Custom re-labelled Milanos for 18xx games (2 Viewers)

[Cannister]

Hi All,

I've enjoyed looking through these threads for inspiration so I thought I'd share my progress on custom chips.

I got a set of unlabeled (and some labeled which had to be peeled off) Milanos by request for xmas. Hooray! I've just finished designing my own labels which feature the name of my 18xx podcast "Train Shuffling" (for those who don't know, 18xx games are economic train games mostly set in the 1800's). A $20 chip is very useful in these games (more so than a $25 chip) so many people seek out poker chips with a 20, which are annoyingly hard to come by.

Here's my nearly final pass (I think) for the set. I'm chatting with Gear and Wifey currently and plan to get them in Glossy laminated vinyl per Gear's recommendations specifically for issues with covering the imperfections of the china clays.

I've got a -1 denomination which is trick I picked up from another 18xx player. In these games there are lots of little payouts and if you have to pay, say, $99 out then you can grab a $100 and a $-1 instead of a 1x 50, 2x 20, 1x 5 and 4x 1.

I need to do a little more work on centering things but I'm fairly happy with where they ended up. I'd be interested in feedback if anyone wants to make suggestions (barring religious arguments over grey vs green 20s ;P )

I'll post pics when I have the labels in hand and then finished progress shots after that!

 

[raynmanas]

Hey fellow 18xxer, love that it is getting at least a little recognition here. Where are you located? I'll have to check out your podcast.

Anyway, I like your clean label design. But as a poker player first and foremost, green $20s tilt me. I never get to host 18xx, but if/when I ever do, my Jack Detroit $25s are going to be in play and I don't care what anyone thinks! I am struggling to see the value of the -1 though, wouldn't you just put one back from your stack into the bank?

Also, are you aware of Apache's board game poker chips? Train track mold! https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/payment-thread-for-project-board-gamers-chips.45899/

 

[Kensco]

Have you considered fonts for the numerals that have more of a 19th century appearance?

If you haven't, look at some fonts in the "western" category at sites like DaFont.com

 

[Redouble]

I like the idea of a -1 chip. I'll have to try that in my next 18xx game. As a poker player, green $20s tilt me also. I would use another color for the 20s. Also I find that especially in conjuction with $20 chips the $10 chips just slow things down. Same with the $50s. Casinos deemed on these denominations unnecessary years ago and I agree. They may reduce the total number of chips needed slightly but over all they slow things down. I would suggest trying an 18xx game without these denominations and see if you don't find that it speeds play.

 

[Cannister]

Redouble - I did say feedback was welcome "barring religious arguments over grey vs green 20s ;P" - I already own the greens and I quite like them so they're staying.

I've also spent about 2 years playing with a set that was just 1,5,20,100,500 (and only needed like 2-4 of that last denomination because of larger banks with a 300 count chip set). I haven't had any issues with it but I've recently started playing with a group who use 10s and 50s and while I know I don't need them I quite like them now.

Really the post was a request for feedback on the design of the label rather than the distribution and choice of denominations which is something I would never expect to get consensus on among any group of 18xx players, let along them and folks on a poker chip forum.

 

[Cannister]

Hey fellow 18xxer, love that it is getting at least a little recognition here. Where are you located? I'll have to check out your podcast.

Hey! Located in Southern New Hampshire. The podcast is here https://anchor.fm/trainshuffling and we stream 18xx games on our youtube channel - like this one last night:

Anyway, I like your clean label design. But as a poker player first and foremost, green $20s tilt me. I never get to host 18xx, but if/when I ever do, my Jack Detroit $25s are going to be in play and I don't care what anyone thinks!

Thanks! Green/Grey - Understand, and similarly as not a poker player I love the green 20s and I don't care what anyone thinks either

I am struggling to see the value of the -1 though, wouldn't you just put one back from your stack into the bank?

I wrote in the initial description above: "I've got a -1 denomination which is trick I picked up from another 18xx player. In these games there are lots of little payouts and if you have to pay, say, $99 out then you can grab a $100 and a $-1 instead of a 1x 50, 2x 20, 1x 5 and 4x 1."

Also, are you aware of Apache's board game poker chips? Train track mold! https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/payment-thread-for-project-board-gamers-chips.45899/

Yep! I had originally thought I was going to pre-order them but then I realized that I really wanted that green 25 to be a green 20 (heh).
Then i realized that I wanted a very customized set and didn't want to wait for the set so I decided to just go custom Thanks for the pointer in any case.

 

[Cannister]

Have you considered fonts for the numerals that have more of a 19th century appearance?

If you haven't, look at some fonts in the "western" category at sites like DaFont.com

Something I still wanted to do was poke around for more exciting fonts, but clarity is king so anything that is too stylized tends to be a problem. I did poke around there and the only western font that doesn't look too cartoony is this one, which I may try on for size: https://www.dafont.com/western-wonderment.font

Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[raynmanas]

Hey! Located in Southern New Hampshire. The podcast is here https://anchor.fm/trainshuffling and we stream 18xx games on our youtube channel - like this one last night:

awesome, i will definitely check it out - 1889 was my first play. and southern NH is a longish but tolerable drive from my MA location in the right conditions if you're ever looking for an extra player!

Thanks! Green/Grey - Understand, and similarly as not a poker player I love the green 20s and I don't care what anyone thinks either

i've always wanted an arch-nemesis.

I wrote in the initial description above: "I've got a -1 denomination which is trick I picked up from another 18xx player. In these games there are lots of little payouts and if you have to pay, say, $99 out then you can grab a $100 and a $-1 instead of a 1x 50, 2x 20, 1x 5 and 4x 1."

completely understand that point, but my point was odds are very high (~4/5) you're going to have an extra $1 in your stack that you could just put back instead of taking the $-1. i presume it is something i would have to actually play with to see the value, please don't take it as any meaningful critique!

Yep! I had originally thought I was going to pre-order them but then I realized that I really wanted that green 25 to be a green 20 (heh). Then i realized that I wanted a very customized set and didn't want to wait for the set so I decided to just go custom Thanks for the pointer in any case.

Finally, and I swear I am not pimping for Apache, but you can buy blanks and get labels in any denomination (even -$1 lol). That said, I think there is much to be said for sticking with a consistent edgespot pattern (or none at all) for 18xx, which you get with your Milanos but not with those.

All that said, I really like your labels. They are simple, elegant, and right to the point.

 

[Cannister]

awesome, i will definitely check it out - 1889 was my first play. and southern NH is a longish but tolerable drive from my MA location in the right conditions if you're ever looking for an extra player!
...
i've always wanted an arch-nemesis.

Nice - I'll keep it in mind. I'll be at Totalcon to play 18xx in February if you go to that (for the 18xx).

completely understand that point, but my point was odds are very high (~4/5) you're going to have an extra $1 in your stack that you could just put back instead of taking the -$1.

Maybe 2-4 times a game it'll happen where you don't have the change and it's so nice. If you're really short on ones you can do a 5 and a -1 instead of 4 too.
Also some players like to put each dividend payout straight from the bank directly onto that company's shares which results in lots of little transactions without "change" to give to the bank (which of course you could give and just put the slightly too high payout on the share but I digress).

It's a quirky little nicety that is fun to have as an option and can be pretty handy sometimes. Not really much more than that. It also makes me smile when I get to use them usefully.

Finally, and I swear I am not pimping for Apache, but you can buy blanks and get labels in any denomination (even -$1 lol). That said, I think there is much to be said for sticking with a consistent edgespot pattern for 18xx, which you get with your Milanos but not with these.

Yeah, but the chips were still significantly more expensive and still aren't available (although I know they will be soon). If I had more cash to throw around I would have gotten majestics but they're in a similar price range.

 

[yeknom02]

Hey Johnny (or Eric, I don't know who's who). Just wanted to say I like the idea. I have owned Milanos for a few months and I love them. I'm getting some yellow $1000s to relabel as $20s, and then I'm going to have a nice long think about how I want to build my default $12k bank for 1830.

 

[Cannister]

Hey Johnny (or Eric, I don't know who's who). Just wanted to say I like the idea. I have owned Milanos for a few months and I love them. I'm getting some yellow $1000s to relabel as $20s, and then I'm going to have a nice long think about how I want to build my default $12k bank for 1830.

Hey yeknom - Eric here.

I made an initial pass at a cheat sheet for chip counts of different bank sizes to put in my poker chip case with my chip denominations. You can see a photo here:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1220554452387627014

But obviously that's with my set of denominations and I haven't played with them yet and suspect that I'll have changes to make with each set as I play more.

Also: Gear shipped my labels out yesterday so by late next week I should have them in hand and I'll be furiously labeling the chips before heading out to Captaincon!

 

[yeknom02]

Eric,

That's a good idea - I need to make my own cheat sheet for bank sizes and just keep them with the chips instead of keeping it on Google Drive.

Just ordered from gearthis morning. I wonder what his avg turnaround time is.