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I originally made it normal table height, but found long reaches while sitting were harder and it just felt cramped.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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[AA50/Anniversary] Modular Map Overlays - Splitting Australia, the Balkans, and Sea Zones; adding Cairo, Malaya, Singapore, Rio, Cape Town, Recruitment Centers and tons more!
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@vodot Fixed, thank you! I used the web app inkarnate which is a D&D map maker tool which is incredibly useful for that purpose and others. I can import “stamps” so I imported the aa50 map to trace the landmasses and borders. The tool has lots of built in map making features so I didn’t have to do much for that just selecting settings/painting. I exported the finished map and added the text and roundels in gimp. Inkarnate is sweet for map making and I used it to make the Battle Deck cards as well.
Just realized I totally forgot capitals LOL.
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@Titus Awesome, I’m always looking for new tools and shortcuts.
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Some love for Soviet naval mobility: the Baltic-White Sea Canal and the North Sea Route!
Provisional Rules:
White Sea Canal
If the USSR controls Leningrad, during the non-combat movement phase the Soviet player may choose to have up to one naval unit with IPC cost <9 take the “White Sea Canal” between Sea Zones 4 and 5(b). Taking this route requires 2 movement points, neither Sea Zone may be hostile, and the unit that takes it must be eligible to move during noncombat movement.North Sea Route
If the USSR controls both Leningrad and the Soviet Far East, during the Soviet player’s turn he may choose to have up to one naval unit take the “North Sea Route” between Sea Zones 4 and 63. This move can occur during either the combat or non-combat movement phase. Taking this route requires 2 movement points, and a unit taking this route must be otherwise eligible to move in the movement phase in which it takes the route.Unless they are being transported by the transiting naval units, all land and air units completely ignore the presence of the White Sea Canal and the North Sea Route.
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Neutral VCs fascinate me, so here’s another: Istanbul on the Bosporus!
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@vodot If we’re just spitballing changes to the map, perhaps we can finally have French Madagascar aligned to the correct nation - Germany.
Operation Ironclad and Battles of Madagascar only began in the summer of 1942, before this they were part of Vichy France. I am kinda surprised only War Room is the only Larry Harris game to get this correct.
By the way, what you are doing is really impressive! Good work!
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@CentralCommando said in [AA50/Anniversary] Modular Map Overlays - Splitting Australia, the Balkans, and Sea Zones; adding Cairo, Malaya, Singapore, Rio, Cape Town, Recruitment Centers and tons more!:
@vodot If we’re just spitballing changes to the map, perhaps we can finally have French Madagascar aligned to the correct nation - Germany.
Operation Ironclad and Battles of Madagascar only began in the summer of 1942, before this they were part of Vichy France. I am kinda surprised only War Room is the only Larry Harris game to get this correct.
By the way, what you are doing is really impressive! Good work!
That is a great point! In my “G40 Lite” setup Madagascar rolls for joining Vichy or the Free French like most of the rest of the French Empire, but under default rules for the 1941 setup at least it should surely be German, or at least “neutral.”
To wit: German Madagascar!
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@vodot YYEEAAHH!!
I’m definitely giving them an Infantry unit and a Submarine off the coast. You did this pretty fast too!
Speaking of setups, do you have any starting setup for these map overlays, or do we just have them for visual flair? Both are fine, and sorry if you already addressed this.
Good work as always!
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V vodot referenced this topic on
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@CentralCommando said in [AA50/Anniversary] Modular Map Overlays - Splitting Australia, the Balkans, and Sea Zones; adding Cairo, Malaya, Singapore, Rio, Cape Town, Recruitment Centers and tons more!:
@vodot YYEEAAHH!!
I’m definitely giving them an Infantry unit and a Submarine off the coast. You did this pretty fast too!
Speaking of setups, do you have any starting setup for these map overlays, or do we just have them for visual flair? Both are fine, and sorry if you already addressed this.
Good work as always!
Thanks! Short answer on setups, yes I would like to do that.
Long answer, it’s a goal of mine to roll setups as well, but I have enjoyed just letting people bash it out in their own imagination/sense of balance.
Most people that use these are probably only going to use a handful of changes they really like, and for most of these onsie-twosie overlays you can just split units between them where a territory has been subdivided or add an infantry and it’s going to be fine. The worst cases would be where units are getting split and then also attacked in their (now much weaker) setup positions without the chance to be consolidated. There are some SZs in particular where this could be a problem.
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@vodot Well, I look forward to seeing your solution to those problems. Perhaps you could make a Google Doc/Sheet table where you outline the changes to the setup depending on what division(s) you add? Just a suggestion, as having custom setup images for each combination would be an unnecessary amount of work.
(Also, I hit my daily upvote limit from your posts lol.)
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