Sand Timer mechanic

I have experience with timers.

Bad experience.

***

I strongly advice against them these days. While at first glance, I thought it was a good idea as well.
It doesn't make the game fun any more. In contrary, players make harsh decisions.

It is better to change the game a bit. In such a way that players must react. If they don't while the game progresses, it is their loss.

Timers actually cost me more time as well. Setting the timer, then make the decision. Giving players time to react. They take their time. While in real combat, you react on an act.

The only paralisis that I have is the point where the first stone needs to be thrown by the main player. For that guy, we still use the timer. But I am looking for a way to get rid of the timer at that point as well.

One of the ways to lower AP is splitting a decision point with many choices into multiple decision points with fewer choices.

Another thing you can do is to limit the number of options at that specific decision point, while not removing the option entirely.
For example, imagine a chess variant where you roll two dice with each dice having a chess piece symbol and you are only allowed to move pieces of the type you've rolled. You effectively reduce amount of potential moves at each decision point (and so reduce the ap) without affecting complexity as much.

I was also considering a timer for a game, and since there are two different time periods it would've been two distinct sand timers.

What are the actual alternatives on a not-big-box-game budget?

I'm thinking a mechanical timer (your run-of-the-mill wind-up kitchen timer, but limited to about 5 minutes), but the ticking might be more annoying than the AP!

Digital timers can be cheap, but the only one I see at The Game Crafter would be awkward to keep setting back and forth to the two time intervals, and not cheap enough to include two. But from a gameplay perspective and more to spaff's problem, I think the major downside to its relatively small LCD screen is lack of visibility for all the players.

With the right theme, I could see a Mousetrap-style Rube Goldberg timer that takes a while for a marble to traverse. Of course, this is pretty much the opposite of being economical with components!

To those with some experience with manufacturers, how much would it cost to include a simple custom electronic timer? LEDs around the edge would make it clear to everyone how much time is left, and it could emit a warning beep a bit before time runs out. My guess is that it wouldn't be cost effective for small-scale production, but still curious.

The ancient, Chess-like game Chaturanga used a pair of four-sided dice to determine which pieces the player was allowed to move on their turn.

The set I used to own had a pair of small square rods - like larger versions of Catan roads - with a different image etched on each of its sides. Very nice in my opinion, and gave me a different perspective on d4s instead of expecting them to look like mini-caltrops or three-sided pyramids. :)

And I'll never forget one of my favourite games from my youth that uses that mechanic: BattleMasters. My younger brother and I - and then later, friends from college - would spend entire Saturdays watching cartoons and then playing that game. Loads of fun. :)

@spaff: I don't mean to go off-topic here. But I suppose my point is to reinforce ElKobold's suggestion about artificially limiting choices. There are several games out there that have done the same or similar things. Personally, I would prefer using cards, as that guarantees there's no unit/combination of units left out due to the luck of the die roll.