I am a big fan of Archduke Piccolo's Napoleonic campaigns, and have been thinking of trying to use his rules for a game. While leaning towards using 2mm blocks, I have also considered other scales.
Archduke Piccolo's campaign uses hexes for movements. I wanted to come up with a 15 x15 hex board. I went to Google trying to find some hex templates. While looking through the illustrations, I noticed hexagon templates for quilting.
These templates are heavy acrylic hexes in different sizes, with holes to mark fabric, with an additional 1/4 inch for seems.
I went on Amazon and found an 8 pack of these templates, with measurements being 3/4",1",1 1/4", 1 1/2", 1 3/4", 2", 2 1/2", 3". The price for this set was $9.99! For me it's a dream come true. I have printed out several articles on how to make a hex board; usually requiring careful measurements. Even on my best days my ability of measuring is questionable.
Hopefully this will be helpful to other measuring challenged wargamers.
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| The acrylic hexes. A hex piece from "Battle Cry sets on top of the 1 inch hex, for scale. |
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| The Battle Cry hex is on the 1 1/4 template. It shows the 1/4 seem allowance that each template has. |
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| The bag the templates came on. I plan to hang them on my work area pegboard in this, so hopefully I won't lose them. By the way, on Amazon they can be found by searching " Honeysew hexagon template quilting 8 size sewing rulers" |
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ReplyDeleteI was really chuffed to read your comment about my Napoleonic campaigns. Thank you!
Looking at those templates had me going off to measure the hexside of my hex board. The cells are 4-inch across opposite sides. It turns out the edges are about 5.5cm - call it 2 1/4". So I guess one or other of your 2" or 2.5" templates will yield hexes of roughly similar size. But with smaller hexes you get a much roomier theatre of war, or a battle-table that will take up less room.
Of course, in 6mm or 2mm scales, figure removal is ... erm ... contraindicated. That leaves a SP system. I used that for my '1912 Exercise' and a hybrid SP and stand removal system for my Gettysburg (most of my ACW figures are mounted on stands 3 figures across, so I had to adapt).
I'll be very interested in seeing how your own campaigns develop.
Cheers,
Ion
I will have to bring out the 2" and 2.5" hexes and try some of my old Airfix figures on them. I have been bringing out some with the idea of using them with AI animations. I was looking at The Third Portable Wargame Compendium and your Gettysburg campaign with the Airfix figures. It is something I would like to attempt in the future. Right now space is the problem. Hence, my interest in using 2mm. My wife is planning a major clean of our basement, which might just give me room to set up a larger table.
DeleteGenius! I know how difficult it is painting hex boards, having failed in the past:
ReplyDeletehttps://manoftinblog.wordpress.com/2021/02/12/octagons-are-not-hexagons-or-my-diy-games-workshop-lost-patrol-tiles/
I wish I had found something like these 30 years ago when I got into wargaming. I feel your pain in trying to use something that isn't quite hexagonal. I started reading your mentioned post. Your description of a "Lost Patrol" game has my mind racing. Hopefully tonight I can reread your post more carefully.
ReplyDeleteFWIW I bought a load of MDF hexes from eBay (although the same sort of stuff was also available on Amazon). The seller would cut them to any size you asked for (for example, hex edges of a particular length or hex width measured either point-to-point or side-to-side). Overall - I’m happy with the result.
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Geoff
I bought several size wood hexes. After a while I figured just draw hexes on a board and use the wood hexes as terrain features. What really inspired me was Archduke Piccolo's campaign board and campaigns. I still haven't decided what scale to use in a campaign copying his campaigns. With these hexes once I've decided on scale, I will just draw the hexes on the board.
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