So once the armies are assembled and the terrain is constructed it is time to get down to gaming. I use the Pike and Shotte rules for my Italian Wars games and there are a few useful items that make the game go easier. In this short blog post I will list the tools that I use.
- Unit data sheets.
In a recent blog I posted the unit data sheets that I use for a game. Having a copy of the data sheets for each player, with the special rules on the bottom, really reduces the need for players to thumb through the rule book mid-game. It also helps new players easily see how there units compare to other units on the table. To make these data sheets sturdy, I bought a laminator from an office supply store for about $35 dollars. This was a great investment and all of my data sheets are now laminated and can be used for game after game.
2. Dice box
For my terrain I use terrain mats by killing fields terrain. I think that these terrain mats look great and allow figures to move easily across them. However, they are not great for rolling dice on. In addition, I don’t really like people throwing dice into my freshly painted troops. The solution was to make a dice box for each player. I went down the local craft supply store and found boxes for $5 each. I then spray painted them in either blue or red and then glued a cheap piece of felt in the bottom. These boxes work great. I will probably add a motif or flag to the front of the boxes in the future.
3. Measuring stick
It took me a while to realize, but every distance in Pike and Shotte is a multiple of 3″. This applies to ranges, moving distances and command distances. I therefore bought some balsa sticks and painted them every three inches to make simple measuring sticks. These cheap, light weight measuring sticks work really well and put a stop to the clumsy player dropping an industrial weight tape measure right on top of your newly painted Swiss pike block. If someone drops one of these very light weight measuring sticks it is unlikely to do any damage to figures.
4. Casualty markers
I came across some custom casualty markers from warbases.co.uk. These markers are there 30mm diameter Style 2 bases and cost 67 pence each.
When I received the pdf markers I painted the top white and the sides bronze. This took me a couple of minutes for each marker. I then bought some clear decal paper off eBay and printed some custom flag decals on my standard desktop printer. Once I had sealed the decals, I put them onto the casualty markers and sprayed them with Testers Dullcote. In an afternoon I had 60-70 markers. Each unit now had a marker with a flag showing the nationality of the unit.
You can hide the markers by painting them green or sticking a casualty figure on them. However, I took a different view. I am trying to have a lot of flags on my units to increase the color and spectacle of the table. These markers are in fitting with that concept and I like the look.
5. Other markers
Pike and Shotte needs some way of showing if a unit is Shaken, Disordered or Winning (a melee). I again went with warbases.co.uk. They make custom pdf tokens with your wording for 25 pence each.
I think that these tokens look both elegant and discrete and don’t detract from the game. At the price they are also a bargain.
These are the items that I use to make the game easy to play while also not distracting from the appearance of the game. All of the items were quick and cheap to make, and some of them even aim to protect the figures.