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I originally made it normal table height, but found long reaches while sitting were harder and it just felt cramped.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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A taste test of my custom map…
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Greetings from Michigan!
Attached are a couple snapshots of my map project. There is still a lot of work to do and it is a work in progress, but I like the way it is coming along. I’m open to criticisms, suggestions, etc… I’ll be sure to share the entire map file when it is finally completed so that others can use it too if they want. I used the original scanned map file that is available on this site for download as a base for the project. So a special thank you to those that were a part of that.
The entire map was “disassembled” province by province and reassembled. All of the imperfections of the original scan have been eliminated. Colors “pop” now where they need to. The ocean and seas have been re-done with some subtle texturing added (hard to see in the images). Many of the province shapes on the map have been corrected (to be revealed when the project is completed), especially the island provinces. I’ll provide a complete list of corrections/changes soon. It still looks a bit “flat”, but as the details and texturing get added, it will improve that. Much work still to be done - province names, borders, sea zones, details, etc. etc…
Regards,
D
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One more image.
Regards,
D
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Ooooooooo pretty
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Very cool idea!
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I love the pics of leaders on map. Sweet !
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Nice!
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Update:
Pacific Islands are done.
North America still a work in progress.Cheers,
D
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Just noticed I forgot the airbase for Wake. Oops. :roll:
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Awesome idea!!!
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Very, Very, Cool… thanks for sharing.
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Brilliant idea! Looking forward to see the end result.
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Greetings from Mid-Michigan, USA.
I’ve managed to “fix” the Alaskan-YT-BC border along with making the Aleutian Islands look a bit better. I realize that this is just a board game, but that OOB border for Alaska was bugging me too much. I just had to fix it. It’s not completely accurate but I think it looks much better than the OOB rendition.
Since my last post, I decided to give each Capital City a unique identifying icon. For London, its Big Ben of course. All of the capital city icons will be of the same art style so it will be consistent. Victory Cities that are not capitals will all have just a simple “VC” icon. All victory cities including capitals will be written in a unique font consistent with that particular nation/city’s traditional style. All airbase icons will have a unique aircraft silhouette. For example, UK airbases will have a Spitfire silhouette. Some players will take notice of that, and some won’t, and then others won’t even care. But it was easy enough to do so I went ahead and did it.
Also, as you can see from the images, I edited the border between Scotland and UK to give a more “accurate” border (plus the original border was crossing Winston’s forehead and I didn’t like that!). That required me to adjust the sea zone borders.
Cheers,
D
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Greetings,
Did you ever finish your map?
If so, can you share with community?
I am in process of selecting a map to print, and yours embodies much of what I am looking for in a map.
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