I have now finished the four built-up areas – Solferino, Cavriana, Guidizzolo, and Medole – needed for SOLFERINO IN TWENTY MINUTES, and I am rather pleased with the way they turned out.
As can be seen for the images, the sides of each ‘box’ are made from printed card, and the bottom is reinforced with a square of mounting board. The latter gives the ‘box’ both weight and stiffness.
Hi Bob, That looks inspired and given most gamers access to PCs and printers a very cheap and viable alternative to 3d buildings. At the Dartford plastic soldier fair a number of years ago a club were running an 18th century Spencer Smith figure game and their buildings consisted of the front and side wall only but were 'full aspect' and they offered all the advantages of your current approach. They look really nice and of course the possibilities for using picture of locally built architecture from whichever geographic location you are fighting in is huge. Will you be drafting an AAR for the blog?
ReplyDeleteI second the call for an AAR. I have only stumbled on to this blog in the last couple of week and it has really re-ingnited my love of gaming.
ReplyDeleteI will be really interested in seeing how this game works out.
Please keep up the good work.
If the idea works - and I cannot see any reason why is should not - I will probably build some wooden boxes that I can slip printed cardbord 'sleeves' over. The advantage of the wooden boxes is that they will be much stronger and heavier than the relatively flimsy cardboard boxes. The 'sleeves' can be printed as 'one offs' for a particular game and then stored flat for future use if required. This could be a simple solution to the problems of storing scenary that may only be needed once in a while.
ReplyDeleteThe use of front and side walls to represent a building is new to me, but I must admit that I like the idea of using structures that are representative rather than full architectural models.
I will certainly be drafting some kind of report on what happens at Salute.
Bob, I'm looking forward to seeing and playing Solferino at Salute. Your BUA boxes look very good on the outside, but the harsh white card on the inside face spoils them, IMHO. You could glue another panorama to the back of each sleeve before folding, so that a townscape would be visible from any angle. You might also think about trimming the tops to follow the rooflines to create a less boxy look. The same idea could be used for forests...
ReplyDeleteArthur,
ReplyDeleteSome more excellent ideas! If I have time I will experiment with the ideas you have suggested. Having something on the inside of the cardboard boxes would certainly make them look less stark, and trimming the tops would make them look more realistic.
The problem at the moment is time. Salute is a week away, and I am having some trouble with the playing pieces (I will be blogging about the problem later this weekend). If I can solve the problem I may have time to do something with the BUA boxes; if not I will have to go with what I have.
See you at Salute!
Rob and Ogrefencer,
ReplyDeleteI will certainly be writing about how the game goes at Salute (with pictures if I remember my camera!).
Rob,
I am pleased that my blog has re-ignited your interest in gaming. If you are able to come to Salute, come and see us at the Wargame Developments table and try the game for yourself.