3D Space Battles - Concepts

Played a game of modified Axis and Allies WWII ships with the local group - I should've gotten some pics...always forgetting to use this new-fangled high-falootin' fone I have! Anyway, got me the itch to get back to more One-Hour Wargames ships. However, as the group seems to like their version of WWII it made me think of a return to "The Final Frontier - SPACE".

Revisiting a number of my old concepts got me tinkering around with the pile of Wizards of the Coast [WoC] ships I've in boxes. I took them out and it was quite a lot of capital ships, a bit thin on fighters, however. But conceiving of things in terms of a squadrons of four capital ships still has me able to field forces of 10-12 squadrons! 

This got me to thinking again about table space, movement and 3D. I realize that there's not an essential need for 3D space battles, but dangit, it just reminds me of surface navy actions without it! A quick visit to the local Bed Bath and Beyond while doing errands today and I got a dozen shoebox storage boxes for about $11. This is a cheap investment to see how height and depth "feel" to the game, and hey, we can always use them as boxes!

Rebel Fleet squadrons below:


Imperial squadrons:

From the side they look OK. The boxes are a bit busy with patterns and shapes, however.

Rebel fighter squadrons - they'd need small containers, also.


I like the height and depth, but these shoebox storage boxes obscure the models too much, and the lids snap on which is a bit awkward at times. Did a search for some lucite display boxes and found this from ALLBRICKS in Singapore...I assume shipping of 12" cubes to USA kills the $1 price tag!




But I like the idea. A 5-sided cube or rectangle about 12" square would work nicely for batches of 4 ships. The open side could face the side, allowing players easy access to ships but also easy stacking on top. I'm thinking that ships that are at an "elevation" of up to 2, could sit on empty boxes and they'd still provide space for ships to move into. I think with one "middle level" assumed, and one above and below, would give enough height to the project. All the ships need to do is be "above" or "below" anyway, for tactical purposes of the game design I'm thinking of. I contacted a local plastics dealer and am awaiting a price quote, but anyone know where I can get a few dozen cheap clear plastic cubes???