[OT] Counter, Figs, and...? Re: Scale debate

***
Yep, apparently they still use terrain but make counters for the
units with all the important information.  They can do an entire
army for $2-$3 and no painting.  I understand it but couldn't bring
myself to do it.
***

I've played with several intermediate steps, including Cardboard
Heroes(tm), and the like. You can get pretty good in some cases for some
uses. For instance, the old Yaquinto Ironclads is usually preferred over
the Excalibur's in part simply because the counters are top view, not
profile. Which is weird, as most naval I'm thinking of have top view.

I took it a step forward by folding cardstock into triangular pieces
with
ships' profiles on both sides. Think name/place cards at a dinner. I've
since seen I wasn't the first.

Macho Women with Guns had some variations on Cardboard Heroes, as one or
two of the females had extra folds in the upper torso that, er, enhanced
them. In the first versions of the books, perhaps all, the standups were
black line on white paper cardstock, so you could use marker pens to
'paint
the figs' if you wished.

Another idea was the previously mentioned Renegade Legion boxes;
shifting a
bit, the paper terrain Jeremy has developed to such fine effect
qualifies.

This could go for a long OT thread on other variations, but what I hoped
to
show was that, to me, at some point, it seemed more like a spectrum that
included later Risk/Axis&Allies/etc., small, rough, unpainted, and also
toys used for gaming, including the occasionally very nice Galoob Micro
Machines.

I've liked the idea of combining counters and figs for keeping info
handy
on the fig's base, but, as Mage Knight has taken a 'kiddy game' aura
here,
it'd be plain embarrassing to do so now.

Now, Kill Dr. Lucky WOULD be better with my Victorian Adventurers
painted,
played in an appropriately laid-out doll house.