|
|
Post by Whiterook on May 12, 2024 7:44:49 GMT -5
 See this link for a detailed description of the gameThis thread will detail how I assemble a Print ‘n Play version of the Tiny Battle Publishing game, “Blackhorse”, a modern-era wargame set in 1989, putting the player in the shoes of the commanding generals of the Soviet 79th Guards Tank Division and an array of U.S. units drawn from the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment and the 3rd Armored Division. The Cold War has become damn hot! |
|
|
|
Post by mikeh on May 13, 2024 12:51:06 GMT -5
Looking forward to this. Get to check out your craft skills!
|
|
|
|
Post by Whiterook on May 13, 2024 15:44:52 GMT -5
Looking forward to this. Get to check out your craft skills! Thanks! Usually, I print my own counters, so if I mess them up, I just print some more  …however, I wanted the best possible image so I had all the stuff (except the rulebook) professionally printed at the local Staples print shop, so there’s a little more pressure to it, haha. |
|
|
|
Post by Whiterook on May 13, 2024 16:05:51 GMT -5
So as just mentioned, I had all the components, except the rulebook, professionally printed at a local Staples print shop. The map is 17” x 22” and cost about $7 to color print on a poly-type paper, which they said most gamers use, as it’s a little more durable.  …it came out beautifully! They rolled it up, which is fine as it would lay under my medium plexiglass sheet perfectly; however, rolled maps are tough to store and I don’t have a lot of room…if I did, I would try and find a mailing tube that would accommodate it, but I haven’t decided yet…I may just fold it in four? (…it hurts even suggesting that!) All the other pages were straight color prints on standard bond paper, which is under 70 cents a sheet. The PnP game download also came with four 8-1/2x11 map sheets, which could (?) be handy for quicker setup and and travel. The white edges would definitely need to trimmed off so the geomorphic hexes will line-up. I wasn’t thinking those white edges would be there so I was planning to just place them in hard plastic award sleeves, which would have been perfect; however now, I am regretting not getting them printed on cardstock.  The counters are gorgeous and I’m glad I paid the money for professional print; I have a great printer, which would have been fine, but this is the best option I feel. I always make my counters with regular bond paper prints, glued with Elmer’s GlueStick on SMEAD Pressboard green folder cardstock; I did think afterwards, I wonder if cardstock would have been the better choice at Staples? …ah well, it’s all cool.  The three Player Aid Charts are fine on bond paper and will go in protective sleeves, either document protectors or heavy duty award sleeves.  So the components are gathered… first up will be the counters! |
|
|
|
Post by mikeh on May 13, 2024 23:20:41 GMT -5
Wow, that all looks real nice! We don't have Staples or any big name store that does that kind of printing, we must have some type of a mom and pop somewhere though.
|
|
|
|
Post by Whiterook on May 14, 2024 8:04:03 GMT -5
Wow, that all looks real nice! We don't have Staples or any big name store that does that kind of printing, we must have some type of a mom and pop somewhere though. Yeah, the bigger towns and cities around here all have a Staples it seems… like if there’s a Target or Walmart or Home Depot, there’s gonna be a Staples, lol. Kinko’s used to have that print shop market tied up here in Massachusetts, but Staples just bulldozed all the smaller shops mostly…but there are still some around. Office Depot is another one we have out here, but they are harder to find.I’ve seen nice print shops in stores that sell office supplies. |
|
|
|
Post by Whiterook on May 14, 2024 8:19:24 GMT -5
When checking Notifications this morning and seeing Mike’s response to this thread…working down to his post, I past by the my pics in earlier entries and, when I saw the quartered maps…  …it hit me: If I trim the white edges off the inner sides (see the yellow highlighted edges under the scissors icon in the picture above), I can then place them in award sleeves with those trimmed edges positioned within the sleeves so that they can abut each other! I don’t wan’t to sound over zealously vein here but, that was thought was in the realm of brilliance!  …if that works, I can do the same with any game with this problem, such as the Panzer Leader Vietnam Way variant I also have in progress. I’d have to check for any shifting (inside the sleeve) issue, but if that happened and got annoying, I could simple place the map on a full sized blank white bond paper with some double sided tape, or folded archival tape would be the better option to guard against any bleed through from eventual discoloring of non-archival tape. Definitely going to play around with this…I’ll report the results in this thread of course, but if it works OK, I’ll make a thread for it in the War College’s, Components and Techniques zone. |
|
|
|
Post by josta59 on Aug 7, 2024 9:28:43 GMT -5
Hey, Em! I know you have a big western game project going right now. Just wondering if you think you might return to Blackhorse at some point. Or maybe you did more elsewhere and I missed it.
|
|
|
|
Post by Whiterook on Aug 12, 2024 11:26:34 GMT -5
Hey, Em! I know you have a big western game project going right now. Just wondering if you think you might return to Blackhorse at some point. Or maybe you did more elsewhere and I missed it. Thanks for checking in on this! …the counters are up next and I’ll be posting on that once I get going; I ran out of glue, of all things!!! …but just got some in the mail from Amazon this weekend. I was also running low on counter board stock, but found the four boxes of stock a couple weeks ago. The western game is all made up and being played… need to laminate the maps and maybe a better box to store it in… and I’ve been making individual cards for it, but it’s nicely finished at this point. Blackhorse is the next on the list, followed by a science fiction board game and then updated Panzer Leader counters. And yeah, I gave a back log beyond that too, hahaha. |
|
|
|
Post by Whiterook on Oct 8, 2024 11:09:03 GMT -5
UPDATE: I’m glad I worked on the other games first (Bite the Bullet and my Martian version of World at War), as I leaned some valuble lessons on reverse counters gluing… Blackhorse counters were professionally printed at the copy shop so, it would have sucked big time to screw those up! The lesson… go slower and in smaller sections/strips! My Martian counters were a real bummer and required a lot of remakes to get them usable. I’ll highlight this when I start these, which should be very shortly.
|
|
…however, I wanted the best possible image so I had all the stuff (except the rulebook) professionally printed at the local Staples print shop, so there’s a little more pressure to it, haha.
