• Why did the anniversary edition’s map come in several pieces? Im not a collector and could give a rip about resale value and love playing my AA50, but it is frustrating at times when the board gets shifted during play. Is it worth trying to get a sign shop reprint it in one piece? Or should I just print out a custom map at this point?


  • Hi Bjones.
    Why? Well I personally think a six or more piece map is to easily damaged just from opening and closing (my 1941’s paper covering is coming of because of this). And 2 or4 piece fold wont fit in the box
    How to fix it? Many ways. Obviously getting a custom map is the most expensive (but also the best for playabillity) but you can never really put away a single piece. Other options are to simply lock the boards together (YG made a youtuhe video just about this). Essentially all you need is a thin piece of hard material that wont damage the board. Shape needs to be long and have a split in between. Kind of like putting toast into a single piece toaster :-D.

  • Official Q&A

    See this thread for ideas.


  • Alternately, you can cover the map with a sheet of plexiglass, which is what I did with my Global 1940 map.  This not only helps to keep the map boards from moving, it also provides you with a smooth playing surface, without the creases caused by the folding lines.


  • @BJones:

    Why did the anniversary edition’s map come in several pieces? Im not a collector and could give a rip about resale value and love playing my AA50, but it is frustrating at times when the board gets shifted during play. Is it worth trying to get a sign shop reprint it in one piece? Or should I just print out a custom map at this point?

    It probably came in several pieces because of its sheer size. I am unaware of any manufacturers who have bifold or trifold boards that big and to set up a custom run would have increased the cost of the game more than it’s worth.

    Solutions (in addition to what’s been mentioned above);

    • Get a sheet of Plexiglass to place over top (double benefit is it protects the surface from damage and removes any creases/bumps/gaps while playing

    • Custom printed vinyl that you can roll up when done (use a heavy vinyl if you’re doing that)

    • Use those grippy shelf liner sheets under the board (we did this for quite some time and it works fairly well and is cheap)

    • Use clips (there are aftermarket clips available to keep game boards together, or you can use some other clipping method)


  • @IWillNeverGrowUp:

    Get a sheet of Plexiglass to place over top (double benefit is it protects the surface from damage

    Yes, that’s an especially good point for game owners who allow potato chips, soft drinks and beer to come anywhere near their map table.  :)

    In case this information is useful, here are the technical details of the acrylic sheet I used.  It’s a material called non-glare Acrylite P-99, originally sized by the manufacturer at 48" x 96" x 1/16" thickness.  The local plastics company from which I bought it cut the sheet to the size I wanted, which is 36" x 96", so they just had to cut a slice from the width because the length was already correct.  (Note that this is bigger than is needed for the A&A Global 1940 map, but my wargaming table is larger than the A&A game requires).  They then shipped it to me by delivery truck, rolled up into a tube about two feet in diameter as I recall (the rolling made possible by the fact that the plastic was just 1/16" thick).  The costs (in Canadian dollars) were $60 for the plastic itself, plus $10 for the cutting, plus $30 for delivery, plus another $15 or so for sales tax.


  • @CWO:

    @IWillNeverGrowUp:

    Get a sheet of Plexiglass to place over top (double benefit is it protects the surface from damage

    Yes, that’s an especially good point for game owners who allow potato chips, soft drinks and beer to come anywhere near their map table.  :)

    In case this information is useful, here are the technical details of the acrylic sheet I used.  It’s a material called non-glare Acrylite P-99, originally sized by the manufacturer at 48" x 96" x 1/16" thickness.  The local plastics company from which I bought it cut the sheet to the size I wanted, which is 36" x 96", so they just had to cut a slice from the width because the length was already correct.  (Note that this is bigger than is needed for the A&A Global 1940 map, but my wargaming table is larger than the A&A game requires).  They then shipped it to me by delivery truck, rolled up into a tube about two feet in diameter as I recall (the rolling made possible by the fact that the plastic was just 1/16" thick).  The costs (in Canadian dollars) were $60 for the plastic itself, plus $10 for the cutting, plus $30 for delivery, plus another $15 or so for sales tax.

    That a lot of money just to keep your game straight!


  • Thank you for the replies, I am also trying to put in my 15 posts so I can post pictures on here as well, so If I post in a wrong section or something please let me know. It is difficult coming up with 15 new topics to talk about that haven’t been addressed yet. If I can sell any of my painted pieces or custom pieces I will ultimately buy another map.  I have also thought about painting the blue background onto plywood and either free hand drawing, then painting the map, or using my better half’s cricut to make the continents out of vinyl to stick on the plywood.


  • @Charles:

    That a lot of money just to keep your game straight!

    Well, that in itself (and getting rid of those annoying creases, and protecting the map board) was worth it – especially when you consider that the game itself was more expensive – but I had another motive too.  I wanted to customize the map to make it more accurate and to give it a pre-war configuration…and by pre-war I mean “prior to the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931.”  The plexiglass allowed me to do that with a whole bunch of roundels, many of them customized.  The roundels are all under the plexiglass, where they are clearly distinguished from the actual play roundels that get put on top of the plexiglass.  You can see the setup over here:

    http://www.axisandallies.org/forums/index.php?topic=32700.0


  • @Charles:

    @CWO:

    @IWillNeverGrowUp:

    Get a sheet of Plexiglass to place over top (double benefit is it protects the surface from damage

    Yes, that’s an especially good point for game owners who allow potato chips, soft drinks and beer to come anywhere near their map table.  :)

    In case this information is useful, here are the technical details of the acrylic sheet I used.  It’s a material called non-glare Acrylite P-99, originally sized by the manufacturer at 48" x 96" x 1/16" thickness.  The local plastics company from which I bought it cut the sheet to the size I wanted, which is 36" x 96", so they just had to cut a slice from the width because the length was already correct.  (Note that this is bigger than is needed for the A&A Global 1940 map, but my wargaming table is larger than the A&A game requires).  They then shipped it to me by delivery truck, rolled up into a tube about two feet in diameter as I recall (the rolling made possible by the fact that the plastic was just 1/16" thick).  The costs (in Canadian dollars) were $60 for the plastic itself, plus $10 for the cutting, plus $30 for delivery, plus another $15 or so for sales tax.Â

    That a lot of money just to keep your game straight!

    $60 Canadian is like $54billion US right now. lol.

    I don’t think I paid anywhere near that for mine at Home Depot. Then again, I picked it up and cut it myself, so that also saved a bit. If I remember I think I paid around $40 for the plexi (4x8 foot sheet) … I also got a thicker sheet, so that may account for some as it doesn’t roll up!


  • Been a while since I played my AA50 game……

    What I used was plastic grooved strips for the edge of paneling or wall board from Home Depot (very inexpensive). You can just use them across the top and bottom of the map to keep it together better.

    For my g40 game I built a custom table that the map fit into (so it can’t move). I retrofitted an old pool table so the map it inset about 4 inches below the rails. Over the rails is felt covered plywood that is used for unit cases and dice rolling etc…

Suggested Topics

  • 5
  • 6
  • 4
  • 3
  • 9
  • 8
  • 7
  • 18
Axis & Allies Boardgaming Custom Painted Miniatures

35

Online

17.0k

Users

39.3k

Topics

1.7m

Posts