Which Kriegsspiel pieces are the best? Help us decide.
We’ve been working on production of all new Kriegsspiel sets of pieces, maps and historical scenarios. We need some help figuring out which style to make.
- The top row is the Too Fat Lardies style, -laser cut counters.
- The middle row is our new block pieces styled with the diagonal look.
- The bottom row is an alternative design for a rectangular look.
Our Question is: Which is better, Diagonal or Rectangle?
The diagonal lines look detailed and refined. I like the over all look better. The down side is that diagonal line on everything can be confusing. Especially to us modern players used to NATO symbols. No, these aren’t all cavalry pieces. The Cavalry pieces are the square shaped ones on the ends. The rectangle ones are infantry and artillery.
Is the diagonal design more historical and traditional? No, it’s not. We’ve been researching this. Looking at old military maps and antique Kriegsspiel sets, we saw about 50/50. Some have all rectangles, some have diagonals. There wasn’t really a standard.
I feel that going with the bottom stickers would be easier for players today to use. I also like how the font size on this bottom row can be a little bigger. Much easier for my aged eyes to make out. 🙂 Apart from my weak eyes, I like how we can fit more visible text here for unit names. I also like the long horizontal line. Instantly makes me visualize rows of troops.
My only complaint against the bottom row really is aesthetics. They just look kind of plain and stark to me. I like the look and appearance of the middle row much better. The big tall cubes also make the cavalry stand out easily and contrast with the sea of diagonals everywhere.
What are your thoughts? Which would you rather have? Do you have any other ideas or suggestions? Comment below or send us an email.
It would help me to think about this if I knew what the type of each unit displayed is. What is the info trying to be conveyed?
I do not like all diagonals as a first pass because of its strong association with cavalry..
The Middle row from left to right is:
16th British Dragoons
4 canons 12lb
10th British Regiment
New Jersey Regiment of Militia
Pulaski’s Colonial Dragoons
I find the markings too similar for the middle set. My design criteria for game components include function over form. Yes, I want them to be artful, but to be used in a game, they MUST be functional.
Initially, I was completely about the middle style, but I have to admit that the rectangle style is growing on me. Yes, they are more “stark” but I also think they’re easier to read. That can make a big difference on a crowded table.
Middle without doubt. So like the Reisswitz pieces and mine which I got years ago from Bill Leeson
I’d go for a style that has plain blocks for infantry and diagonals for cavalry, for ease of recognition, and make the typeface as large as possible without spoiling the aesthetics.
When might these be available? I ‘need’ a new project for 2018. 🙂
We are going to get Dracula produced and shipped first. Hopefully over the next month or two. After that, we are planning on releasing these! We are also trying to work up a series of all new, historical Kriegsspiel Scenarios. We have maps now for Bunker Hill, Manassas, Brandy Station and Chancellorsville. We have detailed OBs to track casualties for most of those as well and: Brandywine, Germantown, Antietam, Gettysburg, Marengo. We just need to work up Kriegsspiel setups and starting Operational Red & Blue orders. I don’t think that will take too long.
We are planning on releasing these in modular sets so you can buy the components you need/want. So maybe you don’t need pieces or care about the canvas maps. Fine, you can just get the scenario with OB and orders, with a set of 3 paper maps for Kriegsspiel. If you play solitaire, you may want to get 1 canvas map, etc. These maps are all going to be compatible with our Pub Battles system also. So if you already have Pub Battles Antietam and already have a set of KS blocks, then all you need is the scenario to turn it into a full Kriegsspiel on Antietam.
rectangular set
I like the rectangle style for readability. As you point out, they were also used on period maps, so it still retains that nostalgic link to the past.
Rather than just rectangle shapes, what about putting a ‘peaked roof’ on the top of the pieces and an ‘undercut wedge’ on the bottom to permit them all to stack easier?
The peak roof could also form the ‘blind’ easier for fog of war issues.
Prefer the rectangular label style -easier to read & they don’t all look like cavalry, then.
I like the non diagonal rectangular style for the infantry. It’s simple and clear. Will the modules to be used with the Pub Battles maps have peices at the next level down? For example, for Antietam would the peices be brigades? It would be nice to use our beautiful canvas maps to refight the battles utilizing a different unit scale and complexity level.
Yes, that is exactly what we’ve been thinking. All the scales are compatible. Kriegsspiel, Pub Battles, our new operational system and campaign scale Kriegsspiel. We’ve been testing this. We are thinking of offering a modular approach, so you can mix and match all the systems as you want.
For example, if you already have Pub Battles Brandywine and Kriegsspiel pieces, you can just get the scenario set with orders and OB to play on the same map.
If you already have PB Brandywine, you can get a set of Kriegsspiel pieces to expand it. We tested out the existing Pub Battles rules system. It works great with Kriegsspiel pieces also. So you could play it as a traditional Kriegsspiel OR you could play it as a more advanced and detailed Pub Battle. It will take more time with quadruple the pieces but some guys like that.
At this scale, it works out that each Kriegsspiel piece equals 450 men in a regiment. (KS calls them ‘half battalions’)
What is cool about the Kriegsspiel pieces is that they scale up. So once you have a set of the pieces, you can use those same pieces on the bigger campaign map to fight the entire Philadelphia campaign. All you need is to add a new map.
This sounds great. Count me in!
about infantry ( and other ) did you have considered to use a kind of thinner blocks ( i.e. similar to Agricola border pieces) ? in my opinion it may seem more proportioned on the map and more similar to deployments drawn on historical maps.
forgive my bad english
How thick are those? They look about the same. There are 1/4″ thick, which is about 6-7mm.
We are basing this off of Kriegsspiel. So these are the real sizes that match the map to scale.
We’d like to cut these out of hardboard but we need a laser cutter for that. Very expensive! :/
they are thick 4 mm and long 38 mm
thanks
Fabio
I really like the bottom set, diagnol lines look like cavalry to me. Any possibility of custom pieces to match carnage and glory rules I.e custom numbers on the pieces. Typicall one army has 101 upward and the other 501 upward.
Ps is the brandy wine game in production it looks really good.
Best regards
David