Briefcases and Battleforce Scale?

[Giovanni Blasini]

Because I don't already have enough projects on my hands, I came up with the crazy idea to shove a small game map into a briefcase.  Why?  Good question - because we thought it would be even neater to have a small model train setup in the same briefcase, if we could.  In other words, we wanted to suffer.

So, my wife found a nice briefcase with the idea of using it for this project, but there's just one problem: the interior is 15 inches by 11.5 inches, which is smaller than a standard mapsheet.  I've got a couple Battleforce minis hanging around, though, and I've been trying to figure out what scale they are: the hex bases IWM sells are 0.75 inches across, versus the 1.125 inch ones of my old "Classic" minis.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to make this a viable space for small games of just a 'Mech or two on each side?  Obviously, I'd prefer standard scale, but I'm still open to Battleforce scale, despite the smaller availability of minis.  Speaking of which, how close is Battleforce scale to pico-armor/3mm scale (1/600)?

(pic of the same kind of briefcase attached)

[Daryk]

The old (folding) cardboard maps fit into 8.5 x 11 inches, don't they?   Or were the OG boxes bigger?

[Giovanni Blasini]

The old (folding) cardboard maps fit into 8.5 x 11 inches, don't they?   Or were the OG boxes bigger?

Only when folded into quarters.  An unfolded map is 22 inches by 18 inches, so a folded map is around 11 inches by 9.  Hexes are 1.25 inches across, and on each folded map section, you get 8.5 hexes by 7 complete and two half hexes.  So, in an 11.5 x 15 inch briefcase, printing a custom map, based on stacking folding maps over one another, I can get around 8 hexes by 11.5 hexes.

That doesn't give much space for gameplay, as you start already within range of large lasers.  I suppose you could try to throw in a lot of terrain to break up line of sight...

[Daryk]

Ah, I see what you're saying now... not just a transport case, but an actual play surface too!

With that small of a map, all I can think of is "Urbies at 10 paces"! ;D

[Giovanni Blasini]

Ah, I see what you're saying now... not just a transport case, but an actual play surface too!

With that small of a map, all I can think of is "Urbies at 10 paces"! ;D

Yeah, that's one of the reasons why I'm thinking of using it for games with Battleforce mini and much smaller hex sizes or terrain scale, given how much smaller the minis are:

https://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php/topic,61674.0.html

The Battleforce scale Atlas, Panther and Wolfhound are all around half the size of their Battletech counterparts, so I should be able to shrink down the scale I play at if I stick to those because, yeah, otherwise it's UrbanMechs at 15 paces.  I'm just trying to figure out what terrain and scale to use for the smaller scale, or if I can make a terrain viable for both.

[worktroll]

Alpha Strike with 1" equals 1cm?

[Giovanni Blasini]

Alpha Strike with 1" equals 1cm?

You know, that would probably work perfect at Battleforce scale, and 1/450 or 1/600 (3mm) terrain would look perfect.  I may even be able to shove a Z or T scale train in there if I'm feeling fancy.  For standard BT scale, I suspect it would feel a but sluggish with your mechs moving sush short distances per turn.