Combat Stones and Initiative Counters

[Carcharoth]

I'm having a think how I might do some new Combat stones and Initiative counters so i thought I would do a quick poll. You can vote for as many options as you like, but comments would be particularly useful!

Combat stones:
The current stones are cast in metal, so are small by necessity. They have lovely solid feel to them, but I can see a lot of people finding them too small and fiddly. If I want to do bigger stones then I'll have to change the material and I'll probably see if resin is viable. How big do you think they should be?

Initiative counters:
The existing counters are glass beads. I originally had lovely frosted beads, but they stopped making them so I've shifted to more standard colours. They work well enough, but I've been thinking it would be fun to do some initiative stones in resin. That would give me a nice level of control over the look and feel for them and I could just vary the colour to give different themes.
It then comes down to a matter of style... Would you like smooth pebbles, or something more ornate? Would you like to see a big twilight logo plastered across the stones, a more subtle 'T' or something more abstract and in-keeping with the world itself?

[Lost Egg]

I like the solid feel of the combat stones as they are but I can understand you wanting to move to resin.

I like the idea of keeping the combat stones to look and feel like stone, perhaps something can be added to the resin?

For the initiative counters, I think faction specific would be cool, with each reflecting the culture they are for so the Devanu could be claw-scratched bone as an example.

Cre

[serin]

I like the current combat stones in terms of size and weight. The size is useful if you have a number to cast.
I am not sure about the initiative stones being too ornate, could get damaged in the bag!

[Carcharoth]

Here's what I've done so far!



The Empire stones are slightly bigger than the old metal ones. The Delgon and Devanu are a bit more different! More prone to landing on their edges, but that'll just add to the tension...

[Lost Egg]

The stones are looking good.

The template looks much like the last one...or has it been tweaked?

[Carcharoth]

It is much like the last one at the moment, but we are working on some alternatives!

[Lost Egg]

Cool =)

[TuffSkull]

I dont see any need to change the blast template much - its a very nice looking piece of kit as it is!

[Lost Egg]

I wasn't suggesting it needed changing, just wondered

[eddieharr]

I have the metal combat stones and find it very hard to see them. How do you make it easier to see what they are on the table?

[Kryptovidicus]

I have the metal combat stones and find it very hard to see them. How do you make it easier to see what they are on the table?

You could paint them in different colours.

[eddieharr]

But then I have these issues:

1. I want them to all be the same color as it is easier to hide what you choose.
2. I think they should all be the same color, just want the symbol to pop somehow.
3. When casting them, if painted, I can see how the paint will constantly chip away.

What my friend has done is he uses different colored dice, red for attack and blue for defense. A 4-6 is a success.

Id rather use the stones, just hard to see (and very tiny).

[TuffSkull]

I painted mine and loved the results, but you are quite right, they have chipped over time with use and barely hold a flake of paint now.

Just inking the bare metal and then varnishing the heck out of them seems to be the best way from others who have tried, although I've not got around to stripping the remaining paint off of mine and doing this myself yet, as I've switched to the resin stones which are larger and easier to see.

[Carcharoth]

I put red ink into the symbol on the Eracs and green on Oran - it's quick and easy to do and makes them easy to spot. My set have been used a lot over the years and have acquired a nice burnished feel to them where they've been bashed together so many times.

For the game day last year I needed to have lots of sets so I splashed ink on the symbol on all of them (less accurately as I had planned to wipe off the excess, but that didn't work as intended and it left that face with a hint of the colour - they still look good though). After they dried I put them all in an old icecream tub and shook them violently for a few minutes. It made a lot of noise, but bashed down any remnants of mouldlines and where I had clipped them off the sprue and gave them the burnished look.

The metal stones were small by necessity, but I made the resin stones much bigger so they would be easier to see. I've not used them as much, but I quite like the feel of them (and the stronger distinction between player's stones).

[eddieharr]

So you just put the ink directly on the metal? Meaning, no spray coat and then ink? Great! Ill do that