I see a lot of people using tape measures for their gaming. Is there a bendable measuring stick out there on the market or has anyone made their own?
Thanks
Hello am
I've used inkjet OHT sheets to make flexible, transparent measuring tapes as well as blast templates etc. You just have to be able to make sure that you get the sizing right.
Cheers
GrumpyOldMan
I just use things like this:
(https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/shopping?q=tbn:ANd9GcSDIvTt1PKHu8LTqcomVFFpNukaZZMSI6bqHgkW5sxyn7hCuU_fzwdiZNGquKiRYeZsrd1OpLY&usqp=CAE)
Flexible, convenient, easy to obtain and cheap, they work with any rule system where measuring is required!
People who insist on using these stupid measuring sticks designed for a particular game drive me crazy ... drive me even crazier than I already am. :)
Quote from: acctingman on 16 August 2016, 09:39:11 PM
I see a lot of people using tape measures for their gaming. Is there a bendable measuring stick out there on the market or has anyone made their own?
Thanks
If you only need a foot, flexible plastic rules are common school supplies (at least here).
Quote from: Ithoriel on 16 August 2016, 11:20:33 PM
People who insist on using these stupid measuring sticks designed for a particular game drive me crazy ... drive me even crazier than I already am. :)
I actually really like making measuring sticks and do so with great abandon (even have a lifetime supply of dowel rods just for this purpose).
Of course I have so many now that I don't know which goes with which rules and have to get out my trusty tape measure to figure it out BUT I really like making them sticks. :)
Quote from: Ithoriel on 16 August 2016, 11:20:33 PM
I just use things like this:
(https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/shopping?q=tbn:ANd9GcSDIvTt1PKHu8LTqcomVFFpNukaZZMSI6bqHgkW5sxyn7hCuU_fzwdiZNGquKiRYeZsrd1OpLY&usqp=CAE)
Flexible, convenient, easy to obtain and cheap, they work with any rule system where measuring is required!
People who insist on using these stupid measuring sticks designed for a particular game drive me crazy ... drive me even crazier than I already am. :)
And me, all the way. Never used those new-fangled measuring stick thingamajigs.
MickS
Quote from: Subedai on 17 August 2016, 07:53:34 PM
And me, all the way. Never used those new-fangled measuring stick thingamajigs.
MickS
I'm with you on that one. I have some small 1m tapes which I got years ago (in fact they may be 39" tapes") which are very light and handy.
You could always go with the likes of Square Bashing and To the Strongest, which don't use measuring at all, or alternatively Kallistra's hex-based games.
Leman's right, squares/hexes are a good way to go also. But I like sticks. The are light and fairly unhandy, and you can poke an eye out with them BUT you don't need magnifying lens to read them and they are superb for batting things across the table :)
I do find the brass/steel 1" segment measuring stick my brother gave me as a present is particularly useful when I put it together in alternating 3" segments for BBB.
Quote from: Leman on 17 August 2016, 08:17:48 PM
You could always go with the likes of Square Bashing and To the Strongest, which don't use measuring at all, or alternatively Kallistra's hex-based games.
Or Crossfire
Hexes just don't do it for me for land games. Seeing the Old Guard stagger drunkenly up to La Haye Sainte following a line of hexes just doesn't seem right.
Air and naval games with hexes on the other hand don't bother me.
Mr. Consistent, me! :)
Also, 3" .... who uses inches these days?
MM......BBB, that's who. Especially since links with the continent were severed - much to Ian's undoubted pleasure.
Ah well, since we haven't actually severed ties with the continent, and hopefully never will, I'll stick with proper measurements. :)
So you're going inches then?
I find inches a more gentlemanly measure for wargaming. Tends to force one into large distance units. In my rules, the minimum measure is 1". Never use 1/2 inches.
As the bishop said to the actress.
QuoteAlso, 3" .... who uses inches these days?
I'm on a one man crusade to remove the inch from wargaming, our figures are metric, our base sizes are metric so why use the imperial scale for movement?
Quote from: DanJ on 18 August 2016, 01:49:51 PM
I'm on a one man crusade to remove the inch from wargaming, our figures are metric, our base sizes are metric so why use the imperial scale for movement?
Because some of us live in the States? :) Although personally I can go both ways (in measuring units :D)
I grew up with inches; they work for me and thank god that Chris Pringle went with inches. One man crusade? You're on your own. While I'm at it - FoG, mms, lousy rules; BBB, inches, superb rules.
Quote from: Leman on 18 August 2016, 02:35:26 PM
I grew up with inches; they work for me and thank god that Chris Pringle went with inches. One man crusade? You're on your own. While I'm at it - FoG, mms, lousy rules; BBB, inches, superb rules.
<blush>
Quote from: DanJ on 18 August 2016, 01:49:51 PM
I'm on a one man crusade to remove the inch from wargaming, our figures are metric, our base sizes are metric so why use the imperial scale for movement?
Why inches? By God, Sir, if we can't use Imperial measures for the Imperial Age then when can we use them? I'll remind you that Germany only went metric in 1872, Austria in 1876, and Russia in 1924. Be thankful I used good solid British inches, not Zolle or vershoks.
But more seriously: Unless you're into micron-tolerance tournament games where fiddling those extra millimetres is crucial, centimetres really are just too small, especially for those of the wargaming generation whose eyes aren't what they used to be. The foot is a useful distance for which no convenient metric equivalent exists. In BBB, everything is in 3" increments. Yes, I could have said 75mm or 7.5cm. Actually I sort of did, since I give the 1"=25mm conversion on p2 of BBB for those who prefer metric. But thinking in terms of 3", 6", 9", 12" is quick and easy, whereas 75mm, 150mm, 225mm, 300mm is just a bit clumsier.
Anyway, the 30cm measuring sticks that I use, painted in 75mm sections, make that Imperial vs metric discussion redundant. And unlike tape measures, my clumsy mate can't accidentally hit the release button and fling soldiers off the table when the tape reels itself in.
Hooray for bespoke measuring sticks, say I.
Chris
Bloody Big BATTLES!
https://uk.groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/BBB_wargames/info
http://bloodybigbattles.blogspot.co.uk/
Quote from: Leman on 18 August 2016, 02:35:26 PM
I grew up with inches; they work for me and thank god that Chris Pringle went with inches. One man crusade? You're on your own. While I'm at it - FoG, mms, lousy rules; BBB, inches, superb rules.
Can't imagine BBB would be any different for using a sensible unit of measurement ... nor for that matter that FoG would be any better for being in inches.
I grew up with inches too and am glad to be done with them.
Measuring in Base Widths gets round the problem in some ways but introduces other problems instead, for me.
I don't mind inches or cm, but have a real aversion to "base widths". I can see it adds regularity but its just another mental calculation you have to do which I feel is needless.
Years ago I made a set of "measuring sticks and firing sticks " for my regular rules. They had all the various moves on for each troop type, but each stick the measurements varied slightly to all the other sticks The idea being to pick a measurement stick for that move and used it for the entire move, so you could not know exactly how far your infantry would move or fire that go, So none of thie " I will move my troops to 7 inches away as my missile range is 8 and yours is 7.
I game in inches and in cm's. I don't care wich one it is, as long as it's full numbers. no 23 mm or 7/8 of an inch.
Quote from: Ithoriel on 17 August 2016, 09:31:00 PM
Ah well, since we haven't actually severed ties with the continent, and hopefully never will, I'll stick with proper measurements. :)
Leman beat me to it..... inches then?
Generally, I use both a tape measure and small rulers (these 1 metre long tape measures sound good, Nobby). I prefer inches to cm (but will use cm e,g., Honours of War). Easier to see! :-B
My 'collection' is now only in 10mm and 15mm and when using rules written in inches for 28mm figures, I'm never happy with substituting centimetres for inches as often suggested in these rules. Plus my existing base sizes tend to differ from those recommended by most rules. I've therefore been known to make my own measuring sticks with my own unit of measurements (e.g., 1 unit of measurement = 3/4 inch or 1.5 cm) out of wooden dowelling, strips of wood (available in DIY stores) or mounting board (obtainable in art stores) - the latter two are also useful as you can write in ranges and movement rates. However, I now tend to make up (or crib from others) Quick Reference Sheets written in 3/4, 2/3 or 1/2 scale measurements (e.g., Black Powder, Honours of War, etc.)
Base widths are great - my bases are 1 inch wide! :D
I also like the 1" square base for 10mm, although I have been known to settle for 25mm square.
Sword and Shield uses HALF base width as a measurement - not an intuitive measurement.
Of course I could mention the hex, which is neither inch or centimetre. I rather like that my guns can fire out to 6 hexes (etc).
Continuing to flog the dead horse. If base widths are standard in a rules set and used as the basis for distance measurement, then sticks are wonderful. I make them with the divisions in alternating colours. Very easy to read at a distance. Like Leman, probably Westie, and certainly others, virtually all my 10mm are on 1" squares. I now use sabots for most games so units can be assembled in a multitude of ways.
Chris, thanks for the apologia of sticks - well done! =D>
Have I said I like sticks?
Quote from: Norm on 19 August 2016, 01:45:01 PM
Sword and Shield uses HALF base width as a measurement - not an intuitive measurement.
Of course I could mention the hex, which is neither inch or centimetre. I rather like that my guns can fire out to 6 hexes (etc).
A hex on that - although it does work rather well for ships.
Quote from: Westmarcher on 19 August 2016, 08:34:48 AM
Generally, I use both a tape measure and small rulers (these 1 metre long tape measures sound good, Nobby).
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rolson-50562-Tape-Measure-Pieces/dp/B006A7CVUY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1471705483&sr=8-1&keywords=1m+tape+measure (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rolson-50562-Tape-Measure-Pieces/dp/B006A7CVUY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1471705483&sr=8-1&keywords=1m+tape+measure)