I just had a game where my friend conceeded after Russia’s second turn. Total time was a little over an hour. The game before that, same teams, took us about 12 rounds and over ten hours.
Folding Game Table
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But if you had it finished, people would want to play and the table would put fear in their heart and cause them to lose because anybody with an official AA table has GOT to mean business. Its sooo…. intimidation now isn’t it?
Anyway Antholin, i need the version of the map that has the generals embossed in the map.
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I think the table in a good solid Oak, with a medium stain and high gloss Poly finish…
Plexiglass to protect the map (and can be drawn on at need and able to be erased)Drink holders and a box at each end of the table to roll dice in…
And spend a boat load of cash and buy Minis for the units…
OK, now we are cooking with gas!
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I have cup holders for the table actually. They hook onto the edge of the table and collapse to be stored inside the drawers. I don’t have 5 sets of them cut and painted yet so they aren’t included in the blog. But I will take pictures of them soon.
The tray insets come out of course, but there is adequate room to roll dice inside the drawers and some of us even close the lid and roll on top of it, so much so that I am considering a felt top for the lids (the lid is inset so there is a slight edge to deter dice rolling off of it). I prefer to bank my rolls against the corners of the drawer itself though… everyone has their own practices.
Oak and plexi add a lot of weight. An oak version can be done though and a 1/8" plexi insert as well, if one doesn’t mind the weight and cost. I did design casters into one version and they can be added.
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@ncscswitch:
And spend a boat load of cash and buy Minis for the units…
OK, now we are cooking with gas!
I got to play almost that game at Spring Gathering. Not quite as fancy but an Enterprise as your US AC is still pretty cool. 8-)
http://www.geocities.com/headlesshorseman2/bigmap2.jpg
Thing is with plexi that slides in and out or lays down you are free to make maps for any games. With the drawers and the space it looked like they had you would be able to store all the versions in the table.
I know a carpenter always looking for projects. Hmmmm….
I can always tell good work by how long I keep thinking about it after seeing it. Again, nice job.
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Agreed.
I love the design, and of course the classic WWII color of the unit is very fitting for the project.
I also really like the raised stands for the aircraft… and that magnet idea to solve the Carrier Based FIGs issue is wonderful.
Size sounds to be just about perfect (approx 3X the standard game board).
And the flexibility (add pre-printed felts with Texas Holdem and Blackjack) makes it so that you even have a chance of getting your better half to agree to cough up the cash :-)
May I recommend that the alternate felts be placed on 1/8" Luan ply as a light weight and thin option? And the plexi covers solves any laminated map curl issues that may arise from other folks with portable laminated maps for other games that roll up for transport…
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Holy crap Switch, those units are huge!
A plexi “screen” that slides over is a good idea. Since our maps are double laminated they are bullet proof, but you can’t expect everyone to have similar grade. The laminated map slides inside the edging and overlaps in the center so that the seam is consistent, thus reducing the risk of curling.
Here is the thing, I can print any map to the size required for the table that slips inside edging track.
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God. I wish we were all together going to the lumber yard with the mission to pull an all nighter and just cut and hammer this thing together by tomorrow morning. It would be fun to make like 5-6 of these suckers all at once like a production line.
Man thats would be fun… Spaten Octoberfest, Grilled steaks, and making Axis and Allies game tables… :-D :roll:
Then we can make some dice towers and custom chairs with the icons on the backs.
Oh i suggest you make decals for the top of each drawer, so the player has the national icon on top, plus i would add the unit cost table on top of this also, or inside the top of the drawer.
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Icons can be added to the top of each drawer, if you prefer to have them fixed. 4 of the drawers are interchangeable, and the other 2 are between them, if that makes any sense. There are two types of drawers, 2 of one, and 4 of the other.
As far as the unit production, because the initial placement is keyed on the map per territory, and because I added Cost/Movement/Attack/Defense keys to each corner of the map, referencing the cards becomes obsolete. The cards do fit nicely within the boards however, and the card info can be added to the tops of the drawers if requested.
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Imperious, it is the map that Satchel has on his board. He has the leader of each super power embossed on the map with the country’s capital. I am sure that Satchel can send you a link or send you a file with his map attached to it.
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AK_Satchel;
can we get the version of the map that has the “leaders” embossed on the different nations?
plus the tech and NA chart?
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But laminated is not as protected as plexi. Sure, it’s protected, but if I’m going to invest the time, I’m going for heavy duty.
As far as weight goes, it’s not a big deal. I’m not exactly planning to bring in anywhere on a daily basis, so a 200 pound table sitting on a concrete foundation slab isn’t a huge deal for me. The idea is to have a large map with those sticks generals used to move units around the globe in World War II. (Sorry, just feels more authentic to me if everyone had their own swagger stick or pointer to move their units from territory to territory. Also means the map has to be bigger so you can navigate the units around!)
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Plexi has the added problem of the items “floating” over the board and glare from lights. It becomes harder to read smaller text due to the thickness.
I didnt find any tables already made, but looking into how to build one today. I spent some time in a lumber yard getting ideas.
I did find out how he made the flags, by buying " furniture plugs" that go into holes that cover up the screws. You just drill a hole in the middle and insert a strip of round thin wood in hole. Then glue and paint it black. easy. Lastly, you print flags in quantity on sheets of paper with both sides facing each other and stick on the thing.
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Lamination protects from spilled drinks, while Plexi does not.
Plexi insures a 100% level playing surface that can be written upon at need.
Plexi over a laminated map equals a gaming surface safe from even spilled bong water…
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Just putting my 2 Bobs worth in as well, congrats over designing such a masterpiece for gaming. I too would make something similar but alas have noone around to play it with. In fact my board has only been used once for games, my only fix is being able to play against the rest of the guys on this site, which I am enjoying greatly.
Anyway good job and it’s great to see these sort of projects get published for all gamers to see. -
Just putting my 2 Bobs worth in as well, congrats over designing such a masterpiece for gaming. I too would make something similar but alas have noone around to play it with. In fact my board has only been used once for games, my only fix is being able to play against the rest of the guys on this site, which I am enjoying greatly.
Anyway good job and it’s great to see these sort of projects get published for all gamers to see.Thank you very much.
I think that plexi and laminate would be fantastic. At the very least though, laminating the map is necessary.
The edges of the laminate tuck into this table so curling isn’t an issue, but it sounds like being able to write on top of the laminate is. I think the following models will have to have a plexi shield.
Imperious, you almost discovered my technique :)
Regarding the map: My map version is very large, 250mb, so it has to be reduced to be shared.
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@ncscswitch:
Plexi over a laminated map equals a gaming surface safe from even spilled bong water…
Gotta design for real world conditions. :mrgreen:
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ok use this they take 500mb files!
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I was thinking plexi because then you could put any sort of gaming map underneath without necessarily needing it laminated. War at Sea or Heroclix or the like.
Personally I prefer the glares from lexan or plexi to the matte you get from laminate.
Bong water not a problem.
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Looks fantastic, do the pieces not look a bit small on the larger board?
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naw… thats the way its supposed to be.
The whole point is the map is too small for the pieces because its harder to deal with small areas and also to even see the map properly.
Larger map is the best remedy for cheap companies that don’t want to make a proper map
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