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I originally made it normal table height, but found long reaches while sitting were harder and it just felt cramped.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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Global Gaming Table Threads and Pictures
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New link added:
RyGuy’s 46" x 85" Global Map and Table
http://www.harrisgamedesign.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=9167 -
Hello all! I am currently building my own custom table but am having trouble uploading pics and/or posting links. Can anyone recommend a good way to upload or link photos? I have a flickr account under MajorTaylor that has some pics.
My board is far from finished. The gaming board itself is 3/4" sanded ply board roughly 36"x60", and map is made out of handcut marble tile. My map is based off of an atlas, so the design is more accurate than the standard boards (Africa looks much better now). I chose tile because it is a material I know very well, and it should make this piece one of a kind. The marble map will look great in my game room, and the table color and design will match the rest of our furniture.
The land territories are made of various colors based each nations pieces and the ocean is black. I am considering using a medium gray grout between the seazones and a black grout between the land territories.
My table will be about 24"-30" high, dark stained wood with drawers for every nations pieces and slide outs for charts, battle boards and map enlargements (if necessary). I have also ditched the traditional sea zones in favor of a square grid system.
I would love to post pics to get everyone’s opinion. Any help you can offer would be appreciated!
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You have to have a certain number of posts here to post pics or you can try to get a mod to post them for you.
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Can anyone recommend a good way to upload or link photos? I have a flickr account under MajorTaylor that has some pics.
If those pictures can be accessed through web links, you could send me the URLs and I’ll post them here. Just send me a personal message via the forum’s “My Messages” function.
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Here’s the link to Major Taylor’s Flickr:
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Here’s the link to Major Taylor’s Flickr:
Thank you Sime! I really appreciate your help. I will be uploading some more pics soon, and hopefully I can upload them here soon as well.
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Here’s the link to Major Taylor’s Flickr:
That is absolutely beautiful insanity happening right there. Two thumbs up for sure!!
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Here’s the link to Major Taylor’s Flickr:
Thank you Sime! I really appreciate your help. I will be uploading some more pics soon, and hopefully I can upload them here soon as well.
Whoa - that is pretty awesome!
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Very impressive and definitely unique in its style!
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Glad everyone likes it!
I am in the process of doing my final fit right now, this involves cleaning all the tiles and placing them to check their spacing and making any necessary adjustments. I will try to take some new pics tonight. The board looks amazing when it is completely covered in polished marble.
I made a last minute substitution of colors for Germany and Japan. The dark grey German tiles were beautiful, but in the end just too close to the black ocean tiles. And the yellow marble used for Japan was far to brittle, I was unable to get the desired detail, it has been replaced with a tan marble.
If you guys have any recommendations please feel free to send them!
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If you guys have any recommendations please feel free to send them!
Here’s one idea that may already be part of your plans. Since the map is basically a giant mosaic, you may want to attach the pieces to the table in a way that’s non-permanent (in other words, not with glue) so that individual pieces can be removed easily for replacement if they ever get damaged. And this would also allow the whole set of pieces to be removed and reassembled if you ever move to a new home, which would greatly facilitate transportation. Maybe the thing to do would be to put a small square (about 1 cm x 1 cm) of double-faced tape at the back of each small piece (and several at the back of the larger ones). This would be enough to keep the pieces fixed in a stable position on the table, while still allowing easy removal as needed.
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@CWO:
If you guys have any recommendations please feel free to send them!
Here’s one idea that may already be part of your plans. Since the map is basically a giant mosaic, you may want to attach the pieces to the table in a way that’s non-permanent (in other words, not with glue) so that individual pieces can be removed easily for replacement if they ever get damaged.
CWO Marc, that is an interesting idea. My tile work in the past has been kitchens and bathrooms so my focus has always been on making it permanent, this will take some more thought, lol. Ease of repair and the ability to change a desired territory or seazone would be a nice feature.
The issue I run into is in how the tile adheres to the board. I will be using an extremely fine grout between each tile so I will need something that holds the tile firmly in place so the grout does not crack because of shifting pressures.
I think what I can do is apply whichever adhesive I use on a every single tile rather than the entire board, this way if I need to replace a tile I should be able to chisel out the grout around it and pop out the single tile with a puller. I will have to do a small scale testing and see how it works out. Thanks for the great idea!
Pretty soon I will have to pick grout colors. I am thinking black between land territories and medium or dark grey between sea zones and on the coast lines. What do you guys think?
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I will be using an extremely fine grout between each tile so I will need something that holds the tile firmly in place so the grout does not crack because of shifting pressures. I think what I can do is apply whichever adhesive I use on a every single tile rather than the entire board, this way if I need to replace a tile I should be able to chisel out the grout around it and pop out the single tile with a puller.
I’m really out of my area of expertise here, but here’s another thought. The part about chiselling out the grout sounds messy and labour-intensive, so I’m wondering: could the space between the tiles be filled instead with melted paraffin wax? If this is technically feasible, it would (I think) have two advantages: the solidified wax would be somewhat plastic (hence it wouldn’t crack if the tiles shifted), and the wax around a specific tile could be melted easily to allow the tile’s extraction for replacement.
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Wow! The Sistine Chapel of AA boards. I’d like to do my shower this way. Awesome man!
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That is truly amazing.
Are you planning on putting a clear overlay on the countries with economic value/victory cities/sea zone numbers?
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That is truly amazing.
Are you planning on putting a clear overlay on the countries with economic value/victory cities/sea zone numbers?
For territory and sea zone names I am going to have stainless steel placards engraved and the letters filled with black ink. The placards will be small and removable so when the board is not in use you see only a world map. I have found a local trophy and engraving shop that will do the work for me. They do package deals for sports teams, I am just cutting out the trophy part.
The owner said he could also print and cut out on metal any image I can provide him. I am considering letting him also make all my markers including flags, naval base, airfield, and convoy markers. Maybe some unit logos too if the quality and price are right.
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@CWO:
I’m really out of my area of expertise here, but here’s another thought. The part about chiselling out the grout sounds messy and labour-intensive, so I’m wondering: could the space between the tiles be filled instead with melted paraffin wax? If this is technically feasible, it would (I think) have two advantages: the solidified wax would be somewhat plastic (hence it wouldn’t crack if the tiles shifted), and the wax around a specific tile could be melted easily to allow the tile’s extraction for replacement.
Wax would make an interesting filler. I would imagine it would behave just like rubber or silicone that is used in joints that may flex. I bet melted wax would be easy to pour into grout lines and smooth out while it’s warm also. Sounds like another method to test out on my small scale! I have setup a small map with sea and land zones made of scrap tile I use to test out new ideas.
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Wax would make an interesting filler. I would imagine it would behave just like rubber or silicone that is used in joints that may flex. I bet melted wax would be easy to pour into grout lines and smooth out while it’s warm also. Sounds like another method to test out on my small scale! I have setup a small map with sea and land zones made of scrap tile I use to test out new ideas.
It might also be possible to colour the wax when it’s liquid by adding some sort of dye to it. You mentioned that grout is available in different colours, so the same idea could be applied to the paraffin wax method if you end up going that route. This is probably something else to test on a small scale, including some experiments to see what colour works best to give nicely-contrasting borderlines between different territories.
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Hello everyone, I have made good progress on my board and posted some new pics if anyone is interested. The tile work is just about done, only a few islands left. Next I will be moving onto the table design.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/73326585@N03/
I am not sure what wood to go with yet for the table. I know I want to stain it a dark cafe brown. I have seen redwood, and poplar at the local home improvement store that look very nice. Any suggestions?
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Well at this point it appears that whatever you do should be as beautiful as the tile job.
I do a lot of work with wood so I’ll punch in my 2 cents worth…
1) Poplar is a good material simply because it is strong and dent resistant. Downside is that it takes stain very poorly so you’d have to condition all the components first prior to applying stain. Also depending on the variety the grain of the wood can have a lot of green that also ends up looking strange with coloured stains.
2) Maple is an idea material for any cabinet/furniture. It is super strong and resilient and takes stains beautifully. Only down side would be cost.
3) Oak is always a beautiful material for finished furniture and would give your table a very traditional feel. Again only downside would be cost.
4) Cherry this would give you a truly unique finish. Cherry would give durability and be one of the most visually dramatic finishes.
There are a huge variety of exotic hardwood also available if cost is of no concern, some of which would make this truly a one in the world type piece (not that it already isn’t).
Curious, and maybe I’m just missing something, but how are you going to handle the sea zone divisions? Are each of the tiles meant to be a sea zone? I guess I need to go back and take a closer look.
Unbelievable work. You must have the patience of Jobe.
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