Printable Magnet Sheets? (PROJECT COMPLETE!!!)

[Shad]

Project Conclusion

Goal: I set out to try and make a magnetic version of Airborne that could be played on a vertical metallic surface.

Verdict: 100% successful

Cost Breakdown

Item	$/Unit	Units	Shipping	Subtotal
Magnetic Paper (A4)	$0.79	4	$3.94	$7.10
Magnetic Rubber 1mm (A4)	$0.63	4	$3.94	$6.46
Printer Paper	N/A	8	N/A	N/A
Printer Ink	N/A	8	N/A	N/a
			Grand Total	$13.56

I printed out both the maps and counter sheets on my office laserjet. Obviously there is a very real cost associated with this, but for such a small project it doesn't factor in. If I were to start doing this on a large scale you would need to include ink usage at the very least.

Using better quality paper, or even photo paper, to print out the counters would yield better results but would add additional cost.

Labor costs are also not factored into the above as this was a hobby project.

As it stands, that $13.56 investment yielded one magnetic geomorphic map and one magnetic full-size countersheet. That's not cheap! If you were to make a magnetic Eastern Front your costs would be more like this:

Item	$/Unit	Units	Shipping	Subtotal
Magnetic Paper (A4)	$0.79	32	$8	$34
Magnetic Rubber 1mm (A4)	$0.63	16	$8	$18
Printer Paper	N/A	8	N/A	N/A
Printer Ink	N/A	8	N/A	N/a
			Grand Total	$55+

Mind you the ink fees would be extensive, and the shipping number is way too low. These magnetized rubber sheets are really heavy.

One sheet is 250g or about half a pound! If you used 16 sheets for Eastern Front, and let's assume you throw away ~25% as margin deadspace on your counter printouts, you've still got a counter pile weighing around 3 kilos / 6.6 lbs!

But they are big, lovely counters! The dimensions of my finished kit are:

Map: 54x35cm (21.25x13.8in)
Counter: 2x2cm (0.79x0.79in)

Areas for Improvement?

I am satisfied with the paper printout quality, but I could understand others wanting to use heavier paper stock or photo paper.

If I was going to do a large game, or make these for others, I would absolutely invest in one of those swing-arm slicing board things. Something like this:



...but as heavy duty as I could find. That would (probably) speed up the cutting process immensely as well as improve the accuracy of the cuts.

Given how well the 1mm magnetized rubber works, you might consider dropping down to 0.5mm instead. That halves your weight and saves you a little bit of money in the long run. Also much easier to cut!

Final thoughts

For a long time I had drooled longingly over the occasional BGG photo of someone playing a huge game like World in Flames on a sheet of steel in their basement. They would have tons and tons of those fabled magnetic counter sleds which are insanely expensive now.

I never would have guessed how freaking easy it is to make your own magnetic game.

Honestly, this was dead simple - and I'm not an arts-and-craftsy guy at all.

There is certainly a cost involved... you can call it either a labor of love or a deluxe edition, however you want to justify it... but the end results are exactly what you've always dreamed of: a wargame on your wall.

And that's fucking cool!

So, who else wants one?