VBAM ship counters

OldnGrey · Post by **OldnGrey** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 12:36 pm

Are there any plans to release counters for the ships in the various VBAM books?
Actual top downs, not the grey shapes.

I know I can make my own likeness given a 3/4 view of a ship but it takes me a while and is a pain.

I have been asking for top view counters on mj12 forum for a while with no reply. The preference (for the likes of Iron Stars) seems to be for tents with side view.

Paul

mwaschak · Post by **mwaschak** » Mon Feb 09, 2009 1:16 pm

Counters, eh? Yeah we have tons of counters.

The complete BK counters are found in the Starmada Edition source book if you have that. I think those have also been posted in electronic format too. Are there any in particular you are looking for? I think we have BK, EW, and even some unofficial sources covered.

-Jay

For example:
(Browse down to files) http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/16591

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/filepage/35130

OldnGrey · Post by **OldnGrey** » Mon Feb 09, 2009 3:11 pm

Thanks, but these are the grey shapes that I mentioned. I have all of the books (so I have those) and I was hoping that eventually the counters would become more like the Babylon 5, Star Trek etc, where the top view of the ship is shown. Not unlike the ones that I put into my booklets for Anteatman and Octopodians (which I know could do with an update).

It may seem strange but I like to know what my ships look like.

Paul

mwaschak · Post by **mwaschak** » Mon Feb 09, 2009 3:35 pm

Hi Paul,

I think you are the first person to actually ask for a full color counter-sheet. Tyrel may have the EW counters in color from his B5 Wars conversions, but I personally don't for the BK universe. I have some color schemes established for the minis, but nothing in counter-form (yet). If it is of interest I can put it in the queue

.

Thanks!
-Jay

OldnGrey · Post by **OldnGrey** » Mon Feb 09, 2009 4:01 pm

Thanks Jay,

Models are very nice but there comes a point when cost, painting and the weight on the floorboards get too much.
That's why I started making my own. That and the room needed, counters can go into a file and using magnetic material, the board can be put at an angle or fixed to a wall.

That is one point that I cannot make enough times, I think that a vertical (or almost) board enables more people to enjoy the hobby (thinking of disabled and more senior people.)

Paul

mwaschak · Post by **mwaschak** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 12:57 pm

No problem. When you say color counters though, do you mean colored ships, or simply counters that are shaded to the appropriate affiliation?

All the best,
-Jay

OldnGrey · Post by **OldnGrey** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 1:58 pm

Colored ships. I make mine with a plain black background so that Weapon arcs towards the edge are clear and edged with affiliation color.

I cannot understand why mj12 have not brought out a pdf of such counters, It looks like the ships shown in the books were done in 3D software. Would it have been so hard to render top views for a book of counters?

Paul

Tyrel Lohr · Post by **Tyrel Lohr** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 6:49 pm

I don't have many top-down renders for the Escalation Wars ships, and I don't think any exist for the BK units, either. Well, except for maybe the Terran Union Monitor. However, I will try sorting through what I have and see what is available.

I did do two-color counters for the Escalation Wars ships back in the day, but that isn't what you are looking for. As I recall, the counters you created were also octagonal instead of hexagonal, but I have to go back and double check to see if I am remembering things correctly or not.

OldnGrey · Post by **OldnGrey** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 7:22 pm

Thank you.
The ones I make are Dodecagons (12 sided). 30 degree sides originally for FT but works just as well for Starmada with or without a hex grid.

There are a few views in the books which could be converted to a counter but earlier books like BK only have sketches and Silhouettes.
I guess I could extrapolate some from the Silhouettes if actual pictures do not exist.

Was there a particular color scheme envisaged for the ships in BK?

Paul

Tyrel Lohr · Post by **Tyrel Lohr** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 7:50 pm

OldnGrey wrote:Thank you.
The ones I make are Dodecagons (12 sided). 30 degree sides originally for FT but works just as well for Starmada with or without a hex grid.

Okay, dodecagons -- if I played Full Thrust that probably would have been intuitive. It also goes to show how hazy my memory is! All of the counters I have made are all just square counters, as that is what I am used to (and they cut out easier).

OldnGrey wrote:There are a few views in the books which could be converted to a counter but earlier books like BK only have sketches and Silhouettes.
I guess I could extrapolate some from the Silhouettes if actual pictures do not exist.

There isn't any artwork for the BK ships, unfortunately. Ian Stead did some renders of some of the ships, but we haven't published those anywhere, and we would need to check with him again to see how much he would charge for those. For right now, you could probably guess as to the details of the ship and be sure that you are as close as can be expected

OldnGrey wrote:Was there a particular color scheme envisaged for the ships in BK?

From what I gather, the Kuissians were supposed to be purples and blues, I think. I am not sure what color the Boltian ships are supposed to be.

-Tyrel

ianstead · Post by **ianstead** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 9:52 pm

By the mighty power of 56K dial-up...

I did a 'box' counter for the Ibuki Warship from Wars Of Boltians/Kuissans.

I can quite happily render flat ones of the ships I have..

Tyrel Lohr · Post by **Tyrel Lohr** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 10:18 pm

He lives!

Glad to see that you're still out there, Ian!

-Tyrel

mwaschak · Post by **mwaschak** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 1:28 pm

Tyrel Lohr wrote:He lives!

Glad to see that you're still out there, Ian!

Welcome back!

Tyrel hired several explorers and a team of sled dogs to start searching Hudson Bay when the spring returned in case your ship failed to find the fabled "Northwest Passage".

Kuissian ships are marked by their ruling party, which becomes an issue in the next book. I am still working on the official colors of the Boltian, MagHur, and Terran navies. Right now Ian and I worked out a branding system on the Terran fleets which marks which fleet they belong to, like a Griffon emblem for the Ninth Fleet and so on.

-Jay

Chyll · Post by **Chyll** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 5:05 pm

mwaschak wrote:Right now Ian and I worked out a branding system on the Terran fleets which marks which fleet they belong to, like a Griffon emblem for the Ninth Fleet and so on.

-Jay

Sounds like a familiar issue from the Stars Divided work...

You realize the madness that follows, right?
Decals where are our decals!

mwaschak · Post by **mwaschak** » Thu Feb 12, 2009 9:06 pm

Chyll wrote: Decals where are our decals!

Wait, seriously?

-Jay