Nice work. Enjoy the fruits of your labor
Very nice … food for thought!! Hmm.
I just wonder how steady the lifting mechanism is if you’re pulling it up with a game in progress? Will the game pieces not shift or fall all over when left on the board? Or do you have another way around this?
No, it is solid as a rock. The cables are matched perfectly for length on all 4 sides so it rolls up and down very smooth. If you put the drill on high speed it will rattle the pieces around, but on low it is smooth as silk.
Nice! That was the one thing I was always concerned about with the idea of a table that moves up/down with pieces set up on it. I may have to consider this myself! :)
I like how your wife hates the board being set up in your basement, but she seems to be ok with you making a contraption on the ceiling that looks like a medieval draw bridge to attract even more attention haha!
I like how your wife hates the board being set up in your basement, but she seems to be ok with you making a contraption on the ceiling that looks like a medieval draw bridge to attract even more attention haha!
And besides, she’d probably take an even dimmer view of the alternative solution, which would be to install a pulley system that would raise your wife’s chair up to the ceiling (with her in it) to make room on gaming nights when you need to set up your A&A map board.
Yes, very cool 8-) I made a bigger flat top gaming table 12-13yrs ago (it was about a 4x5’) with some fold down legs so you could put the table away when not in use, but still–-wear to store a 4x5 table, even flat, was always an issue? Then I didn’t have a basement!
Now I have a basement, & the game boards (IE; AA40G w/ a 32"x70" board) are getting bigger OOB, so I threw a 4x8ft piece of plywood on top of my 4x5 game table & just covered it w/ a fabric sheet. Much better w/ the bigger AAG40 board & we still have room around the edges to put the charts & game piece boxes.
But I like your design very much, especially with blowing up the map on vinyl. Seems like no matter how big A&A game designer’s make the boards, the main territories that see all the action are still too small for all the pieces & chips that get put into it. I’m all for not contorting the map to make areas bigger, but if you can make the whole map bigger that would be great!
I too am now having the same problem w/ my wife & a 4x8 game table taking up so much space in the basement. My solution is that this year I’m converting my 2-car garage into a Den & Gaming room (with a lock on the door for my MAN Space)! I do have a very high ceiling in my garage & this design to haul the table out of the way would be great!
So if you don’t mind, I’m gonna try to use your basic design here, & tweak it a little for my situation. I have all the A&A games & have been playing w/ my kids (4-boys) for almost 25yrs, so the drawers are cool if your only dedicated to ONE A&A game, but I would want to use this new gaming table for all, so not sure yet what I could do there, I’ll have to think on it :?
I wish I was more computer savvy to be able to enlarge the scan/enlarge the map as you have, but I’m not, & I don’t know of anyone around here to be able to print something like that on Vinyl. I had ordered some A&A maps that, I think, Imperious Leader had printed on Vinyl & 1/4" card stock in a 3x6 for AA50, I think he said I could order one in 4x8 but that they weren’t sure they were gonna print it anymore? It was very cost prohibitive at several hundred dollars anyway–just can’t justify that.
But long & short of it, very, very COOL & good job :mrgreen:
If the ceiling doesnt work for whatever reason you could always hinge it to the wall wih some quick disconnect hinges and have a murial on the underside so it looks like a painting of some sorts. The only drawback is not being to leave a game in play for a week or two until it can be completed. I have mine so it can drop down, unhook and be moved to the center of the basement (near the bar and pisser) We have stools that can be placed under it to allow for sitting and walking around the table for the travelers, (spies) as I call them. This does take up a fair amount of space on the footprint of the basement on the weekends, but the basement is MINE and I dont hear a lot of slack for it. When I was leaving a game set up for extended periods of time however I realized MY basement was still a part of HER house (it is under her area), so I guess that constitutes hers if she chooses to pull that card out.
Please feel free to use any or all of my ideas. Hell that why I posted it. The pulley system is made by RACOR and is available at Lowes or Home Depot online for around 100 or so USD. The drawer idea was so that there was room on the table for drinks or any other things needed during a game. I chose the thick Vynil for vehices so that spills are rendered no problem. Wipe them away and carry on. Additionally I can roll the map up and take it on the road if we are playing at another persons house. They just need a 4x8 sheet of plywood.
Cheers and thanks for the feedback.
@CWO:
I like how your wife hates the board being set up in your basement, but she seems to be ok with you making a contraption on the ceiling that looks like a medieval draw bridge to attract even more attention haha!
And besides, she’d probably take an even dimmer view of the alternative solution, which would be to install a pulley system that would raise your wife’s chair up to the ceiling (with her in it) to make room on gaming nights when you need to set up your A&A map board.
HAHA!!! great point Marc!
I like the whole idea of pulleys and storing it high on the ceiling. Nice job.
