Showing posts with label Beyond Valor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Beyond Valor. Show all posts

Friday, January 1, 2010

Happy New Year!

Now I don't like "resolutions". I think they're kind of dumb. But I do like "Things I want to get done!". Here we go:
  1. Punch out Beyond Valor. Sitting in my closet untouched is the base game. I'm going to hand clip every single counter and post the gory details on this blog. I've got to do it by hand because my C4 Corner Counter broke after doing about 20000 counters.
  2. Do a ASLSK demo. I've been planning on evangelizing the hobby by doing a demo of the game for a local game e-tailer (fungamescafe.com) who started carrying ASLSK1. Paul Paterson, who runs the website, has a monthly game day where dirty euros get played. I need to get in there and represent!
  3. Write more stuff on this blog in addition to the AARs. I'm considering widening the focus to wargaming in general but you know what? I think I get a few mentions of other things in from time to time so I'm pretty sure this blog will be ASL-centric for the foreseeable future. Any thoughts out there?
  4. Play more. 'nuff said.

Monday, January 12, 2009

C4 Unleashed!

This is a pretty empty Plano tackle box. In the past few days I've been putting the C4 Corner Cutter through its paces to fill up a Plano or two. Now I should have gone to my Beyond Valor's 14 counter sheets but I decided on the slighty easier to approach counters in The Devil's Cauldron (TDC being the first in the Grand Tactical Series from MMP -- it's a huge monster game with a bajillion counters but some very approachable rules). TDC has all 5/8" counters (or larger) and I felt a little more comfortable with this size just to start.

Here's a sample of a counter sheet to C4 to clipped counter stack. First start with a few rows of related counters like the EVENT ones from TDC.

Grab yer trusty Xacto hobby knife and separate your counters by rows. (You don't actually "punch" them out do you?!)

Here's a few rows getting stacked and prepped for their trip into the C4.


Note the switch from sharp pointy Xacto blade to flat, chisel-tip!


Above is a stack of counters in the C4 with the "snugger" on the opposite side of the cutting end. The snugger helps you keep the whole stack even when your blade zips through them.


Voila! The stack is transformed into a clipped stack of counters and a small pile of very neat triangular bits suitable for kindling!

Here's what the contraption with blade looks like in action. Thanks to wifey for taking the action pics. Note the awesome cutting skillz. That's right, skills with a Z. The blade makes a super cool and very very satisfying "zzzzzzzippppppp" sound as you chunk the counters.

Here's a side view of the action. Again, note the mad skillz. Mad, yo!

And here's a close-up of my cuticles and semi-awesome manicure. Wow! You thought the Prawn had nice hands...


Not content to just clip a couple of stacks, here's the 82nd Airborne lining up for a C4 crew cut. How long would this take a regular non-C4 clip? Probably longer than the actual Operation Market Garden. However, with the C4 I was done in about 15 minutes and I was pretty sure 95% of the clips were exactly the same and even.

Here's the 82nd Airborne hanging out with the 1st Airborne. Note the COOOL clippings.

Here's another Plano full of information marker counters (and the large activation chits this game is famous for).

All that's left is the clean up. I use a slighty tacky sticky paper thingy to quickly sweep up the bits and then chuck it into the trash.

Counter clipping, surely the hobby of the damned! Next up? Beyond Valor's 50 hojillion 1/2" counters!!!