Army Assets Dashboard for Square Bashing

[pigsticker]

Army Assets Dashboard for Square Bashing:
Concept, Design Evolution, Production, Development, Use and Availability.

Some of you may have spotted the MDF boards on the periphery of the games tables at the recent Square Bashing Day in Daventry. These were either owned or loaned out by members of Burton & District Wargames Club or the October Wargames club. So here is a little on how they came about.

Concept

I, for one, prefer not to have any paperwork other than a Quick Reference Sheet on or near the games table after army deployment. So I had been looking for a way to note the allocation and use of Army Assets without recording / amending this on a newly printed Battle Record Sheet for each game. I do know that some players cover the sheet in clear plastic but I'm not a great fan of Chinagraph pencil or felt-tip pen in such cases.

Initially I was keen to find a way to visually display and record Barrage Assets. This was driven by the desire to make use of some rather nice artillery pieces that I inherited when I bought a pair of Early War British & German armies. They had been superbly scratch-built by my friend Bob Lorton when he painted the armies some 20 years ago. He'd used cast wheels from Irregular Miniatures but in the main utilized Milliput, plastic card, plastic channel and tube. Originally these were to represent "off-table artillery" batteries for First World War armies under Principles of War Rules. I still occasionally play POW but I really wanted make better use of these models for Square Bashing. The pieces were too big for on-table artillery and anyway I had more than enough field gun models for the purposes of the units in the SB lists.

This picture shows an ad-hoc depiction of Early War barrage assets utilising a selection of scratch-built German Howitzer models. Incidentally there is also a reminder that the Higher Command stance or order type "C. Movement" has been chosen for the duration of the game.



Currently we are well served for on-table guns by the Peter Pig range. Nowadays if you want 15mm models of the heavier off-table "Barrage" artillery you do not have to make them from scratch. An excellent and extensive source is available in the 'Really Useful Guns' range from Irregular Miniatures.

The next logical stage was to for me develop custom built MDF 'sabot' bases, incorporating numerical discs adapted from MDF casualty markers.

The WIP photo of German Big Bertha shows infills from scrap MDF, including concave pieces left over from the punch-out sheets for 40mm MDF circles from 4 Ground. The drop-in markers are 40mm 'Style 1' casualty from Warbases.



The WIP photo of the BEF 60 pounder was taken after I split the marker discs apart and re-glued them to hide the "casualty" text.



The final photos show the finished bases with markers labelled as "S" for suppression barrage and "P" for point effect barrage. The circle recess is magna-based.



To allow for when the countdown to battle results in increase of barrage assets to more than the maximum 12 on the counter I produced some barrage add-on's which could be used to increase the respective totals. These are 30mm MDF with brass "shell" casings given to me by a friend who shoots 0.22 rifle and pistol.

If you use different types of markers to represent the different types of barrage then there is an option to place a representative marker on the top of the respective counter.




Design Evolution

Having sorted Barrages the next logical stage was to try to cover the whole gambit of Army Assets. One of the disadvantages of using the Warbases 40mm 'Style 1' casualty marker was that the centre disc moves with the rotation of the lower disc as the number changes. It was for this reason that I had to make recesses in the artillery bases noted above, so that the marker could be removed, changed and replaced.  This was too much work and unsuitable for a whole bunch of assets.

So I turned to the 40mm 'Style 2' casualty markers. These rotate by use of a side lever handle and the number 'window' stays in one position.  These looked ideal but did mean that a new consideration had to be factored in. Ideally the lever-handles should not foul each other as they rotate when the asset values were changed. By gridding out the positions at 60mm centres in a trial mock-up this was avoided. The first draft design featured army asset markers and in addition allowed space on the right for a battle countdown clock.



This evolved into a neater version with two rows of five markers each.



Originally I had left the title /insert strip short on the RH side to provide for the Peter Pig Countdown marker. However, it's relatively large size precluded this (I now keep mine with my Civil War Battles paraphernalia which is fine as it's always in the right place!). As the 'casualty' markers only go up to number 12, I also ordered some of the 30mm version leaving the option for these to sit on top: 



or alongside:



The two markers together have a maximum capacity of 24 so the battle clock can be set at a combined total of 21, If, for example the bottom is set at 11 and the top at 10, once the battle has exceed 10 the smaller marker can be discarded for the rest on the game.

By now I was fairly happy with the basic design. At 300mm x150mm it is roughly the same size as a 12inch scenery piece and should therefore fit in neatly on the rear 6inch area which is usually free when playing on a 4ft deep table.




Production

After a few e-mail exchanges on the design I placed an order for ten baseboards (in 3mm MDF for strength). The top layer was 240x30mm in 2mm MDF with the title RH engraved black and LH cut-out to take loose inserts 140mmx15mm. Initially I allowed four army-title inserts per board and these were to be made in 3mm MDF so that they sat slightly proud to facilitate exchange or reversal.



Plus 100 (ten sets) of the 40mm 'Style 2' casualty markers custom engraved as shown.

Most of the regular Square Bashing players at Burton and the October had shown faith in the original concept. So, with myself, Dene and Simon and Dene taking two each, the other four were covered and I was not out on a limb with the investment. A couple of weeks before the Square Bashing Day a big bag of MDF components arrived.



Martin at Warbases had lightly engraved the 40mm circles which made it easier to position the markers when I came to assemble the boards. I did this using good quality PVA glue and left them to dry overnight.

In the meantime I had sourced inexpensive transparent carry-folders in just about the right size.




Development

Initial 'functional-testing' proved fine but pointed to an oversight as regards Higher Command Order type or stance. This choice is usually declared and recorded on the Battle Record Sheet, a piece of paper that I was now attempting to avoid using! So for Daventry I prepared temporary sets, each comprising four 30x60mm MDF rectangles labelled A. FIGHTING,  B. MORALE, C. MOVEMENT, D. ASSET. Once chosen and declared these sit on the right as an extension of the main army/ title strip, as this space was not now needed for the battle clock. This improvement worked fine so there is now an order in for 30x60mm MDF with a cut-out. This will take 3mm MDF strips, custom engraved with the four Higher Command Order options. This photo of a mock-up indicates how this should neaten up the final design.



Adaption and availability.

One further option suggested by Dene Green sounds quite visually attractive. This refinement emphasis the nature of each asset by use of a small figure, model or scenery piece. Warbases do supply 16mm single dice cells and 16mm x 16mm MDF squares to fit inside these. These dice cells could be glued to the centre of each marker. This mock-up shows what this would look like.



Model aircraft, different types of barrage marker or model figures can be fixed to the MDF squares so that they now drop-in the dice cells but are removable and exchangeable.



If anyone is interested in acquiring an Army Asset Dashboard for Square Bashing they can be ordered from Warbases, but only as a special. They are willing to supply single units and the current cost is approximately £15.00 per board. Other than supplying information I am not involved in this but I am very happy for the design described above to be used.

Finally the final photo shows the "Three Simons" obviously looking pleased that the Army Asset Dashboards they were using did neatly fit in the rear off-table 6 inch strip!



Ray

[Stewart 46A]

Thanks for the info, will be looking in to getting one

[martin goddard]

Looks good

[Leman (Andy)]

Again, I'm left confused. There's a dashboard, then there's a barrage marker, then there's other barrage markers, then a different dashboard, then something completely different in the final photo.......

[pigsticker]

Sorry Leman, I was just trying to describe the evolution of the design concept.
After the holiday, when the final components have arrived from Warbases, I'll post a straight forward illustration of the final pattern.

[Leman (Andy)]

Many thanks, especially as it looks such a good idea.

[pigsticker]

Final product version with interchangeable MDF army labels and higher command order options.

[Leslie BT]

Well done Ray. Excellent paper free design for keeping the game records.

So the picture in your last post shows all the components you get from Warbases for your hard earned £15.00.

When you order the special Square Bashing Army Assets Dashboard with interchangeable MDF army labels and higher command order options.

[Sean Clark]

Having seen these in action today at the WMMS show I can say they are great and are on my list to get come payday!

[Leman (Andy)]

I have to admit this all looks visually stunning, and I get what's going on now, having seen the finished product. I will be in touch with Warbases as they will be attending my local show at Phalanx and get my self a couple of sets. I also like the look of the Deep Cut rubberised terrain tiles.

[pigsticker]

Well done Ray. Excellent paper free design for keeping the game records.

So the picture in your last post shows all the components you get from Warbases for your hard earned £15.00.

When you order the special Square Bashing Army Assets Dashboard with interchangeable MDF army labels and higher command order options.

The £15.00 was a rough estimate. Bearing in mind I bought my components in two phases I'll check with Warbases on the exact cost and how many interchangeable MDF strips for army labels would be included and will post here again ASAP when this is confirmed.

[Colonel Kilgore]

Thank you Ray, that would be very helpful.

I see that Warbases now produce both acrylic [http://war-bases.co.uk/ACCESSORIES/GAMING-AIDS?product_id=1382]

and MDF [http://war-bases.co.uk/ACCESSORIES/GAMING-AIDS?product_id=1383]

token sets for Square Bashing as standard products (i.e. as opposed to previous custom orders), so presumably could offer your full set in a "productised" form for ready purchase by folks here?

[pigsticker]

Warbases have now listed the Army Assets Dashboard for Square Bashing:

http://war-bases.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&path=139_199&product_id=1392

This now has an improvement in that the upper layer is in one full length with both slots cut out for the army label and the higher command choice insert. 6nr MDF Blank Inserts (to affix Army labels) are included in the kit price.

I have no commercial link with this - just happy to help.

Ray

[Colonel Kilgore]

Very nice, Ray, thank you!

And good to see that you get the credit for it too on the Warbases website.

The notion of "casualty markers" on the website is a little confusing (i.e. they're using standard, albeit custom-etched, "casualty dials" as asset counters) but it all makes sense once you know how it is to be used.

I know it's been a lot of development time and effort for you (and no little expense): thank you for bringing this all to fruition for the SB community.

[pigsticker]

The notion of "casualty markers" on the website is a little confusing (i.e. they're using standard, albeit custom-etched, "casualty dials" as asset counters) but it all makes sense once you know how it is to be used.

Thanks Simon. Yes, I also thought that the description could be confusing. So, mindful that the folks at Warbases may not be familiar with the SB terms and functions, I have sent them a suggested revision for their text which they have now used to amend their website.