Printing a larger map

[St.Elmo]

Hey guys,

first time poster here, found this place about a week ago and have to say - great way to get info on A&A!
Now, I am a new player and played A&A42 last week for the first time at a friend’s (darn, why did it take so long for me to find this game?) and have to say - I am utterly impressed.

But, as already mentioned here many, many times, the gameboard just felt far too small to really represent this global conflict and thats about the only thing I disliked about the game (you know, besides leaving out techs and stuff, but these are rule-related issues which can easily be fixed).

Now, with this issue in mind I found out about AAP&E 40 an thought - hey this is it, larger map, extra fun, what could go wrong? And I was considering shelling out the 160 bucks (€, as it is over here in Germany) and get this great game. But after finding and reading some reviews, I am not so keen anymore on buying it at the moment, for various reasons.

Instead, I stumbled upon the great maps (literally!) of IL and besides giving out a big THANK YOU to him (impressive dedication, kudos to you IL!) I was wondering why I should not just get A&A42 for 30 bucks and pay some more to get a great map and be done with it.

My question though is - how did you print out IL’s maps, for all of you who did? And by this I don’t mean ‘Go to a copy shop and ask for it’, but rather:

• What size did you print it?
• Did you print it in one piece? Or make several smaller versions and glued/tied/ductape them together?
• How do you store such a big piece of inventory? ;)
• What material did you use? Photo paper, usual paper?

Point of these questions being: I thought at first to get a 140x70cm (sorry guys, metric system over here) version over here in laminated photo paper (260g), which I would need to shell out about 50 bucks or so… and while this would be a perfectly fine investment for such a great game, I wouldn’t want to be ordering it only to find out that it is totally useless for playing on it because, I don’t know, maybe its not perfectly flat or something.

That’s why I am turning to you to find out how you overcome these problems and what soultions you opted for. Thanks in advance!

– Saint Elmo

[Imperious Leader]

Well the only option if you are not using a print shop is to print your own.

Set printer to ‘poster’ setting and ‘no boundary’ and you have to tape the paper together, which means you need some decent paperstock

The thing is the quality paper can actually cost you the same amount.

You can probably fins a print operation online that will get you a cheap price… say $75…

If you do it on your equipment you must consider the ink costs and paper and time as … money.

The size of the artwork is fixed so it will just print as it is. AS i remember it should be something like 35 x 60

[St.Elmo]

Hey IL,

thanks for the quick answer, but I think you misunderstood the initial question a little. Of course I will go into a copyshop and get this done professionally and sure I know this will cost something, which is not the problem at all.

The main question is, what should I tell the guys at the copyshop how to print it, you know? Should I opt for a laminated poster or for something entirely different?
Basically what I’d like to know is: How should I get your map printed in order to use it as a perfectly good gameboard?

[Imperious Leader]

Find a nice vinyl type material that you can roll up. It would be a cloth like texture. Do not waste money of some laminated paper-stock that will glare in light and will crease at slightest provocation.

[dries]

Well i did print a IL Map on A0 format. They put it on a foam layer. Its a bit shiny but looks great!
Was worried that the vinyl stuff would buckel after a while…

[Imperious Leader]

I have many maps on that material and not once did that happen. Lets see a picture of this “shinny map”  Also, they should offer the print in matte, semigloss, or gloss. In the future always pick semigloss or matte.

[Buster27]

My buddy went to a print shop that specializes in signage for businesses and printed out one of Imperious Leader’s maps on a kind of wood stock.  Sorry, I don’t remember what the wood is called, but it is thin and sturdy but could break if it were improperly handled.  We wanted something durable and impressive (which this is) and it cost about $80 for a 47 inch long board.  (I don’t know how wide it is but it is probably like 24-30 inches wide.)  We love it.

Good luck,

Buster

[dries]

Well they didn’t offer to print it in matte so i don’t know if it was possible. But that would have been a better idea i quess…
Anyway, i great creation of IL. Thanks a lot!  :wink: