Twilight Imperium 4 3D

Yes playing TI4 in 3d is as awesome as it looks! While I have seen other 3d boards for TI4 none of them are as cheap to build as this one. 

I got the idea from https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/2921463/twilight-imperium-3d-three-3-tiered-board-game-map

I also updated one of the TI4 map generators to support 3d maps (but only for 8 players): https://github.com/BrokenRafterFarms/ti4

Parts required to purchase:

• 3 boards of ¼in thick cut at 20inx19in (I used some flooring underlayment I had laying around)
• 8 3/4in diameter dowels cut at 11 ½in (I have a miter saw that I used with a block of wood clamped at 11 ½in to make sure my dowels where the same height)
• at least 24 10-32x1in machine screws (You can use more or less but you should have at least 2 machine screws per dowel holder to make sure it is stable)

Parts to print:

• 20 of the dowel holders from above
•  dowel guide (optional but helpful)

Steps to build:

1. Print out dowel holders
2. Cut boards (You could cut it at a nice 20inx20in but I wanted the boards cut as close to the planets as possible to make it easier to see)
3. Cut dowels
4. Print out dowel guide (optional but helpful to make sure you drill the holes square)
5. Layout tiles on board and figure out where your first column will go (I used the dowel guide to make sure that I made it as square I as I could)
6. Put the first dowel holders on the board using a pen to mark the holes.
7. Using a small drill bit (like 1/8in) make a pilot hole. Then using a larger one (15/64in) make the hole bigger. Repeat for all holes in each dowel holder.
8. Use the dowel guide to help place the rest of the dowel holders.
9. Use your first board to help place the holes on the other two boards.
10. Use the machine screws to install the dowel holder.
11. Convince the other players you are no threat as the Sardakk N'orr and its not a big deal if you get a War Sun and your Capital ship… And then all of a sudden you hit on 1s and can't be stopped…