Dirt-cheap Descent 2e Box Organizer

Descent 2e box organizer

Hi everyone! 

In my last post I talked about getting into Descent second edition - only 9 years after it released - and how I was making a box organizer. Now that I have finished it I thought I'd share, just in case anyone picks up Descent 2e and wants to give it a little love at low cost.

I became interested in DIY box options after searching around and finding that professionally made options range from around 30 to 50 USD and would take a few weeks to arrive. While I could guarantee that they would fit everything, they are either foam (and sit high in the box) or made of MDF, which I don't like the look of. I wanted something that would be quite a bit cheaper and fit the colour scheme. Knowing that within 10 minutes walk I have two big dollar stores (or 'hundred yen' shops as they known in Japan) I had access to materials. The issue was how to design the organizer?

Esoteric Order of Gamers to the rescue! 

This fantastic site has hundreds of downloadable resources for games, and lo and behold, there was a PDF with design instructions for a Descent 2e box organizer made of foam board. I can get foamboard, I can get white glue! Perfect! Huge kudos to the designer.

But...

...this design doesn't work for sleeved cards. 

'Never mind' I thought, 'I'll give it a try!'

So how did I do?

Take a look below, and then we'll look at some modifications I made.

The box

Rules on top.

Box insert cut to make inside lid

Top layer: tokens and cards

Top layer - with pull tabs

Large card trays - pull tabs. Underneath is the...

...small figure tray

...which can be removed to reveal the map tray

Map tray and large model compartment

Modifications:

The original plan is fantastic, but I noticed a few areas where I could relatively easily add improvements and add to the practicality and aesthetics.

1. Blue felt inserts to give the compartments a more up-market look and be a bit softer for my models. These were cut to size and glued in with watered-down wood glue. Hint: pickup some felt that matches the external box art colours if you want to co-ordinate. A deep blue or light blue works well.
2. Red pull tabs to help me get at the cards without damaging the card edges by trying to lift them out with my fingernails. These were made from 10mm strips of wine-red ribbon, then attached in two different ways. For the long ones that went under a tray, I used 10mm double-sided sticky tape. For the ribbon inside a card tray, I glued the ribbon tab onto the foamcard, then pulled it through a slit in the felt. I then glued the felt down.
3. Larger card compartments to accomodate sleeved cards. I admit that these aren't perfect... I eyeballed them! But for all cards apart from the character decks they fit perfectly.

Not everything went perfectly, so here are some things to watch out for:

• Measure twice, cut once. I made a few wonky measurements, so not everything matched up perfectly.
• Alignment. It can be surprisingly difficult to get everything straight, so find a way to line things up/ get right angles straight (a math set triangle should help)
• If you sleeve cards, make sure you plan out your measurements with that in mind. (Sounds obvious, but you can easily forget!)
• If using glue, keep a few dressmaker's pins or long push pins to hand. Use these to pin your foamcard together until the glue dries.

Materials:

Follow the instructions in the Order of Gamers to get all the measurements you need. However you don't need much:

-Foamcard (I used black).

-Double-sided sticky tape (5mm width - make sure any you buy matches the thickness of your card.)

-Wood glue (White glue/ Elmers). You'll water this down when painting onto the foamcard.

-Box cutter/ hobby knife

-Blue felt squares (your choice of colour!)

-10mm wine-red ribbon.

In total, I paid about about 9 US dollars in terms of the materials I actually used, so not a bad outlay.

In my next post, I'll look at some of the models in the game and what they look like painted.

Cheers.

A new Journey in the Dark...Farewell to the King?

 

The 'Originals'

After 63 missions our party appears to be nearing the end of our time in Gloomhaven. We aren't quite finished yet, and our recent missions have given us a few more locations to explore, but the end is nigh...

...and that prompted thoughts of looking for a new game.

How did we get here?

During the first year and a half of the pandemic (coming on for 2 years at time of writing) we have met virtually and played twice a week for two hours each time using Roll20 and Skype. Between chatting, strategizing, and analysis paralysis it usually takes about two sessions to finish a mission (4 hours a map!). So, we've explored, delved and stabbed our way through about 252 hours of gameplay (not including revisiting one or two maps to farm XP or complete personal quests.) Frankly, the game has been a godsend in keeping us occupied while social distancing and not being able to meet in person.

With the  growing realisation that GH may actually END (before you ask, I'm not going to replay!)  I started looking around for a new board game to play. From enjoying GH, I knew that I liked dungeon delving, looting, character sheets and tactical combat, so when I heard about Descent 2nd edition I thought I would take a look. I watched plenty of YouTube reviews and took the plunge. A couple of weeks later a lovely blue box arrived....

Descent 2nd edition box art (c)Fantasy Flight Games 2012

...which in terms of timing was a terrible decision! 

2nd edition has just gone out of print, Legends of the Dark has dropped and the publisher is no longer creating any 2nd edition content. This also means that 2e existing content, like lieutenant packs and expansions, are selling for their actual weight in gold on ebay and around the world (I noticed someone trying to sell an expansion box for 450 US dollars the other day in Japan, where I live.) 

Still, I'm keeping an eye on eBay for the occasional deal, and restricting myself to a few simple goals: 

1. Make a box/ game organiser.
2. Paint all core set minis to tabletop quality as fast as possible before a 1st game.
3. Find and own all pieces for the 2nd edition box (lieutenants are just cardboard tokens? I see what you did there FFG...)
4. Own and try one expansion.
5. Download and use the 

In the coming days and weeks I'll post updates on all of these things, starting with making myself a simple and very low cost box organiser. 

Does it matter that 2e is a relic now? Hell no. I've always used this blog to help motivate myself to paint, and this is no different.

Let's do this!

*Squeek*