The Fantasy Flight edition of Britannia is big and impressive overall. Two newbie gamers played it with me. I hadn’t played it since the Avalon Hill version in the 1980s. I couldn’t find a copyright year printed on anything; think my FF edition was from 2005 or 2006 because BGG’s photos make the counters look a bit lighter for 2008.
While playing the board game, I realized I could not easily distinguish between various nations’ counters with my poor eyesight and glasses. The lighting in the room made it worse.
At 7/8″ the counters were much larger than the typical 1/2” square Avalon Hill size, but the warrior art at the left was not easily distinguishable to me from other nations.
This comes from two pitfalls. A graphic designer:
- That does not play wargames.
- Works with artwork greatly magnified, like 1200%.
Since the four-player version of the game is best, each player’s faction of nations is in a common primary color. However, each player’s faction comprises several nations, often on the map simultaneously through the middle of the game. Our players struggled with keeping their different nations’ counters straight.
Finally, the .75″ round Population Track’s national counters were difficult to distinguish even for the gamer sitting right next to them.
Quick, find the Welshman
Interestingly enough, the reverse side of each counter was identical. This would have allowed the designer to add the nation’s name (or initial) over the artwork. One could start the turn with the reverse side flipped to the reverse, and after each counter moves, flip it over to its front.
My solution was to add a .25” color-coding label to the dark area at the lower right on one side of the counter. (The artist could have placed a white initial of the nation’s name here.) Each nation’s different color helps to distinguish it.
There are 17 nations. When shopping for labels, be careful because some Amazon responses are .75”!
Label Options
I found this large assortment of .25″ colored circles at Amazon with (16) colors, including gold & silver. It says “neon,” so beware, but to me, a strong contrast is needed.
Color coding labels, .25″ wide, are commonly available at office supply stores, Avery has just (4) primary colors, so to make versions of the color, one could make variations by drawing single or perpendicular lines on some dots to get to (12) versions. Or cut them in half, for (8) color & shape combinations then.
I already bought the 16-color option but found another Amazon brand that sells (20) colored hexagons, but a bit larger at 1/3” wide.
Custom DIY
Another option is to get a package of .25” white labels and spray paint the colors on them. Or brush it on lightly. Test to see if the paint interacts with the adhesive and ruins it. You control the color that way, but if you are a typical wargamer, most of your colors are earth tones, and those may be hard to distinguish. Bright colors on board game counters are more acceptable.
Subtle colors would be better for distinguishing squads’ figures in miniature games where garish colors ruin the game’s “diorama” look. I made the brick colors of the three 25mm squads different. While it looks like rubble, the color helps keep the troops separate. One could do the same with different-colored rocks, dyed lichen, twigs, etc. I have a blog post on Naturalistic Terrain Markers for miniatures games here.
Overall Color
Dark on dark is a problem for the Green and Blue sides, but less for the Red side. The dark warriors on the Yellow counters were easier. My basic design guideline is white or light on dark background or the reverse.
Each nation also had a “large” symbol, ax, ship, shield, or spear at the upper right. According to the rulebook, they were there to “easily distinguish among nations of the same color.” (This concern may have come up when drafts of the counters were looked at.) But these symbols didn’t help me as much as a unique shield color or a nation initial would have.
It was a good reminder of how a gamer’s disability makes it difficult to enjoy the game. As gamers age and eyes degrade, this is predictable.
None of this diminishes the designer’s overall success with look and feel. It’s a beautiful-looking game. This is to say that these “distinguishing characteristics” should be the priority in a design, especially for new players, to fuel their eagerness to play it again. Cool artwork, the warriors’ images, is secondary.
Update 22 June 2024: I got the 16-color labels in the mail and placed them on the counters to help differentiate nations as described above. Here’s a sampling of what they look like now:
The Blue Nations: a light-blue labeled Belgae leader is shown in Sussex along with a silver labeled Norman; a green-labeled Angle is in Wessex.
Yellow Nation Romans have a gold label in Kent and a light-green-labeled Norwegian.
A Red Nation Brigantes has a darker-green label in the Downlands.
Green Nations: a yellow-labeled Caledonian is in Suffolk, and (2) red-labeled Welshmen occupy Essex—one with a full label and the other with a half label.
Full & half labels: My plan is that at the beginning of the round, all counters will be flipped to the reverse (half-label), and then as a counter moves, it’s flipped to its full-label side.
On the Population Track, a green-labeled Angle is in the “4” space, and a yellow-labeled Caledonian is in the “5” space. Due to the lighting in the room, notice that this green is the same as the Angle in Wessex but looks as dark as the Brigante in Downlands with a darker green label. But the Brigante is a red nation, so it shouldn’t be too big of a problem. I had some black and brown labels that nearly disappeared on those counters, but the color variation can provide only so much contrast.
Click here for more posts in the Britannia category.
Update 23 June 2024: I made an unofficial Facebook group for fans of Britannia.
Wargame Campaign 