Waterloo Chess Set Ideas

[mmcv]

That looks great!

[Techno]

Absolutely cracking ! 

Cheers - Phil

[petercooman]

I was lucky to inherit one of these:  https://chessantiques.com/product/waterloo-chess-set/

Maybe worth to look at the pics on that site, has a detailed list of what is used for each piece.

[mmcv]

I was lucky to inherit one of these:  https://chessantiques.com/product/waterloo-chess-set/

Maybe worth to look at the pics on that site, has a detailed list of what is used for each piece.

That's a great resource, thanks.

[sean66]

Many moons ago
I built a Waterloo chess set, in 28mm used line infantry for pawns.
then different types for the other positions. I got a big piece of toughened glass and etched it
placing a Celtic design in the black squares and around the edge.
all bases then had some of that protective matting you get for protecting wooden floors from sofa feet.
regards
Sean

[mmcv]

Many moons ago
I built a Waterloo chess set, in 28mm used line infantry for pawns.
then different types for the other positions. I got a big piece of toughened glass and etched it
placing a Celtic design in the black squares and around the edge.
all bases then had some of that protective matting you get for protecting wooden floors from sofa feet.
regards
Sean

Interesting, any pictures to share? Did the glass board "feel" nice to play on compared to a wooden one?

Good shout on the sofa feet protectors. Just had a Google there and seems like some good options and might save me trying to cut perfect circles out of felt myself. The castor cups might even work as a bottom base if I can find ones in the right size.

[sean66]

Sorry mmcv,
When I said many moons ago it was over ten years. so no photos.
the ones I used were like felt (got them from a cheap shop) I think the set I used had different sizes so used the bigger ones for feet for the glass board.
the glass was actually very nice to play on. just something a bit different from wood.
I used lead strip (same type you can buy in rolls, for the edging of the glass just to make it a bit nicer.
regards
Sean

[mmcv]

Sorry mmcv,
When I said many moons ago it was over ten years. so no photos.
the ones I used were like felt (got them from a cheap shop) I think the set I used had different sizes so used the bigger ones for feet for the glass board.
the glass was actually very nice to play on. just something a bit different from wood.
I used lead strip (same type you can buy in rolls, for the edging of the glass just to make it a bit nicer.
regards
Sean

Thanks sean, that gives me a few things to look into.

[sean66]

No problem MMCV.
I hope you accomplish it.
regards
Sean.

[Heedless Horseman]

Ma bought me a 'Waterloo' Chess Set when I was a kid. Carved wooden board. Metal pieces...not quite 54mm. Pawns, infantry. Rook...a castle with a bugler's head on top .Knights were dismounted Hussars. Bishops...dismounted H cav standing at rest (The swords snapped off!). King and Queen...(never worked out which but did not matter!)...were General on foot...and an imposing 'Draped' Standard...both raised on a fancy, 'militaristic' plinth. (Think 6mm cannon barrels, balls, etc.all moulded together.
Uniform had some inaccuracies! But, it was a Chess set! lol All painted to what you could say was 'a fair, wargame standard'...'toy soldier' level.

Quite a nice set, really. BUT...I HATED IT!      Because...
Brits were in Red, of course! But the French...for some WEIRD reason, they were in Dark GREEN!   
As the guy in 'The Film' cries..."WHY ??" 

I did consider repainting...but never tried as I was young. Later, some pieces had lost/damaged swords/Finials, etc It will still be there, somewhere...and as you can now replace lost or damaged kit from fig makers, could be 'made good' but cannot be bothered' unless as a retirement project. I don't play chess now, anyway! 

My FAVOURITE set was..(and still is, although not on display)...a conventional set. Pieces quite large, in traditional chess style...with one side in Brass and the other, dark 'Pewter'...looks a bit 'Lead'ish! lol The board...inlaid squares of Brass and Copper...with Brass edging, rivets and felt under board and pieces. It is GORGEOUS! Many games played against Uncles as a child...and young nephews who wanted to play "Chest!", later on. Probably worth a bomb...but, as a 'hoarder', I don't sell stuff lol.

[FierceKitty]

I've got a Burmese set with the board hand-carved as part of the storage box, and bronze pieces, one set slightly browner (not enough, really; might try staining it a bit some day); it's meant for sittuyin, the Burmese version of chess, but sets are interchangeable (though this is risky if you use a Staunton set to play Burmese chess, since the "queen" is rather weak, and the "bishops" are also less powerful than the familiar phallic piece * - in fact, they're the same as the silver general in shogi, the excellent Japanese version **, and makruk, the rather limited Thai variant).

In making a military chess set, it could be worth bearing in mind that the rook was a chariot originally (still is in shogi and in xiang chi, the Chinese game ***), and the bishop was an elephant - the tusks became the halves of the mitre when the middle-east transmitted the game from India but had stylised the elephant to suit Islamic allergies to representational art.

* cf. The Thomas Crown Affair. Faye Dunaway ensured chess would never be the same again.
** VERY highly recommended.
*** This and the Korean sub-variant inclde artillery! Of course, the Chinese claim their version is the original chess, but they also claim to have invented music, garlic, sex, cats, and probably oxygen.

[mmcv]

Funnily enough I've been poking around looking at figure ideas on this again as I got the chess urge again after watching Queen's Gambit. I've found some fantastic figure options from El Greco, though unfortunately Wellington is 75mm and Napoleon 54mm. Jokes about height aside it's probably too big a variance.

I think I may aim for 75mm for king and possibly queen (general and standard bearer), then maybe 40/54/60 for the rest with plinths for making conventional heights. I may need to go smaller for the Knights as they could end up towering over the rest if I go for reading horses. Suppose if the standard bearer was 54 the addition of standard would add 30mm or so. As HH said the large size conventional pieces are nice to handle, so want to have something nice in the hand but also easily representative.

I've also been looking into using resin for the board, clear and tinted resin poured into a wooden grid, with a map of Waterloo below.

I also learned that in Estonian the Queen is known as the standard or flag.

Shogi and Xiang Chi are on my list to learn at some point. I do have a Xiang Chi board on the reverse of my Go board but no pieces and Shogi has always looked interesting. For the moment though I'm mostly focused on Chess and Go as my abstract games. Go (Igo more properly in Japanese, Weichi to the Chinese and Baduk to the Koreans) is my favourite, but Chess has its moments too.

[FierceKitty]

Go drives me crazy. I have absolutely no idea what I'm trying to do on that board.

[mmcv]

Go drives me crazy. I have absolutely no idea what I'm trying to do on that board.

that's half the fun. I like the grand strategy layer of it over the local tactical game you get with chess. Over time you develop patterns and principles for what to do with different situations and positions, but there's so much freedom on the board. I'm still not overly good at it, and mostly play smaller games on my phone, but there's an elegance and beauty to it when you get the stones just right to capture the opponent, or save a group of stones that was tottering on the edge of life and death.

Have you tried it in a 9x9 board? Zooms in on essentially a small corner of the board and get to grips with core patterns and local tactics.

[FierceKitty]

I was pointed in that direction once. It was a long time ago, however.