Hobby Basics - Gaming Tools

Its quite a long time since I wrote something for my Hobby Basics series. With my latest purchase I thought this would be a good time to do another article here, this time covering some of the tools you will need for war-gaming (my experiences are mostly for WHFB, KoW, Warmachine/Hordes and similar games). I have no experience in historical war games, but I don't think that they differ so much that my points will be invalid :)
I again warn you: Big chunks of text incoming! So be prepared if you follow me after the jump :)

Dice

So the very basic thing you will need for wargaming: Dice. There are multiple variants out there, but most of the time you will need 6-sided dice (or D6 in short). Sometimes you will need a 3-sided dice (D3) but normally you will just roll a D6 and allocate the result (1-2 is a one, 3-4 is a two, 5-6 is a 3).
There are even more out there more common is the D10 (and the D100 which are just 2 D10) and the D20. Those are more common in roleplaying games I think but worth mentioning.

Depending on the game you will either need lots of them (Warhammer Fantasy where I sometimes have to roll 20 ore more) or have a maximum of dice (Warmachine/Hordes where it is uncommon to roll more than 5-6 at most).

There are lots of discussions out there about weighed dice and different companies favor one side or the other... I think one thing for good sportsmanship is to use all the time the same dice (not one set for "high rolls" and one for "low rolls" and stuff. Also you should always allow your opponent to use your dice, either to check or to use them in counters, e.g. saves vs. wounds (which even may speed the game up a bit). If you want to eradicate thoughts of that, you can always buy precision dice. The most common are casino dice (not the discarded ones which are somewhat weighted, because they have to be drilled) or backgammon ones. The later are pretty expensive but are the most "precise" you can get for tabletops. With casino dice you could argue, that the scenario for what they are designed are a bit different than our normal games (the have to bounce of the table, hit the wall and bounce back to be a legal throw).

Measuring Tool

Tape measure tools are our savior here. Don't even bother with those plastic rulers that for example where in the core boxes of Warhammer Fantasy. These are twisted and imprecise. Grab yourself a strong tape measure and never look back. There are also some different tools out there, most of the time you will find the cheaper ones in your hardware store. I would always buy one with the possibility to fix your drawn tape. Eases up thing quite a lot. But don't confuse yourself with the flexible ones tailors use. They are not meant to use in wargames :)

Another thing are the precise measurement tools you will often see in Warmachine/Hordes or for measuring arcs and bends in other games (I think X-Wing or Armada uses lots of them). Those are really helpful, because the speed things up. Most of the time they are unfortunately also pretty expensive. For the beginning I wouldn't buy these you can come pretty far without them (if you don't play games where they are the basic measurement tool that is).

Markers/Tokens/Templates/Proxy Bases

Depending on the game you will play, you may need lots or none of them. In Warhammer Fantasy for example I rarely needed any markers. The only thing which was really helpful was some kind of wound tracker on big models and surely all those flamer and explosion templates. In Kings of War this is very similar, you need some kind of wound markers. You can either just put a dice behind the model/unit or build yourself some wonderful wound markers, based on the topic/theme of your army. But really: Dice will do for the start.
Templates can be either the cardboard ones from most of the core boxes or rulebooks. Just print/cut them out and use them. If you want to make them a bit more durable, laminate them. There are again lots of manufacturers out there who create templates. If I would go with those, I clearly would opt for some transparent templates. Helps to see which models are really affected.

In skirmisher this is a bit different as far as I experienced so far. You will need zillions of tokens to show effects and stuff. Here you can go with the token sets of the corresponding manufacturer or go with some of those alternative manufacturers (again a question how much money you want to spend). An alternative to this could be to use some "proxies" for example coins, glass beads etc.pp. Or even print out and laminate some token sets. As you see in the picture, you can go overboard with this stuff pretty easily :) Just think about what you really need and find something which clearly points out which stuff it is and you should be fine.

Proxy bases are again something which can help you in your gameplay but are not really needed. Ever had a problem with one of your overboarding models getting them to fit into a slot where the base normally would fit in? Use a proxy base and your problems are solved. Again this can cost some money if you have to have all base sizes present or you just can cut out some cardboard bases and use them. This is not only helpful in skirmishers but also for example in Warhammer Fantasy: Ever had troubles allocating catapult hits to a unit (even with transparent templates)? Have a unit proxy with the correct amount of bases ready and use that one. To be honest: I never did that, but you will find people who use this method all day long.

Lasers

Yep you read right: Lasers! With most games having a kind of true line of sight it is sometimes really difficult to say exactly if something is in sight or not. Often times you have to crawl around, get to miniature eyes level and check if you see something. A laser pointer helps you a lot with this. There are so many cheap variants out there, that I think everyone should have at least a laser pointer (mine is from our cats toys and did cost something around 2 euros or so). These laser pointers are pretty harmless nonetheless you shouldn't point them in the faces of other people (or cats).

If you think a point is not enough a line laser will be your best friend. This one helps a lot with defining valid charge lines, line of sight, correct deployment zones etc.pp. But these are a bit different: Both in pure power and in price. Most of the line lasers cost something around 20 euros (at least in Germany). I was lucky since a friend of mine had some bonus coupons for a supermarket here therefore I was able to get me a more general usable line laser from Bosch.
The PLL5 is no only a line laser but also has two bubble levels and is more a tool for handcraft than for playing. But if I get something for the same price as a standard line laser I would be stupid to don't get that one :)

Whatever laser you buy, please do yourself a favor: Don't go for some cheap china imports! There is a reason why there are limits to the power that those lasers are allowed to have by law. Only go if they have official marks of conformity. And never ever point them into the face of someone or even worse into cars and planes. Ever sat in a plane which was on its landing phase and some idiot shot into it with a very powerful laser? I was and I was lucky that it didn't "hit" the pilot nor did it too much harm to me because I could glance away fast enough. Nonetheless I had a point burned into my retina for some minutes.


I think that are the most common tools you see around. If I have forgotten something or if you have a different opinion on this stuff, please leave a comment and start a discussion :)


So long,
Paradox0n

P.S.: Again thanks for digging through this loooong post. At the moment I am feeling the urge for longer posts with more content since I don't get into painting.