Last week I discussed the use of magnets for storage. This week I'm going to pimp their use for projects. While they're certainly useful for storing miniatures in a practical sense, they're also great to add to miniatures to give them some versatility and in some cases, pose-ability, though this is trickier. My primary example here is going to be using the Heavy Gear Blitz Caprice Army Box. I don't know if I've ever seen miniature more ripe for the magnetizing. But these principles can be applied to many multi-part miniatures, especially those that come in a single kit and can build multiple units.
I love rare earth magnets. They're the bee's knees for all kinds of hobby stuff. I use them in my scale models to add joints and mobility to parts that lack it; I use them to store things in and around the house, including in my portable hobby kit; I use them to mount and store miniatures; and I use them to give my miniatures 'hardpoints' so I can swap bits onto and off of them. I first learned about these marvels around twenty years ago when my friend used them to store his miniatures in a toolbox. It blew my mind; he could store things upside down, shake the box around, and be no worse for wear while I was using a shoebox and foam I'd cut using a boxcutter. His miniatures were always secure and separate from each other while mine were constantly having the paint rubbed off them. At the time, I couldn't afford to buy magnets and was using exclusively second-hand miniatures I'd gotten much earlier, and didn't buy a new miniature for years. But recently, I decided to reconsider these magnets and I was blown away to find out they've become cheap and widely available. I now buy them in bulk and use them for all kinds of stuff. So should you. Afterglow comes with some pretty nice (I think) printable templates to use as your stellar obstacles to complicate your tabletop hyperlight warfare. But I'll always advocate for using 3D obstacles because they just make the game look way cooler. Fortunately, Afterglow doesn't need a whole lot of "terrain" like most skirmish wargames do. In fact, I only own about ten real pieces and a bunch of spare templates. I made them all over the course of two leisurely days, so there's not a huge time commitment for these either. And of course, they're super cheap to build.
You can make or buy nicer-looking pieces, but this is all stuff anybody can do without breaking the bank; it might end up costing you ten dollars total. The other benefit of these is they're 100% functional; you can simply pick them up and remove them from the template marking their boundaries on the table, then put them back as needed. This lets you measure more accurately or move markers anywhere you need to, preserving both the integrity and aesthetics of the game. A departure from my usual ramblings about game design, this week I'm just going to talk about using miniatures in Afterglow and where you can get them. I don't own ships from most of these manufacturers, but they all produce product that people have vouched for I know and that would be a good fit with Afterglow.
|
Blogroll SearchArchives
September 2023
Categories
All
|