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So I'm curious if anyone here is using lasers during their games?



Not the kind strapped to shark-heads and designed to incinerate and bisect your foes; but the kind used to measure distances, check line of sight and soforth.

I'm curious if people find them practical/versatile/worth having in games; or if they are a bit of a fancy toy that fast loses its appeal or if there are certain ones that really stand out compared to the rest. I know a few years back there was a lot more casual chatter about them which seems ot have dwindled these days. Which makes me wonder if they were a short term fad rather than a long term practical game aid.

I see one at the club every once in a blue moon. The type that projects a straight line, obviously. Never bothered, myself.

We use the now vintage GW branded LOS laser sight when playing. Dearly love mine! The batteries last a long time, too.

The crosshairs symbol the laser creates is used to determine visibility, if over 50% of the crosshair can be seen on the model, it can be shot at. Less than 50% on the model, and we start discussing is the shot possible (everyone trying to be a good sport about it), and if it is, does the target gain some form of bonus for cover (-1 to hit, cover save increase etc depending on system). I like this system because the crosshair projected gets larger the farther away the target is, making the 50% rule harder and harder to qualify for long distance targets.

In less "relaxed" games, we just check if the light can hit the target at all and skip further house rules

To me, they represent a loss of sportsmanship.

Yes they provide good accuracy in unclear circumstances. But I’m one for not bickering about it in the first place, hence no need for the gubbins in the first place.

Because anyone who’ll slow the pace of the game over whether 48.375730% of a model is showing, when they reckon is 52.4867395972% was never gonna be a fun opponent in the first place. And introducing fancy fangled worky bitz will only change what they want to moan about.

I have both a red dot and a line projector. Used to keep them in my game bag, but don’t bother anymore. Almost all the time, I can just hunch over the table for a model’s eye view. The dot was nice for when the angle was bad, or stuff got in the way.

The line projector was nice for vehicle arcs. But as that’ not an issue these days it’s not necessary. You could also use it to project deployment zones just by measuring 2 points and connecting them.

They have uses, but are a bit gimmicky. Nothing they do can’t be done with a mk. 1 eyeball and/or a tape measure.

But we do love our toys here...

I have a line projector. For now it is just a fancy gadget but maybe in the future it will be needed

A Dakkanaut named mauleed summed up laser pointers in 40k along time ago, basically saying that if you're using one, and it causes an argument at any point, you're now arguing about something that isn't part of the game.

For that reason he avoided them, as they're not part of 40k.

I used a laser line for the WotC Star Wars game, as it was a quick and easy way of checking LOS on the grid.

Couldn't be bothered messing about with ladder pointers in other miniatures games, though. Seems more hassle than it's worth.

They're used a lot more in Necromunda than 40k, where amount of cover is more important than if in cover.

I have one of those straight line lasers, but I’ve never broken it out to resolve an argument. Usually just to check arcs for myself once in a rare while.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
To me, they represent a loss of sportsmanship.

Yes they provide good accuracy in unclear circumstances. But I’m one for not bickering about it in the first place, hence no need for the gubbins in the first place.

Because anyone who’ll slow the pace of the game over whether 48.375730% of a model is showing, when they reckon is 52.4867395972% was never gonna be a fun opponent in the first place. And introducing fancy fangled worky bitz will only change what they want to moan about.

I suppose you can see it that way.. but for me personally, I love getting out the scope, I never do pew pew noises when I play, but playing with the scope gets my inner child going!

If we cannot reach a consensus in any given situation quickly, we never get stuck, we roll things off, no need to become TFG

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
To me, they represent a loss of sportsmanship.
.

That's the kind of attitude I don't get. Those who know and follow the rules and measure neatly and correctly are the bad ones and those who don't are paragons of good sportmanship...

This kind of "world on its head" rationalisation smells of players who know they play sloppily and nudge the rules and so create a narrative where it's a good thing and it's the others who are d*#$. You know, cognitive dissonance, defensive mechanisms, attributional egotism ... psychology 101.

To answer the original poster's question - I love them, they are quick and convenient, whether it's LOS in Warmachine, Cover Lines in Kill Team or regiment's arcs in ASOIAF. They are even useful in some board games like Gloomhaven or Descent!

You mention some for measuring distances, though...are they a thing?

I had the GW scope, but wasn't allowed to use it because people said it was misaligned and not projecting straight. Okay..?

But overall lasers make everything better and easier.

Hello everyone, it's interesting to read the opinions of experienced people. I especially like how they can be used to measure distances in 3D space, which can be very difficult to do with traditional tools.

Had one, lost it, but I used it not as a LOS checking device, rather, to designate/point at stuff. When their are 5 units of guards on the table the circling laser over the right one sure is handy.

Rolsheen wrote:They're used a lot more in Necromunda than 40k, where amount of cover is more important than if in cover.

Rarely use one in 30/40k, use one every single game of Necromunda tho

Cyel wrote:


You mention some for measuring distances, though...are they a thing?

For building and stuff they are, but I've never seen anyone use something like that for wargaming

I suspect if we ran a kill team tourney we would need one.