Battle of the 6 Armies

Notes on board and piece construction

Introduction

The rules for playing this game, Battle of the Six Armies (B6A), along
with some suggested variants, may be found here

This article details how I made my own B6A set.

Construction

The approach used in making my own B6A set borrows heavily from my experiences when wargaming using 2mm models.

My wargaming in 2mm scale is described in more detail at my Wargames website here

The Materials

The materials used in making the board and pieces are shown in the image on the left. A: Magnetic A4 paper suitable for use with an inkjet printer. B:A4 white card suitable for use with an inkjet printer. C:White A4 Foam Board. D:Self-adhesive A4 magneticsheets. E:A4 coloured card suitable for use with an inkjet printer. F: Self-adhesive magnetic card to provide bases for the piece-stands (optional). G: Plastic stands to hold the pieces (printed on card).

Although not to scale the image directly above shows how the materials were put together to form the board and the pieces. The base of the board was formed by attaching a self-adhesive magnetic sheet to each of the six foam boards. These now magnetic boards formed a light but stable base on which to place the inkjet printed magnetic board design. The pieces for each army were printed from a template onto, and then cut from, coloured cards. These card cut-outs were then fitted into the plastic stands of a matching colour. These pieces may then be completed by the addition of a magnetic card base to the underside of each stand. The use of magnetic bases is optional but they do give a stability to the pieces when placed on the board. without adding a great deal to their weight. See below for images of the template, some individual pieces, and of the board and pieces arrayed for the start of a game.

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Battle of the 6 Armies

Joe Joyce 07 Jun 2012 20:17

Hello, Graeme. Very nice! And you have anticipated/scooped-whatever me, with this. I have a guy doing graphics for Warlord so I can do the same thing as you've just done, but with just a folded cardstock base. This looks like one heck of a brawl. Have you had the chance to do much playtesting? Heh, amazing! Gotta run! Later, and the best to you. Joe

Re: Battle of the 6 Armies

Grayhawke 08 Jun 2012 13:05

Hi Joe, sorry if I've stolen your thunder, but B6A is a project I've been working on for just over the year. It's not been greatly playtested though there have been some chaotic 3-handed unfinished games between myself and my 2 sons (I'm sure they ganged up on me). I've also written a zrf for it which I'm in the process of making ready for general distribution. I am also toying with the idea of writing a preset for it using a hex-lattice board, but I'm not sure if Game Courier supports multi-player games?

Best Regards

Graeme

Re: Battle of the 6 Armies

Joe Joyce 08 Jun 2012 15:51

Hey, Graeme, now I know it was a good idea - somebody good is already using it! And I'm also sure your sons ganged up on you, as my son and daughter would just naturally do that with me. Anyhow, Game Courier is not directly set up for multi-player games, but it can be used for them if the players cooperate. Two are "captains", and they must put all the moves in. They email the set-up to the other players on their "team" as it is each's turn, and the players email them the moves back. Awkward, but I've played some 4-handed chess that way, although the game did peter out after a few moves. Got more to say, but am very busy right now, so ciao.

Enjoy!
Joe