A Bank Prototype

To begin diagramming the bank, I needed to spend some time locating a prototype or example I could use. I am not an architect so finding a suitable image was going to be key. I did a lot of surfing for prototype pictures and found a bunch of stuff for other locations at the same time. Some locations I don't have any yet, but others, I have a whole bunch and need to start breaking them down a bit.

To find prototype pictures I had to look for certain building types (banks in this case) that would have been around no later than 1925. It's a lot harder than it sounds and I'm still looking for good ones for some of the other key locations. Not only is the date an issue but I had to find things that were distinctly New England as this is supposed to be a fairly large city in Massachusetts in 1926. I even looked at all the available model kits and built-ups from various model railroad companies to make sure I was truly going to have to scratch build these. Turns out I do, because although there is a wealth of structure kits out there, only a small percent of them would work in a New England setting. Not only that, but my models had specific requirements, like being accessible containers, and although I suppose some of them could have been kit bashed, this lowered the number of usable structures by quite a bit, leaving only ones that I felt didn't really fit my theme.

Looking at the loan cards that are going to be stored in the bank gave me a fairly solid idea of what the Bank of Arkham should look like. The small picture on those cards depict a mostly white concrete structure with a colonnaded front. I would also like to have a portico of some type over the front entrance. The picture also implied to me (although it isn't actually shown) a fairly flat roof line. This would work well in creating a lid for the structure that could be hinged and have enough room to hide two of the small magnets in, one in the lid and one in the base structure. Depending on the actual build when I get to that part, I may have to up the number of magnets used for a more secure closed position, but I doubt it.

It was fairly hard to find pictures of banks from the 1900's that fit what I thought this place should look like, but in the end I found enough to work from.

This picture is of a bank in New Jersey in 1925 and is called the Broadway Trust Company. White concrete, colonnaded front and sides, flat roof line, very close to what I had envisioned. I did not think it would be too out of place in the town once all the other buildings were placed, and in fact, the white concrete structure would probably be good to break up some of the many brick and mortar buildings.

Here is another one of the same building sometime in the early 1900's. The nice thing here is it showed more than one side, and in better detail.

Another of the same bank at the same angle pretty much, but this one is of the building as it is now. Not much, if anything has changed, but it is in color which would be a huge help come time to paint.

Same bank, again a recent image, and in color, but a very nice front only view that would allow me to get some measurements.

Not wanting to just stick to one real life building, I found this interesting Bank from South Camden, New Jersey in 1927. Similar structure to the Broadway one, but this one provided a variety of details that might prove helpful.

Last one. This is a bank in Camden, New Jersey dated 1925. Not sure why everything that I picked out was from Jersey, but they work for me, so, whatever. I also find it amusing that all three banks have so much in common, are all located within one state, and two of which are almost in the same town! I wonder if they are all are from the same affiliated branch or something?

These were not the only images I found. There were more, but once I had gathered a good amount, I started to filter through them, knowing what I wanted. These three places all seemed fairly close in appearance and were similar enough to allow me to start based on one and maybe bring in some elements from another. The rest I trashed so I wouldn't be tempted to switch mid-stream or incorporate a detail that wouldn't fit the style.

Next step, measuring and diagramming. Maybe I'll actually get to start building sometime soon, huh?

Requirements for a Bank

I decided I would start my first location with the Bank because it was somewhere in the middle when it came to difficulty. It wouldn't be too easy, like some of the other buildings would be (4 walls and a roof), but it also wasn't a monstrously hard task either, as something like the Church would be. So I figured this would be the test. If I could pull this off then there really is no limit of what I could potentially do. Also, the bank has a variety of different pieces that need to be stored inside of it, but the nice thing was that these pieces were rarely used and so this building would make a good learning project.

To begin, I needed to do some prep work again. Yeah, I know, I'm a meticulous planner.

These are the small cards that go with the Bank of Arkham location. They are used as loan cards in the game and have text to that effect on the opposite side. There are eight of them, one for each player, but since the cards suck, we very rarely ever get them in game and as a result, they stay packed away most of the time. By the way, there are two sized cards in this game, large and small. Large cards measure 2.5”w x 3.5”h. Small cards measure 1 5/8”w x 2.5”h.

I knew I wanted these cards to be stored inside the bank, so that meant two opposite sides of the bank would need to be at least a bit bigger than the small card measurements, landscape or portrait. Eight cards is not a very thick stack, but I do need enough room to add new cards if any need to get stored in here from an expansion (I doubt that will happen, but you never know), so I will make the stack at least 1/4” or more thick.

These are the money tokens. Money usually belongs in a bank, and I had originally decided to create another smaller removable box inside the bank next to the cards...

but since my game group does not actually use the money tokens and instead uses two black 10-sided dice for each player, this wont be needed after all. Too bad actually as I made the box out of cereal box cardboard and even went as far as gluing nice shiny black fabric to the inside, and was going to do something to the outside also. The money chits make good counters for other things though, and there is a rumor card that can be played that uses money also, but, again, I still feel 2 black D10s take up less room and are less fiddly than all those cardboard chits. So instead I shall make the “vault” in the bank, only big enough for 2 D10s and toss the money chits. This will remove the need to make a removable “vault” also.

The final requirement would be for players to still be able to get at all those cards and dice inside the bank while keeping the lid closed tightly when the board traveled, which in essence could be upside-down. I needed a locking mechanism that wasn't fiddly and opened easily, but at the same time stayed closed when I needed it too. I had lots of ideas, none of which seemed to be that great and would either make it too hard to open or not secured enough when closed. Things like the “Inter-office memo envelope lock,” which is basically two rivets with a string that is wrapped around each one a bunch of times in a figure eight, the tension holding it together and the “Small latch,” a small latch at a hardware store, maybe hook and eye or something of the sort.

Nothing really seemed right, until one day, I was in a craft store checking out magnet striping. The striping wasn't magnetic enough and would break apart with very little effort, but next to it were these little babies. Only 1/4” round and half that as tall, and they are powerful. Very powerful. Yet with a slight bend of the cardboard or plastic between them, they would easily snap right apart (do not try this without something between them as they are almost impossible to get apart this way). So I think I found our lock. Now to get started with a prototype.

The Evolution of a Layout

One of my objectives is too create a spacious and comfortable area for players.

Browsing for ideas, I came across a poker table. At first, this seemed to be the answer. It would give the layout some flair in it's unique shape and it would give each player (max 8) a side to play on. This layout would have worked great for player space and would have allowed each player to reach a good portion of the board, namely the middle, where I intended to locate all the Mythos (game progress) related items. The area the players couldn't reach would have been able to be reached by the player opposite from them. Since I rarely ever play the game alone, this would have been feasible. Chopping the octagon layout in half, thus created 2 separate pieces, and folding one over the other in a briefcase like fashion, would have created only one open side (the bisected one), which would have been able to be capped for travel. It seemed perfect.

But then, months later, I realized the flaw. There was no way to add on any further expansions in an octagon layout as every side would be used by players. Being able add new boards and expansions was one of the major objectives listed for this project. It needed to be designed flexibly enough to accommodate add-ons. I currently had two small board expansions and one more is slated to come out sometime in the next year or two. I also have three more small box expansions which simply are more cards without an extra board, but these would be added by “special” locations simply used for storage somewhere in the base game board.

So back to the drawing board I went. I ended up keeping with the original design of the game board which is simply a rectangle. Each new expansion is another rectangle added onto one end of the base game board. With this approach I could add as many new boards as I pleased in line type fashion. Not as cool a design as the octagon, but it would allow me more versatility and more options for sectioning off areas.
A - OW Areas, dropped down a level to be sunk into the base and would also continue into section F (A in F not shown). 4” wide, entire length of board long and about 1-2” deep.
B - Arkham Sections, together add up to about the same size as the base game board 27”x36”
C – Mythos Section, 8” w x 31” h and as deep as the sides need to come up, probably 3-4” maybe more.
D – Rolling Alleys, would be divided in half by a wall in the middle (not shown in D) to give each player seat their own alley. 4” at narrowest after walls are added, by about 15-17” long each
E – Drink holders, 3.5” circle blocked in about 3” deep to hold drinks firmly.
F – Expansion Board, would be divided horizontally like the base game to continue the OW area for the expansion OW's (A in F not shown), 12”w maybe more
G – Expansion Rolling Alleys, smaller than base game ones but still workable, would end up about 10-12” long.
H – Luxury Seats, Player Area Shelves – About 16” Wide and 13” Deep (I know the base only seats 4 right now but couldnt find a way to fit more in here, more can be added with each expansion, see I)
I – Expansion Seats, Player Area Shelves – About 10”wide and 13” Deep

This image shows that the shelves are actually 16" deep and leave about 3" inside the base for stability. They may be put on some kind of runner like a drawer to facilitate sliding in and out and provide a stopper so they can't get pulled out all the way.

This shows how the shelves will be in storage position, slid into the base. A locking mechinism will be added to the outside to keep the shelves from sliding open during travel.This image shows just the base board without the expansion area and how it could be split in half to create a manageable size for travel and protection. The right side would be flipped over upside down onto the left side. Obviously, the shelves will be closed when this happens. The Rolling Allys would provide enough height and stability to create a closed box. only the left and right sides would remain open in this travel arrangement and those could be covered with a separate piece.This image shows just the base board. The overall size here without shelves is 44" long x 42" high. Splitting it in half results in two 22" wide x 42" long sections that when put together would be about 6-8" thick. Very close to the original idea of a guitar case size and will still fit in the back seat of any car.

This layout is not nearly finished in design and I figure that I will make some changes prior to starting that portion of work either from suggestions, ideas, or when I actually start working it. The important thing I learned here was the maximum size of each section I could make for travel and the amount of space I would be able to work with on the Arkham section. Since the Arkham section ended up very close to the size of the original game board, I will have to work buildings and locations fairly close to the size they are on the board.

There is a lot of wasted space on the original board so I think I can fudge some buildings a bit bigger than the location areas. My estimate is that buildings should be about 2" to about 6-8" for the largest buildings, such as the church. This puts me in the N-scale size at 1:160 ratio and allows me to use some N scale model items for scenery and details.

The next step would seem to be to start building and planning each location. Once I have those done it will be a lot easier to plan a layout by placing the actual buildings down and figuring out where to run streets and details, which in the end will determine the actual overall size I need.

Where to Begin?

Well, that was a tough one. I had a ton of ideas running around in my head, so I grabbed one of those small 4x6 notepads and began collecting ideas. I filled the thing in two months or so. I then had to start putting all my ideas together in order to get a mental picture of what this would look like. I decided to start with the major areas of my layout and what I needed them to include.

• Player Areas

I knew I wanted some kind of shelf that would pull out from the side of the layout and be big enough for all your character sheets and items. This was simple enough to take a few measurements and find the minimum amount of height and width I could use.
I also wanted drink holders, either with-in the pull out shelf or somewhere secure on the game board.

In each player “seat” I would also like to find a way to have all the character pieces in a small drawer or something, so that they only have to pull out the things they need. The idea is similar to a suggestion on the Arkham Forum to a beginner player to make up some Pre-configured Investigator Packages. Things that need to be available for each player are:

3 Sliders
10-12 6-Sided Dice
1 Red 10-Sided dice – Stamina
1 Blue 10-Sided Dice – Sanity
1-2 Green 10-Sided Dice – Clues
1-2 Black 10-Sided Dice – Money
(We use D10's instead of the cardboard chits for the previous 4 items.)
1 2-sided object like a coin or elder sign – used for abilities that can only be used once per turn. The player simply flips the object to know they have used that ability that turn and “refreshes” it at upkeep.

• Rolling Areas

The game is heavily dependent on rolling various quantities of six-sided dice. I would need a place to do so with-in easy reach of the player rolling. The two options were either a community, centrally located, area, or individual areas located near each player.

Currently, I am planning to use “Rolling Alleys.” Basically these are green felt lined 4” wide and about 1-2” deep alleys that span the length of the board sides. Each player will have their own and a wall to throw against at either end of their alley. These will be especially good for giving the side walls of the board some strength and will work as guides for the opposite piece to clamp onto when closed. (this will be explained in a future section in more detail with diagrams and pictures.

• Mythos Area

This would need to be a large storage bin as well as a place to display all the cards and items used to progress the game. I created an extensive list of these items with all their measurements and decided, based on game play flow and item size, the best way to place them.

What I came up with was basically a storage box with many layers inside. The top of the box, when closed would be used as space for the AO card, and a herald or guardian (if one or both are used). The extra space from the herald/guardian could then be used as a Final Battlegrounds at the end of the game for player tokens. Inside this bin would be the topmost layer and would contain a tray to store all the Investigator cards, as they needed to be stored somewhere and were the same size as the AO cards. The next layer would contain the AO cards, and under that would be all the “special” items used for each AO chosen, maybe separated into small containers labeled by the AO name.

Next to this box, I could place a similar sized box to be used as the Monster Cup. Around these two main boxes I would place the other items needed during the Mythos Phase:

Mythos cards – Draw and discard piles
Current Mythos Environment in Play space
Gate Token box and Gate limit track or indicator
Doom Token box
Clue Token Box
Stands box
Terror Track
Monster Limit track or indicator
Outskirts Area and Limit track or indicator
Sky Area
Lost in Time and Space Area

• Game Board

This leaves us with just the meat of the board where all of our 3D models will reside. This section can actually be broken up into 2 separate areas: Arkham and Other World (OW) Areas.

The current Board has the OW areas located to one side of the game board all in a line. Added expansions continue this trend by adding 2 more OW areas along the same side on the new board, therefore making a nice, seamless transition when adding an expansion.

I wish to work this a bit different as players on one side wont be able to reach the OW spaces on the opposite side. Also, I need to maintain the transition of OW areas when adding new boards.
Currently, my idea involves putting the OW areas in a line like the original game does, but moving it to the middle of the board and sinking it down a layer into the base. This would give me some “walls” to extend the OW areas up onto as a forced perspective. Adding the new OW areas in the middle of the new boards would continue the seamless transition also. My concern though is the way it breaks up the Arkham area into 2 separate sections. Not terrible, and possibly workable, but so far I haven't come up with anything better. I do not wish to have a separate piece for the OWs, as one of the objectives is to have everything (or most everything) attached and secured for travel within the board itself.

Now what?

Well, defining the major areas helped and allowed me to start some basic diagrams of the layout ideas. Although I still have some things to work out and the layout can be changed in the future, I felt I had enough to start some basic sketches. Look for a future post about the layout to learn more.

Project Objectives

Before I can begin, I need to lay out the scope of work, namely, what I wish to accomplish. This list may change as I go along, as I am sure I will forget a few key things. If you are reading this and interested in submitting ideas and thoughts, you may wish to check back to this post to check for updates.

Objectives

• Create a transportable three dimensional game board that preserves functionality, does not change any game mechanics and will stand up to handling and game play

This actually is a lot tougher than it would seem to be at first. Arkham is a large city and "suggests" many more locations and buildings than what is used and displayed on the current game board. be that as it may, I quickly realized that building a complete "diorama" or scale model would take up way too much space and defeat the very first objective of being transportable.

The solution is to build only the locations (and any extras - to be explained soon) that are used in the game. Although I will be using scenery and model buildings, I will be focusing on the "game board" aspect of the model more than the "realism" of the city as might be seen with model railroading.

• Must be flexible enough to use any or all combinations of expansions and future expansions, as well as custom created content

Any Arkham fan will attest to the beauty of the game in terms of its customizability. I will be starting with the base game, but want to eventually continue to add all the current and future expansions. For those of you who are unaware of what I mean, the game currently has a base game, 2 big box expansions, and 3 small box expansions. The 2 big box expansions have small add-on game boards that basically sit at one end of the base game board and are considered to be other towns players can travel too, I.E.: Dunwich and Kingsport.

• Must be light enough and small enough to carry and store in any position, while still protecting the models inside.

When you have all the expansions, you can currently just about fit everything into two of the large boxes the game came in. These boxes are about 1 foot by 1 foot and 4-6 inches deep. The game board itself for the base game is 6 1 foot square sections that fold onto themselves resulting in a single 1 foot square. Obviously this will not be possible with a 3D model and I will be allowing my project to be bigger than this when transported and stored. I am currently thinking of something that folds over itself to provide protection, much like a guitar case, or a bit bigger, for the base game.

In order to keep weight down, my first instinct was to model as much as I could with paper, but after much research have decided to scratch build most locations from styrene sheet (plastic) in order to give it the rigidness it needs to stand up to handling.

• Must be able to store all game chits (pieces, markers, dice, etc...) within the game itself without the need to set everything up each time you play.

There are A LOT of pieces to this game. A LOT! From a collection of 6-sided dice, cardboard money, hearts and brains, various stacks of small cards, large cards, investigator sheets, AO sheets, and the hundred or so monsters, plus much more, the game can take a good amount of time to set-up and break down. This was actually one of the main reasons I wished to attempt this project as the board I have in mind will have all pieces secured in separate containers in their respective locations ready for immediate use, with the exception of the need for shuffling some stacks of cards. Most small cards are location specific and can actually be placed directly on the game board in those areas either covering the location or next to it. My buildings will basically be boxes that open and will give players access to the location specific items inside.

• Must be comfortable and usable for players.

Size might be an issue here. Players at one end might not be able to reach the farthest end. This isn't really a concern though because this isn't exactly possible in the game as it is now. My main concern is that each player has enough room for his investigator sheet, all accompanying cards and items and possibly a drink holder.I definitely don't want that beer or soda spilled onto all this hard work! Currently drinks are placed on the play table along with the rest of the game and disaster is only a sudden motion away.

• Must be designed to better facilitate game play.

This is another of those main reasons I wished to do this. There are quite a few game pieces that just get placed "where ever you can find room." Examples of this are the AO card and doom tokens, herald, guardians, monster cup, stands, clue tokens, mythos and gate cards, and various extra "special" monsters and chits used only in certain game play conditions. My idea is to have most of these things in one cohesive spot, in an order that makes sense while playing the game.

• Would like to have some lights and wired buildings and streets.

This one is optional and may not be applied to everything, but the idea is that each "location", when it applies, can have interior lights that can be turned on and off via a switch. I have no idea how I will accomplish this but planning ahead is essential when deciding to possibly use lighting.

An example of this would be the "General Store." The building contains a thick stack of cards called "Common Items" that are used and purchased by players. This must be accessible somehow, probably via the roof being a lid that can open. The remaining area of the building can be "boxed in" and lit with LED lights fed in from the bottom. I do not wish to model interior scenes so I will be using opaque or frosted window "glass" to allow the light to shine out but not allow the players to see in. When a location "closes", which does happen in this game, a switch can be flipped and the lights in the store can go out, indicating that the area is closed.

I guess that is it for now. I will update this as I go along.

What is Arkham Horror?

Arkham Horror is a board game, but unlike Risk or Monopoly, it is a co-operative game. By co-operative, I mean that all players work together against the game itself. The object of the game is to save the world from destruction by an ancient evil that is slowly awakening from it's sleep in another dimension. Gates to various dimensions are opening all over town, spilling out hideous creatures. It is the job of the players to stop the Ancient One awakening by dealing with these monsters and finding ways to close the gates. If any of this sounds familiar, it is because the game is based on the works of fictional writer, H.P. Lovecraft and set in a fictional town in Massachusetts called Arkham in the mid 1920's.

The game was first released in 1985 and copies of this are still circulating. The game went dormant for whatever reason and then was picked up, re-created and re-distributed by a company called Fantasy Flight Games. This is the version we will be talking about.

The game has a very active fan base all over the world and an active forum.
Here are some links:
Fantasy Flight Games - http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/
Arkham Horror's Page - http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/arkhamhorror.html
Arkham Horror Forum - http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/ffgforums/forums/show/10.page


GamePlay Overview

Players choose an "Investigator" to play from one of the provided sheets. Investigators are normal people who live in Arkham in the 1920's. Flappers, Gangsters, Jazz Musicians, Students, Teachers, Private Detectives, etc...Each investigator sheet has different stats for some basic skills and attributes. Each investigator also has one or more unique abilities that make playing that character very different from playing another character. The game can be played with one to eight players, but the common consensus seems to indicate that the best results are achieved by using 3-6 players. Some people, like my group which has two people, like to play more than one character at a time in order to hit this sweet spot.

An Ancient One is chosen to be the enemy for the game. A stack of Ancient One cards are provided each with their own sinister abilities and rules.

Victory can be achieved by one of three methods:

1. Close all open gates by exploring the Other World it leads to, exiting, and successfully passing the skill check modified by the gate's toughness.
2. Seal 6 gates by closing gates (per #1) and spending 5 clues to seal that gates location. Sealing means that no other gates can open at that spot during the mythos phase (unless you have added certain game expansions which include a nasty version of a mythos card called a "Gate Burst.")
3. Defeat the Ancient One in the Final Combat. This will happen when the Ancient One awakens forcing the players to abandon pursuit of the prvious 2 conditions and allows them one final chance at victory. Awakening can happen from a number of various conditions, including, having too many gates open at once and filling up the Ancient Ones Doom Track (basically a timer mechanism where each gate adds one to the track up to the allowed amount for that AO. Typically 10-15)

A turn consist of 5 phases.

1. Upkeep: This is used mostly to refresh abilities and adjust skill sets.
2. Movement: This includes combat or evasion of monsters.
3. Arkham Encounters: Each location in Arkham has a color which corresponds to a stack of encounter cards. These cards contain text for each location, like a small story that tells the player what happens at said location.
4. Other World Encounters: This phase only happens for a player who enters a gate to an Other World. Instead of drawing a card in Phase 3, the player would have an encounter in the dimension indicated by the gate they entered by drawing a card from the Other World Stack that matches the dimensional colors. These cards are much like the ones in the previous phase.
5. Mythos: The first player draws a mythos card and typically this will open a gate somewhere on the board, place a clue token, spawn a monster, and set up some rules for the next turn, like an environment: "Snow!" or a dreaded rumor: "Southside Strangler Stikes Agian!" This phase is basically the game's turn is what drives the players against the game.

Every player completes each phase in turn order, except Phase 5, which only the first player does. After Phase 5, the first player token is passed to the next player who now becomes first player and turn two begins.

Now I will not go into all the details of every rule and how each method can be achieved as that is not part of the reason I have created this blog. The idea here is to give the reader some indication of how the game works and what is involved as well as the theme and setting of the game.

To learn more, please visit any or all of the linked sites above. If you are interested in this game, it can be purchased online, or from many Hobby and Comic shops throughout the world.