Recently I was on The Esoteric Order of Gamers website and saw patterns for board game box inserts made with black foam core. They have a great look, keep your games organized and can be quite customizable.
So the plans I decided to start with were for Descent Second Edition Base Game. I wanted to be able to put everything from the expansions I have(the Base game, Labyrinth of Ruin, The Trollfens, and a few of the Lieutenant packs), but also have room for for Lair of the Wyrm (which is hard to find), the upcoming Shadow of Nerekhall, as well as the Hero and Monster Collections.
I took the plans they already had as a basic outline, but started adapting and changing them to fit my needs.
Pictured: Monsters in the Descent 2nd Ed. Base Box, heroes and cards in Labyrinth Box and the removable game play insert.
I made it so everything currently fits in the Base game, the Labyrinth of Ruin and the Trollfens boxes. The plans for the monster box originally had them separated out into smaller segments for each monster type, I decided that I would prefer to have more space for more monsters in a less organized fashion. Once they're painted and finished (as you can see they are primed) I think they will be distinct enough in appearance that finding monsters during game set up won't be an issue.
Pictured: Monsters in Descent 2nd Ed. Base Game Box with custom insert
I wanted to make a removable tray that contained the health and fatigue tokens as well as any other regularly used cards, to be put on the table during game play. The tray pictured below is what I created for those needs. I designed the template so that it would hold everything I currently have and room for expansions.
Pictured: My custom Removable Game Play Tray
I created the tray above to fit on top of the insert below. This box contains the Hero and Overlord Cards, dice, and figures for the Heroes and Lieutenants. Currently there is plenty of room to grow as far as cards are concerned, but I am a bit apprehensive about space for minis. When the next big box expansion is released, though, that problem will be remedied.
Pictured: bottom half of the Labyrinth of Ruin insert.
All the map tiles currently fit in the Trollfens box, although I plan on creating a solution for that eventually as well.
Pictured: All of the boxes put together in their entirety
So there you have it. The game looks great, everything fits comfortably with room for expansions, and the organization makes for effective game play and minimized clean up.
Pictured: All Descent 2nd Ed. boxes stacked
I hope you enjoyed seeing the progress I have made and the box inserts I created. The next step for my Descent game will be painting the miniatures (see some of my painted minis here) and then it'll be done for the time being.
I am also deciding which game I'll be creating an insert for next. Currently I am deciding between Arkham Horror and Zombicide. Both games have multiple peices and could use better storage solutions with expansions included. Beyond those two I have an entire list of games I want to modify as time goes on, if there is one you'd like to see modified please let me know and I will make that a priority.
Thanks for reading and check back later to see how my different projects are progressing. I also have a tumblr where I'll be posting pictures and updates so you can like me there as well: http://benwermers.tumblr.com/.
