What surface for playing out battles?
- Thread starter PaladinOO
- Start date
Alexander Cecil
Mongoose
A large dry erase board (maybe 2'x3') works really well in a pinch, and it even sort-of frees you from the precise placement on a grid.
I have also used large poster graph paper, with maybe 1" squares. You can draw the maps, edit them as you go, and also still accommodate miniatures.
I have also used large poster graph paper, with maybe 1" squares. You can draw the maps, edit them as you go, and also still accommodate miniatures.
dmccoy1693
Cosmic Mongoose
SSWarlock said:
If you're on a serious budget, you can find irregulars of these quite inexpensive. And I have not noticed a problem with mine.
Gee... Now that is a question....
Well, I have a Chessex mat in 16mm hex, 1 inch hex, 1 inch squares.
Recently I have been using the 16mm mat mostly.
But... There is always a but...
I have been tinkering over the past few years over the perfect size to build tiles in... The base scale has ever really changed, in general it is 1/100 or 1 cm = 1 meter (or 3/8ths of an inch to the meter) which as a unit choice is a little small for most 15mm figure bases. So think I have settled on 3/4 inch = 2 meters as my base tile/hex size with a staggered square arraignment.
I would have gone with 9/16ths for a 1.5 meter grid, but like true 15mm mass quantities of tiles are hard to come up with.
Now with all that being said Litko Aerosystems will do their Space Corridor system at 60% for an approx 21mm square at list price with a special order, so other options are being considered.
Well, I have a Chessex mat in 16mm hex, 1 inch hex, 1 inch squares.
Recently I have been using the 16mm mat mostly.
But... There is always a but...
I have been tinkering over the past few years over the perfect size to build tiles in... The base scale has ever really changed, in general it is 1/100 or 1 cm = 1 meter (or 3/8ths of an inch to the meter) which as a unit choice is a little small for most 15mm figure bases. So think I have settled on 3/4 inch = 2 meters as my base tile/hex size with a staggered square arraignment.
I would have gone with 9/16ths for a 1.5 meter grid, but like true 15mm mass quantities of tiles are hard to come up with.
Now with all that being said Litko Aerosystems will do their Space Corridor system at 60% for an approx 21mm square at list price with a special order, so other options are being considered.
We don't use a board, don't use figures either.
We tested it but found it slows it all down,and leads to a potential lack of mental imagination regarding "the scene" being played out. Maybe this matters to some more than others, but we rather enjoy visualising the action.
Everyone just says where they are and where they are going. GM keeps a rough track of ranges and other bits.
All the figure placements and the like just boil down to the odd +- factor here and there anyway, so we didn't think it's justified itself.
I don't think combat should be "Oh my turn, I run 6m, halt,shoot" which is effectively what you get , even thought it's clearly not what it represents, it's what you end up with.
You also get certain moments in the sequence where a player will act as if they had precognition, as they know their place on a future timeline "I know I can do this...because after my turn villain A will act, then villain B, so I'd better do this now..."
I also feel that using figures gives players a far too accurate picture in my opinion. Combat = chaos. Exact positions give them too much information and so too easy.
Winging seemed far more fluid and combat like, as opposed to a very artificially staggered timeframe. I recommend giving it a try, but its not everyones taste; being an avid tabletop wargamer I am well aware of the appeal of those lead heroes.
It is after all an RPG, so I thought. And all my ramblings is only applicable to the player party small stuff anyways.
Well there's a few bones of contention. Probably enough bones for a whole skeleton of contention.
We tested it but found it slows it all down,and leads to a potential lack of mental imagination regarding "the scene" being played out. Maybe this matters to some more than others, but we rather enjoy visualising the action.
Everyone just says where they are and where they are going. GM keeps a rough track of ranges and other bits.
All the figure placements and the like just boil down to the odd +- factor here and there anyway, so we didn't think it's justified itself.
I don't think combat should be "Oh my turn, I run 6m, halt,shoot" which is effectively what you get , even thought it's clearly not what it represents, it's what you end up with.
You also get certain moments in the sequence where a player will act as if they had precognition, as they know their place on a future timeline "I know I can do this...because after my turn villain A will act, then villain B, so I'd better do this now..."
I also feel that using figures gives players a far too accurate picture in my opinion. Combat = chaos. Exact positions give them too much information and so too easy.
Winging seemed far more fluid and combat like, as opposed to a very artificially staggered timeframe. I recommend giving it a try, but its not everyones taste; being an avid tabletop wargamer I am well aware of the appeal of those lead heroes.
It is after all an RPG, so I thought. And all my ramblings is only applicable to the player party small stuff anyways.
Well there's a few bones of contention. Probably enough bones for a whole skeleton of contention.
collins355
Cosmic Mongoose
Laminated poster-sized graph paper. For outdoors I add my wargaming terrain. For indoors just draw the outlines in blue erasable ink. Use 15mm Laserburn figures plus a few Citadel Traveller minis when required for Aslan/Vargr/Droyne.
Delerium said:
The last part is definitely correct
I like the "draw it on a board" approach. I have found that unless the Ref gives amazingly precise descriptions and all the players are
a) listening,
b) working from the same assumptions as the GM,
c) have very good recall
"descriptions" of fights tend to devolve into
"But that's all the way over there! How did you get past the lava pit!?"
"Oh, I thought you said the lava pit was east of the shuttle, not west."
misunderstandings that just get in the way. The important thing to remember, though, is that the map is a guideline "the map is not the terrain".
Our experience with miniatures in RPGs is relatively limited. We found in D & D 3.5 it makes a enormous difference but that game is designed to use miniatures so is a bit of a curve breaker. For other games they are helpful, you can see where everyone is and as a GM it eliminates the annoyingly vague Schrödinge'’s cat style location some players favour. With Traveller of course it fits in very well with the deckplans – which in the dim and distant past spawned its own boardgames Azhanti High Lightning and Snapshot.
I have very few 15mm figures including a very few of the Traveller ones GW did but for this it is a better scale than 28mm simply because it is smaller, you can fit a bigger ship onto a smaller page – and smaller table than you can for 28mm figures though I think you might be able to squeeze a Broadsword onto a series of A3 sheets as I vaguely recall drawing them out.
We have some old one inch gridded card about A2 sized that came from some RPG or wargame related publisher in the dim and distant past that works quite well when placed in one of the big clear plastic sleeves you get for artist's portfolios.
Back in the days of A. D. & D. second edition my brother had a lot of success using simple cardboard counters he drew out himself for the characters and the various hostiles (including a frighteningly large dragon). I think this might be a valid course especially if you look at the preprinted figures from SJG (if they still do them) or the many printable ones one can get from RPGNow and the like which combined with printable card terrain – some even in 3D – might almost be too much of a good thing.
We did briefly consider using Lego minifigs for the PCs but decided against it as the whole evening would degenerate into a session of playing with Lego - and I would have to explain why I have modern Lego [1] and not just the old classic Space stuff and it would probably have ended with someone trying to build a Far Trader with Lego.
Notes
1, It is my brother's fault, he bought me one of the Star Wars sets for my birthday. Now his daughter is old enough we can buy it legitimately.
I have very few 15mm figures including a very few of the Traveller ones GW did but for this it is a better scale than 28mm simply because it is smaller, you can fit a bigger ship onto a smaller page – and smaller table than you can for 28mm figures though I think you might be able to squeeze a Broadsword onto a series of A3 sheets as I vaguely recall drawing them out.
We have some old one inch gridded card about A2 sized that came from some RPG or wargame related publisher in the dim and distant past that works quite well when placed in one of the big clear plastic sleeves you get for artist's portfolios.
Back in the days of A. D. & D. second edition my brother had a lot of success using simple cardboard counters he drew out himself for the characters and the various hostiles (including a frighteningly large dragon). I think this might be a valid course especially if you look at the preprinted figures from SJG (if they still do them) or the many printable ones one can get from RPGNow and the like which combined with printable card terrain – some even in 3D – might almost be too much of a good thing.
We did briefly consider using Lego minifigs for the PCs but decided against it as the whole evening would degenerate into a session of playing with Lego - and I would have to explain why I have modern Lego [1] and not just the old classic Space stuff and it would probably have ended with someone trying to build a Far Trader with Lego.
Notes
1, It is my brother's fault, he bought me one of the Star Wars sets for my birthday. Now his daughter is old enough we can buy it legitimately.
qstor
Banded Mongoose
klingsor said:
One DM I had was a Lego fanatic. He ran a whole D&D campaign with the bad guys as Lego mini. He even went out and bought extra Lego sets for the game. He wasn't married and had no kids so all the purchases were legit
I think it would be very cool if Mongoose made the 28mm plastic minis for Traveller like the D&D Minis from WOTC. Metal ones are good but tend to break when I throw them in my backpack
Mike
Susssh, don't mention plastic miniatures, that always sarts a s**tstorm. I agree though, they would be perfect. Some of the Star Wars ones might work now though.
Ground Zero Games does many miniatures which have been influenced by Traveller and 2300 so if you want Traveller miniatures in 15 or 28mm they are definitely worth a look though they tend to be true 28mm figures so are rather small by modern standards (at this point I will usually rant for a paragraph about the lack of standards in this hobby, comparing it disparagingly with model railways but I cannot be bothered).
Ground Zero Games does many miniatures which have been influenced by Traveller and 2300 so if you want Traveller miniatures in 15 or 28mm they are definitely worth a look though they tend to be true 28mm figures so are rather small by modern standards (at this point I will usually rant for a paragraph about the lack of standards in this hobby, comparing it disparagingly with model railways but I cannot be bothered).
I use foamcore posterboard, with clear countertop laminate. I got 3 boards of 30"x43" for $15. I grided one before the laminate, and left the others blank. I dont like the grid that much, use inches instead.
Most of my groups, in all game systems seem to like big combat brawls. without minis it rapidly disolves into who is where, and when did that move. Yes real combat is screaming chaos, but the rocks and bunkers and so forth do not infact move around.
And no this is not meant as a swipe, for small groups, descirption works just fine.
Most of my groups, in all game systems seem to like big combat brawls. without minis it rapidly disolves into who is where, and when did that move. Yes real combat is screaming chaos, but the rocks and bunkers and so forth do not infact move around.
And no this is not meant as a swipe, for small groups, descirption works just fine.
qstor said:I think it would be very cool if Mongoose made the 28mm plastic minis for Traveller like the D&D Minis from WOTC. Metal ones are good but tend to break when I throw them in my backpack
I don't care about the plastic so much as the size.
Pre-painted 15mm would be fine by me.
klingsor said:
Just a point of order GZGs does not do 28mm figures. They have an extensive line of 25mm figures that are sculpted to that spec.
With that in mind em4 has been reproducing the Space Lords Battle clones (again 25mm figures) that make wonderful Zhodani troops. Denizen makes some SF figures as well that fit in with 25mm figures.
I bring this up in that the old Grenadier Boxed sets of Traveller figure where 25mm and as such don't fit in with the newer 28mm+ figures very well.
The RAFM character figures are somewhere between 25mm and 28mm so the size differential doesn't show as much.
AS side note, in general 25mm figures will fit on 20mm bases and 28mm figure won't.
Another amusing note is that GWs Space marines are in scale with 25mm if you follow their fluff. It's that the rest of their troops are too big....
:twisted:
