Paul

Regarding square boards for Penny Blue and/or Penny Black. They're crap. As a matter of principle I play on only hexagonal boards. Also the corner spots should be either further in or larger.

Otherwise when playing the Blue you can cover a spot and leave your sovereign hanging over the edge of the board. That's not in the spirit of the game and needs to be ruled out.

David

Hmmm! I have to say that you aren't the only one who objects to square boards. But I strongly disagree. Surely if someone hasn't the skill or tools to make a hexagonal board then they can go down to their local DIY store and get a square board cut to size for free, can't they?

Your point about the corner spots would be valid except for the fact that the rules of Penny Blue forbid the sovereign to be spotted hanging over the edge of the board.

Darren

I've seen a luxury Penny Black board with a moat round it that caught the pennies? Where can I get one from and why hasn't the web site got details about them?

David

A good point. Firstly, your mate has probably seen one that was made by the owner. You can't go into a shop and buy one. Secondly, I didn't put details on the site because I wanted to keep everything simple.

The first such board that I know of was made in 1982/3 by a laboratory technician at Hill Top High School in Sandwell. The maker was a pretty mean player, too.

The great advantage of a luxury board is that you can plonk it down on a small cafe/pub table and don't have to worry about the pennies shooting off onto the floor.

A luxury board is pretty simple to make and the photographs show you what one should look like. Basically it's just an ordinary board glued onto a base with a rim slightly higher than the playing surface. Lining the moat with felt will add that extra bit of class.

Katie

I don't understand why the fields of a Spinmaster game require marking. The sword shows where the shield can be placed, and also where the ball can be placed for the serve, so what's the point ?

David

Logically speaking - there is no point at all. However many people like the look of the game better with the fields marked. Others say they it makes the game easier as it helps them to judge distances. Personally, I'm with you on this one.

James

I must disasgree with the views of Paul Harris. Given the choice between playing on a square or hexagonal board for Penny Black, at the moment, I'd choose the square board.

When cut from the same width of laminate a square board has a greater area and a longer diagonal; and, of course, whatever the width, a square board has only four corners spots and therefore only four places on which the white can be placed after coming off the board.

All the following can make some games considerably more difficult to play on a square board than on a hexagonal board. Surely that means that the better player will win more often than his opponent on a square board than on a hexagonal board. Isn't that a good thing?

David

James, I cannot fault your logic. You are absolutely right. The fact remains however that more people like the look of a hexagonal board. I know for a fact that the Menzies High School competitions are played on a hexagonal board for one reason only - it looks better on the big screen.

I also know for a fact that many people who think that Penny Black should be a grass roots movement wish that the hexagonal board had been strangled at birth because it is more difficult to make.

At the moment there are far more hexagonal boards in the world than there are square. Maybe that will change in the future.The older I get the more I prefer the square board, and for exactly the reasons you've just outlined.

A final thought. If you want the game to be more difficult then you could just make a bigger hexagonal board, couldn't you?