Board Game Night

[Phillip Gross]

I had a few of our older rangers express an interest in having an Axis & Allies game night, so I'm in the process of creating an super-sized game map. It will be a 3'x5' map when it's all finished. The original maps that come with the game are just too small and cramped. It is really frustrating to play on such a small board, so that's the reason for the super-sized version. Plus it'll be more like a war room where we'll have to walk around the board instead of just reaching all areas from one seat.

I've printed all the tiles out on card stock to give it a little more strength. I'll obviously trim all the tiles and then I plan on gluing them to a board, probably divided into two for easier storage. I'm also considering coating it with polyurethane to protect it long term. I could just take the file to a print shop and have it printed on a piece of vinyl... As I write all of this, that option starts to seem a little more appealing than the plywood. I'll probably just glue the tiles I printed out onto construction paper for a temporary board to see how it all goes before I spend money at a print shop.

There are 5 powers in the game, 3 Allied and 2 Axis. I've got a couple ideas about how we'll play depending on the number of people that actually show up to play. We can either have five different teams, or individuals, or just two teams. It's a fun game when you're the only one controlling a power, but having a team that would need to plan and agree would bring a whole new dynamic to the game, and make it a lot longer than it already is! The good thing about having just two teams, Axis and Allied, is that everyone would be in the game until the end compared to powers slowly ending as the game progresses. The bad thing about only two teams is the possibility of every more taking so much longer if they can't agree... I guess we'll see how that all goes.

Anyone ever done anything like this?

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[ccm2361]

SWEET!   

I love Axis & Allies!

It is tough to play 5 people on the standard board I like your set up  

[joecool]

Way prefer board games to video games. A few outposts ago, I developed a bunch of sport games using dice. Simple rules for football, baseball, tennis, you name it. I called it Sports Bones and the boys loved it. One of the guys said I should market it. Yeah, sure, I said. A couple of years later, I was walking through WalMart, and I saw my game on a shelf. Shoulda, coulda, woulda.  

[Phillip Gross]

That's the stuff that makes you sick! I've heard other people say they saw "their" invention in the market place.

I don't mind video games per sé, but that's because I grew up without them for the most part only getting a game system later in my childhood. By that time I was more fully developed. The main problem I see is kids both watching tons of TV and playing tons of video games during the formative years. They are being programmed, quite literally, by what they see, hear, and play. That's the way God made us. So we need to be very careful what we let them see, hear and play as parents. 

As I mentioned in previous posts, we're really trying hard to balance all that out and spend time reading  and playing games along with some limited video games and TV. Last night we kicked off the Christmas season (we don't start decorating until after Thanksgiving) by getting eggnog and watching "White Christmas" together. 

I'm thinking that I may glue my printed map onto a piece of sheet metal instead of wood. My wife was like "You know you can't keep that on my table...". So my thought is that if I glue it to metal, and then glue little squares of strip magnet to all of the pieces then I can hang it on the wall in the boys room and we can take as long as we need to finish the game! Not to motion that magnetized pieces might be a benefit when playing with a larger group of people even with it laid out flat. Ever had someone bump a board and all the pieces fall everywhere???

[Mark Jones]

Aaaah no.. more gamers.  GRIN!  My wife and the inlaws get so consumed in their games they  forget about life outside the game..

Settlers of Buthan by itself can kill a whole holiday season...GRIN!  

It's all in what you enjoy doing.  I can't stand games.  I married into a family that would rather play games then breath...ha!  

I do enjoy a flight simulator every now and then.  An the once a year game of Risk... well about every 4 years or so.  GRIN!  Chess..I can beat most people unless they spend 15 minutes per move...then I get board and no longer care about winning... GRIN!

Our Ranger outpost the ER group had about 8 20 year olds that had been playing game night every sunday night ..it was their rendition of Rangers.  Pizza and games.  Once in a while they did a devotion.  Did it for years.  We had a change of Sr. Commander and he brought it all into line with the program.  Anyone over 18 was a lt commander.  Soon they quit showing up.  Take the pizza and the games out of Rangers and bam...off to other things.  

Games are a boys work.  Sometimes I have to relent to a game or two.  Most of the time it's learning hands on stuff... not really a game but it fills the need.  

Mark Jones

[Phillip Gross]

Like the song goes, "Every party needs a pooper...."

[RRCmdrBennett]

Mark, do you do a 15 min recreation segment in your 10 point meeting plan?

Philip, I agree allowing too much video games can be bad to early. I won't be one to be allowing any of my kids if/when I have them to have systems or tv's in their room. Too many young kids practically have no reason to leave their room except to eat and potty. Their rooms are more like apartments.

I got first system a NES with super mario and duck hunt when I was about 10.

[Phillip Gross]

I got all of my map tiles cut on two sides, right and bottom, so I can start putting it all together. If I do actually go with a metal base, does anyone know of a good glue that I can spread evenly, will bond well with both paper and metal, and will be slightly pliable so it doesn't crack when moving the board? I suppose I could affix the sheet metal to some plywood first to make it more rigid... Any ideas for a good spreadable glue for this?

[Claymore]

Try Rubber Cement - available at office supply stores.

It doesn't penetrate, but it will make a contact bond on metal or glass.

[Phillip Gross]

10-4. I'll look for that. I'm going to try to get my metal today if I have time after work.

[Mark Jones]

We do so much hands on stuff that games are every now and then. Not alot of extra time. For example this past 2 sunday nights we were resawing cedar logs and making sheaths for new hawks and throwing knives the boys sharpened/assembled. After about 45 minutes on the bandsaw one of the boys was getting weary of it and wanted to tear apart a oak pallet... either way we shut down cleaned up the mess in time for popcorn and devotion.

We do opening, Pledges, prayer requests and announcements in formation.
Patrol Corners, boys use this form http://readyrangers.tzo.com/quarterlypointform.pdf
bible study Jr. commander funs this.
Program feature... what we are working on at this time it's resawing cedar logs. various things as well.
Devotion and closing prayer.

Mark, do you do a 15 min recreation segment in your 10 point meeting plan?  

Philip, I agree allowing too much video games can be bad to early. I won't be one to be allowing any of my kids if/when I have them to have systems or tv's in their room. Too many young kids practically have no reason to leave their room except to eat and potty. Their rooms are more like apartments.

I got first system a NES with super mario and duck hunt when I was about 10.

[RRCmdrBennett]

Lately, we've spent all our rec time on skills like fire craft and firearm safety. The boys haven't about it. We've just been running over.

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