Product Review: Counter Attack bases all-in-one widget

It's unusual for me to do product reviews on my blog. In fact, this is my very first!

I was so impressed with this company's customer service, however, that I just felt I had to share it with you - my wonderful readers.

I know it may sound forced to compliment an organisation on something as basic as customer service, but it really is such a rarity these days and the experience stood out for me.

It all started when I wanted to paint the base markings on my Cygnar. A lot of the time I can be picky about my painting, and I wanted these to be as precise as possible. Therefore I went searching on the interwebs to find an aid. I discovered these all-in-one widgets from Counter Attack Bases (see link below).

From the descriptions and pictures on the website I wasn't sure if the indented part was exactly half the base size or not. I emailed an enquiry to their website and (surprise, surprise!!) got a reply straight away (literally within the hour!!).

They told me that the indented parts do cover half the base, so I ordered a set (and chose blue ones to match the blue themes of my Cygnar army).

When they arrived I was disappointed to find that one of the widgets was broken. I contacted the company and they sent me a replacement (at no cost to myself!).

In game the widgets work nicely, having a melee range of 0.5" and 2" - plus the 3" charge range, and the indications of where three different AOE sizes would extend from a model on a direct hit.

The widgets do become harder to use the more crowded a battlefield becomes - especially the AOE range checking. When I used these in a game against my friend's Skorne I found that although the AOE range checking was useful.... once the battle reached a scrum or melee style it was difficult to place the widgets accurately.

The company does also sell individual gaming aids for things like charge lane checking, which I might pick up in the future to speed up my turns.

All things considered I would say that these all-in-one-widgets are a 'jack of all trades, master of none'. That's not a bad thing by any means, although I have found that the individual tools are more effective at their different roles. Ultimately these widgets are great for the gamer on a budget who can't afford to splash out on multiple tools (or a gamer who doesn't want to lug around a bag full of extras). For me, however, I think I will stick with specific tools for specific jobs.


link to Counter Attack Bases, All-in-One Widgets: here