Eisenhower: markers and terrain

 

 

Picking up paper markers without long finger-nails is extremely awkward so I printed the designs from the SHAEF document onto self-adhesive labels and stuck them to MDF bases. The objective markers are flipable between Allied and Axis and the unit status markers between Worn and Exhausted.

 

 

For Prepared positions I created some 3D markers using 10mm resin sandbag emplacements from ScaleFiend. I need to get more of these. I'll be using them as markers for 10mm, 6mm and 3mm armies, though they are obviously only in scale with the largest of these.

 

Finally, I made some 4" square Bocage markers using strips of pan scourer. This one is a prototype and a bit messy. It's not quite finished but basically there. I don't intend to paint them. As with the low-relief BUAs and woods I made for Blucher, they're symbolic rather than realistic and the units will be sitting on top rather than 'within' the features. They will look best with 3mm models but will do as markers for 6mm and 10mm. As based, 3mm, 6mm and 10mm models will all fit within 4" squares which gives a nicely compact table, but 6" squares definitely look better aesthetically. Keeping these markers to 4" means I can use them with both sizes of grid.

Sequence Markers

Letter tiles as sequence markers

I picked up a second-hand word game in a charity shop for £2.99 in order to get the letter tiles. They are for use in wargames where units move in a random sequence. The tiles have a hollow back so they can be pulled blind out of the bag and placed face down until revealed.

Given the number of letters in the English alphabet, that gives me enough markers for 26 separate commands or units. If that isn't enough I could apply self-adhesive numbers instead.

I think letters (or numbers) are more intuitive than using playing cards - no questions about suit order or whether aces are high or low.