Tesla Coil/Trim Tanks Hits - Community ideas to keep track

[pianobar]

There was a good post asking about Tesla Coil hits at http://forums.monstersinthesky.com/index.php/topic,109.0.html, and while I am unsuited to answer that question, I am curious how others have been keeping track since the Lt. Manual was released. I think this could be a good place to get suggestions out there to help fellow players as well as improve our own games.

For mine, I made a multi-colored chart (in excel, sadly enough, hah) to go through the various modifiers depending on how many TC's were damaged. I then printed and cut those out, sticking them to both sides of a penny. -1 on one side, -2 on the other, and then a second penny for -3 and -4. Since all of the ship cards are pretty much just printed out, we've taken to weighing a damaged design down w/ the appropriate penny as a good reminder that A. there's damage; B. what that cumulative modifier is.

So, that's me...How do the rest of you keep track of those hits?

[Alius]

A simple solution will be, once we have cards, to put the coil markers on the pictuer of a card. Number of slots equals modifiers for your breach rolls.

[pianobar]

Well yes... However that is then, and this is now.

I find that by placing the penny on the printout, as it gets moved around, swiveled for weapon facing checks, etc, that it gets remembered much more easily than just marking it off or covering the slot w/ something and then trying to recall it in the heat of battle.

[Trenchknife]

I just wrote the penalty to the top of my ship card as they occurred.  If another trim tank got hit...erase and put new total at top.

[Alius]

Well yes... However that is then, and this is now.

I find that by placing the penny on the printout, as it gets moved around, swiveled for weapon facing checks, etc, that it gets remembered much more easily than just marking it off or covering the slot w/ something and then trying to recall it in the heat of battle.

So, you mean tezla coil markers on the 'miniature' itself? Kind've like wound markers in 40k! It works.

But, having said wound marker on the stat card is what I did. Same with engine markers, I put a number off lost engine slots over the speed value. That way I knew to subract the markers from the value. Works pretty well, at a glance.

[pianobar]

So, you mean tezla coil markers on the 'miniature' itself? Kind've like wound markers in 40k! It works.

But, having said wound marker on the stat card is what I did. Same with engine markers, I put a number off lost engine slots over the speed value. That way I knew to subract the markers from the value. Works pretty well, at a glance.

No, I was using proxy 1:1200 scale minis for the various ships. The "wound markers" were placed on the shipcard printouts. We still marked off the damaged slot, but in play it was too easy to overlook that there should be a deduction for damaged TC's. The wound marker on the ship made it easy to remember due to the visual color as well as the weight whenever we moved the cards around to better visualize the firing/damage arcs.

[PsychoChihuahua]

Call me crazy here, but picture this:

Put a dice next to each ship, with the number of Tesla Trim Coil hits it's taken? 

And no, I did get this idea from using dice to show the Target Movement modifier from Battletech!

[pianobar]

Put a dice next to each ship, with the number of Tesla Trim Coil hits it's taken? 

Hah, your simplicity...I love it.

[Alius]

No, I was using proxy 1:1200 scale minis for the various ships. The "wound markers" were placed on the shipcard printouts. We still marked off the damaged slot, but in play it was too easy to overlook that there should be a deduction for damaged TC's. The wound marker on the ship made it easy to remember due to the visual color as well as the weight whenever we moved the cards around to better visualize the firing/damage arcs.

Heh. I have the same problem with remembering armor mods. It might almost be easier to have the armor incorporated into the honest innitial breach numbers. But, that would hamper customization.

[shrug]

[Darrian Wolffe]

During Demo Play at GenCon, we simply had people write the -1 penalty with a dry-erase on the laminated ship record sheet.

My current plan for once we get miniatures is to use smoke clouds (extruded cotton painted as smoke) attached to rare-earth magnets, corresponding with drilled magnets in the mini.  For each smoke trail coming off your ship, take -1 to Breach rolls.  Quick and easy visual reference, if a bit intensive on the modeling side...