Eldritch Horror Case - Planning & Resource Gathering

First step of the project was to figure out how everything would fit best within the case. I basically pulled out everything I had and started just putting it in and out of the case in different configurations. Of course then I realized one flaw in my thinking - I wasn't considering expansions! I know it's only a mater of time before I buy Mountains of Madness & the recently announced Under the Pyramids expansion is also shaping up to be a must-buy, and who knows what will come next...

In order to avoid driving myself completely crazy, I ended up deciding to plan for the two big-box expansions I know about in addition to the base game & the 2 small-box expansions I already have. Future expansions will either lead to revising parts or generating a new insert altogether, but this will do for now. To figure out Mountains, I simply went to the FFG site, downloaded the rules PDF, and copied down the list of components to work with. For the Pyramids expansion, it wasn't so easy; I ended up examining the images from the announcements & the current FFG page and trying to extrapolate from there, what might be included. If I'm wrong somewhere, I may need to adjust some things but it at least gave me a place to start from.

Now, how many extra decks is that??? - image from FFG

I then returned to moving stacks of components in and out of the case until I'd determined a trial layout to work from which I snapped a photo of. I was intending for the top layer to include everything used throughout a game with the lower case holding pieces accessed less often (GOOs, characters, etc.). That way, I have the possibility of simply lifting out the upper tray & placing it on a table to corral the bits. I did however want to create inserts within the tray that could themselves be removed and placed on the table. That way, if table & board layout for a given session didn't lend themselves to having the single tray set-up, the components and decks of cards could instead be arranged in multiple locations surrounding the board.

The tentative layout

With my plans somewhat set, all that was left was to shop for supplies & figure out the best construction methods. A quick trip to Michaels took care of the former and for the latter I settled down on the couch to watch a series of three videos from The Esoteric Order of Gamers that went through the basics of creating foamcore inserts. I highly recommend The Order for insert plans and rules references & these short videos had me a lot more confident for the next step - Construction!

Introduction

Planning & Resource Gathering (this post)

Phase One - the Top Level

Phase Two - the Lower Workings

Phase Three - the Inner Lid (coming soon)
The Final Product (coming soon)