In a slight detour from the normal toy soldier theme, I thought I’d share my experiences about card protectors. Card what I hear you say!?!
Well, Warmachine uses trading card sized stat cards. On these damage (and other things) are marked off during the game. Great, except you will want to use this stat cards for more than one game.
The obvious solution to this is to encase the card in clear plastic and use a drywipe marker to mark off damage so the cards can be reused.
They are various ways to do this:
- Laminate the card. Cheap and durable, however if you play a lot, even drywipe markers can permanently mark plastic rendering the card unusable.
- Trading Card folder sleeves. This looks like a great idea and keeps everything organised. Typically this sleeves are A4 or letter sized and normally hold nine cards. However unless you play a set list, chances are you will have to get out more cards than you need. On the plus side, it is easy to replace the card sleeves if the non-permanent marker decides to become permanent.
- Single CCG Card sleeves. This is the solution I’ve gone for. Each card is individually protected and fits nicely in my dice bag, and if necessary, each sleeve can be replaced.
A regular Warmachine player recommended the Dragon Shield range of CCG card sleeves and I have to say they have been excellent. They are made from stiffer plastic than the ultra-pro card sleeves and seem to do the job very well (the Ultra Pro sleeves seem a little lightweight to me).
Strangely, these are made in Denmark, which is interesting because I’ve just brought a second box of this from a games shop in Herning, in Denmark. This will be very faintly relevant later.
Whilst on the topic of dragons, I can also thoroughly recommend How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell. I’ve been listing to the audio books read by David ‘Doctor Who’ Tennent all week and they are great fun (and kept the kids entertained in the car for hours).
These books are very different from the movie of the same name, and I have to say significantly more entertaining. 10/10!
And finally, here is a picture of the north sea from Jutland, Denmark. This is one of reasons why there hasn’t been a more ‘wargaming’ orientated blog update this time. Despite my best intentions, I didn’t paint either of the warjacks I brought on holiday with me.
Ho hum…
Anything Worth Doing... 