Using Skill Rings

cakegameSkill rings are, as the name suggests, rings that go on players’ bases to show what skills they have.  I first came across them in about 2008, when people were using beer bottle tops under the bases of those players with skills.  Since then there have emerged a plethora of options for marking skills, with a couple of examples shown in the pics on this page.

giorssImpact and Comixininos sell a few different options, and other people use standard small elastic bands from stationery shops, and loop them around figures if they don’t exactly fit on the bases.  Others paint the skills for players on the bases for a given tournament.

 

Skill writingIn terms of colours, it doesn’t particularly matter what colour represents which skill, though it can be good form to have consistency, so have enough of a given colour so that if two dark elf blitzers both have dodge then they have the same skill.  One way of making it easy to remember is alliteration, so that blue is block and green is guard, though it falls down after that!  Red is often used as danger, so tackle/frenzy/mighty blow, and black is often used in a league setting for injured players.

Ultimately though, skill rings are just another way of making it clear to your opponent which skills a player has, in order to avoid repeating conversations and speed up play, so it’s up to you how you use them.  Comments welcome!

10 thoughts on “Using Skill Rings”

  1. Skillrings are pretty fine when all players have got maximum 2 skills.
    Most important skill, which should always be marked, is in my opinion guard.

  2. I need to try out the bands solution, as I always find I have a pile of skill rings in my KO box after a Kick Off, mainly because everyone targets the skilled players (even Nuffle…).

  3. I’ve used to use Cola bottle plastic ring. It is compatible for normal bases. I use Ice Tea plastic ring for big guys. I think It is the cheapest way. You can write skills on it and drop after league or competition

  4. Perhaps we could come up with agreed colours for major skills. I generally go blue -block, green agility ie dodge, sprint etc, orange guard, purple for nasty guy ie mighty blow with claws, red for strength ie mighty blow alone or piling on and white for leader

  5. If you have a P-touch label-maker, you can easily print out skills to apply to the figure bases too. It works great and you don’t need a steady hand to paint them on!

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