Using Kallistra for "The Great War" board game

[wargamer1979]

Hi folks

The Great War board game by PSC and Richard Borg looks like is shipping this week probably - all I know its in the Esdevium distributor cat for this week! So I thought I would drop a post on whats needed to build the board using kallistra.

OK the board is 12 hexes by 11 hexes deep. Firstly on the positive side, this means if you set this up using kallistra it fits very nicely on a four feet square table. However in terms of kallistra boards and single hexes is a little more tricky than setting up Memoir 44.

For this set up you need the following in 5 steps:

(1) 5 Hexon boards + 5 Singles
(2) 5 Hexon boards + 4 Singles
(3) 5 Hexon boards + 5 Singles
(4) 11 Singles
(5) 12 Singles

So the totals are 15 Hexon II boards and 37 Singles! I think thats it unless anybody can improve it!

In my photo below I have used 5 more kallistra boards and 4 singles instead of (4) and (5) - but then crossed out the last line with impassable mountains.

Look forward to my trenches order arriving later this week.

Hope to hear from some of you again soon with your views on using Kallistras miniatures for this game or whether the raging empire rules would work using the map designs in "The Great War" board game.

Hope to hear from some of you soon.

Best wishes

Graham

[dane]

Nice Graham

Where did you get the flags from?

[wargamer1979]

Hi Dane

I get my flags from an internet company called "Midland Flags" - its WW1 so ok.

Best wishes

Graham

[dane]

cheaper than I thought they would be

[wargamer1979]

The trenches arrived - many thanks. Here is a picture of the trenches set up on the kallistra board - no particular scenario.

Best wishes

Graham

[dane]

looking good there Graham what are the little blocks in no mans land?

[wargamer1979]

Hi Dane

The little blocks in no mans land are Memoir 44 barbed wire pieces. I have seen some nice barbed wire models in the "Raging Empires" 1914 draft catalogue but I don't know how they are made or where to get them from?

Best wishes

Graham

[dane]

Hi Graham

Paul told me he used fuse wire

I myself used Galeforce 9 15 mm barbed wire on warbases 80 x 20 mm rough cut cut down coctail sticks for the upwights

the base sizes I used are the same as the one's Paul used but I don't now if he made our brought them

Dane

[wargamer1979]

Hi,

I have been considering putting two "The Great War" boards side by side - although I think it was intended that "The Great War" boards run two deep?

For a double scenario - two boards side by side, all that it would take is for the trench lines to meet up in the middle of two single maps - then you have a new "abstract" scenario to consider.

Reading threads on board game geek people have been considering old battlelore boards and breakthrough boards from Memoir 44 to expand this game.

I have built an "overlord" board out of kallistra - see photos below. (If you set up the single board as I described in the thread above then to make it an "overlord board" you just add 4 x 6 = 24 kallistra hexon II boards and ignore the last row.)

Hope you enjoy my pictures.

Best wishes

Graham

Considering an overlord version of "The Great War":

[Paul K]

Hi Graham,
A great looking layout. The barbed wire pieces that we use are scratch built using a thin plywood base, aluminium wire, dark wood filler and noch 50210 flock. The thin aluminium wire is coiled tightly around a pencil then removed and stretched. The bases are 20 x 80mm aeroply and the upright stakes which hold the coils of wire are H 915 from the 100 years war range. These have been cut using side cutters into very short lengths and glued at intervals along the plywood base and the coils are then fixed to them using small dabs of superglue. 'Wilko' dark wood filler is then used to blend and hide the base and when this is dry the flock is added using PVA.
It has been a while since I've made some barbed wire pieces but with WW1 being so popular I will aim to put a simple illustrated tutorial together detailing how they are made. The materials needed are not expensive but the finished pieces look quite effective and have drawn many positive comments.