制作自己的兵棋

Creating Your Own Counters A guide by Gary Christiansen The most daunting task in creating your DTP game is going to be the creation of the counters. It's not simply a matter of glue and cut, even when all you have is the sheet of counter graphics and a cardboard backing to attach it to. It's amazing how hard the process can become if you get picky about the appearance and quality. 1. ����Creating counter graphics���� 2. ����Scanning DTP counter sheets���� 3. ����Printing counters for mounting���� 4. ����Preparing the counters ��prior to mounting������ 5. ����Gluing the counters to the backing���� 6. ����Double Sided counters���� 7. ����Cutting counters apart���� (����cutting by hand����) & (����cutting using 12" rotary cutter����) Making those pretty pictures Assuming you're just creating replacement counters or creating a new set to replace your worn out counters... or perhaps generating your own counters for a game you are designing for yourself, there's a lot of effort to be done to create the image you start with. There are some challenges to doing this smoothly without making a mess of the counters. What I use to create entirely new counter sheets is a program called Visio 2000 from Microsoft. A quick search of the web (on 1/26/2005 at ����www.pricewatch.com����) turned up copies for sale running anywhere from $35 to $55. The current version is Visio 2003 and runs in the $200-500 range... so I'll continue to use an old copy rather than shell out big bucks. The reason I use this tool specifically is it permits me pretty precise measurements in centering the numbers, the graphic images, and a wide range of font options. I found it's very easy to pick up and use without any experience. But this is not the only tool that can be used. Visio 2000 Paint Shop Pro will do the grids and permit measurements also, doing alignment without problems and other general purpose artistic work. Available from ����Jasc Software ���� for about $100-120, it has a wider range of more artistic features. Jasc Paint Shop Pro version 7 Corel Draw is pretty pricey at the current edition, but I can find a version 9 on the web for sale for $35. Corel Draw is also a Jasc Software product. Adobe Illustrator is pretty pricey, but should also provide the same functions. As I understand it, Illustrator has some very nice features. I just can't afford it. The point is you should use the graphics program you are most comfortable with that will allow you to set up grid lines to work with, will do object alignment, can scale the graphics to the size you wish to work with, and permits you the degree of graphic quality you want when you're producing the graphics. Most of these tools will snap to grid and do object alignment, and layers in one form or another. These are all very useful tools because you don't want your grid to overlay the top of the counters after you've completed all the artwork. A Grid to work with No matter which of the above you use, you'll need a grid to work with in the graphics to measure the correct size of the counters when you're working to create them. Replacement counters for Seelowe (SPI 1974) - Grid on top The above picture has a grid line for the size of the counters. These counters are 1/2" in size. Ideally, you also want a ����gutter���� area around the edge of the counter that no print will go into. I rarely actually define a gutter area, but strive instead to keep the printed area well away from the edges. That's not to say you can't make a counter with graphics from edge to edge, but when you cut the counters out, anything in the area close to the edge could be sliced onto both sides of the cut. I try to make sure there's nothing in that area because cutting is not a precision activity no matter how careful you are. Replacement counters for Seelowe (SPI 1974) - Grid shifted to the back After the counters are all laid out, I move the grid to the back. The grid will be used for guides after printing for cutting the counters out. So it's useful to have later anyway. The reason I don't leave the grid on the top is that when I cut the counters out, no matter how careful I am, that very thin little line can still end up on the edge of one of the counters or the other and gives a lopsided appearance to the counter. Another critical reason to have that grid around the edges is that if you're going to be matching up front and back print jobs on the counters, those marks give you useful registration points of reference to use when attaching the sheets to the backing. Nato vs Silhouettes Each of those counters in the pictures above represents the mix of 4 objects. There's a large rectangle in the background that has the color. It doesn't have to work that way, and the object with the unit type symbol could have the unit color embedded in it. There's the unit designation on the left, and the combat values at the bottom. Each of them are centered together as necessary. The NATO symbols in these counters come from one of the really cool fonts Tom Mouat created that I downloaded from his web page (http://www.mapsymbs.com/). I've had to do some tweaking of fonts to get some of the psuedo- NATO symbols that SPI used in their heyday, but one way or another, you can get most of the fonts you need to do NATO symbols that way. Using Tom Mouat's Mapsymbols Regiment font, the initial square for the unit is created, displaying a NATO armor regiment symbol. The unit designation was added on the side. The number can be rotated to face any direction. Finally, the combat value and movement is added to the bottom of the counter. Making the box for the numbers run edge to edge ensures centering. The final product in this case with all the associated objects in their place. All that is missing is the background color of the unit. But when you're doing your counters, you get some choices. Replacing missing units from old games using the NATO type of of military symbols isn't too hard. Perhaps you would rather have silhouettes. Some of Mouat's fonts include silhouettes, but you can also bring other graphics onto the grid and size them to fit. You can dig around for clip art or free images that have entered the public domain of which there are many, for this purpose. Keep in mind Tom Mouat's fonts are copyrighted but he gives permission for non-commercial use. Please, double check his copyright statement. Silhouette counters for Panzergruppe Guderian halftrack image at original size The halftrack started the size it is on the right. To get it the size on the left took trial and error, resizing it inside Visio by dragging from the object corners, then resampling the image to fit the new size. The smaller size loses some detail, but it's still clear enough when printed. The counters above use the CenturySchoolBook BT font, simply because I like the way the numbers look. You should experiment with the fonts on your computer if you are going to do this until you find a font you really like. It's very annoying to look at numbers that are too difficult to make out when gaming. The coloring of the unit designations is done to make it easier to spot other units from the same division on the board. With a good printer, you can get a lot more definition than what was expected back in the days of Avalon Hill and SPI. So there's no reason not to play with hi-resolution images if you can find images that you can safely use. Front Side Back Side If you are doing two sided counters, make sure you reverse the order of the units across the row on the backside. You'll want the correct backs to match up when you turn the sheets over. Getting two sided counters to match up is especially difficult, so be very careful to leave extra space around the edges just in case the sheets are off placement by some undetermined fraction of an inch. Better to have one side's values not centered correctly than to be cutting through the printed area. Once you have the counters all created, it's a good idea to print off a draft copy on a plain sheet of paper, walk away and wait a bit. Then double check for errors, which you probably will find if you look carefully. The printer ink for color is expensive, no matter which printer you use. The ink is often the expensive part of this process simply because the printer manufacturers pretty much have their own proprietary cartridges no matter which you bought. Scanning DTP Counter Sheets If you bought this game you're mounting counter sheets for, it may be worth your while to scan the counter sheets and print out copies to work with. The main reason for doing this is so you can reproduce any missing counters later, or more likely, so you can redo the process when you screw up cutting them out. No one likes the ugly counters they get when the counters turn out rectangular, or in odd shaped parallelograms, or even with bizarre nicks in them along the edge from using an x-acto knife. I find I always manage to ruin some counters, or get a few odd shapes I didn't intend if I'm careless, so being able to start over is a good idea and it won't be possible if you only have the counter sheets that came with the DTP game. I've found I can scan the sheets at about 300 dpi to reproduce the original on label paper without problems, although even at that level, the image reproduces the print grain from other printers. Ideally, it would be nice if the DTP company would let me take a copy of their graphics to print so I don't have to do some adjusting of the digital image to correct for my miscreant scanner. It always seems to add artifacts that aren't there, requiring clean up and gamma adjustment to clean up the brightness. To the left here, I have printed out the counter sheets for Fall of Tobruk (Todd Davis, Cool Stuff Inc.), and you can see I was treating them prior to mounting. I've used the same board for spraying with the Krylon anti-UV for some time. It's probably well protected now. One of the problems I had was cutting these counters out. Because Todd had made them with a line for where to cut between the counters, I had to be very careful that I was cutting on the line, whether that made them perfectly square or not. The color slippage over the cut otherwise could cause some pretty odd visuals when you actually go to play the game. As it was, these counters turned out pretty square anyway, even not cutting by my usual methods. It is best not to use a JPG format image from your scanner. JPG is a lossy format, meaning in it's compression algorithms it tends to lose detail. Tiff is a much better format for not losing detail, but it takes up huge chunks of disk space by comparison. You have to make a judgment call on what format is best for you to reproduce the scanned sheet on your printer. Remember that the copyright for that sheet from the publisher is theirs. You can scan and print to make counters, but don't go distributing them to others without permission. Printing Counters When you get to the point you believe you no longer have errors or you have a scanned image you can work with, you're going to want to print off the best quality image you can. There's a couple options for the medium you may wish to print on when you're ready. Plain Paper Just about any form of white paper will do for this. 20lb paper with a high rating for brightness is a good choice if you're going to just glue the paper onto the backing you plan to use. If you use regular paper, you have to keep in mind what glue you're going to use, and using cardboard backing is a must. Card Stock Depending on the backing you plan to use for making the counters, this could be necessary. I have a ream of 110lb card stock I use to print play aids on since it's pretty stiff and can be used for reinforcement charts in a way that lets me pick it up and any counters laid on it without shifting them around. The advantage to printing on this is it is easier to position on your backing than 20lb paper and if your backing is the 2mm H �TUfoamiesUT �H, it adds the missing stiffness to the counters. Label paper I prefer this method because I don't like messing around with glue. The downside is that once you've gotten the label paper attached to the cardboard backing, you cannot move it. The advantage is the glue on the back is pretty uniform and you won't have to worry about hollows where the glue missed. Avery makes good full size sheets of this stuff, but so do several other paper companies. Colored paper or Colored Card stock The advantage of this is that you can purchase the colors for the counters and merely print the units without printing color. The downside of this is you can't do fancy coloring on the counters otherwise, so the silhouettes will have to be all black without detail. If you do counters with a gradient hue from the top of the counter to the bottom, you won't be able to do this at all. Depending on your printer, you can print at various different resolutions. If you really think you're going to see great detail on the silhouettes you've chosen on a 1/2" or 5/8" counter, you're probably mistaken, but sure, go for it. Print it at 1200 dpi. But realistically, you're going to do just fine at the normal or better quality printing (which may hit 600dpi, depending on your printer). You also have the option of taking the image on a disk or memory stick down to a print shop, perhaps Kinkos, and having them print it for you. Be aware that some of them expect at least 400dpi print quality, but if you have the image in a format they can print, you will be fine. My printer is a Lexmark Z65, and I get very good high quality print from it. I've tried utilizing some cartridge refill services and products, but typically those cartridges won't register properly with the printer, resulting in odd white shadows or other color shadows around critical lettering or other elements. To the left of the printer, you can see a box of 100 full sheet labels that I use to print counters. Staples has a house brand that is cheaper than using Avery label paper. And so do most of the office supply stores. I happened to pick up the Staples brand pretty inexpensively and have been using those to do counters for a while. If you want, you can also generate a PDF file from the document and print from that. There are some circumstances where that can be useful, say in the event you want to enlarge the image at the printer by 10% for whatever reason. I do that if I'm going to also print a copy of a map off that will be set to be 10% larger than the original. As I age, my vision suffers, so it's useful if I get a chance, to enlarge games I'm going to play over and over. Prior to Mounting Even if you're not printing your own counter sheets, but using the sheets sent to you by the DTP company, I find that a little protection is worth a bundle. The ink on the counter sheets is vulnerable to a bunch of environmental issues you probably won't notice yourself. Either sweat from someone's hand, or a spilled drink, or even just sitting in the sunlight (ink jet ink will fade over a period of about 6 months under constant exposure to ultraviolet light), you may wish to protect your counters. The best time to do so is before those counters are mounted on whatever backing you plan to use. Though you may wish to do this afterwards too to protect the sides and even to further bind the sheet to the backing. I've found that Krylon makes a perfectly good ink fixative and anti- UV coating spray. It comes in both a Matt and a Gloss finish, but I have not yet noticed any difference in the two. It does provide good protection against both moisture and the UV fade. I generally spray the counter sheet a couple times. It's important not to spray to make it look wet. Spray, step back, spray again. Give it a few sprays to get a coat on it that you feel good about, but don't worry if you can't see much. If it looks wet, you've put on too much and it will form all too solid a blot of the coating. The spray dries quickly, so expect it to seem like you've not actually sprayed it. Remember to tape the corners down when you spray. Otherwise the paper curls up on the edges. This ensures a smooth coating over the whole sheet. If the edges curl, when you try to flatten the sheet the coating may crack. There are other brands of anti-UV spray on fixative. I find for a 5 dollar can, I get a lot of use from the Krylon brand. A clear spray isn't the same though as anti-UV. It's worth looking to find the anti-UV to protect the ink from fade. There are several other brands available through art supply stores and catalogues, if you look around a bit. Attaching a Backing Once you have a counter sheet to work with, you'll want to consider how you want to back it for the counters. There's a wide range of cardboards out there. You can even pick out various colors if you hit the right art supply store. Most of the cardboards used for counter making are commonly used for mounting artwork or in picture frame mounting. There's a bunch of different thicknesses and sizes. Just walk into Dick Blick or Utrecht's and peruse their supply. Most hobby stores, such as Hobby Lobby, also carry a range of different cardboards. Additionally, there is the option of using something else, say the ����Foamies���� I've already mentioned. They're the right thickness for counters at 2mm, and are very easy to cut with an x-acto knife. They feel awfully light and tend to bend very easily, so it's strongly recommended you use a heavy card stock for the counter sheets if you use them. Anything from 80lb up will do. 2 mm Foamies. Foam rubber, not stiff, but sturdy enough. I personally find the material too light for counters, but others have reported success with this as backing material. At less than a dollar for a large sheet, this can work out if you like the feel of the counters you create with it. What I use is a 2mm cardboard available at Utrecht's Art Supply. It tends to run somewhere around $1.50 for a large sheet suitable for cutting up into a dozen 8.5x11 sections. The weight is pretty good and ultimately it's pretty solid for cardboard, thicker by a small bit than the normal unit counter in die- cut games, giving a comfortable weight for holding when making your moves. 2mm thick cardboard on the left (actually a very tiny amount less than 2mm), Foamie on the right (same thickness) Assuming you want to glue the counters directly onto the backing, there's several options you have to choose from for the glue. Rubber Cement Back in the days 'when', I used to use this. But it's really not very effective, and it has a disturbing tendancy to come undone over time. If you must use it, the best thing to do is to coat both surfaces that are going to be in contact, let them dry to a tacky stickiness, then attach them. Roll flat with an appropriate round tool. Then let the drying complete by letting sit a while longer. The major hazard is that when cutting the counters you will have the paper shift on the cardboard, causing some odd mismatches of the printed counters from the cardboard. White Glue Forget it. This old water soluble method will last only until the first humid day you experience. Roll on Glue I've no experience with this, but it's problematic. If you miss any part of the paper with it, you'll have hollows you will be struggling to fix on individual counters. Spray Fixative This stuff works very well but is very messy. Pictured left is the 3M remo