7times7is49 said:

I took a look at the intro to it, and it says that you will need the maps, cardboard, cards and pieces from two games.

I've had so many wargames with paper maps, that I'll buy the new map pack just to get the better artwork. I'm that big a fan of hard mounted maps, but I gotta tell you, I'm at a loss now as to what the big benefit is with this new map set.

I'm thinking that my old boards may just get put out to pasture? Hopefully we'll see some scenarios down the line that will usef the boards from two of the original set. But I still like upgrading. I remember being bummed out when I got the first of the African expansions for Panzer Grenadier, and the boards weren't mounted. In defense of Panzer Grenadier though, those maps used in that expansion were so dam big, that there was no way they were ever going to be mounted, they were just enormous.

So this map pack is basically like an upgrade for those that want it. I also remember when the old Avalon Hill did the first remake of Third Reich, and offered a new map and rules as an upgrade for those of us who had purchased the original so you didn't have to buy the game all over.

For people like me, the maps have a big visual impact on the game, so I guess I'd like the upgraded artwork. The extra markers and overlays will come in handy down the line, I'm sure. But if you don't want to shell out the loot, it doesn't look like anyone will be any the worse for skipping this map pack anyway. Hopefully, the next map pack expansion will be something original.

Its only 20 dollars online so I ordered it with free shipping. No big deal to support a game and game company I love.

HauRuck said:

Right on. Hopefully I'll be picking one up tomorrow night at my FLAGS, I'll let you know what I think.

Can anyone say, whether you need only the map board expansion to play the epic scenario in the designer series or you need two boxes of the base game?

Dogma79 said:

The answer to this will determine my answer to the OP question. As it stands right now, I lean towards buying it, as I think this will be all you need, but I'm not sure.

as kaufschtick said the intro says that you will need the maps cardboard cards and plastic pieces to play that scenario i took a look at it for myself.

but im still getting the map pack

I will definitely be picking this thing up because my goal is to have a monster game that straddles my entire dining room table the way my Arkham Horror boards do! That said...I'll be sad to have to remove my Arkham Horror setup which is glorious and well played. Time for 2 dining room tables?

Mine arrived today, fantastic looking!

I'm still in awe of the quality of this game. There for a bit I wasn't sure what I was going to do with the original maps & overlays. I was thinking about putting them out to pasture, but after seeing this new map pack, I'll definately be hanging onto the old maps. The overlays are getting quite numerous at this stage when you take into account all of the expansions, and I'm thinking that there exists now the potential for some truely fantastic map set ups.

The new boards do blend with the Normandy ones quite nicely, but there is just too much potential with the old boards to ignore using them as well.

The artwork on the original maps was superb, yet somehow the new ones are an improvement. Truely fantastic looking! The best artwork I've ever seen in a wargame combined with the high quality, hard boards. These will last and last...

I've been playing around with mine all evening. Very nice.

Cyscott1 said:

Me too; I've been revelling in the hardness of my extension

On a serious note, I was pretty disappointed with the difference between the Normandy and base game colours when I set up some of the Normandy scenarios; it just didn't look right.

So now that problem is solved, I'm happy again.

I am constantly amazed by the original map boards and when I got my Days of the Fox & then Normandy expansions I could hardly believe how much more detailed they were. I love finding the little details on the boards myself. There was always something about the ASL boards that was just too utilitarian for me. The heft, scale, and quality of these take the game from being a "neat toys!" game to being the "coolest game on the table" at every demo I've ever done or seen.

I am an avid WW2 (Advanced Squad Player Alumni) boardgame player. ToI and it's expansions will soon grace my collection.

I wouldn't feel right if I only had the main game + expansion and not owning anything else that will contribute to the gameplay.

So, I am going to say that I will be buying this map pack and future releases to ToI ! **Hit the Beach! 3 Seconds !!!**

-= Xavant =-

I will get this and any other ToI map expansion. You can't have too many maps, more potential to create more diverse scenarios.

I still say this is a fool's purchase (particularly as we have no guarentee the art style won't change again in future expansions) and by buying it you're only encouraging FFG to move away from investing in actually developing something new that adds to the system.

Sorry FFG but you won't be getting my money on this one.

TeufelHund said:

A slightly lighter shade of green in the original boards winds up being completely insignificant to me. Suddenly having a boatload of overlays immediately grabbed my attention, as far as seeing the possibility of a vast amount of different board configurations now. When you look at the overlays that come with the original game, I was left thinking that there were probably enough to set up the maps with the base game, and maybe a few other variations down the road, but the overlays didn't look to be any more numerous than what they needed to be for the base game maps. As it stands now, I get the feeling that there are an unlimited number of map set ups that can be created with the two sets of pieces.

The artwork on the new boards is fantastic, but then again, the original boards were super as well, with the only issue being a slightly lighter shade of green.

Yeah more overlays is key in my opinion.

I liked the way Memoir '44 handled overlays and wonder, at times, whether or not TOI would have been better served with some more generic map boards and more overlays. I feel like the Normandy boards in particular are really limited in how you can configure them.

An entire expansion of just terrain overlays would be welcome to address this.

I wholeheartedly agree.

M44 used blank mapboards and terrain overlays to create maps. Blank hex tiles for TOI used to cover on map terrain features amounts to the same thing. Either way works for me!