While I did enjoy my initial foray into Nemesis by Awaken Realms (review), two things I felt were missing from the game: 1. more characters (solved by ordering the Aftermath expansion during the last kickstart, including the elusive Medic character) and 2. counters to replace the miniatures. (yes, yes, yes… I know… my practical side outweighs my “pew pew” side.)

While the sculpts of course are very nice, unpainted miniatures, as always, leave a lot to be desired. While the characters themselves wear color rings to identify their grey blobs from one another, the intruders are a bit confusing (apart from the larvae which are easily smaller and creepers which are lower to the ground). The variations between the adults and the breeders come down to details not easy to tell at a glance. Plus, the BIG miniatures are just too big… the bases with one or two characters obscure most of a room’s location.

So since I’m no longer into painting miniatures, I was left with two choices of how to handle it — barring just playing with the grey plastic. Originally I’d thought of making up standees, but I’ve learned that the height of the standees really adds nothing to the gameplay of a non-miniatures game (with miniatures). A miniatures game of course being defined as more of a tabletop skirmish game where the size and position of each miniature relative to each other and cover dictates what they can and cannot see or do.

So to make Nemesis easier to play and discern characters, I opted for a counters based approach. Using the artwork from the game, I created stickers for each of the 12 (13 including Laika) character miniatures as well as the five intruder types. For the characters, I used their assigned color for the stripe behind their name and for the Aftermath characters, added an “A” icon to each. Laika received the same color as her handler the Bounty Hunter since she can move about on the board as well. For the Intruders, I made the Larva the same size as the characters (about 0.85″), but the rest are full 1″ in size. I also included their symbol on the lower right corner to help associate the symbol with the Intruder type.

For mine I had already pre-3d-printed counters in 1″ and 1.1″ with rounded corners. I usually use this consume the last of a roll of filament. For the characters I picked blue (the bestest color ever except for… well let’s not go there) 1″ counters and for the Intruders, grey for the Larvae and black for the rest. If you don’t have a 3d printer on hand (or a glass bed necessary for getting a smooth flat surface), these would work quite well simply adhered to matte board or thick chipboard, then cut out in squares. The counters only take up a half sheet of paper/labels as well, so very economical.

I did not order the stand alone expansion coming soon, nor do I own the Carnomorphs module, so did not have the resources to create counters for them.

BONUS: Another useful feature of these is that instead of using the cards to randomize your character selections, you can put all the counters into a bag or cup and draw from there. If you draw a color that has already been drawn, then set it aside and draw again. Leave Laika out of the draw of course and add her to the Bounty Hunter should he be selected.

So whether you use these until you get your own miniatures/decorative pawns painted and ready, or just prefer the ease of clarity they offer, I hope you find these useful for you own plays of Nemesis!

download here