Counter (token)
Counter (English for counter ) (also token , game tile or marker is) a term used to describe small, usually consisting of cardboard game pieces for board games . They are primarily used in conflict simulation games to display military units, events or damage, but are also used in other board games.
Counters are cardboard plates printed on one or both sides, which are often no larger than 1 cm × 1 cm. They are mostly square, but there are also rectangular, round or hexagonal shapes. On the counters are abstract game values in the form of numbers, symbols or individual words. In many conflict simulation games, counters are used to display troop strengths, abilities or damage events. They can be stacked and thus make it possible to combine different units with one another or to assign different properties to them using additional counters. A stack of counters can be moved around the board just as easily as a single counter. This is a major advantage over other forms of play figures, such as pawns .
The first use of counters is in the English board game War Tactics, or Can Great Britain be Invaded? attributed from 1915. But only Tactics of Avalon Hill in 1958 they have become widespread.
literature
- David Parlett: Oxford History of Board Games , Oxford University Press, USA 1999, ISBN 978-0192129987
Web links
- Entry of the game War Tactics, or Can Great Britain be Invaded? at the British Imperial War Museum
Individual evidence
- ↑ Christopher Lewin, War Games and their History , Chapter 8, Fonthill Media, Stroud (GB) 2012, ISBN 978-1-78155-042-7
- ↑ Preface to the instructions for the 25th Anniversary Edition of Tactics , 1983