The Petite Race for Africa - MOAB 2019

[Furt]

Thank you all for the kind comments

Great to see you posting again. Superb efforts. The Tembe is wonderful.

Yes Nick it has been some time - I'm afraid I have been a victim of posting on Facebook rather than my beloved LAF - something I thought I'd never succumb to. 

[FifteensAway]

It's a long way to Tembe-rary... 

...silly me...

[Furt]

The game included encounters scattered around the table for players to discover and/or stumble upon. Instead of just using numbered discs I chose to represent the encounters with little skull totems. Each encounter token had a different number of skulls, one through eight, with each indicating a specific encounter. When a player got close they triggered the encounter which meant that usually the token was removed and other figures put on the table.

[FifteensAway]

Like the idea, a lot - though not sure I'd go with the skulls personally.  Might go with pots and/or rocks, etc. but only because it gives greater versatility across more periods.  But I do like yours, certainly fits the game at hand.

[Mindenbrush]

Neat idea - suitably noted as I bought the Citadel Skulls box the last time I was in England.
Also FifteensAway comment is useful and I might vary what is on the encounter bases to keep the gamers guessing.

[has.been]

Well done, such things are much better than bright tokens.
An Aztec campaign I played in required keeping a tally of Spanish prisoners.
We made sacrificial skull racks that worked like an abacus. A lot nicer than dice/tokens.

[Furt]

Thanks all.

I chose skulls because the game was far from historical and the counters were meant to represent a possible threat or danger. I also wanted them to double as encounter markers for something else I'm working on where the skulls would be even more appropriate.
Another consideration was quickly being able to identify the number of skulls while managing 8 players. Their whiteness stood out remarkably well and were easy enough to identify quickly in the craziness that was the game.

[gamer Mac]

Lovely work
Some very inspiring work

[Atheling]

It's a great idea and well executed. 

I'm all for this kind of stuff as i feel cards, markers (unless mini markers) all distract from the look and feel of the game.

[Furt]

Thanks gents.

I'm all for this kind of stuff as i feel cards, markers (unless mini markers) all distract from the look and feel of the game.

Totally agree Atheling. We were forced to use counters for in game mechanics but tried to keep them to the smallest size possible.

[Furt]

Here are some of the animals we used, mostly as part of encounters, for the game. When a player stumbled upon an encounter token, the token would be removed and replaced with figures representing the actual encounter. In this way players couldn't judge the level of danger by simply looking at the figures and making an educated guess on the degree of danger until it was too late.

[FifteensAway]

Fourteen lovely animals and a couple of "booby" traps.  And, what the heck, a pink zebra!?  There must be a story behind that and I can't award any wildlife points until we know that story!  I mean it, I do.  Do tell, please, all about the pink zebra.   

[Malamute]

Excellent stuff Frank

[Furt]

Thanks gents.

Fourteen lovely animals and a couple of "booby" traps.  And, what the heck, a pink zebra!?  There must be a story behind that and I can't award any wildlife points until we know that story!  I mean it, I do.  Do tell, please, all about the pink zebra.   

The elusive pink zebra wandered around the table at random. It was one of the goals of the hashish smoking Ruga-Ruga to catch him.
"Last night you dreamt of the “Zebra King”, a magnificently wise beast that whispered in your ear that you will achieve great things. You have more questions to ask him – if only you could find him."
If another player chanced upon the pink zebra instead they received a card saying "What pink zebra???". It produced some pretty funny moments.

[FifteensAway]

Story told, points duly awarded.  Let's go with 76, 5 x 14 + 6, works out.  And, see, I told you there was a story to that zebra!     Like the story, clever.

Now, can you top War in 15 mm's score?  You'll need A LOT more animals for that!  And, no, I haven't totaled his score but it is a BIG number (around 105 animals, maybe more, in his Africa gallery which is in 28 mm, and more that he didn't include in the gallery!).

I'm at 174 so far for my plains of Africa, painted (though still needing work on the bases for most).  Many, many more to paint, like hundreds.  But I'm a bit bonkers for the subject - for those who don't already know that.  15 mm helps, a lot. 

And that East African plains project of mine is one of two itches that really needs scratching!