In our constant quest to provide the most aesthetically pleasing, highly usable board game organizers and inserts for our customers, we've provided yet another step forward.
STICKERS! Yes, that's right, stickers. Printed lid map stickers, now available on our newest wargame organizers.
A key challenge with any organizer is trying to remember what goes where. We've largely addressed this by trying to label bins, either in monocolor from raised text, or in multi-color in printing clear labels. We recently used this technique in our Grand Austria Hotel insert, Donnerschlag organizer, and similar. We've concluded that the increased print complexity is worth it, and customers seem happier with the output.
In our Red Strike organizer, we attempted a more ambitious idea of using the lid as somewhat of a map to show how units could be pooled.
3D printers have a minimum size at which text remains legible, however, and colors are inherently limited to a subset of 4 colors at any one time. Laser printers have none of these limitations. They can print fantastically detailed text and a broad spectrum of colors.
So, beginning with our Silent War 2.0 organizer for Compass Games' Silent War, we started to experiment with using higher resolution prints to more properly illustrate where all of the pieces should go. Silent War has quickly become one of our best selling designs, which we are immensely proud of as we have a direct connection to this conflict and topic. Our lead designer's interest in World War II and history in general derives from hearing stories of the war patrols of the USS Blenny (SS-324), which we commemorate on the cover artwork. We put extra effort into this design, and are very happy to see it seems to resonate so well with our customers.
In our Chase of the Bismarck organizer, we're able to use the stickers to list each and every ship outright. At any point in time, it is clear where to find every counter. We can provide a nice manifest of everything which sits next to the tray while used. Looking for the Hood or Victorious? You need only find it on the lid and know exactly where it lives in the tray.
For our In Fours to Heaven organizer, which we're pretty sure is the best In Fours To Heaven insert in existence, we took the concept even further. The 3D printed counter trays are printed in 4 colors each. We've replicated the loose division counters within the stickers, and divided between command, divisional, regimental units. The small little bastard counters are a pain in the ass to handle in stacks, so those go in numbered/listed bins.
VUCA Simulations was great enough to propose their own storage regime, and we align with it. The numbers printed on the cardboard stock for unit sorting align at game setup. Looking for baggie #39? We got you, just find our printed 39.
Across our newest wargame organizers, we now provide an indexing mechanism. Columns are labeled A-Z, bins are numbered 1-N. We provide a counter manifest on our resources site that lists each counter in the game, from a few different configurations.
First owners of the games will appreciate the "Countersheet to Bin" mapping, which lists in order from countersheet and moves across them all, saying where each counter belongs. We started this with our Space Empires 4X organizer (the organizer which launched this entire company!), and its intention is for the first owner of the game sitting there with nothing but counter sheets and wondering where to start. Pull up the CSV on a tablet, PC, or phone, and start scrolling.
Players of the games will appreciate the "Side | Unit | Bin" marking which tells you exactly where to locate a particular unit of the 64th Army outside of Stalingrad in Donnerschlag. This is intended as a searchable manifest where things have failed.
We also provide a bin to counter matching, in case you wish to know what exactly is supposed to be stored in each bin.
This approach is not something we initially necessarily set out to do... for some games it's better to just have clear storage bins which the customer can then stack on their own. So, there is a bit of an art to feel this out.
In general, for complex wargames with more complicated orders of battle, we are heading down this path. Particularly for games with scenarios which require only a subset of counters for their setup.
The lid map stickers are added as an upcharge of $15. The cost covers the price of vinyl or polyester sheets (way better than crummy paper stickers), the toner required to print at 1200 DPI on a high resolution laser printer, and labor to trim and apply the sticker.
We've got some more ideas for where we can take this. But our belief is we are currently putting out board game organizers that are the state of the industry. We've put a sizeable investment into machines, infrastructure, and technology to continue to bring them out as quickly as we can.
Next up, by request we've purchased 3 Compass Games titles for new organizers: Steel Wolves, American Tank Ace, and Western Front Ace. From GMT Games, we've got 1833NE, Nevsky, Twilight Struggle 20th Anniversary, and Fields of Despair. From VUCA Simulations, we've got Pacific Fleet, Imperial Elegy, and 30 Years of Misery. We're also working on an organizer for Third World War Designer Signature Edition which is largely complete (and fantastic) but awaiting some feedback there.
Our plans for 2027 are to increase by 2-3x the catalog of wargames and board games for which we have organizer designs, and continue to improve the quality of them with better graphics, more detail, etc.