Hello everyone

I have finally got my hands on this awesome game. No need to say how well it looks, even more for us starwars fanboys. I'm planning on investing quite a lot of effort (and money...) on it, paint the minis, buy expansions, etc. So I want to make sure since the very beginning that it is as well protected as possible so it lasts forever, more or less.

I've already ordered sleeves for the regular-size cards, I'll look for a solution for the bigger ones, ect. But I have been wondering about the possibilities to protect the board tiles. Has anyone done something with them? I was thinking it may be possbile to "laminate" them, with that self-adhesive tranparent film I used for the school books back in the day. Has anyone experienced that? Any other solutions?

My goal is to protect it not only from normal wear, but also from acceidents like liquids spilled on it. In the end, it's a game, so that kind of stuff happens around it.

All suggestions will be really wellcome.

Cheers!

Friend of mine was considering buying rubber printouts of all the different maps so you don't have to use the tiles. It was quite pricey, as I recall. I don't know how you tag somebody in here...

Use spray varnish on the cardboard pieces. I do that for my X-Wing stuff too.

There was a thread on the X-Wing forums talking about protecting the cardboard maneuver templates and ships' dials. Varnish seemed to be the best overall choice, though most of the proponents just got a can and brushed it on. A satin-finish wouldn't be too bad, but I'd probably try to find something less glossy. Spray varnish would probably work just as well.

Thanks to everybody for the replies. I hadn't thought of using varnish...I'll give it a try.

A good way to strengthen cardboard game components is to get some liquid superglue (not the gel variety) and apply it around the edges. The glue soaks into the cardboard and forms a hard edge so that it doesn't start to fray after extensive use.

I had some custom plastic sleeves made for the hero cards, I posted a description on BGG:

https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1421625/hero-card-sleeves-finally-solution-im-happy

Some people have laminated them, cut up larger sleeves or toploaders to protect them...

Also, I had all of the skirmish maps (14 at the time) printed onto PVC to speed up setup time and reduce wear and tear of cardboard (they worked out at about £3-4 per map when I had them made as one 7 meter long banner!):

https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1435498/pvc-printed-playmat-skirmish-maps

Lots of funky storage solutions around too...

I had some custom plastic sleeves made for the hero cards, I posted a description on BGG:

https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1421625/hero-card-sleeves-finally-solution-im-happy

Some people have laminated them, cut up larger sleeves or toploaders to protect them...

Also, I had all of the skirmish maps (14 at the time) printed onto PVC to speed up setup time and reduce wear and tear of cardboard (they worked out at about £3-4 per map when I had them made as one 7 meter long banner!):

https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1435498/pvc-printed-playmat-skirmish-maps

Lots of funky storage solutions around too...

Nice solutions...but I'm not ready for those expensive choices. After assmebling the map for the example mission, and an game skirmish to start learning I've realized that, no matter how carefull I am with the tiles, they will eventually be damaged. So I've gone for the low cost version of your proposal.

I've scanned all the borad sheets, and I'm extracting every piece with phosthop. When I finsh, I'll assemble all the maps in the guide and print them at the office in poster board. I may even laminate them with self-adhesive film. This saves time in setting up the missions and allow me to replace them as often as they are damaged.

And exactly the same with the hero sheets: printed and laminated. They are not the same quality as the originals, of course, but good enough for paying.

So my collector side is happy with the new, top-quality components safely stored in the box, and the gamer side is happy playing without having to take too much care with the board, cards (the are all sleeved), hero sheets, etc. I've even printed the manuals so they don't get too weared since I'll have to go over them a few times to really master all the rules.

Use spray varnish on the cardboard pieces. I do that for my X-Wing stuff too.

Did you like a particular brand? Gloss or Dull work better?