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I originally made it normal table height, but found long reaches while sitting were harder and it just felt cramped.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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United States Set from Historical Board Gaming!
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Just having a little fun here. Check out my US Task Force.
Of course, if it were on the game board, it might look more like this.
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Just having a little fun here. Check out my US Task Force.
Of course, if it were on the game board, it might look more like this.
Chips ahoy! LOL Just taking a small CHIP shot at your humor.
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Coach just keeps churning them out.
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Great U.S. units Coach. Already have been using some of them in the Okinawa test.
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Absolutely beautiful units. All the equipment is certainly now a part of my game, and now you’re swaying me on the infantry as well…love the variety of sculpts. I once thought I was going to keep only FMG infantry since they look great and offer two sculpts per country (and I want all of mine to be the same scale), but if I use the OOB infantry, sand down the base to the same thickness as yours, then I have a LOT more infantry to use. As much as I love FMG’s, I may have to stick to OOB & HBG combined instead, and just use the FMG equipment.
God, capitalism is a double-edged sword…choice means having to make some tough decisions sometimes - hahaha! But thankful to have it!
You guys BOTH make awesome pieces!
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YES !
Got my US supplement sets today. Some of them will participate in my set up for ’ The Invasion of Italy '.
Can’t wait for the FMG’s ones and all the other supplements to come.
J. 8-)
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knp you might as well put the comparisons to all the infantries too
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Okay, you asked for it. Here is a couple of pics of all the different infantry choices available to us now. In the second pic, I have separated them into four groups: Rifle Infantry, Sub-Machine Gun Infantry, Flamethrower Infantry and Anti-Tank Infantry.
These are just what’s available to us from WOTC, FMG and HBG. This collection would be much bigger if I included all the infantry pieces from games like Xeno, The War Game, Attack, Past Axis & Allies games and who know what all more there are. There are some WW2 games that I’ve heard of on this Forum but never even seen for myself. Imagine taking infantry from all these games and throwing them into a game of Axis & Allies. Although, it wouldn’t really work. Some pieces from games like Xeno and Attack are rather crudely molded and poor in detail. Others, from games like The War Game, are too big. Still, it’s interesting how we have all these different pieces from so many different games.
I have a sort of “sample” set started which has pieces from a number of different sources. Mostly pieces from Axis & Allies games past and present, but I have some from Attack and Xeno. I also have a copy of The War Game. I know that my sample set is nowhere near complete and I’m not sure if it ever will be. Some games and some pieces just aren’t made anymore.
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You left out the Red “Russian” China piece from Axis and Allies Pacific.
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Yeah, I know. This is mostly what we currently have at our disposal from the most current games and sets. However there is one exception; In my US set I do have a quantity of the dark green Marine pieces from the old A&A Pacific game. I also have some of the Hellcat fighters. Just thought I might be using them in a game someday so I included them in my regular collection. I guess that makes the US special in my collection since none of the other countries have those extra units. Well, Germany does have some V-2 Rockets, but I haven’t used those yet either.
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@HBG wow
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