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I originally made it normal table height, but found long reaches while sitting were harder and it just felt cramped.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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Tjoek's 1940 Global Map file and setup charts (Updated May 30th 2018)
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Well at least I don’t have to decide between yours and Siredblood’s.
Just collect them all :-D
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Just a quick update. I’ve found a nice color profile close to Intreprids color corrections so I’m happy with that.
I did however found some new things to fix after feedback from my gaming group. The most important changes:
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Move the sea border between 108 and 109 as well as 118 and 119 a bit more to the left to have more distance between the border and EIre so you can easily spot that 109 and 119 are connected
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Put French Central Africa on 2 lines instead of the OOB 3 lines so that the IPC value can move down out of the Sahara area
I have some more reviews coming in. So fingers crossed it won’t be a full rework :-P
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Imperious Leader '17 '16 '15 Organizer '14 Customizer '13 '12 '11 '10last edited by Apr 26, 2018, 3:04 AM
The link to these changes in a new map file are where?
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@Imperious:
The link to these changes in a new map file are where?
Just posted the first preview release of the map file as a dropbox link in my first post. Please have a look and let me know what you think.
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I think it looks amazing.
Since you’ve been updating territory names. One or two things have been bothering me since the release of the OOB maps.
Volgograd. I’ve been thinking what it should be named instead. Maybe Don-Volga or Don Valley or something like that.
Samara. Whilst not as egregious as Volgograd, this territory and its capital city were called Kuybyshev and Kuybyshev Oblast from 1936 to 1991.Also, maybe Gibraltar and sz 110 (English channel) could be slighly larger?
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Preview looks beautiful!
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Fantastic job - well done, Tjoek!
A few thoughts:
- While the standing army icons aren’t necessary for the neutrals, my personal preference would be to have the number of units printed on each country, perhaps in a box or triangle and in a contrasting color from the name/IPC value.
- Really like what you’ve done to enlarge Holland Belgium and Bessarabia. Wouldn’t mind seeing Gibraltar and SZ 110 a bit larger, if possible.
- The eastern border between Kenya and Tanganyika Territory seems a bit muted or possibly thinner, compared to the border west of Lake Victoria…but viewing it again from a slightly different angle, it may just be my tired eyes.
- Now for the first of two truly trivial points: While “Johnston Island” is technically correct, the more accurate name is “Johnston Atoll,” IMO. Johnston Atoll is made up of four islands. During WWII, the US had an airbase on Johnston Island and a seaplane base on Sand Island, part of the same atoll.
- This goes beyond your map and to the game itself, but I’ve always thought the significant oil resources in Alberta should merit a 2 IPC value for that territory.
Do with these thoughts what ye will. Even if you don’t make any changes, it’s a beautiful map!
–PM
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“Removed standing army icons on neutrals”
Greetings, new player here but loving it already and I am looking to get a map printed soon. Yours looks amazing. One question though, why the removal of standing army icons on neutrals? Does everyone just memorize with the hours of gameplay how many units would get called up to defend?
Thanks.
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First of all thanks for all the kind words and useful feedback! I will take the suggestions I like to the map, but as there are to many views on the map I simply cannot incorporate them all. But if some of the things you like to see don’t make it to the map I publish here, you’re free to send me a PM as I can always look at it for a small fee so you can play on the map you like best.
Volgograd. I’ve been thinking what it should be named instead. Maybe Don-Volga or Don Valley or something like that.
Thanks I’ve learned something new. You’re right about Volgograd being a name that is from the 1960’s. Officially the region itself was called Stalingrad Oblast (or just Stalingrad for short) but to me that looks a bit weird on the board. But most importantly Volgograd is a region being part of the initial setup so I’m hesitant ot change it for that reason alone. But not decided yet what to do :-D
Samara. Whilst not as egregious as Volgograd, this territory and its capital city were called Kuybyshev and Kuybyshev Oblast from 1936 to 1991.
Again something new I learned. As in this case the region was also called Samara before 1936 it seems less of a problem.
Also, maybe Gibraltar and sz 110 (English channel) could be slighly larger?
More people have pointed this out in our Dutch gaming community (outside this forum) so I’m looking into this at the moment. Although Gibraltar will never be big enough for all scenario’s. The reason for SZ 110 not being larger in the first preview is the fact that I intend to print the fill a bit larger then OOB size. Roughly 225 by 100 cm or 88.6 inch by 39.4 inch, which makes SZ 110 large enough. But I see it would fit if you print OOB size or slightly larger then that
@The:
- While the standing army icons aren’t necessary for the neutrals, my personal preference would be to have the number of units printed on each country, perhaps in a box or triangle and in a contrasting color from the name/IPC value.
If you want those number why not simply keep the standing army icons in tact? I will release a few files that are close to OOB as the changes to the standing army is layer I can switch on or off.
@The:
- Really like what you’ve done to enlarge Holland Belgium and Bessarabia. Wouldn’t mind seeing Gibraltar and SZ 110 a bit larger, if possible.
I haven’t changed Holland Belgium… but Bessarabia is enlarged inspired by Intreprids work on the same map. Gibraltar and SZ 110 are in the making.
@The:
- The eastern border between Kenya and Tanganyika Territory seems a bit muted or possibly thinner, compared to the border west of Lake Victoria…but viewing it again from a slightly different angle, it may just be my tired eyes.
I’ve heard this from more people. The problem with this border is that the surrounding colors are close to the border color itself. I will try to see if I can increase the highlight and drop shadow on this border. Similar visibility issues seem to arise at the border of New South Wales and Victoria.
@The:
- Now for the first of two truly trivial points: While “Johnston Island” is technically correct, the more accurate name is “Johnston Atoll,” IMO. Johnston Atoll is made up of four islands. During WWII, the US had an airbase on Johnston Island and a seaplane base on Sand Island, part of the same atoll.
As Johnston Island is technically correct and part of national objectives (and to ensure I will finish this map shortly) I will leave it as is for now.
@The:
- This goes beyond your map and to the game itself, but I’ve always thought the significant oil resources in Alberta should merit a 2 IPC value for that territory.
I won’t be doing any changes to the actual game play.
One question though, why the removal of standing army icons on neutrals? Does everyone just memorize with the hours of gameplay how many units would get called up to defend?
I would not suggest to remove them at all unless you customize your game a bit. I’ve bought neutral army infantry from Historical Board Gaming that we put on the board during setup. With those infantry in play we simply have no need for the icons any longer. But we do need to have a setup card that holds this information to be able to correctly setup the neutral armies.
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Once again thanks for the feedback! I’ve made all suggested changes to the map except for name changes and I would like your feedback on two important changes to SZ 110 and Gibraltar.
SZ 110
I’ve been playing around with different versions of an enlarged SZ 110. So I’ve attached 3 versions below for you to review. Please let me know which one you like best.-
Option 1: Intreprids design
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Option 2: Steeper angles
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Option 3: Border of Scotland - UK rotated
Gibraltar
Next to that I’ve enlarged Gibraltar. Please review the last image in this post and let me know what you think. -
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The expanded Gibraltar looks great.
My vote is for Option 3, though they all look good.
Again, well done!
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Gibraltar looks great. Another vote for option 3!
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I also add a vote for option 3. Love the new Gibraltar (but I already told you that off-site) :-D
Also I like the special surprise.
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Another vote for option 3
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So option 3 it will be! This option was the logical conclusion moving from 1 to 2 to 3 in the design process.
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The map has been printed in different size and they all look great! As soon as I have time I will post some pictures for you and update the file in my first post.
Some last minute adjustments I made:
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Made Panama Canal a bit smaller
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Enlarged the adjacent to sea zone numbers for better readability
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Rename both Volgograd and Samar to Stalingrad and Kuybyshev respectively as suggested by 8thGuards
I’m really happy with how the project turned out and cannot wait to play our first game on the enlarged map (220 by 100cm) next Saturday! Thanks everyone for your input.
Regards,
Joost -
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I’m looking forward to next saturday.
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@The:
- While the standing army icons aren’t necessary for the neutrals, my personal preference would be to have the number of units printed on each country, perhaps in a box or triangle and in a contrasting color from the name/IPC value.
If you want those number why not simply keep the standing army icons in tact? I will release a few files that are close to OOB as the changes to the standing army is layer I can switch on or off.
I think you’ve done a brilliant job. I would definitely be interested in a version which had the neutral standing armies on the map.
However, I will still be looking forward to the conclusion to this project (so I can get a map printed :-D).