Starting a Hex Board: First pieces done!

[Sangennaru]

Hi everyone!

I've seen many hex boards, but i want a board with identical pieces that could be mixed in various ways. Which is the best shape?

Of course the most easy answer would be "hexagonal", but since the hex i'm using would be 4 cm whide, probably i'd go for something bigger, like 20-30 cm!

Is there a composite hexagon made by hexagons which is modular and componible? =)

thanks

Jack

[Dewbakuk]

You can't composite a hexagon set into a hexagon as the flats edges don't line up. You'd have to have rhomboids/trapezoids to fill the edges. It would also be very complicated for large terrain pieces which spread across multiple small tiles.

I went with 300mm tiles myself.

[Sangennaru]

yeah, romboids/trapezoids are fine!

I was wondering if there's a shape with a rotational simmetry factor >2 (i mean, that you can rotate in more than 2 ways!)

Because i wanted to have the same shape for all the pieces, but i would love also to mix the pieces at will!

[Comsquare]

Are you looking to make something like that:



Some tiles from the "Heroscape" game.

How's the resin stuff going

[Sangennaru]

my resin stuff? i'ts going, but i'm into some paid commissions! but i've many resin pieces,at the moment! When i'll be back on milan i'll send you my full catalogue!

Anyway: 7 hexagons are a bit too few! i wanted something like a 30 cm whide box, but probably it's the same! =)

[DeafNala]

My friend, Capt. John, & I have a good sized hex table that's set up for GeoHex tile (dense foam; edges are 17cm, 30 cm across). Most of the tiles are hex shaped wit some half hexes for filling gaps. You might get an idea from a pics:

[Sangennaru]

thanks Nala! But the problem is making the little hexes working inside the bigger ones! =)

[Comsquare]

Hei Jack,

google a little for the Heroscape tiles, they come in different shapes.
Maybe you'll find something you like

[Dewbakuk]

I'll pop out tomorrow and grab one of my spare 30cm hex tiles and draw on it for you. We'll see what can be fit on it.

[Sangennaru]

oh! Thanks to you both! =)

[Dewbakuk]

Hmm, seems lots of small hexagons are quite diffcult to draw 
I shall do it on sketchup instead, copy and paste is your friend!

[Dewbakuk]

Right, knocked this up quickly so please excuse the innacurate nature. I wasn't willing to spend an hour or so making it perfect for a concept  The problem is the program calculates it's distances between the points of the hex and I want the distances between flat edges as that's how it's used in a game.

It does show what would fit however. On a 300mm (30cm) hex (flat edge to flat edge), you need to do the internal hex's at approx 43mm (flat to flat) so just over the 4cm.

You do get a lot though.

[Sangennaru]

oh, that's very very interesting shape, thank you dew!

I'll talk with my friends about all this opportunities, will sort something out asap! ^^

thanks again!

[Dewbakuk]

No problem, hope it ends up being helpful.

[Sangennaru]

it will! =)

Anyway, my main point now is to decide if using hexes or not. There are pros and cons for both. For the gaming purpose it is very good, because it speeds up a lot the game, you can pause and resume it pretty fast, so it's cool.
And if the players are not fisically together, they can play via internet! =)

for the table look, both the choices have their pros:

Non-Hexes: you don't have to make the signs for the hex grid, so you can have a totally customizabile tabletop.

Hexes: you have to put the scenery on the sides of the hexes, that's true, but you can put very "annoying" pieces there with no trouble for the gaming purpose. So instead of having a flat field you can add many many buildings and trees around, with no problems for the ships! =)