Hi everybody,

just wanted to share something, that turned out even better and more useful than I had thought.

At the moment my X-Wing group consists only of my to boys (5 and 7) and myself. They love it, insist on playing with all rules and stuff, but in game they ran into some problems regarding the ever growing book keeping aspect with all those cards and tokens on the board. Every now and then they begin to lose the general view. Understandable, I think, happens to me, too. :-)

So I wanted to help something, tried some playing mats, turned out to be even worse. Accidentally while building some foamcore insert for another game I stumbled over the idea to build something, where the cards could be placed upwards. Took three prototypes, but now I'm done and satisfied.

All you need are some sheets of 5mm foamcore, a sharp knife, glue, a ruler and some tiny magnets:

Ship Tray


Card Tray

Of course you need multiple ship and card trays, I've already built 8 ship and 12 card trays.

Using the glued in magnets those trays snap together in any desired configuration, see below.

How to use:

At the start of the game, it looks something like this:

X-Wing: 1 Ship tray + 1 Card tray

As you can see the ship tray holds the pilot card, shild tokens (up to 6 are no problem to fit) and a slot for active action tokens (focus, TL,...) and number tokens. Additionally there's a bigger area for the maneuver dial and inactive action markers.

The card tray holds up to 8 upgrade oder damage cards. Of course you can't read the text if they are placed right after another, but it's very easy to flip through them (or to leave space if you have fewer cards), works like a charm.

Falcon: 1 Ship tray + 2 Card Trays


One additional card tray snapped on, cause you might need space for 7 damage cards. There's even a way to do without (facedown) damage cards, see below.

TIE Squadron: 3 Ship trays, no card trays


Since those TIEs don't have any upgrades at all, you simply snap three ship trays together. Forms a great squadron like object, that can be moved with no problems around the table (the blue marker is selfmade and belongs to a painted blue base).

And this is how it might look in-game:

X-Wing

Luke's ship still quite intace, one shield gone, the token stays because of R2 (otherwise it would be discarded). He has a TL on an enemy fighter and already chose his next maneuver (no dials on the play area!).

Falcon

Han already battered, no shields, two regular hits and two crits. Missiles gone (card in the last slot, turn around). At least he has an active TL and active focus. Maneuver set.

TIE Squadron

The TIE Squadron is nearly gone, one TIE destroyed, HR near death, third fighter already hit. Their last chance are their active evade tokens. You can see in this picture how we handle regular hits (no crits) without using cards, use by putting crit tokens in the shield area.

Works great for us. Of course the remaining crit tokens could still be used as intended (though we don't use them at all).

That's it, I'm quite happy, everything is much more(!) well-arranged than before (the kids love it). Summary:

Pro:
- Well-arranged play area, only ships on the table, the rest is on the trays (even the red TL can placed in the ship tray)
- No searching for tokens, each ship got his own set that can be reused (a few more are kept aside in case you need more than one of a kind)
- Each ship has a representation outside the play area, which I find way more cooler than just cards lying around
- The trays can be moved easily around without making a mess of the cards. Very useful.
- Modularity because of the magnets, cards are clearly attached to one ship and even whole squadrons can be put together.

Contra:
- No tokens on the play area :-) I assume, not everybody likes that
- Clumsy people might do harm, but not much more harm than they could do with cards lying on the table.
- Stats of the ships aren't visible for your enemy. No problem for me, though, because our trays are placed to the left/right of the play area. This way you can reach each ship with ease and it's no problem for you enemy to see you cards:

Perhaps anybody else likes this,

Cheers,

Christian aka SirWillibald

EDIT:

Building instructions can be found on BGG:

http://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/112826/ship-and-card-trays-foamcore-plans

Love this mate! Brilliant!! This is definately worth a go, and I agree-i prefer a clear playing area myself so reducing the number of tokens cluttering up the play area is great, (And I don't use the critical damage tokens either so this is a great use for them).

I am mighty jealous of anyone able to play at home with friends/family (I have to drive to the local FLGS to get a game-although being UK based I don't have as far to go as US, and presumably German players too-one of the few benefits of living on an overcrowded little island:-)

great idea and keeps shield tokens from accidentally migrating from one ship to another!!!

This is great!

Perfect for running a campaign style game where it is GM vs Players.

Put the backside of the rules reference card showing until they send a friend or foe query then reveal the faction or ship style, of course visual scanning could change that... maybe.

... I had been keeping ships behind the screen with my dice. going to make a dozen of these for my group. really liking your holder for the upgrade cards too, really keeps things clean.

Perhaps anybody else likes this,

Cheers,

Christian aka SirWillibald

You know what would really set your token tray off nicely?

a maneuver template rack.

You know what would really set your token tray off nicely?

a maneuver template rack.

That is a great idea. How much did they cost to make?

Looks cool - but I wonder if it could be a problem when your cards are turned away from your opponent. I believe that your cards should be visible all the time during matches.

At tournaments I regularly re-check my opponents setup from across the table since I often forget what I am up against.

I've thought about that issue of tournaments and people wanting to see my stuff. I hope it wouldn't be a problem. I've been thinking of something that lets the cards sit flat, but this is something that works great and I can actually make.

I'm sure to make these at home and my mind is whirling. I would want some sort of stability to the trays, though. I was thinking. What if you had a length of pressboard/MDF board (the stuff clipboards are made of) that was a decent length. Maybe guess what you would have for your longest tournament list. Make a MDF board of that and put some of those non-ferrous metal sheets on it. Then, you put more rare earth magnets on the bottom side of your sections and it can stick no matter where you put it. So, you click the combo you want together, lift it up, and put it on the MDF board. It should stick and give you more stability. It wouldn't knock around as much. Might have some edges sticking out, but that might be a nice hand grip.

You can also make a section for holding your maneuver templates. Maybe a section for the front of it. Or a open tray at the end for dice to be put into. That would make it easier for tournament gaming. Hmmm....you can even make a cover for it and figure a way to strap it down. This way, you can carry your cards all set in their trays to an event. Well, you might need to make some changes, but, you get the idea.

That is a great idea. How much did they cost to make?

Depends on the cost of foam core in your area. Wal-mart sells them.

So clever - biggest pet peeve I have about playing largely solved.

Looks cool - but I wonder if it could be a problem when your cards are turned away from your opponent. I believe that your cards should be visible all the time during matches.

At tournaments I regularly re-check my opponents setup from across the table since I often forget what I am up against.

they look awesome, but sadly i wouldn't use them, or want my opponent to use them, purely for this reason.

Looks cool - but I wonder if it could be a problem when your cards are turned away from your opponent. I believe that your cards should be visible all the time during matches.

At tournaments I regularly re-check my opponents setup from across the table since I often forget what I am up against.

they look awesome, but sadly i wouldn't use them, or want my opponent to use them, purely for this reason.

Smart people will put them sideway so both players can see them.

Thanks a lot guys for all the awesome feedback! Very happy!

I have to admit that I didn't design these with tournaments in mind, the idea of a larger carry tray soubds great, though.

And:

Looks cool - but I wonder if it could be a problem when your cards are turned away from your opponent. I believe that your cards should be visible all the time during matches.

At tournaments I regularly re-check my opponents setup from across the table since I often forget what I am up against.

they look awesome, but sadly i wouldn't use them, or want my opponent to use them, purely for this reason.

Smart people will put them sideway so both players can see them.

One more thing: Would some specs of the tray be of interest?

This is an amazing idea! Do you have 'blueprints' we could have to recreate these?

One more thing: Would some specs of the tray be of interest?

Yes, please! I do plan on making some of these and specs would assist me.

Also, how do you keep your knife sharp for this project? I find that my blade (no matter what type) blunts too soon. Do you just switch blades often? Or do you sharpen it often?

some of you guys must have GREAT eyes to be able to read your opponents cards from across the table..lol I usually just ask my opponent what he is running on what.. I can see the card treys ALSO keeping upgrade cards from migrating from one ship to another as well!!! Not that I have ever seen that.. but i could easily see how that could happen when you have a 3 ship build with LOTS of upgrade cards placed side by side!!

Brilliant. Just last week I made crude foam trays for my movement and range templates. I'm going to do this as well.

Okay, after all this kind feedback (thanks again!) I sat down this evening, built some more trays, took photos and came up with a little instruction and a print out template (which is not necessary). You can find it on BGG:

http://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/112826/ship-and-card-trays-foamcore-plans

Hope that covers all your questions, if not, feel free to ask, here or over there!

Perhaps anybody else likes this,

Cheers,

Christian aka SirWillibald

You know what would really set your token tray off nicely?

a maneuver template rack.

As I said before, you were right, so here you go, this time with no instructions, though, really designed this "on the fly":

Perhaps anybody else likes this,

Cheers,

Christian aka SirWillibald

You know what would really set your token tray off nicely?

a maneuver template rack.

As I said before, you were right, so here you go, this time with no instructions, though, really designed this "on the fly":

Holy smokes. I need to learn to get crafty

As I said before, you were right, so here you go, this time with no instructions, though, really designed this "on the fly":

This is great!

The only Issue with something like this is that FFG has come out and said tokens need to be placed near the ship. Basically any TO needs to be able to come by and be able to understand the gamestate. While I understand what you are trying to do it doesn't work in Organized Events, the tokens need to be put out.