Dropfleet Tokens by Alex Barton
Dropfleet commander; troop and defence laser counters for the UCM
I love the visuals of a game on the table and will try and escape card markers and tokens whenever possible, for DfC that's proved quite a challenge but I'm getting there!
Troop markers are a real challenge as invariably the clusters and sectors are chock full of the strike carriers and bulk landers throwing down the occupying forces, and cruiser compliments desperately trying to defend them. A handful of card makers in the mix as well makes it hard to see who has what at each sector and trickier to resolve ground combat.
So I built some troops counters out of good old DzC bits! Playing UCM gave me an easier time of it as the Sabres have nice flat backs and easily posed turrets but I'd imagine with a bit of hitting it with a shovel this could work for the other factions as well.
Infantry counters: I made 10 of these and haven't run out yet, but had plenty of spares for more if needed.
Components:
A bunch of pennies or small coins (in my case 10)
A pack of DzC UCM legionaries
A pack of 7mm dice holders, available from mini bits (and other places I'm sure)
A set of 7mm dice in suitable fleet colours, available almost anywhere
Basing materials to taste
Method:
Easy!
Chop a couple of the legionaries off their sprues, and file them flat as usual. Arrange them along with the 7mm dice holder frame on the coin as you desire. Base up. Spray and paint in fleet colours.
Throw a die in and boom easily updated sector infantry counters.
Rinse and repeat.
Armour counters: I made 6, haven't run out at 1250 points yet but it's not implausible so a few more couldn't hurt
Components:
A bunch of two penny pieces or slightly bigger coins (in my case 6)
Two packs of DzC UCM Sabres
A pack of 7mm dice holders, available from mini bits (and other places I'm sure)
A set of 7mm dice in suitable fleet colours, available almost anywhere
Basing materials to taste
Method:
Clean up the sabre as usual but don't glue in the turret immediately
Glue the 7mm dice holder over the rear vents on the back right of the tank's body, behind the turret.
Let it dry then put in a die to see how much space it takes up
Then position the turret so it doesn't interfere with the dice, so you can lift it out and adjust it easily. Invariably this means all your tanks are dramatically shooting to the right, but we can live with that
Glue the turret then base up on the coin
Spray and paint in fleet colours
Throw a die in and boom easily updated sector armour counters
Rinse and repeat
Variations:
Why base? If you can get the dice holder on the tank like the sabre, as tanks are designed to sit standalone on the table there's no reason to base them up really, I found it adds a bit of extra weight which is handy when everything is being moved around. but entirely optional.
Sabres? In hindsight I would have been tempted to maybe use a smaller armour unit and base up like the infantry with the dice holder on the base rather than on the tank. The sabres are great but quite large and can get in the way. A set of smaller versions using something like wolverines might work better for those crazy crowded tables.
Defence lasers: I made 3 and haven't run out yet, these are the most UCM specific counters, other fleets may have more trouble with these but I haven't poked the spares with a stick and it feels like there must be something that could be put to use.
Components:
A bunch of pennies or small coins (in my case 3)
UCM cruiser sprue off cuts (general fleet make up means you should have plenty of both kicking around):
Heavy cruiser top plate
Orbital bombardment cannon
Basing materials to taste
Method:
Use clippers to trim the cruiser top to pull out the second 'knuckle' gun mount and front grill, so where the second turret on a Moscow would sit.
Tidy up the edges and glue to the coin
Clean up the bombard cannon and mount it, in effect, upside down on the gun mount
Base up the coin
Spray and paint in fleet colours
Bam, defence battery markers ready to roll
Rinse and repeat
With these three counter types you should be fully equipped to keep track of the deployed troops in a sector, easily work out ground combat dice and sector control, and they look pretty as well! What more do you need?
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