Ares Expedition plus all expansions insert for Kickstarter "big box" (supports sleeves)

Model originally uploaded to Thingiverse at https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5932292.

This is an insert designed to fit the "big box" Kickstarter version of Ares Expedition plus all three expansions (Crisis, Discovery, and Foundations) from Fryx Games. It supports the custom TMAE card sleeves offered during the Kickstarter (also sold separately by Fryx Games). It will probably also fit most other premium sleeves, but I've only tested the Fryx sleeves.

NOTE 1: This insert will NOT hold the extra "crisis-only" project card deck. It also only has room for two resource trays (upgraded models included in here!) instead of the four that the Kickstarter has. It also does not hold the 5 square phase tokens from the base game (although they can be tossed in the box loose) as I never use those and couldn't be bothered to find a place for them in the insert.

NOTE 2: You will need a printer that can print 209mm in either the X or Y direction. The big card holder simply does not lend itself to being split into anything smaller.

The insert pieces fits securely in the bottom of the big Kickstarter box—I can't vouch for any retail versions, and definitely will NOT fit in the original box for the base game. The player boards, game boards, and instructions all fit nicely on top with a little bit of room to spare, but this arrangement still keeps everything where it belongs when stored vertically or even turned upside-down. Please see the photos for how everything fits in the box.

This prints best at 0.16 line height (0.4 nozzle) but 0.20 is OK for everything but the boxes. You really want to use 0.16 (or lower) for the boxes with lids as there are some small but steep overhangs that are supported much better by a slightly smaller line height. (Check your slice preview.) No supports are needed if you print at 0.16 or lower.

I printed these with 15% gyroid infill, but you can use 10% infill if you increase the number of top shell layers by one (or if you don't care about slight imperfections in the bottoms of the boxes). PLA/PLA+ works great for all of these.

I recomment printing the two Crisis-specific models in the same color (different from the rest) to make it easy to know which pieces you need for that version of the game.

Finally, the lids for all the boxes are friction fit and fit the bottom of their boxes so they don't get lost during play. The tolerances on these can be somewhat tight, but they came out beautifully on my Bambu X1C.

2023-03-08 Edit: The player_parts_box.stl was rather tight on the cubes due to a miscalculation in my OpenSCAD file. I've adjusted that and this new box should allow for a better fit of the cubes. Model specific notes follow:

awards_milestones_oceans.stl - As the name suggests, this holds the Award, Milestone, and Ocean tokens for the non-Crisis game. This piece has a base larger than the pieces it holds just so it doesn't slide around in the box. I'm not super thrilled with this model, but it does the job. I hope to see some clever remixes of this and the Crisis tokens holder.

corp_cards_holder.stl - Holds the corporation cards for the base game plus Discovery expansions, with a separte divider for the 5+ and Crisis-only corporations.

crisis_cards_holder.stl - This has many dividers so that you can keep the Tier 0 and player aid cards, 1-player, 2-player, 3-player, 4-player, and Crisis-specific phase cards in separate sections for easier setup.

crisis_tokens_holder.stl - Holds the Crisis-specific oceans and Detriment tokens. As with the awards_milestones_oceans.stl model, the base is bigger than strictly needed to keep it from sliding around. Another one I'm not thrilled with and hope to see remixed in some clever way.

filler_box1.stl & filler_box2.stl - These, as their names suggest, are mostly to fill some holes to keep everything in place. The smaller box holds the clear cubes nicely, and the bigger one can hold other small enhancements (like 3D forest tokens, for example).

main_tokens_box.stl - This 209mm long box is meant to hold the base game's tokens: forests (1 & 5), VPs (1 & 3), tag tokens, and the Crisis counter tokens. Just take this box out, pull off the lid and put it on the bottom and plop the whole thing down on the table where everyone can reach.

player_card_holder.stl - Stores the players' phase cards (including upgraded phase cards), as well as the "player parts box", described below. Print one of each in colors blue, red, green, yellow, white, and black to match the game's player colors. These are designed to alternate directions when stored in the box to minimize the space they use there.

player_parts_box.stl - Stores the players' colored cubes and slides into the slot in the player card holder.

project_cards_holder.stl - This has three large bays to hold all the project cards from all the expansions, with a smaller area divided off to hold the 5+ player cards separately. When you're getting ready to play, just lift this out of the box, turn it over so it sits on its risers to tilt the holder, making it easy to draw cards directly from the holder.

resource_cubes_box.stl - Print two of these, divide your resource cubes evenly between them. (You can print more if you like, but they won't fit in the box, at least not without raising the lid.)