Call me crazy, but I genuinely love setting up a game. There’s just something about it, the ritual, the anticipation, the quiet before the first move, that really does it for me.

I’ll usually throw on a movie or find a YouTube video that matches the vibe of whatever I’m about to play. It kind of sets the stage and pulls me into the experience before I even touch a counter.

This week, I set up Traces of Victory from Vuca Simulations. The game covers the U.S. Third and Seventh Armies’ operations in eastern France in November 1944,so of course, I had to put on a documentary about the U.S. Third Army. It just felt right.

Now the mood was set… and I was ready to get started.

Pushing Cardboard Starts Here: Punch, Clip, Repeat

The first thing I usually do is punch the counter sheets and clip the counters, if needed. And I’ve got to say, I love that more publishers are moving toward larger, pre-rounded counters. It just looks better on the table and makes the whole experience feel a little more polished.

Vuca Simulations does a fantastic job with this. The graphics are clean, the numbers are easy to read, and those rounded corners? Chef’s kiss. It’s a small detail that makes a big difference.

Now, if I do need to clip counters, I break out my high-tech tool… a fingernail clipper. Yep, nothing fancy here. I’ve been doing it this way for years, so the dreaded “stop sign” edges haven’t been an issue since my late teens.

My clipping routine is pretty simple: get comfortable, set up a good light, throw on some music, and just go to work. There’s something almost therapeutic about it just you, a pile of counters, and the slow transformation from cardboard sheets to a battlefield in the making… even if somewhere out there, a few grognards just felt a disturbance in the force at the mention of fingernail clippers.

Maps, Markers, and Method to the Madness

Next comes the placement of the map, and this is more than just throwing it on the table all willy-nilly. I like to be intentional with it. The turn track and any record-keeping tracks go closest to me, right where I can easily reach them without stretching across the entire front line like I’m launching an offensive of my own.

This is where the game really starts to take shape. Once the map is down, it’s time to complete the counter setup. Most games from Vuca Simulations make this pretty smooth, with setup hexes printed right on the back of the counters and reinforcements organized on the OB cards. It’s clean, efficient, and saves a ton of time.

Now, I’ll admit, this is where experience meets reality. I’ve got the magnifying glass out because my eyes aren’t quite what they used to be. Tiny hex numbers and counter details don’t stand a chance… eventually.

I usually place the units first, then go back and add the record-keeping markers. If I do it the other way around, I’ll end up bumping something and suddenly my turn track looks like it just got hit by artillery.

And finally, for games that come with two player aids, one of them goes under the plexiglass, locked in on whatever I know I’ll be referencing the most, like the CRT or the Sequence of Play. At that point, everything is in place… and the battlefield is officially ready.

By the time everything is in place, the map laid out just right, the counters clipped and positioned, the player aids ready to go, you realize something… you’ve already started playing.

It’s not just setup,it’s immersion.

There’s a rhythm to it. A ritual. It’s the moment where a table in your home becomes a battlefield in 1944, and for a little while, everything else fades into the background.

Sure, the dice haven’t rolled yet and no moves have been made, but the experience is already underway. And honestly? That might be one of my favorite parts of this hobby.

So yeah… call me crazy. But sometimes, just setting up the game is more than enough to remind me why I love pushing cardboard in the first place.