I have been playing around with different configurations for a custom table and wanted to note some things I’ve landed on that I really like. A main one thing is having the map mounted so that it can slide around as needed on top of a bigger playing area. My table is 65” x 95” in total with a 5.5” arm rest around the outside and the middle is a recessed neoprene surface. I have the OOB Global map mounted on 1/2” rigid foam with a 1/2” aluminum frame around it. This allows the map to slide up close to whoever’s turn it is, but then be in the middle so both players can roll dice In front of them without disturbing the map and in easy view of the other player. (Plus we like lots of room to roll the bones). This ability to adjust the surface along with a standing height, makes it comfortable for long uses because you can move around more and don’t feel as tied down.
Things I’ve learned and changed from original design - I originally used too big of a frame for the map and mounted it on too high of a foam block (you can see these pictures at the bottom) - it made it hard to see the other player’s dice and the big frame took up too much real estate. My global map is mounted on much thinner foam (the framing is bad, you can see if you look closely) but I also used much thinner aluminum angle for the frame. This gives just enough grip when needing to move the map around (I use furniture slides on the bottom, which glide very nicely on the neoprene) but doesn’t make the whole thing too bulky. Having it an inch or so off the surface keeps the dice off, but isn’t so heigh that you can’t see the other player’s dice rolls. When playing other versions (such as Zombies) the board is much smaller, but it can easily swap in and out on the same table since it can move around where ever it is needed or be pushed aside.
I originally made it normal table height, but found long reaches while sitting were harder and it just felt cramped. Standing height with a bar stool is a great way to have the best of both worlds.
The 5.5” rim around the table itself gives you a nice arm rest that doesn’t interfere with the gaming surface. I’m playing with how to best add some cushion to this part - open to suggestions. Sometimes I just lay a piece of leftover neoprene on it.
Dice bounce nice on the neoprene and stay off the floor. It also feels nice and has enough give to allow things to slide but be picked up easily. Wouldn’t definitely go with neoprene again as a surface covering.
I made the drawers open to the inside of the table so you can stay hunched over the action while accessing and stowing stuff away. 50/50 on whether I would keep this if I were to do it again. If I were doing it again, I might try to build customer drawers form scratch using actual drawer glides, but that was beyond my ability when I first did this, so I just used clear plexiglass boxes with aluminum pulls mounted on them. It’s nice having them clear, and I was happy with how the pulls came out, but without glides they can be a little fussy sliding in and out of their slots.
I originally designed the table so that I could put a cover surface back on top when not in use, but find I don’t really ever do that, so if I were to do it again, I might not mess with that part (I never even finished staining those as you can see in the pictures).
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Tjoek's A&A Anniversary OOB Map file (Updated March 23rd)
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Hi All,
Somehow I was drawn towards this map once more and included a few more cleanups and enhancements. See first post for all details and new maps.
Updates in short:
- Enhanced colours preserving more details in the map
- Correctly centred 10 territory names
- Renames “Anglo-Egypt Sudan” to “Anglo-Egyptian Sudan”
- Removed two non existing “Atlantis” islands south of the Philippines
- More smaller things
I hope you like it!
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Hi, you’ve done a really remarkable job on cleaning up and improving the AA50 map. Thank you for your efforts, and thank you for making the map files available to the community. I’m looking forward to printing your map as soon as I have the $ available… :)
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@dracolich
It depends on which map file you open. The first two are the cleaned up versions with Honolulu in the correct location.The third and fourth file are closer to the original bord with no major corrections like removed artwork, Honolulu, removed Atlantis islands etc.
If you fancy a combination of both map versions feel free to copy paste the things you like from one map on top of the other.
I will update the first post in the coming days to make the difference between the files more explicit.
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@Tjoek
Oh yes, i didn’t the not-oob map sorry =/I will copy and paste that part of the map!
Thank you!
L
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Some time ago, Tjoek had this map printed for us on the original size. The quality of the map is excellent: the resolution is high and the material seems robust. It’s at least as good as an official map. Very happy with the result!
I’ll upload 2 pics to show the resolution (check out the IPC-tracker Tjoek added) and the relative size.
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@Ozymandiac Thanks for sharing with us! Did you already play a game on the map?
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@Tjoek Of course! The map felt and played at least as good as the real deal.
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I know it’s a typo on the original board but it really bugs me
Afganistan should be Afghanistan.
Love the map and really want to get it printed
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Really love the map Tjoek. No print shop will print it for me though. Copyright thing.
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@krazydman said in Tjoek's A&A Anniversary OOB Map file (Updated March 23rd):
Really love the map Tjoek. No print shop will print it for me though. Copyright thing.
Why not ? OZ got his printed
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@gen-manstein I wish I could tell you. I went to Officemax to have it printed, and they refused to do it because of it being copyrighted. even though there is no copyright on the map I brought them.
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@krazydman said in Tjoek's A&A Anniversary OOB Map file (Updated March 23rd):
@gen-manstein I wish I could tell you. I went to Officemax to have it printed, and they refused to do it because of it being copyrighted. even though there is no copyright on the map I brought them.
Try a different print shop. More of a not a corporation business.
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V vodot referenced this topic on
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All, I’m creating modular overlays for these incredible maps to do more aberrant things like subdivide Australia, change IPC values, add VCs and more - check out the thread and let me know what map tweaks you would like to see!
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@Tjoek I just want to show off some more images of these incredible maps from a recent solo game.
This printout is from an HP DesignJet T830 on satin paper at 60x32" and covered by a 1/8" sheet of acrylic. I assure you that any blurriness in the photos is due to image compression or camera focus - the map itself is razor sharp and beautiful!