| King Cobra | 24 Feb 2008 2:40 p.m. PST |
Has anyone used other geometric shapes on a mat to determine direction and range? |
 Doms Decals  | 24 Feb 2008 2:52 p.m. PST |
Well, as they're the only ones that readily tesselate (unless you fancy triangles) I guess not…. |
| Bob the Temple Builder | 24 Feb 2008 4:18 p.m. PST |
I know of one person who uses offset squares, which a quick and easy to draw but have some of the advantages of hexes. |
| mandt2 | 24 Feb 2008 5:35 p.m. PST |
If it's aerial combat you're intersted in, check out Wings of War. |
| Binhan Lin | 24 Feb 2008 9:32 p.m. PST |
Offset squares are basically hexes. Each square connects to 6 other squares. So basically they are hexes. Much easier to draw though. Triangles are basically 1/6 of a hex so you end up with hexes as well. -Binhan |
| John Ans | 25 Feb 2008 5:47 a.m. PST |
As mandt2 said, Wings of War uses the plane bases and movement cards as templates for movement. You don't therefore need any geometric shapes on your mat. |
| RockyRusso | 25 Feb 2008 11:29 a.m. PST |
Hi Wheeled trollies with a mark on the rear wheel measuring distance moved. R |
| Ditto Tango 2 1 | 26 Feb 2008 8:10 a.m. PST |
I know of one person who uses offset squares, which a quick and easy to draw but have some of the advantages of hexes. I used this method for my database campaign manger. However, there was some discussion on here about how off set squares actually were slightly different from hexes – I just googled and googled and can't find it. When I ran my square selection algorithims for selecting an area of x radius from a central squre, the resulting "circle" did look a little lopsided. |
| jimborex | 26 Feb 2008 9:58 p.m. PST |
yeah, with offset squares, the "squares" need to be slightly rectangular to obtain equal distance between the centers of the squares. I have figured it out before, and if I recall correctly the ratio is about 1 by 1.1 units (that is, 10 inches by 11, for example). Actually, though, the real measurement is hexes, not distance, so it really doesn't matter. |
| King Cobra | 27 Feb 2008 3:10 p.m. PST |
Squares give you equal distance movement spacing with a 45º minimum heading change.
Hexes give you equal distance movement spacing with a 60º minimum heading change.
Triangles give you equal distance movement spacing with a 120º minimum heading change.
Would equal distance movement spacing with a 30º minimum heading change be preferable? |
| jimborex | 13 Mar 2008 7:01 p.m. PST |
I have a buddy who does 12 direction movement on hexes. He counts the centers and the vertices as eligible positions for ships (his is a naval game). There are 12 possible directions, therefore, with 30 degree heading changes. Now, you still have to draw hexes… |
| jimborex | 13 Mar 2008 7:05 p.m. PST |
The square grid isn't quite as good as the hex because it distorts distance. A diagonal move to a new square is about 1.4 times as long as a straight move. A ship can move northwest 4 spaces, then northeast 4 spaces, and arrive due north 8 spaces. The ship that heads due north arrives at the same location at the same time. |
| Pyruse | 14 Mar 2008 10:31 a.m. PST |
If you count a diagonal move as 1.5 squares, the distortion is actually a bit less than that with a hex grid. |
