Piece Storage and keeping games intact

i keep all mine separated

I keep mine in the boxes, but inevitably they get mixed up as I run out, while playing a game and use pieces from other boxes. I also put the Tigers and IS2s from my 1941 In my 1940 box.
I have bought 6 sets of HBG pieces (2 German, 2 UK, 1 American and 1 Japanese).

The sculpts are the part about A&A that I love the most, so the way I handle my collection (which includes every A&A game ever published, most of them in multiple copies) is sculpt-oriented rather than game-oriented.  I keep my sculpts in tackle boxes, grouped into categories that have changed over time and which will probably always remain in flux to some degree.

If you look at the first four pictures in this thread…

http://www.axisandallies.org/forums/index.php?topic=32700.0

…you’ll see the way I keep my tackle boxes on shelves below my custom wargaming table.  If you click on each picture to expand it, you’ll even be able to read the labels which tell you what was in each box at the time.  Some of those labels have already changed since then, and will change again soon, since there are some adjustments that I have in mind but haven’t had time to implement yet.

The arrangement system currently treats the Global 1940 2nd edition (G40/2) sculpts as the core units for the main countries.  All sculpts which are identical in design and colour and shade to those sculpts are included in those tackle boxes (regardless of what game they originally come from).  The straightforward countries in this system are the US, Germany, Japan and Italy, which in G40/2 have full sets of nationally distinctive sculpts.  Both the UK and the USSR had to be tweaked to give them fully distinctive sets: I imported the British transport and the Russian carrier from 1941, since those sculpts aren’t distinctive in G40/2.

France has a full set of units, but regrettably only the infantry sculpt is distinctive.  I’ll omit China from this summary for now because that tackle box is being reconceptualized.

ANZAC has a full set of nationally distinctive sculpts in G40/2, but I transferred half of its AAA guns to a tackle box in which I keep the G40/1 “ANZAC” pieces (all clones of the British sculpt set) to create a set for Canada.  Actually, both tackle boxes will get relabeled soon: the box with the grey G40/1 sculpts (boosted with the AAA guns from G40/2, since G40/1 lacks an AAA sculpt) will represent the “northern” Commonwealth Dominions (Canada, Newfoundland and Eire), while the box with the grey G40/2 sculpts will represent the “southern” Commonwealth Dominions (Australia, New Zealand and South Africa).

Those are the “core unit” boxes, which form the first major section of my collection.  The next major section consists of sculpts which have three characteristics: the sculpts don’t appear in G40/2, the designs of the sculpts are a correct “national match”, and the sculpts match the colours and shades used in G40/2.  Examples: the black German Tiger tank or the tan British Hood battlecruiser from 1941, or the black German blockhouse pieces from D-Day.  The next major section consists of sculpts which match the colours and shades of G/40/2, but whose designs are “national MISmatches”.  Examples: the green “American” IS-2 tank or the purple “Russian” Lancaster bomber from 1941.

The next major section consists of colour/shade variants that deviate from G40/2.  Examples: the red Japanese sculpts from the first Pacific game, or the grey German sculpts from the Milton-Bradley game.  This section also includes a surprisingly large number of G40/2 American sculpts whose yellowish-green shade is so different from the medium-green shade used in other printings of the game that I prefer to keep them separate.

Finally, there’s a section which consists of “collector’s variants” – pieces whose design is sufficiently different that I prefer to keep them separate…for instance the Russian AAA gun from 1942/2, whose muzzle shape is quite different from the one used in 1940/2.  That’s also the box in which I keep units that have radically changed under the rules: the early Stuka (incorrectly used as a fighter, now replaced by a true fighter and recast via a larger sculpt as a tactical bomber) and the early German 88mm gun (similar story).

All mixed!!!

I’m a big fan lately of grouping all my sculpts by unit type rather than individually by nation/color. This seems to work particularly well for keeping ships and aircraft organized. I do this to facilitate faster gameplay, hotseat style! With less time spent unit fishing, and less time putting away pieces as we go. It’s purely functional for me at this point. I want to make it as easy as possible for players to grab and go, and to know what each unit looks like for each nation.
:-D

Right now for example, instead of separately bagging each nation, and each sculpt type for that nation (which used to take tons of small dime bags, or compartmentalized pill/tackle boxes), I will put all units of the same type together in one larger container!

E.g. All battleships together, destroyers together, all fighters together, all bombers, all infantry, all tanks etc. regardless of color or edition.  Each generic unit type gets its own box, and you put all the units of this type inside of it mixing Russians, Brits, Americans, Japanese and Germans all together, but keeping each unit type distinct in its own box.

See image below for an idea of what I mean… that snap was Mid Game when Germany had already bought a ton of artillery, but you can see how easy they are to distinguish by color, when the shapes are already organized into separate “grouped by unit type” containers…

The idea here is that it’s a lot easier to fish by color than by shape. This makes it really easy to grab pieces quickly or to toss them back, without cluttering things up. And requires less boxes/bags to manage. For a game like 1942.2, I have dozen clear container boxes, again, one big box for each unit type, but mixed together with all national colors.

I also like to have a single box/bag for the chips too, and one for things like factory markers (in 42.2 I use pieces from another game for ICs, Red for Axis factories, Blue for Allies, which is fun for prestige when you capture the factory for your side, since it changes color! haha). I still bag the roundels separately by nation, but if the rondels were double sided (instead of blank on the back) that would eliminate the need, and allow me to box the roundels just like I do the units, altogether. Wishes for future editions.

I can say that since I went with the method of mixing the colors together, but keeping the sculpts separate by basic unit type, the purchase phase seems to go much faster with my players. Returning casualties to their boxes is simpler too.  You just throw them in the box with all the other units of that type (regardless of nation.) Just pull and toss, since they all end up in the same box with other units of that type.

It seems counter intuitive to mix the nations like this, but I think its actually a lot more efficient. It also helps players to learn what the enemy’s sculpts look like relative to their own, since they will all fish from the same box. The color combination looks very “Thanksgiving camouflage” when you box like that, which is somehow inspiring to me, since I always game A&A on Thanksgiving haha ;)

To expand to the G40 roster, you really only need 2 more boxes, one for TacB’s and one for Mech, but it works the same basic way.

Fishing by color out of a collective/grouped unit box, is way faster than fishing by shape out of a separate box for every single nation. Better to break them up by type I think just for ease of gameflow.

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@Black_Elk:

I’m a big fan lately of grouping all my sculpts by unit type rather than individually by nation/color. This seems to work particularly well for keeping ships and aircraft organized. I do this to facilitate faster gameplay, hotseat style! With less time spent unit fishing, and less time putting away pieces as we go. It’s purely functional for me at this point. I want to make it as easy as possible for players to grab and go, and to know what each unit looks like for each nation. […] It seems counter intuitive to mix the nations like this, but I think its actually a lot more efficient. It also helps players to learn what the enemy’s sculpts look like relative to their own, since they will all fish from the same box. […] Fishing by color out of a collective/grouped unit box, is way faster than fishing by shape out of a separate box for every single nation. Better to break them up by type I think just for ease of gameflow.

That’s a clever and original concept.  As you say, it’s counterintuitive…but the rationale you give actually makes a lot of sense.  A good example of – quite literally – out-of-the-box thinking.  :-)

As Marc says - what a great idea Elk  8-)

I’ll see whether I can overcome my OCD anally-retentive ways and bear to mix up my 41 and 42.2 sculpts. Hang on I’m getting the shakes just thinking about it ……

I hear you Private and feel your anxiety: it is a big step!

@Private:

I’ll see whether I can overcome my OCD anally-retentive ways and bear to mix up my 41 and 42.2 sculpts. Hang on I’m getting the shakes just thinking about it ……

One possible solution is to mix the sculpts in a way that’s reversible.  The 1941 game comes with fewer pieces than the 1942 game, so put a little dot of water-soluble paint on the underside of each 1941 unit and allow the paint to dry thoroughly before mixing the units.  If you decide at some point to re-separate the units, the dots will tell you which ones are from 1941.  The system can even be expanded to multiple games by using multiple colours: let’s say, a blue dot for 1941, a red dot for 1942, other colours for Europe 1940 and Pacific 1940, etc.  And because the paint is water soluble, you could even wash off the dots at some point in the future to fully reverse the system.

Hey Marc - this Board is full of good ideas ….

Does that work for you Witt? Shall we take the plunge? :? :?

You first, then ring me from the hospital.

@Black_Elk:

All mixed!!!

I’m a big fan lately of grouping all my sculpts by unit type rather than individually by nation/color. This seems to work particularly well for keeping ships and aircraft organized. I do this to facilitate faster gameplay, hotseat style! With less time spent unit fishing, and less time putting away pieces as we go. It’s purely functional for me at this point. I want to make it as easy as possible for players to grab and go, and to know what each unit looks like for each nation.

Finally broke down and did the same thing.  For nearly 30 years I only played the 1984 classic version and kept all my pieces in the original strays.  After buying the 1942 second edition I decided to use a couple of plastic organizer boxes from HFT to store everything in.  I still keep the two games separate for the most part, except the industrial complexes and white AA guns which we use in the 1942 version (don’t really care for the industrial complex counters).

Like the new system better.

Sorry, but I’d like to resurrect this thread, because its such an interesting topic, and its exactly what I’m debating/thinking about as I prepare to start rebuilding my set(s) after a 30 year absence.

This week i’ll be purchasing a bunch of stuff (after I get PAID of course), to include 1941, 1942 SE, extra units from HBG and possibly printing a custom battle board and grabbing some storage options.

Even though I see playing both 1941 (to introduce my kids to the game) and moving back up to 1942 SE (after the kids get comfortable with the rules), I will probably merge both sets of units into one common pool to share with both games, and I will reinforce the set with HBG sculpts (probably to fill sculpts that don’t come with either game).

I’ve been thinking about custom storage, and I’m leaning on going with a Stanley Removeable Compartment Storage Organizer.  There’s a 25-bin one that retails for roughly $12-ish bucks at various stores, and I’m thinking I can get away with buying two of these and using one for Allies and one for Axis to hand to whoever is playing either side.

Anyways, I love reading about this type of project, and love hearing how others resolve the situation as well.

Having just one storage box for the Allies and one for the Axis would be adequate for 1941, since that game has just five player powers and nine unit types (infantry + eight equipment types).  That’s 3 x 9 = 27 compartments for the Allies and 2 x 9 = 18 compartments for the Axis.  Things will become tight, however, once you start adding units from 1942, and will get completely unmanageable (if you limit yourself to two storage boxes) once you bring G40/2 into the picture.  G40/2 has eight full player powers with fourteen unit types each, plus China’s infantry units.  That adds up to 113 separate compartments.  Mixing up unit types (for instance one compartment for all aircraft types combined) reduces the number of compartments, but means that you have to spend more time rooting around trying to find the unit you want.

There are three options for mixing units from different versions I of which I am aware Wolf:

:-o Black Elk’s excellent idea of combining all the powers’ units into a box for each unit type, allowing the colour difference to work in your favour.

:-o Using an organiser such as the one you have pictured to separate unit types by Power. I play with a forum colleague each month and this is how he sorts his units. I actually find it quite a faff finding the right compartment for the unit I want each time.

:-o Using a box for each Power’s units. I do this because 1940 comes with some excellent boxes - one for each Power - and so it seemed the obvious thing to do. Although it means that I have to sort through multiple units of the same colour to get to the one that I want, for me the faff factor is slightly reduced on the previous option, but we are all different.

The first option, as shared by Black Elk, is clearly the best. But I cannot bring myself to let go of the lovely boxes provided for each Power in 1940 just yet.

Well, I’m neither 100% limited to two, just feeling things out, and ATM, I don’t have plans on any of the 1940 games in the immediate future.  So, for the foreseeable future, I’m looking at a merged 41/42… and since 1941 is a “whopping” 8 Infantry, 5 tanks, 4 fighters, 2 bombers kind of thing for each country, think of it more as a storage solution for 1942SE with a few extra units thrown in! lolz… either way, its still 5 countries tops for my immediate future plans.

Also, I’m getting a feel for how many bins i’ll need and how I’m going to break up the countries. The nice thing about the Stanley organizers is they have removeable bins that come in three sizes (small/medium and large), so while “25 bins” is the default, you can add or remove larger/smaller bins to make it have more or less than 25 depending on your needs.

I’m not averse to mixing things that would be easily distinguishable from one another at a glance… like maybe one bin for fighters and bombers combined… and I might even mix nations at least from the same side… it all depends how the compartmentization works. That one guy in this thread put all infantry in one bin, all tanks in one bin, etc, etc… it is easy to pick out German tanks from Japanese tanks in the same bin, so I see the logic in that approach.

I also know its 3 Allied vs 2 Axis, so it’s not 100% even between two cases, but I would put the “neutral” things like Industrial Plants and AA in the same case as the Axis to balance out.  No matter, I’m not bound to two and only two, I’m playing it by ear… if I can make them comfortably and logically fit in two cases, I will… if there’s not enough room or not enough bins for good organization, they’re only $12 a pop for the cases, I can get a third or a fourth if need be… either way I’m really looking at a slightly beefed up 1942 SE list of units… i’ll see how it goes this weekend, if I need more cases, i’ll do what needs to be done!

EDIT:
Just saw your post Private Panic… I saw Black Elk’s idea, and it seems intriguing… what I might do is OPTION 4: two cases, using Black Elk’s idea, with all Allies mixed by type in one case and all/both Axis missed by type in a 2nd case (as I can trade out bins from small/med/large to accommodate my plans).

The nice thing is that any system you devise that is based on trays with dividers is going to be infinitely superior to the Zip-lock bag technique. I used Zip-lock bags in the early days of my collecting activities, but I gave up on it when I got to the point where organizing each power’s pieces required putting several small bags inside larger bags.  I discovered Flambeau Zerust plastic tackle boxes around that time, and my life hasn’t been the same since.

@CWO:

I discovered Flambeau Zerust plastic tackle boxes around that time, and my life hasn’t been the same since.� Â

The mind boggles Marc! What is it that you get up to with these boxes?!

Or I might just do one really big Ziplock bag… if I had to REALLY organize them… I could use two giant ziplock bags, one for Axis and one for Allies…

[dramatic pause]

Or i’ll stick with the Stanley Bin Organizer idea… when I get everything up and running, i’ll take some pics for the forum.