Really Useful Boards

DonWPetros

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RUB.
I've sketched about 300 new geoboards; standard, Fort-style, double-wide, you name it. I've also taken a count of how often each standard-issue geoboard has been used since the beginning of publication, hoping to determine what types of boards (open, city, village, etc.) have been most used by designers, keeping in mind how long each board has been out there in use. (not surprisingly, Board 4 - open with some buildings, is the most used by far)
Anyhow, after all that I chose 2 board designs that I think will be RUBs and am almost completed with them. Once finished, I'll shoot them over to Tom R. with the hope of VASLizing them. After that, not sure how to proceed - other than with the idea of having some scenarios prepared for them, and ideally have MMP use them in some future something.

The board ideas: 1) Rural village crossroads (on half) / rural really small crossroads on the other half. Can split this board at Row Q and use either half with other boards.
2) Substantial Village board (on half) / Rural crossroads on other half.
Both boards can be used for either Western front or Eastern front. Designed to be highly versatile.
 

wrongway149

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The board ideas: 1) Rural village crossroads (on half) / rural really small crossroads on the other half. Can split this board at Row Q and use either half with other boards.
2) Substantial Village board (on half) / Rural crossroads on other half.
Both boards can be used for either Western front or Eastern front. Designed to be highly versatile.
Versatility is a top consideration.
 

Robin Reeve

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IIRC "Bocage" boards 54 and 55 worked that way : you can butt the Q row of one to the Q row of the other one.

I am not sure that "village" and "rural" are really needed.
I have the impression that we have tons of them.

Transition from non-built/lightly-buit to urban boards could see more boards: the overuse of board 49 shows such a need.
 

DonWPetros

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Right, boards 54/55 and 69/70 are 'multi-geo' boards as you say. (I made them that way, and the idea came from Ian Daglish - RIP).

As for village boards - my own view is that while we do have them, they're not that great (having made a number of them). Most of them are inadequate in one way or another: (ie. 1) they're not realistic looking, 2) they're not fun to play on especially), 3) they're ugly, 4) many 'take the village' actions occur on boards that don't quite fit the bill, 5) Designers are inspired by new boards (ask them), and importantly 6) new boards are one of the very few 'new' components that can be profitably made (we got the rules, we got the counters) because guys want new components (I know I always do).

I agree that transition boards (ie 49 that I also did), are needed. I have several such sketches and thanks for the prompt. Looking for new boards here to make :)
 

sswann

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What is needed?
More Russian Plains boards... No.
More densely populated city boards.... No.
More Farm Village boards... no.

BUT!
There is one European area that is extremely unrepresented in our map world.
The Ardennes area of France and Belgium is not really in our system.
Heavily Forested Narrow Valleys with roads running alongside the Streams and Rivers of the area.

For us older guys, think back to the ASL News days.
Their mapboard was an ideal Ardennes Forest valley.

Remember that the Ardennes area was fought over at the beginning AND towards the end of the war.
All we have (as ASL'ers) is the KGP I & II maps for the Ardennes...
Some geo style maps of the Ardennes area are sorely needed.
 

sswann

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Forgot to add to the previous note...
French, Belgium, British, American, Germans and some of the Non-German auxiliary units all fought in the Ardennes.
Tin Can tanks in 1940 and mega-tanks in 1944.
 
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sswann

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It is my hope that someone will either reprint this mapboard or at least come up with a Adrennes compatible set of maps.
 

Tuomo

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Steve - this Double-Wide Wooded Hill doesn't quite cut it for the Ardennes, does it? You asked for "Heavily Forested Narrow Valleys with roads running alongside the Streams and Rivers". Hmm.
 

sswann

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Actually it works very well and could also be used in the Hartz Mtns and the Hurtgen Forest.
Please excuse my spelling.
But it also does not have the narrow River valley look.
A River valley plus the double wide would make an excellent Ardennes River and valley town.
It does need more wooded spots around the edges/

Maybe someone will do an Ardennes scenario pack.
 

DonWPetros

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Steve,
I like the Wooded boards just fine and would add that we also need Huertgen Forest type maps. I've sketched several and am all in.
However, with a smile, I have to still disagree that we're full-up with the various kinds of maps you mention. We can always use more geomaps - if for no other reason than that they inspire scenario design. Also, the existing map selection, while it might seem vast, really isn't. Yes, we have those kinds of maps, but many of the existing ones, sorry, suck. My own included. More isn't always better, but here, it can be.
Anyway, lemme know specifically what sorts of Woods boards you want and I can sketch them. Provided you make some scenarios :)
 

bprobst

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I don't think there's enough inherent use for more canal boards, but I'd like to see canal overlays, with boards that you could put them on where they wouldn't look weird.

By canals I mean straight or nearly straight waterways that are only 1 hex wide (like railroad overlays). Bd23 is the only canal depiction in the game (at this time), and is very urban; the boards with water obstacles that are not so urban tend to have 2-hex (or wider) rivers that are not very canal-ish.
 

lionelc62

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I don't think there's enough inherent use for more canal boards, but I'd like to see canal overlays, with boards that you could put them on where they wouldn't look weird.

By canals I mean straight or nearly straight waterways that are only 1 hex wide (like railroad overlays). Bd23 is the only canal depiction in the game (at this time), and is very urban; the boards with water obstacles that are not so urban tend to have 2-hex (or wider) rivers that are not very canal-ish.
I think 1-2 new canals / small rivers boards will be very useful. I am tired of using board 40 in my scenarios :)
 

DonWPetros

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Yea, canal overlays are possible, but will they be really used that much? For example, there's a long stream overlay that also has similar characteristics - it stretches from one end of the 9x22 board to the other side yet hasn't been used yet. I like large, easy to apply overlays (such as those in CoB), but most designers shy from them generally.

So, to have a decent rural canal - you probably need a full rural canal board. How many designers want this? I'll wait here. :)
 

von Marwitz

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I don't think there's enough inherent use for more canal boards, but I'd like to see canal overlays, with boards that you could put them on where they wouldn't look weird.
I am with you when you say that canal overlays may be more useful than canal boards.

On the other hand, with the ongoing proliferation of countless geo-boads, it would not really matter or harm, if we had a canal board instead of a board featuring yet another village and woodlands.

More than canals, though, I think we are missing "small rivers" boards, i.e. rivers with a width of only one full water obstacle in most places and two in some.

We have plenty of streams, we have some, but not many "medium rivers" (width of 2 full water obstacles), but not "small rivers".

Of course, one could argue, that any stream could always be declared to be flooded, thereby forming a "small river" which I am envisioning. But dedicated "small river" boards would be preferrable from an aesthetic point of view as well for example. And technically, it would be somewhat different to Flooded Streams as these are per default at Level 0 whereas Water Obstacles are usually at Level -1. This would make a difference in combination with Marsh and some other terrain adjacent to a "small river" as opposed to being adjacent to a Flooded Stream.

von Marwitz
 
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