I decided I wanted to get some acrylic range rulers made for the game Guild Ball. My goal (haha i’m sooo witty 😉  ) was to make a set of useful measure guides fitting the most options into a single ruler as possible. So I set about designing a stick that could measure/guide the placement of models in a number of different situations. Sure they are a number of different manufacturers out there making measuring sticks (google image search). They all share a common design in that they a stick of a given lenght – no surprises there. I have a set of these for that. Other designs are such that you can place the template in contact with the ball or model’s base and then place the base at the opposite end of the template to achieve a given distance. Like the measuring sticks for X-Wing, measuring front of the base to back of the base. The issue with that is that you need a single ruler for each increment of distance you want.

So what have I done differently?

I decided to scallop the long edges of the measuring stick to allow you to place the base of a model from its starting position up to the a given lenght at increments of 1 inch. I designed the stick so that you can use one long edge for 30mm bases, and the opposite long edge for 40mm bases. I think at the moment there is only one Guild Ball model mounted on a 50mm base, so will have to do it the old fashioned way for it.

What I initially struggled with was how long to make the stick. So I decided to make 3 different lengths and see what I liked best. I designed my set of templates in Inkscape and sent the SVG file off to a laser cutter for cutting. This morning the prototype templates arrived from Cog’O’Two. I have used them a few times now to cut my own designs and they are excellent, the customer service is top notch!

My “calibration rig” for testing the prototypes. Yes, a sheet of paper marked off in inches. A 30mm base is placed at the zero line on the paper sheet.

The edge of the stick made for 30mm bases is placed in contact with the ball’s base on the first cut arc.

I can then move that base along the ruler in 1 inch increments. The scallops in the edge of the stick are such that the model is placed as if you were measuring from the front edge of the base. The two images below show a model ‘moved’ 2in and 4in from the starting position. You can see the front of the base is at the correct distance.

I can also use stick to place the 30mm base 6in away by using a front to back measurement in a similar fashion to a X-Wing manoeuvre stick. In the picture below the ball is being kicked 6in, and the stick is also 30mm wide measuring the ball path, more on that later.

So my first stick allows me to place a 30mm base at 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 inch distances. The stick is also 5in long so you can use it as a standard stick and have a full range of 1 to 6 at 1in increments.

On the other long edge I had allowed for a 40mm base, used in the same manner as the edge for 30mm bases, giving a range of placement from 1in to 4in.

I mentioned I had three sizes. The one above is the shortest of the three, for the moment i’ll call it the “Kick 6”. I also made a medium and a large, the “Kick 8” and “Kick 10” respectively. The picture below shows the medium “Kick 8” in action. A 30mm base can be placed up to 6in from its starting position.

As “Kick 8” suggests, you can place a 30mm base at 8in from its starting position.

This stick allows 30mm base placement from 1in to 6in and at 8in, but the stick is also 7in long so can be used as a standard measuring stick for the 7in point too. The opposite long edge is again for 40mm bases and allows placement from 1in to 6in from the starting position. Again the stick is 30mm wide denoting the ball path if required.

The longest of the three stick designs allows for a 10in placement of a 30mm base, hence the “Kick 10” handle. No surprises here, the 30mm base scalloped edge allows placement of a base from 1in to 8in, as does the opposite 40mm scalloped edge. Also the stick is 9in long allowing for that missing measurement in the increments from 1in to 10in.

And yes you guessed it, this stick is also 30mm wide so can be used as a ball path measure too. Granted, its not a perfect ball path because of the scalloping but its a good indication and nothing a laser line or straight edge cannot cure.

The prototypes work, now to finalise my artwork to put on them and get them cut.

After thoughts :-

Perhaps they should be named as follows: ??

• short        =  Kick 6     =  5 Stick
• medium  =  Kick 8     =  7 Stick
• long          =  Kick 10  =  9 Stick

My aim to to end up with one universal stick (yes it already exists, but that is not the point!) but I’ve ended up with three. I figured these might be the most common distances of any use, I need to really get some games in and see which stick sees the most use I suppose.

Embarrassingly I really should paint these gorgeous minis too. I just haven’t decided on colour schemes yet, but they have been waiting far too long to be painted now. Need to pull my finger out…watch this space! (but don’t hold your breath please)

30/06/16 Update: if you are interested in having your own versions of these templates. Cog’O’Two have asked to use the templates to put their own (far superior) artwork on. So keep an eye on their website for details.