Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Planning Grizzlyville --   

One of the things about a "Convention game" is that it needs to be reasonable easy to transport and to set up.   In the case of my Grizzlyville game, because I might well have players all the way around the town, I don't want to have a simple, one street town either -- I want a more complex playing surface.

My solution is fairly simple.  Since we will apparently be on 6'x4' tables, I picked up four sheets of 2 foot square 1/8" MDF (medium density fibreboard).  I'm using Whitewash City paper buildings, which come with floor plans.  I will glue these floor plans to the sheets of MDF and then simply place the buildings over the floor plans . . . a quick and easy setup.

Click on any of the photos (such as the one to the left) for a larger view.  It is my current plan for the layout of Grizzlyville.

Well, for the major buildings, that is.  There will be lots of small "out buildings" (outhouses, storage sheds, etc.) which are not placed on the current layout.  In addition, there will be a few other features in some of the "empty" spots.

Yes, I still have three buildings yet to construct . . . although I've placed their floorplans down.  In addition, not all of the current structures are completed.  Many do not yet have their covered walkways, outside stairways and such  . . . but they will.

The upper left quadrant (left to right to top) features the Longhorn Saloon (facing the Hardware Store across the street), a Bath House, the Grand Hotel (which still needs its balcony, etc. attached).  Not yet constructed will be a Gunshop.

I should note that there is a basic "cross" street pattern, with streets about 5" wide.

The upper right quadrant  (top to bottom, then to the right) features four main buildings and a corral.

The green roof is the Bakery (across the street from the Gunshop), blue roof is a Cafe, then the Frontier Hotel (across the street from the Grand Hotel).  On the right side of the photo, is the Livery Stable and a corral.

The lower right quadrant has four buildings and the floor plan of a fifth.  Also I have plans for the "empty" area in the corner.

Starting from the right this time and moving left, we have the Dry Goods store (on the edge, across the street from the Livery Stable), then the Sheriff's Office and Jail, then the Imperial Saloon. 

On the corner of the main intersection is the floorplan for the Gold Star Saloon (kitty corner from the Grand Hotel) and below it is the Undertaker (dark roof and fenced area).

The final quadrant (lower left) from left to right, has the Hardware Store (grey roof), the floor plan for the Medical building (doctor on ground floor, dentist up the outside stairs to the second floor). then the Bank (facing the Grand Hotel, it's side across the street to the Gold Star Saloon.

Behind the Bank (facing the Undertaker) is the Blacksmith, with a small corral next to him.

My current thinking is that I will be seated at the "top" of this setup . . . and the players on the left right and bottom sides.

And, of course, this all might change between now and the end of February when the convention takes place . . . but it at least gives me a good starting place.

Oh yes, I will be running a playtest of the rules and my town layout the weekend before . . . so there will be time to fix things if necessary.

-- Jeff

6 comments:

marinergrim said...

Looking good there Jeff.

Prince Lupus said...

Looks excellent Jeff. It will be worth all the effort.

Oddly we tend to play "large" battles most often but we always have more fun with a large skirmish such as "wild west" or "pig wars".

ColCampbell50 said...

Jeff,

Good idea about taping the floor plans of the buildings to the playing surface. And I like the way the rough side of the MDF (what we in Mississippi would call Masonite) looks with just a basic coat of "dusty" paint.

Jim

BaronVonJ said...

Cool, let me know how it goes.
-J
p.s. You might have just talked me into campaign rules, despite my reservations...

Bluebear Jeff said...

One of my favorite quotes is . . . "A plan gives you something to deviate from."

Well, I've already deviated from this one. I ordered some more buildings from Eric at Whitewash City and will be shifting some current buildings around.

It is a fun time in Grizzlyville.


-- Jeff

jmilesr said...

The town looks great - I'll have to check out Whitewash city products

great blog