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I originally made it normal table height, but found long reaches while sitting were harder and it just felt cramped.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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A&A G40 Map Files - Archive & Library
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Ive been double checking the OOB design with actual coastlines, shapes etc, its pretty bad actually. Im about done redoing the entire board finally… anyway, one fix you should do (thinking off top my head) is fix iwo jima… its upside down… OOB its pointing toward japan, should be pointing down towards Philippines :) … there are more, I should make you a list.
Sired,
I am watching the board every day waiting to see your map. :-D The previews look intriguing!! I don’t have any custom maps, but I may have to get one when yours is done.
Cheers,
D -
Ive been double checking the OOB design with actual coastlines, shapes etc, its pretty bad actually. Im about done redoing the entire board finally… anyway, one fix you should do (thinking off top my head) is fix iwo jima… its upside down… OOB its pointing toward japan, should be pointing down towards Philippines� :) … there are more, I should make you a list.
Sired,
I am watching the board every day waiting to see your map.  :-D The previews look intriguing!! I don’t have any custom maps, but I may have to get one when yours is done.
Cheers,
DThanks, but don’t get this topic confused with mine, this is actually YG’s map topic, don’t want it to get off track :) I do appreciate your support though!
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List should include Norway, Spain, England, France and German coastline and borders so that a future map could include Poland, Austria, etc
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Thanks for posting the files, YG. I should note that the map file is in no way perfect, but the map has been improved from the original Ambilzi scan. I found many odd artifacts, blurred lines, mis-shapen roundels, etc. I spent a couple of days cleaning up these items, but am keenly aware that more time would improve the map even more. Also, as someone else noted, the scans were obviously made from a used game board, and it would take alot of time to fix all those imperfections - so I decided to call it good enough and accept that the file has “character”!
Also, thanks to Tjoek, I stole the New Brunswick and Denmark teaser fixes that you posted in your thread. It was much quicker than trying to fix those areas myself!
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The clean version should just be the map, no air bases, naval, not strip on bottom, no anything. To me that’s clean…OOB
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@Imperious:
The clean version should just be the map, no air bases, naval, not strip on bottom, no anything. To me that’s clean…OOB
Well that would be more for customizers that want a totally clean slate to add their own stuff, and there’s nothing wrong with that… but I’m interested in a file for players who play this game and need a board that functions during game play. I know you’ve never been a fan of the bases directly on the map (even though I’ve never heard that from others) but getting rid of the income tracker does not help provide a functional board for players. Your idea of clean means a template for creating a totally different WW2 game that might not resemble 1940 Global at all… sorry if I’m assuming, and I will ask for a “clean” file from Intrepid if he’s willing.
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@Imperious:
The clean version should just be the map, no air bases, naval, not strip on bottom, no anything. To me that’s clean…OOB
If that’s what you’re looking for, the “clean” file that YG and I provided should give you a good head start. I have no plans to pull further items off the board - I like the bases, income tracker, etc. YG, maybe just rename the clean file to “basic” or something so others won’t get confused? Thanks :)
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The naval base in Normandy/Bordeaux is black, like a negative of the others.
I also like the leveled map but I would prefer to not have the house rule victory conditions at the bottom, the ghost spots for the cards.
Adding the leveled design to the old Ambilzi design would look great I think.
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Thanks for the comments Schroeder, the naval base graphic in Normandy matters if your playing 1940, or 1942 (it’s not in the 1942 setup). Intrepid helped me put together a map that will compliment my house rules and custom card deck. I know that a lot of members aren’t gonna like those ghost boxes, but I can’t let that stop me from sharing the map that I did design.
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Well that would be more for customizers that want a totally clean slate to add their own stuff, and there’s nothing wrong with that…
That’s not my intention. I appreciate the OOB map, just want larger. I feel the numbers running on the bottom detract, as well as the other charts. The only exception would be the combined arms chart and build chart. We use the battle board off map, and use the chips or paper for income tracking. Its ok but a clean version to me means ( OOB).
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Hey YG, I understand that you designed the map and you like the boxes there, but maybe the two of you could release a version without them there? I’m sure everyone would like more options available if it isn’t too much work.
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Hey YG, I understand that you designed the map and you like the boxes there, but maybe the two of you could release a version without them there? I’m sure everyone would like more options available if it isn’t too much work.
Hi Schroeder, the “clean” file has the ghost boxes removed already, have you had a chance to download and view that file?
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Hey Siredblood,
Yes I have looked at the clean file, but if you compare the clean file and the leveled file, the leveled one is brighter and more colorful. As far as I know there is no leveled version without the ghost card images.
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@Imperious:
Well that would be more for customizers that want a totally clean slate to add their own stuff, and there’s nothing wrong with that…
That’s not my intention. I appreciate the OOB map, just want larger. I feel the numbers running on the bottom detract, as well as the other charts. The only exception would be the combined arms chart and build chart. We use the battle board off map, and use the chips or paper for income tracking. Its ok but a clean version to me means ( OOB).
Hey IL, have you played with a battle board right on map?.. it’s awesome, IMO playing with a loose battle board to the side of the table is horrible. Besides, the battle board that Intrepid and I designed is beautiful and extremely functional, but we haven’t heard anything about that yet. I have to say that I’m a bit disappointed in this thread right now… we worked really hard to add more options for those looking for printable maps, and I haven’t heard anything accept complaining.
Anyone with significant Adobe skills can take the Custom Levelled Map file in JPEG and remove anything they want, ghost boxes, battle board, bases, income tracker… etc… Intrepid did it, so it’s no mystery to those that know their stuff. I don’t understand this reaction considering that Intrepid is a new conscript but just pulled off a ton of customizer work that looks amazing, and yet no one has said… “hey man, nice work”. Should we really be wondering anymore what happened to Ambilzi?
Anyways, the Ghost Boxes are for my house rules, for my custom card deck, and for my tournament format, Intrepid put them there because I asked him to considering that I was designing “Grasshopper’s Invitational Edition”… if you don’t like them, you can try and ask Intrepid to change it for you, or you can just remove them from the file yourselves, Intrepid say’s it’s possible.
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This sounds really great YG!
I just finished the European side of my attempt to fixup the files from Ambilzi and you. Sounds like most of my work can be thrown down the drain now as it sounds like Intrepid fixed most if not all of my issues with the original map.
Will check the new map later today to see if I can save myself the hard work of editing the pacific side of the map. Although it feels a bit like a loss of time at the moment :cry: :-)
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For some reason I can’t get the maps to download. So I don’t know if you have battle boards on each end of the map or 1 end.
I prefer battle boards at end of map and off of map due to split UK and no clutter on map in way of people to keep both sides going at all times.
But the most important thing for you is what YOU want on your map first (group 2nd)!!!
People want to change it so be it. The funny thing (and not) is people complain but maybe don’t realize (not most) that you can download a map that somebody has made for free with a ton of there time and make it any size you want.
Keep up the good work YG and Co. :wink:
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Hey Siredblood,
Yes I have looked at the clean file, but if you compare the clean file and the leveled file, the leveled one is brighter and more colorful. As far as I know there is no leveled version without the ghost card images.
Hey, don’t confuse me with Siredblood, that’s not fair to him, lol! Yes, the “adjusted levels” file should print with more rich, vibrant color. I adjusted the levels histogram in Photoshop to make the darks/midtones more rich and then brought back some brightness. I am sending YG a clean version right now with adjusted levels, so that should give you a good base file to do your own map changes. :)
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This sounds really great YG!
I just finished the European side of my attempt to fixup the files from Ambilzi and you. Sounds like most of my work can be thrown down the drain now as it sounds like Intrepid fixed most if not all of my issues with the original map.
Will check the new map later today to see if I can save myself the hard work of editing the pacific side of the map. Although it feels a bit like a loss of time at the moment :cry: :-)
Hi Tjoek, from what I saw you were doing excellent work, don’t throw away anything you’ve done! This new version of the map is still far from perfect, I didn’t have time to remove every single scratch, dust mark, etc off the board. I did do some work in the Pacific for sure, spent some time fixing some water glitches, and a bunch of blurred/shifted territory lines. Please copy whatever you can off this map to save yourself time!
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This sounds really great YG!
I just finished the European side of my attempt to fixup the files from Ambilzi and you. Sounds like most of my work can be thrown down the drain now as it sounds like Intrepid fixed most if not all of my issues with the original map.
Will check the new map later today to see if I can save myself the hard work of editing the pacific side of the map. Although it feels a bit like a loss of time at the moment :cry: :-)
Hi Tjoek, from what I saw you were doing excellent work, don’t throw away anything you’ve done! This new version of the map is still far from perfect, I didn’t have time to remove every single scratch, dust mark, etc off the board. I did do some work in the Pacific for sure, spent some time fixing some water glitches, and a bunch of blurred/shifted territory lines. Please copy whatever you can off this map to save yourself time!
Yeah I noticed that your great work did not included all the small scratches I’m removing. So I can continue my quest to get the cleanest map ;-) Overall really nice to see the community around this great game come alive.
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Hey YG,
I didn’t mean to offend you or complain, I just saw that in your latest video (bathrobe one) I believe you said you wanted to give people the most options possible in this thread, and I was just asking for what I wanted in a map. I should have said thanks earlier but I didn’t, so thank you.
Intrepid,
Thank you for making a leveled clean version as I would not know how to use the program to do that myself. I really appreciate it!
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