morale?)

Suppression: a measure of incoming fire and the effect it has on a unit keeping its collective head down to avoid danger. This is represented by a counter with a little graphic explosion that says "supp" in the middle. Units acquire no more than 3 of these at any given time.

For T&T, Driscoles came up with the wonderful idea of having numbers of little stones glued to circular bases (coins or such). Or have craters/shellholes.

Wounds: a measure of who has been hit by incoming fire. This is represented by a red counter with a white skull. When a unit has a chance to determine the status of wounded troopers, this counter is removed.

A circular base (penny, twopence-size or so) with a little medipack on it?

Wounded: a measure of a model's status; that has suffered a wound that incapacitates, but does not kill.

Similar to the above, maybe opened? With some medical supplies showing? or some blood spots on the ground.

[Hauptgefreiter]

Recently stumbled about this:
http://www.shop.microartstudio.com/markers-c-22_56.html
Maybe this is of use to you...

[number9]

I like the communications relay idea for leadership/quality. It would be easy to put a numeral on something like that, or even represent it via any number of creative measures (colored buttons, radio antennae, etc).

The problem is bashing together enough relays. Assuming enough variety for the size games we play, I'd need about 32 total counters for a 2 person game.

 

Maybe with Morale I could do the word bubble thing and it gets placed only by the leader. This serves a double purpose of marking who the leader is as well as morale. If the leader becomes a casualty, whoever the next leader is gets the morale marker. Phases like "Go get 'em!" for confident, "stay sharp!" for steady, "looks dangerous" for shaken, "oh shit!" for broken, and "run away!" for routed would be straightforward, and easy to create. I'm not sure how else one can really scenic-ly represent a psychological state?

Still need to think more on wounds and wounded.

[Plynkes]

For the Leadership thing I reckon a little laptop on a scenic base for the squad leader would be a great idea. The screen could display the leadership number, and the screen background could be in the quality dice colour.

Not sure if anybody makes such things, but I think it would look good.



Edit: Personally I'm rather fond of the Stargrunt II counters, and don't find them obtrusive at all. The only extra thing we use are the little body bags you can get for the dead 'uns. 

[number9]

Recently stumbled about this:
http://www.shop.microartstudio.com/markers-c-22_56.html
Maybe this is of use to you...

Those are nice, but I have all the little die-cut counters I need if I wanted to go that route. I'm shooting for things that blend into the surroundings a little better, or at least feel more literally representative of a status or effect, rather than in a graphic abstract sense. Thanks though, I hadn't seen those before.

[Earther]

Jon at GZG is mulling over doing some 15mm casualties at the moment, if that helps. Although your probably using the classic 25s.

[number9]

For the Leadership thing I reckon a little laptop on a scenic base for the squad leader would be a great idea. The screen could display the leadership number, and the screen background could be in the quality dice colour.

Not sure if anybody makes such things, but I think it would look good.

PERFECT! I know just the resource too:

Jon at GZG is mulling over doing some 15mm casualties at the moment, if that helps. Although your probably using the classic 25s.

nope, I'm 15mm. I'd wait if the wait won't be longer than I could make my own 

[Westfalia Chris]

I like the communications relay idea for leadership/quality. It would be easy to put a numeral on something like that, or even represent it via any number of creative measures (colored buttons, radio antennae, etc).

The problem is bashing together enough relays. Assuming enough variety for the size games we play, I'd need about 32 total counters for a 2 person game.

You could take a look at crafts stores - they occasionally stock cheapish plastic pearls which come in interesting shapes, which only might need an antenna added. I would still go for the well-visible numeral for the leadership rating, though. Easier to make out than counting antennae or lights, I´d think.

EDIT: Those display types are rather nifty, indeed. BTW, Plynkes, old pal, how come you display such intricate knowledge on the childish SF nonsense?

[Plynkes]

Two of my gaming gang are Sci-Fi nuts. We have a reciprocal arrangement where I educate and entertain them with my beautifully-crafted little vignettes from history, and in return I occasionally have to put up with their juvenile Space hi-jinks. 

[Westfalia Chris]

Two of my gaming gang are Sci-Fi nuts. We have a reciprocal arrangement where I educate and entertain them with my beautifully-crafted little vignettes from history, and in return I occasionally have to put up with their juvenile Space hi-jinks. 

So, not only do you humour old Chronoglide, but you actually remember some of his ramblings?

[Plynkes]

I liked Stargrunt so much I bought my own copy. But my precious counters are still pristine and unpunched (I'm somewhat disturbingly attached to keeping them like that). We always use his when we play.

[Bako]

There's some excellent ideas being flung about here.  I might have to retain them for later dissection or something .

[warrenss2]

totally stumped with unit leadership/quality and morale

Ummm... could these two be combined? Have the 1 - 3 numbers on what ever you choose and than have them color coded for their level of moral status?

Confident - Blue
Steady - Green
Shaken - Orange
Broken - Yellow
Routed - Red

But it means you would have to have 5 different representations of whatever you use for showing your leadership quality.

[Wirelizard]

totally stumped with unit leadership/quality and morale

Ummm... could these two be combined? Have the 1 - 3 numbers on what ever you choose and than have them color coded for their level of moral status?

The trouble is you need to encode for three things, not just two. Leadership Quality, Troop Quality and Morale Level are seperate. (sort of, see below)

Leadership & Troop Quality are combined in the chits SG2 comes with, though, and colour-coded.

Leadership Quality runs from 1-3, 1 being good and 3 being bad.

Troop Quality runs Untrained-Green-Regular-Veteran-Elite, and (again, in the stock chits) is colour coded - Yellow = Untrained, Green = Green, Blue = Regular, Orange = Vet, Red = Elite.

There's no colour coding for morale in the stock SG2 chits.

To cut down slightly on chit-clutter, we started to not put Confident (CO) markers down - a unit w/o a Morale marker was CO, lesser morale levels got markers. It means most units are only towing around 1 chit at the start of the game, at least.

One thing you could do to at least disguise the chits slightly is create a base with notches in it to hold the chits, and landscape the rest of that base to match the bases of your troops. Or put squad leaders on larger-than-standard bases, with holes/notches to hold Quality & Morale chits behind the figure.