Foundations of Wargaming: Counter punching and clipping.

[@frankwaugh1894]

I have clipped the corners of my counters before it was cool back in the 80s. I personally think it makes the counters look cleaner and more beautiful. When they are unclipped it is like looking at a messy room cluttered and trashy looking. So very glad that it is now standard for our hobby 😊

[@bibleboardgames]

War gaming newbie. Just found out what the term 'counter' meant for wargamers and had no idea that clipping was actually physically clipping the corners, but it does look nice that way. Thanks for showing us!

[@meenki347]

My dad bought me Tactics II for $5 at New York's City Macy's in the 70's and I've been a wargamer ever since. I'm extremely careful about punching my counters but you've made it into a science. I'm tempted to pick up a counter clipper. 👍

[@WARdROBEPlaysWWII]

We are a crazy bunch of hobbyists But I live it. Meant to say “love”, but I live it as well.

[@keithtalbot9504]

thanks, I learned something new, with the cutting of the edges with the scissors first.

[@Nangwaya]

Thank you for posting this video. I recently got into hex and counter wargaming after many years of miniature wargaming, and after butchering the first two counter sheets, I knew I must be doing something wrong in getting the counters out. Now I know how to go about punching out counters properly. Thanks aagin!

[@yippeethreeeight]

I had no idea there was such a think as a counter corner clipper.

[@rodento3220]

I originally got in to wargaming in the late 1970s. Life got in the way and drifted away, now I am back. I had never heard of counter clipping until about a week ago. I was not sure what it was, now I do. Thank you, interesting solution to an age old problem of neatness and appearance. I always was a bit OCD about my counters.

[@ardwulfslair]

Genius! Fascinating! I am literally clipping counters as I watch this!

[@MrProsat]

Dude, as often as you clip counters, you must have huge popeye forearms!

[@JohnPywtorak]

I don’t do exactly the same. If I did that with scissors I’d cut into the counters, just careful punching for me. I might clip someday, but playing is more important than fiddling with it. I respect what you do though and appreciated the video.

[@Another_opinion_]

Been using your method for some time now. Thank you very much! It saved me quite a lot of stress.

[@bamaretiredgruntscottb.6533]

I am using this from now on. It cuts the punch time by 3/4 for me vs cutting them out by x-acto knife. Thanks brother!

[@thomaskaplan4898]

They make a deluxe version of that counter clipper that you have that is very easy to use and is just about impossible to mess up the counter. By pet peeve is companies that have the nibs along the sides of counters rather than at the corners

[@FreeFragUK]

Admittedly I don't think I can brink myself to try using a pair of scissors to slice along the edges of my counter sheets. After looking over my latest acquisition (a GMT Game) it just looks as though there would be very high risk of damaging the counters. Admittedly I'd love to find a quicker method than my current scalpel method. As far as a clipper is concerned, I recently picked one up after umming and arring for quite some time and I'm glad I took the plunge.

[@thegeneralsretreat1645]

I do exactly the same thing, i.e. watching a movie or a baseball game while clipping. If I had to sit and do the clipping and nothing else, yes I would agree that it would seem like a waste of time. But once you get in the groove, you don't even think about it. I got back into gaming a few years ago after a long hiatus and counter clipping was a revelation! It is nice, though, when a company die cuts their counters already rounded (like lock n load publishing)

[@fastfreddy3103]

Never heard of these clippers. Used razor and cutting board for the 3,587,203 counters that I have cut out. This inspired me to make a list. Games that I have meticulously done this include, "La Grande Army", "Napoleons First Battles", " Marengo", "Jutland", "1776", "Wooden Ships, Iron Men," 1776", "Panzer Leader", Panzer Blitz", "Trireme", "Russian Front", entire "Squad Leader" series, most of ASL series. Also many Decision Games including "Duel on the Steppe", "Tobruck", "Vikings", "Isandlwana". Still need to be cut out include ASL "Code of Bushido", "West of Alamein", "Gung Ho!' and many of the Supplements. Also "Armee Du Nord", "Operation Mercury". Also the big ASL productions "Pegasus Bridge" and "Kamphgruppe Peiper I" Sorry to inflict this on you but you are wise enough to know that after investing so much time doing this I had to tell somebody...Cheers

[@WiseGuyHistory]

Yeah I bought a second pair this year [of a slightly different radius], but my original pair is still going very strong. I tend to use different pairs based on the size of the counters.

[@windyhillbomber]

Love the result, hate the process. It just doesn’t add that much for me to contemplate doing it. But hey, happy to pay someone else to clip my counters

[@jeffwesevich1239]

Time Team re-runs on You Tube are my favorite clipping diversion. :-) I prefer to use a razor blade and a cutting board to separate the counters, but your method works as well!

[@timd4524]

1974. SPI prints one game with rounded counters. That's how long this has been a thing. It got much worse in the late half of the 80's and 90's. I just snip the tab off.

[@pm71241]

KZbin's closed caption doesn't speak Australian. He didn't say "okay folks".

[@phd_angel4192]

Can you please post Amazon or manufacturers links to the products you recommend? Thanks for the review.

[@SHAMUS991]

SoTinian up next then :-) Always informative Nathan!

[@Jimo1956]

Blimey, just found your channel, subscribed straight away, Amazing description and how-to. Now to order an Oregon clipper. Not that easy living here in Germany. Not willing to pay nearly the same amount on postage and taxes as the clippers cpst if buying from the US. Thank you so much.

[@WiseGuyHistory]

Thanks J!

[@pm71241]

I even found your way of cutting out the counters a bit brutal. I wouldn't dare use scissors. Originally, I didn't care much for clipping, but playing OCS, I had to admit that it just doesn't work practically with "ears" on the counters. That said... Printing technology is so advanced today that it shouldn't be needed. Look at Hexasim. They provide nice rounded counters out of the box.

[@WARdROBEPlaysWWII]

Whoa...you’re way faster at that clipping than I am. I have to line them up, each counter or it chops a side of the counter

[@bartlettbigx]

I love your tutorial and playthrough videos - for which I owe you many thanks - but you'll never convince me that clipping tens of thousands of counters is anything other than a colossal waste of time.

[@WiseGuyHistory]

Yeah I get that, but it doesn't feel like a waste when I'm doing other stuff while doing it.

[@hdavies0]

Send me your 10,000 counters, I will clip them for free and send them back. So satisfying and the rounded corners look soooo good.

[@joearnold6881]

I need a fast way to deal with the dreaded side-nibs. They bug me. I simply cannot ever get them to look like they were never there.

[@WiseGuyHistory]

I saw calandale uses a nail file for side nibs. Have you given that a go?

[@helenaconstantine]

nail scissors.

[@joearnold6881]

Nail scissors don’t don’t do it. I have lots of flush wire clippers for my vaping and they don’t either. They’ll get much of the bit that sticks off, sure, but then I have to try and file off the rest, and the edge never looks right. I exaggerate somewhat, ofc. Sometimes one side will come out ok. First world problems, I know. It’s just why I prefer corner ones.

[@meenki347]

@@joearnold6881"1st world problems" LoL Funny! Love it.

[@ardwulfslair]

@@joearnold6881 Center nibs are the devil.

[@MrElliptific]

Do you have a clipper in particular that you like?

[@forzamark]

I do exactly the same.

[@AndyP998]

I have those but 2.5mm which i found best. Maybe clipped 10k counters with it. But recently i found it rarely cuts all way through anymore. Maybe something wrong, have you oiled or done anything to your clipper at some point?

[@WiseGuyHistory]

Yeah occasionally a bit of oil on the hinge.

[@hattorihanzo1111]

I would like to see the final result: an image of your counters after having been clipped with your "bizarre" tecnique... 🤔🙄 Feeling perplexed

[@WiseGuyHistory]

Yeah check out the comparison @6:53 where I show them side-by-side.

[@hattorihanzo1111]

@@WiseGuyHistory thanks, but I mean a High-resolution picture with which is possible to clearly see the final result - I have the same Oregon model of yours and to have a perfect final result it took me about 30-40 seconds for each counter

[@WiseGuyHistory]

Yeah it takes a while at the start, it's best to go slow, making sure you understand how/where to apply pressure to the counter. With practice, you'll gradually get quicker. At present I don't have any games available that I can show, but when I do I'll post a picture of the comparison.

[@hattorihanzo1111]

@@WiseGuyHistory Thanks 🎯

[@Stiglr]

OH MY GOD!!!!! What a bunch of OCD, attention-deficit *pansies* some of us have turned into!!!! Just punch the damned things and PLAY!!!!!

[@WiseGuyHistory]

Haha! Of course, just, punch carefully... :-P

[@vinniethefinger7781]

I call it the feminization of wargaming. I started playing in 78 or 79 with Squad Leader and then to ASL. I can't remember ever having a problem knocking over counter stacks or having them fall apart. The products weren't even as well done as they are today. We (my little band of wargamers) didn't use tweezers. Construction workers, plumbers, military and fire fighters. Big burly fingered guys. To each his own.

[@Stiglr]

@@vinniethefinger7781 Well, it's not really got anything to do with "femininity", to be honest. More like OCD is to blame...

[@Jackdaw5]

It's also got nothing to do with OCD or ADD...

[@hdavies0]

I cringed as you clipped so fast... I have to ensure everyone is seated and tested before clipping. One sliced corner is a tragedy!

[@WiseGuyHistory]

My first few thousand clips came at a slow pace, but I think after clipping tens of thousands of counters [all with this very same tool] I have a pretty good feel for the counters and where they should sit, without needing to sight them.

[@joearnold6881]

Are you having a competition with aardwulf? ;)

[@WiseGuyHistory]

Haha, I swear i had no idea he was doing his video!

[@ardwulfslair]

Great Minds think alike!

[@Maks_Ivanych]

Excuse me, have you ever used counters Blank Counters sheets, which are produced by GMT?

[@WiseGuyHistory]

No I haven't used those sorry.

[@fastfreddy3103]

I have used them with with the paper cut outs from "The General Magazine". For instance, most recently, the Variant Counters for the optional fortification counters for "Russian Front" Use spray on adhesive. Also just painted some to use as "markers".

[@idjester]

I personally think that dust you talk about is being inhaled as we sit there clipping counters... after years and years of clipping that cardboard dust can be a problem... why else would you explain why alot of older wargamers have health issues?

[@ugomarsolais]

We need to put things in perspective here. If you'd be clipping 8 hours a day for a couple of decades, perhaps it could be a problem. But certainly not because you clip a game once in a while. Now, regarding the health of old wargamers, I don't know if they are statistically in worse shape than the average old guy. But if that's the case, let me submit a much more probable cause of health issues for us wargamers: too much time sitting on our asses poring over wargame maps, encouraging a sedentary lifestyle with no exercise and too many calories ingested. That would create health issues for anyone. Even as wargamers, we need to stay active daily and get some fresh air and cut down on eating.

[@idjester]

@@ugomarsolais good points... thanks.