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FFG Outside the Box: Marco Riemann
Marco is also a big horror fan, H.P. Lovecraft in particular. So naturally, Arkham Horror fits his tastes quite well. "As a collector of board games, I am always looking for games whose themes are centered around my interests," he says. "I found the atmosphere of Arkham Horror overwhelming." He also appreciates that the game can be played solo, so he is able to play even if his friends are not. However, Marco had a problem. "I normally keep each game's expansions in the main box to save space. However, with the amount of material in expansions, sometimes the boxes are overflowing, or they get broken when I'm bringing the game to friends' homes." A solution presented itself: a custom case for his Arkham Horror. "One of the things that makes me a geek is building deluxe boxes or carrying cases for games which are special to me, and Arkham Horror is a very special game which needs to be in a special box." Marco did some research about current and upcoming expansions to make sure the case would be large enough to hold everything. Then, he got to work.  "I went to the workshop and took the game with me, so I could measure all the components. The first decision was to make the card compartment fit underneath the boards, because the boards would be the largest things in the case. I also decided to have a box for all the markers and tokens, which had to have its own pocket in the case." After switching the parts around for a while with the upcoming expansions in mind, the partition was designed. "Then I started creating it right out of my mind." The plans, which Marco posted on BoardGameGeek.com, were actually drawn up after the case was complete. "It sounds crazy, but I never draw up a plan before starting to build things!"  The case was made from birch plywood in 1/2", 1/4", and 3/16" thicknesses. It was assembled using glue, screws, and duct tape, with brass fittings and hinges. Marco used a router to carve the game's name onto the case, then used wood stain to give a rich, dark color to the exterior, and applied multiple coats of clear varnish. "I normally use fasteners to keep boxes closed, but in this case I used an old lock. I finished the project with some rubber bumpers so the case could stand on its end without damaging the hinges, and a small chain to keep the cover in the correct position when open."  When asked if he would do anything differently if he were to try it today, Marco replied "Everything works fine. Maybe after the new expansion has arrived, I will find some aspects that I should have done differently." "But then I'll have a reason to build a new one!" Have you or someone you know used your creativity and skill to do something special with your favorite FFG game? We'd love to see it! Please contact Jeremy Stomberg and tell us all about it!
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Marco Riemann is a big FFG fan. Living in Germany, he mostly gets the German versions of our games.