Notebooks and their uses

In a game that requires a lot of remembering of statistics and rules, it can be hard to keep track of everything.  This is where the humble notebook comes into it...


 The first thing to cover is why do you need a notebook in a wargaming setting?  I can personally think of a  number of reasons, and I use a number of them myself.  So, I'll give you a brief run down of how I see the use of notebooks.

The first one is the Recipe Book.  No, not cooking but painting.  When we paint armies most people come up with a method they apply over their miniatures (IE army) and use it for all of them for that 'force'.  Now, what happens if you pick up another project, or leave the hobby for an extended period of time?  Then upon your return you wish to continue with that army, but... how did you paint the skin or the shirts?  This is where the Recipe Book comes in.  As you paint up you minis, or a test mini, you record the way you paint the minis.  This includes things such as the paint ratios, brands and colours.  This ensures that the army will be painted to a consistent level, and not look too out of place among the army as a whole.  It also comes in handy when you find a technique you like for something specific - like OSL, bases, beards etc.  Write it down for next time, and you need not wrack your brain to remember how you managed it.

Next up we have the Ideas Book.  This is perhaps the one I use the most.  It is somewhere to collect and keep your random thoughts and ideas.  Mine is dotted with lots of plans that may never come to fruition but they are there if and when they are needed - I even leave a title next to them so that I know what army the idea is for.  I see this as being a good practice, as I like making the note, giving myself the chance to go back at a later date and check it out.  It is also a good idea to keep ideas for a planned army in a single place - schemes, conversions or even army lists.  I suggest each gamer keeps one of these next to their painting area.

 The Record Book is another gaming tool.  During the game we have lots of things to record, from the number of wounds that giant has taken to which enemy unit the flaming banner.  Ensuring you have a note book in which to record those little bits of information in can be invaluable. There is no rule to state that you may not take notes during the game, some times it can be useful to just make a note of something for later in the game.  It is not only an in game use these books have, but rather are a great method to keep track of games played during a tournament or even just for fun.  I think it is in all of us to enjoy keeping track of our games (something I plan to cover in a future blog post), this books are just the tool for this.  Whether you plan to use it only for your own enjoyment, to write up battle reports at a later date, or just to record important information during the game; the notebook is a good tool to be sat next to your table.
 
The final use for the notebook I have found is as a Rule Book.    I have yet to utilise this use of the notebook, but I can see myself using it in the future.  As I stated during the intro, as gamers we have lots of stuff to remember during a game and sometimes we need a little bit of help.  The idea behind this book is to make quick notes of rules or stats that you find hard to remember.  The Rule Book can be used as a quick reference guide, for all those tricky little rules that can slip past our minds mid game.


Overall, I hope I have demonstrated the uses that the humble little notebook can play in the grand scheme of our hobby.  I find them near invaluable, how about you?

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