It's not just you. I've seen similar comments here and elsewhere.Originally Posted by Andy Blozinski
It's not just you. I've seen similar comments here and elsewhere.
One comment I heard today from everyone at the table was the use of the ship logs and chits. They mentioned how messy it could get when running larger games. I am starting to wonder if I will look for a different mechanism in the future when running larger games at cons. Issues like the 2nd wave log/mat fit encourages such exploration.
The fact that the ships logs from wave 2 dont seem to fit within the shipmats is a mess up from Ares I think?
I dont have any ships from wave 2 yet, they are sailing to my port as it is.
But cant the problem be solved with a Sharp hobby knife and a metall ruler?
Ive played some games using 4 ships now and you just need to play organised.
But you still need enough table space to put all the shipmats on....
I don't see how the size of the game would be a relevant factor. Your chits go on your ship log and mat. You don't scatter them in your surrounding area. I've had 4 person games and 10 person games and the chits weren't any worse.
Having adequate space for the ship logs/mats, people leaning over to move ships on the playing surface, etc. Not knowing what kind of space I will have at Origins, it could get crowded fast.
I have nothing but positive remarks on my chit-less play system. Wargamers tend to dislike clutter. But the old grease pencil ship logs work well, and you don't have to worry about wave 2 fit in the old mats.
Also, after printing and cutting down and laminating, the grease pencil cards only take up about 2/3 of the table depth of the chit cards and mats. So saves space on the table.
Sue and I are working on just such a system for this week's games - hard to believe we set sail in three days.
Bob, any design advice based on your experience would be appreciated.
Eric,
I like to design uning Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet. I make the column widths 0.58 and row height 5.25. When you merge 4 small cells it makes a perfectly square box. Keith doesn't want the customized cards on the forum, although people have now place pictures and scans of the actual cards on here and spead sheets of all the consolidated shipt data, and my cards simply have the same information.
My latest edition are the version 9 cards. If I was at home I could scan one and post it. The big thing to understand is this is a lot of work. I'd be happy to share all the files with you. I have every Wave 1 and wave 2 ship done. We have a local yahoo group we use to share these cards.
I print them on light card stock and then laminate them. But theorectically, you could print on demand and use pencil, using new cards for each game.
Bob
Hi Bob,
I would definitely like to see your files. Thanks. We're a bit crunched for time, so for this week, we're primarily looking for something that serves the utility needed; after this week, we'll have time to play around more with designs. Sue has been working on something today as well. We're happy to share files with you as well.
I don't remember if you have my email, so I will PM it to you. I look forward to seeing what you have produced. Thanks again.
I've been playing some 4 vs. 4 games. With advanced rules this is enough to tax my brain pretty well. And every flat surface in the room does end up bedecked with ship mats, decks, and chits. I could imagine getting, say, 6 dedicated players together for something like the battle of the Nile, with 4 ships or so each. But the logistics of 20+ ship mats does seem daunting. Maybe I will try print+pencil
Fred,
I'm happy to share what I have. So if your interested send me a PM.
Bob
Eric,
I don't know how many sessions you'll be running, but as I said earlier you can just print on demand and use pencil. Lamintation and grease pencil simply make them re-usable. I did have your e-mail, from when I sent you the d30 damage table. Sent you all the cards. Let me know if see any issues with them.
These cards should work with any rules level of play. They are pretty self explanatory, but if you have any questions, just let me know. On the fire and leak in the damage section your supposed to just circle the graphic or put an X over it.
Enjoy,
Bob
Hi Bob,
Got them. Thanks.
I am running seven games, most of which are three hours with 16 players. I will be using, primarily, basic/standard rules with some scenario specific rules thrown in. I spoke with Keith about running a four hour game next year using a fuller compliment of the rules, advertised as such.
Going back to Jim's question, what is Ares going to do about wave 2 ship logs that are too long for the ship mats? I for one am not inclined to chop down all of my logs to fit the mats. And how could they have screwed them up when they had the dimensions from wave 1???
EDIT
After getting over the initial 'hot under the collar' I guess all Ares could do is ask their customers to trim 1/8" off the logs.
I did a few and it only takes seconds. Ares has enough problems already, but I hope this is corrected on future releases.
Last edited by Gunner; 06-11-2014 at 12:38.
No I have as well. In order to get them to fit the log is almost buckling in the middle. It is just a few 'mm' off I reckon.
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