Old School Counters/chits

[ripx187]

I have been all over the web looking for anyone who still publishes those old-school cardboard counters and haven't come up with much! I did find a guy who tells you how he makes his own, and a company that publishes blank ones. I have pondered making them out of hobby wood, and am kind of bummed out that I can't find any ink stamps, apparently I am old and still want ink stamps. Sure, you can use a computer printer, but printer ink is crazy expensive. Has anybody else have any luck?

[jmccann]

I make my own. The easiest way is printing onto 8 1/2" x 11" sticky paper (full page labels) and sticking them to cardboard. I use the cardboard backing of old notepads.

You could print files on a regular piece of paper at a copy shop and glue to cardboard. What kind of counters do you want to print?

[ripx187]

That is a great suggestion! Have an Exalt. I want to learn mass combat rules, I've got the AD&D 2e Battlesystem which looks like fun, it has lots of scenarios in it, I just need to prep the pieces. You're idea is much simpler than mine.

[jmccann]

Let me know if it would help for me to give you some blank countersheets - you can just edit them in a simple paint program. That sort of thing is pretty easy to do.

[jmccann]

Here is a link to a counter template. Just paste your images into the squares. Leave some of the gray lines to guide cutting, but it helps to extend colors past the theoretical edge of the counters because you can't cut perfectly. I like to have no more than 2 rows of counters adjacent so that cutting errors don't accumulate.

Oh, and especially if you use ink-jet printing, you might want to varnish or otherwise coat the counters. If you use a laser printer you won't have to worry about the toner running. The red ink especially is prone to run when it gets wet. I use a couple of coats of clear spray followed by a thin coat of matte - don't get carried away with the matte spray. I once had someone get mad at me on a forum because they gunked up their counters with too much matte varnish.

s3.amazonaws.com/context-g/games/wargame-graphics/counter-template-.5-inch-300-dpi.png

If you need some counter art for medieval or other periods you can find John Cooper's SPI counter graphics reimplementations here:
www.jrcooper.com/spilib.htm

He has other useful graphics too like map textures, as well as font recommendations.