Counters trump miniatures, baby!

[Cowpie Zombie]

As a former wargamer, allow me to clue you in on the failings of counters...

Sure, they're cheap and easy to amass, but have you ever tried to keep track of hundreds or thousands of them AND keep them organized when you're not playing? It isn't easy, and the most reliable method, zip-lock bags, isn't exactly known for its resilience...

And before anyone says it can't be that hard because it wasn't hard to keep MtG cards organized, you get it easy with the cards because they're designed in a fashion that allows easy, systematic sorting...

If you don't believe me, just let me mix up the 7,000 counters that came with Next War (an old cold war WW3 simulation wargame), and you can sort them.

At least with minis, you have to take your time putting them away to begin with, so it isn't that difficult to keep them organized.

So each has its own advantages and disadvantages.

I've actually found counters very easy to sort. Just go to your local hardware store and buy a plastic tray used to sort screws and nails. The trays are relatively inexpensive and, depending on the size of tray you buy, can be used to sort and store 20-30 different counter types.

Zip-lock bags? Who uses those?

 

[Cowpie Zombie]

Nope. This is a roleplaying game. I have 3-5 PCs, and no more than 20 tops of enemies. Since "No. 1" can be an orc, a zombie, or a demon, or anything else equally well, I have no interest in making hundreds or thousands of counters.

How about coins? Penny = zombie, dime = orc, nickel = goblin...

Sounds fun. :\

 

[Cthulhu's Librarian]

I have all the Counter Collections that Fiery Dragon has put out, as well as lots of counters I've made myself. As far as sorting them goes, I've had no problems. At Michaels Crafts, I picked up 3 bead boxes/thread boxes/bobbin boxes and simply sort into them as I cut the counters apart. I've got one box for PC races, and 2 for monsters. The boxes cost me $1.99 (I believe), although I've seen them on sale for even less. The box is divided into about 20 compartments that are 2" square. There are some monsters that don't fit (dragons, larger counters), but 98% do fit, and the boxes are easy to cart around. I've also pulled several "feet" (for lack of a better term) from several board games and war games that I have, which allow me to stand the counters upright on the battlemat.

 

[Desdichado]

How about coins? Penny = zombie, dime = orc, nickel = goblin...

Sounds fun. :\

Works for me. I actually don't much like miniatures for RPG combat; it takes me somewhat out of the game and focuses on the tactical wargame aspect. I don't dislike tactical wargames; I also play Heroclix and Blood Bowl fairly regularly and Warhammer and Warhammer 40k somewhat irregularly, but that's a whole different game than RPGs, and the two have never really mixed well IMO.

 

[Cowpie Zombie]

Works for me. I actually don't much like miniatures for RPG combat; it takes me somewhat out of the game and focuses on the tactical wargame aspect. I don't dislike tactical wargames; I also play Heroclix and Blood Bowl fairly regularly and Warhammer and Warhammer 40k somewhat irregularly, but that's a whole different game than RPGs, and the two have never really mixed well IMO.

You're making a good point. I try to avoid miniatures and battle grids for this same reason. I hate the idea of players hopping their miniatures across the grid like they're playing Monopoly or something.

 

[ledded]

You're making a good point. I try to avoid miniatures and battle grids for this same reason. I hate the idea of players hopping their miniatures across the grid like they're playing Monopoly or something.

It must be ya'lls players . Nobody in our group plays Wargames, and the way we play RPG's you would think we did

But it really adds to the flavor of the game, for us, when we have nice miniatures and terrain. Plus, it's a big part of the hobby too.

I'm not knocking RPG purists who like it very abstract, or folks that prefer counters, but the coolness factor of having nice stuff for our table makes a big difference for us. We have all gamed with/without miniatures or even counters/scale maps, and we prefer it with all of our toys. At the same time, though, everyone in our group are very good roleplayers who dont let all the numbers and grids ruin the game for everyone; when in doubt, the GM makes the call and we get on with life.

We actually run encounters faster with our big terrain game tables than before, with a lot less unnecesary abstraction. Definitely not for everyone, but for our group it works out great.

You can check the miniatures link in my sig for examples and some discussion with a few folks about why we have so much fun with it.

FYI, C.Baize has a great article on his website for taking paper counters and making Shrinky Dinks out of them for durable, standing minis on the cheap. It's worth checking out for those who like counters.

 

[Droogie]

Here are some counters I made - I make no claims to ownership of any of the photos, most of which come from various horror movies.

Nice work! Very very nice work.

As for me, I had a blast making my own counters with CC2 Character Artist. The program comes with some pre-fab monster symbols to choose from, but eventually I became good enough to basically make any creature I could think of.

My favorites were my half-inch scale counters, but I suspect my players found them a pain to move them around on the table. Still,they were nice when the playing surface was limited, or when I needed to fit a large area on the map.

Anyway, we never use them anymore since one of the players and I have become addicted to the WoTC minis Its nice having chunky 3d minis on the board, but I miss having the ability to represent anything I needed.
Now we're back to "well, I don't have three griffons, so we'll represent them with two owlbears and a troll". :\

 

[C. Baize]

Thanks for the props, Ledded. We like our shrinky dink minis... fast, easy, and absolutely customized.
We used HeroMachine for some card stock mooks, too.