When you fall in love with a game it’s only natural to want to make the most of the experience. To that end, more and more players are putting away their cardstock and investing in specially-designed acrylic sets.
Beautiful and distinctive token sets help players stand out, especially at tournaments where it’s easy to mix pieces from one player’s set with another. Also, the cardstock doesn't last forever, and is often only available in those big core boxes. So replacing it with the same thing isn't always viable.
Acrylic Legion tokens can take more punishment than a Hound's Tooth
Now, acrylic tokens can pop straight out of the bag. But there are ways to make them even more appealing. Many of the tokens we produce here at Art of War Studios include laser-etched designs which can be filled in, as you can see in this ad for our KeyForge sets (see the white symbols on the tokens?). We’ve had a few queries about how this can be achieved, so here are some quick tips.
When your tokens and templates arrive, they may have a protective layer of sticky paper on them. This also acts as a nice stencil for airbrushing and peels off with no effort at all.
Once done, just scrape some wax crayon into the grooves of the design. Don't worry about being neat at this stage. It can easily be tidied up later. Really gouge away with that crayon. Put some metal on and get stuck in. The more you cram in there, the brighter the colour will be. 
When you're happy, take a cloth (microfibre cloths are amazing for this) and rub the template or token down. Don't worry if you didn't get enough crayon in, or want to add more. Go right ahead, and then just rub the piece down again with the cloth. You'll instantly see the template pop. Don't worry about the crayon falling out, either. Your template will look good for ages.
Even if you're not a regular hobbyist you'll still achieve great results. And, if your tokens start to look a bit less lustrous after a few months of rattling around in tubs or being smeared with fingerprints, give them a quick rub down with some nail varnish remover and they'll look as good as new in a few seconds.
This is what you can achieve with just a few minutes of work.
There really is nothing stopping you from leaving the tokens as they are. They'll pop on their own. But to really take them to the next level (and achieve the effect you see in images like the one below of our new Shadespire Scatter Token) a bit of crayon and some rubbing down is all you need.
Spare a couple of minutes with a crayon and cloth, and this is the result.
As ever, if you're unsure about anything, just ask. We're on facebook and twitter @AOWStudiosUK, and you should never hesitate to email us at enquiries@artofwarstudios.co.uk if you have any questions. We love this hobby, and we want you to get the most out of it too.
Happy gaming!