10mm game on hexes on small table

[Norm]

I have recently been blogging about putting a game onto a pinboard, those blogs have culminated in my first pinboard game, using Kallistra 4" hexes and home brew rules. here is the link for those interested. http://battlefieldswarriors.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/10mm-hex-based-wwii-aar.html#more

[Steve J]

Looking good so far Norm and I liked the write up a lot .

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Great idea for a blog Norman. Like it a lot.

[Fenton]

Good work Norm  nice stuff

Nice blog as well, nice to see one with a readable font as well

[Subedai]

Looking at the pic at the top, it seems to be coming along nicely.

[petercooman]

Looking good!

Callistra hexon is great!

[Luddite]

Good looking game there Norm, and nice blog too.

Have you considered using Squad Leader rules?  http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/243/advanced-squad-leader

[Ithoriel]

Have to say my first thought was "Ooh! Memoir '44"

Does look good right enough.

[Norm]

Thanks all. I have a strong nostalgic connection with Squad Leader (basic  from 1977 ) and would love MMP just to redo 4th Edition with super graphics - but I know that is never going to happen.

Central to my small set up is keeping the movement rates tightly controlled and SL with 4 to 6 MP's seems to need at least one full sized board to 'breathe' properly.

I had looked at Ghost Panzer for conversion, but that also needs quite a bit of hex space.

[FierceKitty]

My eyes and mind can't accept hex terrain as a substitute for reality. Not trying to convert anyone else, or denigrate others' efforts, I must add.

[Norm]

I think how the eye / brain visualises the tabletop is essential to enjoyment.

I have been a life long boardgamer, so to me the hexes are subconsciously invisible. I just find myself reading the battlefield in a natural way, but I can fully appreciate that some gamers cannot get past the aesthetics of the hex. I have just bought a boardgame that only has the corners of each hex represented, the idea being that there is less hex on the board so the hex is less obtrusive, however to my 'eyes, it just looks like someone has thrown a load of caltrops across the map, because it is new to my visual appreciation and looks too obvious.

Without trying to 'sell' the hex, it removes the need to measure (all done by eyeball), it defines the location exactly - so that hex is woodland and the figure is in woodland regardless of what position it is in - so no millimetre precision when placing and moving units. Also a defined location means that things like blast areas for artillery are easier to calculate, removing the need for blast templates. Indeed, all templates go, no fire angle templates or wheeling templates or armour perspective templates etc.

But I agree, it will unlikely look a thing of beauty, but then in truth few games really are.

[FierceKitty]

But I agree, it will unlikely look a thing of beauty, but then in truth few games really are.

You clearly haven't seen my armies in action!

[toxicpixie]

I like the idea of hexes, and the Kallistra stuff is nice but cost always puts me off as does the very obvious join between hexes. I'm quite happy with Peter Pigs grid square approach on PBI, Squarebashing etc though, either marked on cloth or using "corner markings" and plonking down "terrain markers" for them (I find telegraph poles are great for a couple of lines of corners!). So I dunno why hexes rub me the wrong way 

[Subedai]

I like the idea of hexes, and the Kallistra stuff is nice but cost always puts me off as does the very obvious join between hexes. I'm quite happy with Peter Pigs grid square approach on PBI, Squarebashing etc though, either marked on cloth or using "corner markings" and plonking down "terrain markers" for them (I find telegraph poles are great for a couple of lines of corners!). So I dunno why hexes rub me the wrong way 

I agree completely about hexes but also about grid markings. To my mind it's a little too rigid and therefore too much like chess -everywhere I look I see the lines. But in saying that, the Kohima game put on by Hertsblue and his club at Cavalier was very impressive. Also, another mental thing is that I was weaned on large scale club games in Southend in the early '70's and that initial impression has stuck with me ever since. I'm not a great lover of boardgames either, again too regimented (pun intended). But as you say, each to his own.

[Norm]

Judging from some TMP post, Memoire '44 and Commands and Colors games seem to be giving a cross over point for figure and hex fans, though I am not sure whether the people doing that are mainly boardgamers wanting a 'prettier' look to their game, or figure gamers wanting to use their armies in these more 'euro' centric game systems - perhaps a mix of both.

Interestingly, the boardgame scene and the associated hex is dominated by the U.S. market / production, yet on the figures side, the shipping costs of getting the Kallistra product into the U.S. seems to have made the hex for figures have more of a European uptake.

The popularity of Martin's PBI rules and his other 'square' related rules is also linked to the fact that the games are intended to be played on relatively small tables with smaller armies and it is easier to make a home made square grid than a home made hex grid.