"Desert gaming cloth" Topic

Below is am image of my desert gaming cloth, created in the 1970s and modified to its current form in the 1980s. It's basically a old bed sheet, about 7 feet by 8 feet matching my gaming table, dyed tan, and stippled with Liqutex. It has a 1" hex grid superimposed on it, with every 10 hexes a darker color. This can be used to enable individually-numbered hexes, while only numbering the dark ones. BTW, except for the darker ones mentioned above, hexes are denoted by small brown dots, which are not intended to be visible from a distance.

This turns out to be useful for the Pandemic… Since it's inconvenient to drive back and forth, as well as slightly more risky, we plan to have 2 identical hex terrains. So I'll use this one, and I'll have to document it to allow the other player(s) to make something equivalent. Documentation unfortunately probably requires me to create a digital hex image, showing the position of all elevation edge hexes. This in turn would allow the other player(s) to create something which matches exactly, to allow remote gaming over the phone.

The system also allows for modular roads etc. using vinyl floor tile material cut into modular pieces (e.g. straight, junction, etc.) and marked with the hex grid. I found that this material tends to sag to closely match the surface, thus avoiding shadows at the edges. We also have "woods" represented by tan-painted triangular pieces of sheet metal, marked with the hex grid, and with a few palm trees on it. FWIW.

BTW, the note on the image is intended to console my remote gaming partner, telling him he only has to duplicate half of this. :-)

MH

Nice work.

Wolfhag

Looks great. It's lasted an amazingly long time.

Your design concept has certainly lasted the test of time!

Best returns on your upcoming game sessions too.

My desert cloth is a sand-coloured cotton bedspread. First use as a gaming cloth was after I left hospital following tonsil removal in 1974!

Very nice !

Below are some images of the modular roads (so far macadam only), and some vehicle damage markers. Also note the hex numbering system. Since numbering each hex would have been impractical, we have numbered every 10th primary hex (the dark brown dots), and count the in-between secondary hexes by hand. So the hex number of a hex adjacent to primary hex 19xy would be 1911 (one additional digit for each axis off of primary hex #19). This allows the recording of game element positions in case the map needs to be moved in the middle of a game.

MH

MH, I use a similar marker system but for noting immobilized AFVs. These made out of epoxy putty (as little clusters of shell holes with a track-tab that can be placed under a tank).

Anything that can take away the artificial-looking markers from off the board is a good plan.

First attempt at describing our LOS rules for this terrain board:

WRT this illustration:

1) By default, we conceive of our desert game map as a basically flat surface with gradual minor elevations and depressions. Although in reality elevation changes would be smooth and gradual, for simplicity we model them with contour lines as in a 1970s tactical board game map.

2) Game elements can be either at ground level, or on hills. Elements on hills can be either on top of the hill or on the "hull down" line of the hill; both of these are "on" hills. The hull down line is defined as the hexes around the perimeter of a hill, adjacent to and below the boundary hill top hexes.

3) Elements at ground level have no LOS (line of sight) to elements beyond that hill.

4) Elements on a hill have LOS to elements on and beyond that hill, and to elements on other hills, but not to ground-level elements beyond other hills.

5) A hull-down defensive bonus accrues to elements on the hull down line, which are fired on along an LOS passing over their hill. The single exception to this bonus is if the firer is on the same hill as the target hull-down element.

Examples:

1) In the "desert_sighting_illustration_annotated.jpg" image, we have 5 Arab tanks on the left and 2 Israeli tanks on the right. Based on the rules above:

2) Tank 5 has no LOS to any enemy tank.

3) Tanks 1-4 and tank a are all "on" hills, and all have LOS to each other. Furthermore, Tank 1 has LOS to tank b, which is "beyond" the hill which tank 1 is "on".

4) Tank 4 has a hull-down bonus relative to tank a. Tank a has a hull-down bonus relative to tanks 2-4. Tank 1 has a hull-down bonus relative to tank b.

5) Tank a has no hull-down bonus relative to tank 1, and vice versa, as both are "on" the same hill.

MH