Here is an alternative to the Order Markers which will eliminate markers from clutter-up the tabletop. You will need one six-sided die for each independent unit you plan to use on the tabletop. Pick up some small round or square stickers from any office supply store. Make sure the stickers are smaller than the die and that they are white. Now place a small colored dot on the back of one of the stands of your unit. Make sure this is a rear stand. If your stand is too thin, place this colored dot on the heal of one of your figures. Next color six of the white sticker with the same color as the dot on your unit. Thus if you placed a small light blue dot on the back stand of your unit, color six of the white stickers the same light blue color. Next write a one, two or three letter command indicator on each of the now six colored stickers that will correspond to the six commands listed in the rules. Thus you could write a C on one indicating charge, an MO indicating move on another sticker, an MA indicating maneuver, a D indicating defend, a RET for retire, and REC for recover. You should now have six coloured stickers one for each of the six commands. Place these stickers one each side of the six-sided die. Next pick-up a small box at any craft store and a pack of very small post-it notes from the office supply store. Place your colored coded dice in the box. When it comes time to to assign commands to the units you wish to activate, select the colored die which corresponds to the colored dot of that unit. Draw it out in such a manner that your opponent cannot see what color you're drawing out. Now place the small post-it note over the top of the command indicator you've chosen for that move and place it in the up-turned top of the box. Make sure the sides of the top are high enough so that your opponent cannot see the color of the die. When it comes time to activate that unit, simply take their die for that unit out of the up-turned top, reveal the command by taking the post-it note off the command indicator. With the command indicator showing at the top of the die place the post-it note on the bottom of the die and place the die on the table. You don't even need to place the die next to the unit because the two are already color coded. The reason you place the post-it note on the bottom of the die is that if the die should get bumped you can simply re-place the die on the table with the post-it note on the bottom and what's on top will be the current command. Since all the dice are color coded to each independent unit you can simply line the dice up on the side of the table with the command indicator showing at the top. So, instead of all those order markers you now have only a few color coded dice. And, nothing ever has to placed on the table to spoil the view of the game. At the end of the game simply place the dice and post-notes in the box. Once again, what you will need: one six-sided die for each independent unit you plan to use on the table. a packet of small round or square white stickers a packet of very small post-it notes a small plain box [and top] from any craft store. I hope this helps beautify your gaming table. Back to Saga #75 Table of Contents Back to Saga List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2000 by Terry Gore This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com