DYI Counters

[Hugmenot]

I finished my War on the Equator counters tonight. It was the first time I made 2-sided counters and I am not very satisfied the results.

It took me 3 hours to make - 2+ hours cutting with an exacto knife - and less then $2 of materials in addition to the two printed pages. Keep in mind I build a few PnP games a year and thus did not take the cost of the basic tools into account.

I included two Italian counters from Desert Rats for a comparison.

[JayTownsend]

They will look better once you clip the corners. I use to make AP download counters all the time but I highly doubt I ever make them again, as the time factor is too much!

[Shad]

...It was the first time I made 2-sided counters and I am not very satisfied the results.
It took me 3 hours to make...

Why I will never make my own counters:

1. The results will always be inferior to the professional versions.
   
2. Even one hour of my life is worth far more than the $12 I'd save buying the PnP version.
   
3. I derive no satisfaction whatsoever from the assembly process.
   

That about covers it!

[larry marak]

Plus a number of the replacement/expansion counters in recent downloads will be available through the gold club countersheet in this year's gc annual, which should be in our hands by the time I get back from Croatia. It will have been 40 years to the day since the last time I was in the land of the Yugo. I wonder if its aged as badly as I have.

[Hugmenot]

I see now I forgot to post my question.

Does anyone have tips on how to build better 2-sided counters? I derive a lot of satisfaction from the assembly process and assembling attractive 2-sided counters would motivate me to tackle more complex PnP (non-PG) projects.

Thanks!

[campsawyer]

Self adhesive Mailing labels, good color printer, double thick single wall cardboard, paper cutter and good scissors. Oh yes, alot of time.

Really like the laser-cut rather than homemade, with the rumbling around the mail truck, I didn't even need to punch them out not even corner cutting, just ready to play.

[plloyd1010]

Tips? Why yes I do. You will need some graphic editing to get nice results. This will be a Q&D outline.

1. Create a outsized cut guides on the front side, usually on a different layer. Flip the guide you just created and overlay it on the back layer.
   
2. Remove\erase\color-over the counter lines on the back sheet. Those mess you up.
   
3. Print and glue the sheets to heavy card-stock. I use manila folders. I also print half sheets for neatness.
   
4. Cut out the sheets along the outsized guides. Mostly this creates manageable chunks.
   
5. Glue the fronts & backs together. Be careful, but not having back lines helps cover mating errors.
   
6. Now cut out the counters along the counter boundaries.
   

It is important to use a non-water based glue. Spray adhesive or rubber cement work well. I like to spray coat to counter sections with shellack or acrylic between steps 4 & 5. I only use a X-acto knife to make a scoring cut, I use a rotary cutter for the actual separation sections and counters.

I prefer the DYI downloads because it lets me make mods and fixes. It is also good for a few extra counters. Let us know if this helps.

[JayTownsend]

When I use to make counters this is how I did mine: first I copy them from the web-site on to photo paper, then I glue both front and back sides of the counters to a 110 lbs card stock copy paper, with a Permanent Glue Stick by Avery, then I glue both backsides of the card stock together, clip the counters and there you go. I have started to get better with it each time I do it.

The finished counter then consist of a photo paper front, two card stock middles, a photo paper back and all together they are just about the same size as a normal counter.

I buy all three materials; photo paper, card stock paper & glue from any local gocery store. So far, all my counters have held up, the oldest being about three years old. I think clipping the corners at the end of the process really helps to seal them together.

I don't plan on doing anymore homemade counters however. The last ones I did were for my own game design Nihon Silk. I am always happy with the results but just not the time it takes to do them.

[Hugmenot]

Thanks plloyd. I will try a modified version of your process. I like my counters thick so in 3, I will glue the one of the sheets to chipboard and the other to heavy card-stock.

I find chipboard very easy to cut with an X-acto knife. I was using a denser but thinner material before but it was a pain to cut.

I will assemble Battle for Moscow and Napoleon at Waterloo next, assuming I don't get drafted into assembling science games for the kids.

[J6A]

I made DIY WotE counters when it first came out. My 1st venture into same. They were fair, at best. As soon as the laser cut ones arrived, they went in the trash.