Identifying leaders in Sharp Practice

I like the card driven activation mechanics in Sharp Practice, but often find players struggling to recall which leader corresponds to which card. 

When running participation games or introducing new players I've tried to create a simple system to match up the card with the right figure. It does a lot to keep the game flowing.

It's not necessarily a problem when you have only three leaders, but once you get to five or six it becomes more of an issue. My initial solution was to use single figure sabot bases and to mark these with the corresponding card or chit numbers. 

I added rocks to the base to represent the status of those leaders. It meant making up a selection of different bases, but it was worth the effort to keep the game moving along.

Those bases have served me well. If I had an issue with them, it was their size and the way the numbers broke with the immersion of the figures on the table top. 

Could I find a better way? Well, I think I have. Instead of matching the figure on the table to the card, I've decided to match the card to the figure. Now, when the card is drawn it shows an image of the actual figure, the type of unit they command and their status level.

It's a quick visual reference that immediately identifies the leader figure and the type of unit they are commanding. Best of all, it removes the need for any identifying markers on the table.

Making the cards has been a lot quicker than the individual sabot bases. The process is straightforward and the most laborious part is taking the photographs of each figure. Here's how I've done it:

First, I photographed the blank card that comes with the Sharp Practice deck. 

I used that to make up a template in PowerPoint, but any design program could do something similar. 

The leader figures were photographed. I grouped them in threes, purely for convenience. 

I then took them into a photo app where I could crop and remove the subject from the background. That gives you an image that can be dropped into the card. It's adjusted to size, leaving enough room underneath to add a text box.

I made up multiple versions for each leader, giving them different status levels or altering the type of unit they command. That would give me all the possible permutations.

There's no need to produce actual cards, I've printed them onto normal A4 paper. They just need to be cut to size to match the cards that come with the Sharp Practice rules. I protect those cards in plastic sleeves, the type used for collectable card games that are readily available from game shops or online. It's simply a matter of sliding in the relevant leader image prior to each game. That keeps the system flexible, so you can remove a leader image and replace it with another as required. When not in use I store them in a spare plastic card sleeve.

Obviously you don't need to go to all this effort, you could simply write the information down on a piece of paper and slip it into the card sleeve, but I'm a visual person so this works for me. Looks better too.