Grand Cathedral
The Game
While living overseas I wanted to play the popular board game Cathedral. I didn't have the game with me so I sat down and made some plans to build one, but I decided to build a larger version of the game. After spending many nights in the wood shop, I had created a Jumbo version of Cathedral. The game plays very well. The strategy is more complex than the original Cathedral game because there are more pieces and many new shapes. |
The Game Construction Plans
The drawings and instructions explain how I made the game board and pieces. Make two of each game piece, one light and one dark. The Cathedral is a lighter color than all of the other pieces. Each player has 38 pieces. The game board resembles a city wall.
The drawings and instructions explain how I made the game board and pieces. Make two of each game piece, one light and one dark. The Cathedral is a lighter color than all of the other pieces. Each player has 38 pieces. The game board resembles a city wall.
The game construction details can be downloaded by clicking the Microsoft Word file to the right. |
|
There are tables that list the pieces according to size and shape. The tables show how many pieces of each size are needed. The tables can be found towards the middle of the document.
A table saw is used to cut most of the wood. You will also need a wood chisel, band saw or hole saw, wood glue and polyurethane wood finish.
A table saw is used to cut most of the wood. You will also need a wood chisel, band saw or hole saw, wood glue and polyurethane wood finish.
The Construction
All game pieces, (towers, spires, houses, walls and bridges) are 3/4" thick but vary in height and length. Each game piece is glued to a 1/8" thick base.
Each house roof has either a 45 degree or 70 degree roof pitch. A spire roof will have 4 angled sides with either a 45 degree or 70 degree roof pitch.
The instructions should be pretty easy to understand. For instance, piece A is made using 2 houses and one tower. Each house has a 70 pitch roof. One house is 2" tall at the peak and the other is 2.5" at the peak. The tower is 3" tall.
All game pieces, (towers, spires, houses, walls and bridges) are 3/4" thick but vary in height and length. Each game piece is glued to a 1/8" thick base.
Each house roof has either a 45 degree or 70 degree roof pitch. A spire roof will have 4 angled sides with either a 45 degree or 70 degree roof pitch.
The instructions should be pretty easy to understand. For instance, piece A is made using 2 houses and one tower. Each house has a 70 pitch roof. One house is 2" tall at the peak and the other is 2.5" at the peak. The tower is 3" tall.
For my game, I used OAK for the light pieces and WENGE for the dark pieces. Once assembled, all pieces were given a coat of satin polyurethane.
The Cathedral wood is ASH. It is lighter in color than the oak and is rather hard.
I used 3/4" thick premium plywood for the game base and glued trim to the edges. The game board walls and towers were made from solid oak.
Each building is glued to a wood base made of strips that are 1/8" thick and 31/32" wide. After gluing the base pieces together, glue the building pieces on top.
A storage case keeps the game dust free and prevents pieces from getting lost.