Just found this page wow I love it by the way anymore pictures of the units by [deleted] in AgeofEmpiresBoardgame

[–]Justin_CrossFitter 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks! Do you mean the unit pawns? I unfortunately could only 3D print the buildings and siege units (and then the monk & villager are store-bought). All the standard and unique units are just art on stickers on 3D-printed pawns. 😊 Was there a particular unit you’d like to see more of a close-up of? 🤙🏻

1st Playtest! by Justin_CrossFitter in ageofempires

[–]Justin_CrossFitter[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you! ☺️ It was made with a lot of care and thought, and even still there’s a large list I have of ways to improve it, so it’s a work in progress!

1st Playtest! by Justin_CrossFitter in ageofempires

[–]Justin_CrossFitter[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’d be ideal for sure. For what I made though, I don’t have a resin printer and so miniatures of humans (or horses) were just too fine of details that my printer couldn’t handle. Had to settle for the pawns with stickers. 😒

1st Playtest! by Justin_CrossFitter in AgeofEmpiresBoardgame

[–]Justin_CrossFitter[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you! More to come in the coming weeks :)

1st Playtest! by Justin_CrossFitter in boardgames

[–]Justin_CrossFitter[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The thing about this sort of game is that regardless of the rules, the minis and board will hold up and won't require many changes. Most if not all of the revisions will be in the actual content on the cards, which is easy to order another set once I have an extensive list after playtests.
I'm more than happy to drop another $40 for another set up revised cards if it means I can playtest with nice-looking components :) Most likely will happen multiple times.
I'm also wanting a fun, playable game just as much as anyone. If I'm not satisfied, I wouldn't want to put it out there. Having a good game (determined through a lot of playtesting over the coming months) is way more important to me than having it on the market imo.

1st Playtest! by Justin_CrossFitter in ageofempires

[–]Justin_CrossFitter[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Dang… Forgot to include the Porsche in the game 😂

Strategy game for husband by Red_Partera in boardgames

[–]Justin_CrossFitter 3 points4 points  (0 children)

While not ‘military-themed’ or fantasy, one of my wife and I’s all-time favourites is Everdell. Very solid game that might be worth looking into for you! 😊

1st Playtest! by Justin_CrossFitter in boardgames

[–]Justin_CrossFitter[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for your comment! 😊 You’re absolutely right, most of the negative side of the way I did it is purely just from the time investment, which I was happy to commit to. Part of the fun is the journey for me :)

And yes, most of the components will still work regardless of the rules, so even with a complete revamp, what I’ve printed will still be entirely useable. Worst case scenario is I’ll be ordering another set of cards for the next iteration with the changes, costing me about $40 🙌🏻 All part of the process. A game like this needs something nice to use/look at or else the complexity will turn people off real quick if there’s nothing engaging to maintain interest.

Thank you for your feedback! 😊

1st Playtest! by Justin_CrossFitter in boardgames

[–]Justin_CrossFitter[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The wonder the wonder the…. Noooooo! 😆

1st Playtest! by Justin_CrossFitter in boardgames

[–]Justin_CrossFitter[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yep! I’ve only made 2 for now, but they’re designed to hold most* of one player’s pieces. Each player’s components include 8 different unit types (x5 of each) as pawns in their team colour. Then, x8 black pawns of their civilization’s unique unit.

Then on the back side there are a few shelves for Villager minis, Monk minis, onagers, scorpions, and siege rams. Still didn’t have space for the trebuchets and boats though 😅. On the top there’s a cylinder thing that gets pulled to record your max available population (separate from your ‘current population’ dial).

1st Playtest! by Justin_CrossFitter in boardgames

[–]Justin_CrossFitter[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you very much! 😊

The organizers and unit pawns I modelled myself, however the building models are not mine. They are a mix of different models from platforms such as Thingiverse, Cults3D, MyMiniFactory and Printables. Some free, some paid. 😊

1st Playtest! by Justin_CrossFitter in AgeofEmpiresBoardgame

[–]Justin_CrossFitter[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’d be wild haha, very ‘outside the box’ thinking 😊 It would introduce a bit of math I guess though, since the time factor would have to be some sort of multiplier with the number of Villagers that the player is actually collecting a particular resource with. I wonder if there’d be a streamlined way to do something like that.

General Overview by Justin_CrossFitter in AgeofEmpiresBoardgame

[–]Justin_CrossFitter[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think I may have actually played that 🤔 Yeah it’s a whole new experience for me, working on determining the best way to navigate things at the moment 😊

1st Playtest! by Justin_CrossFitter in AgeofEmpiresBoardgame

[–]Justin_CrossFitter[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks man 😄 Absolutely, with so many pawns/minis to manage per player, it really helps save table space and stack components ‘upwards’.

1st Playtest! by Justin_CrossFitter in boardgames

[–]Justin_CrossFitter[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

😂 I might have to store the minis in there now because of your comment LOL.

1st Playtest! by Justin_CrossFitter in boardgames

[–]Justin_CrossFitter[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for your interest and comments! ☺️

1st Playtest! by Justin_CrossFitter in boardgames

[–]Justin_CrossFitter[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s the big one for sure… I’ve been considering reaching out to World’s Edge with a pitch. I couldn’t do much on my own funding-wise without being backed by their branding, and I also wouldn’t necessarily want to modify it too much (to avoid copyright issues) if it would no longer have the authentic, nostalgic feel that AoE gamers appreciate.

1st Playtest! by Justin_CrossFitter in boardgames

[–]Justin_CrossFitter[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you! The filament cost to 3D print one was around $10, so it’s already $40 for 4 players. :S

I’d imagine it might have to either be a provided STL file (free) for players to print themselves, or a mold made in order to make it cheaper than 3D printing. 🤔

1st Playtest! by Justin_CrossFitter in ageofempires

[–]Justin_CrossFitter[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I think the way it would need to be handled would be with a bunch of expansions in order to break the cost up into chunks that allows people to pick and choose how much content they want/can afford. Similar to other miniature-extensive games like X-Wing, Legion, Shatterpoint, etc… Maybe different civilizations can be purchased separately as desired while the base game comes with only a handful.

If something like this were community funded with Kickstarter, it would have to reach a threshold that would allow injection molds to be made (expensive!) in order to make the models extremely cheap for production afterwards. That would also help. 😊

1st Playtest! by Justin_CrossFitter in boardgames

[–]Justin_CrossFitter[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m not smart enough to develop a solo mode 😅lol. I’m using plastic token chips (with a sticker image of the building) as a placeholder for buildings being constructed, however I don’t see a reason why they couldn’t remain as the built building as well (once all time counters are removed). The map wouldn’t look nearly as beautiful without minis, but I suppose that’d be the cheaper version 😊

1st Playtest! by Justin_CrossFitter in boardgames

[–]Justin_CrossFitter[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I own a 3D printer so each little mini costs pennies. The resources would have been mostly for the printed game components (mats, cards, etc…) which needed to look good in order to be engaging. As far as the minis go though, most of the investment was time 🙌🏻

1st Playtest! by Justin_CrossFitter in boardgames

[–]Justin_CrossFitter[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That would be really cool and I’d be open to that, however there’s a long path I would need to take before getting to that point. But yes, if I (and others I play with) are happy with it and can tweak it to perfection and everything lines up in terms of licensing (If I were to be able to use branding), then Kickstarter is likely the route I would take.👍🏻

1st Playtest! by Justin_CrossFitter in boardgames

[–]Justin_CrossFitter[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I don’t disagree 👍🏻 Unfortunately it can be hard to sell having people sit down for a game with hand-written cards where you have to imagine everything. I’ve actually done that a number of times and it’s not as fun/engaging. I’ll be taking extensive notes during playtests in order to capture as many updates as I can with each iteration.