wizwar6e/research/boards-6e.md

Wiz-War 6th Edition (Chessex, 1993) — Maze Board Research

Research date: 2026-08-15. All source URLs are in boards-sources.md. Supporting images (photos of the actual 6e tiles, the 6e/7e rulebook setup diagrams, and clean fan redraws) are saved in research/images/.

Confidence key

• CONFIRMED — verified from two independent primary/near-primary sources (photographs of the actual 6th-edition components cross-checked against a faithful fan redraw, or stated on the BGG version page / visible in rulebook scans).
• LIKELY — single good source, or inferred with high confidence.
• UNCERTAIN — needs verification against the physical copy.

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1. What's in the box

• 6th edition (Chessex, 1993): 1 rulebook, 4 sector boards, 2 sheets of tokens, 125 spell cards, 1 die. (CONFIRMED — BGG version page for "Chessex sixth edition"; corroborated by the rulebook setup diagram, which marks the 5- and 6-player layouts "2 sets required".)
• Wiz-War Expansion Set #1 (originally for 4th/5th ed., reprinted by Chessex 1994 to match the 6th ed.): 75 spell cards, 2 additional sector boards, 2 sheets of tokens. Base + Expansion #1 = the 6 distinct maze layouts photographed on BGG. (CONFIRMED — BGG expansion page; a 5th-edition owner's photo caption: "The Six Sector tiles. Each unique.")
• Wiz-War Expansion Set #2: 85 cards ("Artifacts"), new tokens/rules — no boards. (CONFIRMED — BGG expansion page.)
• 7th edition ("Classic Edition", Chessex, 1997): 1 rulebook, 4 boards, 2 sheets of die-cut counters, 4 stands, 130 spell cards, 1 die. Same 5x5 sector system; its rulebook adds printed configurations up to 8 players. (CONFIRMED — BGG version page + rulebook-page photo.)
• The 5th, 6th, and 7th editions all use the same maze layouts (the 6th re-drew the art; layout-level identity of 5e vs 6e boards is CONFIRMED by the machine comparison described in section 3; 7e is LIKELY the same boards — same count, same era, art appears identical in photos).

2. Sector board anatomy (CONFIRMED from photos of all six 6e tiles)

• Each sector board is a 5x5 grid of square spaces (25 spaces). Total play area is one sector per player (2p = 5x10, 4p = 10x10, etc.).
• Perimeter: each side of a sector is a solid outer wall with exactly one one-space opening centered on the middle space of each edge (i.e., adjacent to row 3 / column 3). All six boards share this — so however sectors are shuffled and rotated at setup, the mid-edge corridors always line up with neighboring sectors and with the wraparound connections at the outer edges of the whole map.
• Home space ("start"): the exact center space (3,3) of every sector, marked with a large 8-pointed star. The sector's wizard starts there and returns stolen treasure there.
• Treasure spaces: two per sector, marked with an octagonal swirl/rosette glyph, always diagonally adjacent to the home space on the same diagonal — at (2,2) and (4,4) in the canonical orientation used below (photos of some tiles show them at (2,4)/(4,2), which is just the same board rotated 90°). Each player's two treasure tokens start on these. (Glyph meaning is LIKELY from the parallel rule in every other edition — 8e calls them "treasure start squares" — and the token counts; verify wording in the 6e rulebook.)
• Interior walls: thick stone walls sitting on edges between spaces (never diagonal, never partial). Cell boundaries without walls are drawn as thin cracked lines (no game effect).
• Doors: drawn as a wooden plank with hinge/knob circles filling a wall gap. Each layout has 1 or 2 printed doors (8 doors across the 6 boards).
• No other special spaces. Each space has a small centering dot (decorative). CORRECTION (2026-08-15, from owner's photos): the physical 6e boards have NO centering dots — the dots were an artifact of the fan redraws. (Consistent with the designer note that 6e dropped the LOS center dots; the rulebook text still defines LOS center-to-center.) There are no numbered spaces, portals, or terrain printed on the Chessex boards — everything else (thornbushes, rocks, created walls/doors, etc.) is tokens placed during play.
• Boards are single-sided, black-and-white line art in 6e. (Single-sidedness: LIKELY — no photo or listing shows a printed back; the double-sided "classic/new" boards are an 8th-edition (FFG) feature.)
• Physical size: UNCERTAIN. A fan who reproduced them printed at 7.5 in square; the actual Chessex boards' dimensions need measuring from the physical copy.

3. The six maze layouts (CONFIRMED, with caveats noted)

Provenance / verification method. Two independent sources were machine-read pixel-by-pixel and compared:

1. Photographs of the actual 6th-edition tiles posted to BGG by user louping0 ca. 2006 (files images/6e-photo-tile1..6.jpg, BGG image IDs 184445, 184446, 184447, 184665, 184680, 184683).
2. Jeff Barrett's (jeloba.com) clean 1500x1500 redraws of "the standard boards from the 5th edition & expansions" (files images/jeloba-board-1..6.jpg, recovered via the Wayback Machine).

Every boundary between adjacent spaces was classified wall/door/open by pixel sampling in both sets, and each photo was matched against each redraw under all 8 rotations/reflections. Every 6e tile matched exactly one redraw under a pure rotation — three pairs matched perfectly on every edge, and the remaining differences were exactly the doors (thin light planks that the photo classifier reads as "open") plus 2 near-threshold edges on the one skewed photo (tile 4). Conclusion: the layouts below are the 6th-edition layouts, at very high confidence.

Caveats: (a) door positions on layouts D and F rest on the photo + redraw agreeing but with 2 low-quality edges on the tile-4 photo — worth eyeballing against the physical boards; (b) which 4 of the 6 shipped in the 6e base box vs. which 2 came from Expansion Set #1 is UNKNOWN (boards are unlabeled); (c) canonical orientation below is arbitrary — boards are randomly rotated at setup anyway.

Notation. Spaces are (row, column), row 1 = top, column 1 = left. H = home star (3,3). T = treasure space. D / ==D== = door. Gaps in the outer border are the mid-edge openings. "Walls V" lists vertical walls as (r,c)|(r,c+1); "Walls H" lists horizontal walls as (r,c)|(r+1,c).

Layout A — photo 6e-photo-tile5.jpg (BGG pic184680) rotated 180°

+-----+-----+     +-----+-----+
|                             |
+     +-----+-----+-----+     +
|     |  T  |                 |
+     +     +     +-----+-----+
            |  H  |
+-----+==D==+     +     +==D==+
|                    T  |     |
+     +-----+-----+-----+     +
|                             |
+-----+-----+     +-----+-----+

• Walls V: (2,1)|(2,2), (2,2)|(2,3), (3,2)|(3,3), (3,3)|(3,4), (4,4)|(4,5)
• Walls H: (1,2)|(2,2), (1,3)|(2,3), (1,4)|(2,4), (2,4)|(3,4), (2,5)|(3,5), (3,1)|(4,1), (4,2)|(5,2), (4,3)|(5,3), (4,4)|(5,4)
• Doors: (3,2)-(4,2), (3,5)-(4,5)

Layout B — photo 6e-photo-tile1.jpg (BGG pic184445) rotated 180°

+-----+-----+     +-----+-----+
|                             |
+     +-----+     +-----+==D==+
|        T  |     |           |
+     +-----+     +     +     +
      |        H  |     |
+     +     +     +     +-----+
|     |     |     |  T        |
+     +     +     +-----+     +
|           |                 |
+-----+-----+     +-----+-----+

• Walls V: (2,2)|(2,3), (2,3)|(2,4), (3,1)|(3,2), (3,3)|(3,4), (3,4)|(3,5), (4,1)|(4,2), (4,2)|(4,3), (4,3)|(4,4), (5,2)|(5,3)
• Walls H: (1,2)|(2,2), (1,4)|(2,4), (2,2)|(3,2), (3,5)|(4,5), (4,4)|(5,4)
• Doors: (1,5)-(2,5)

Layout C — photo 6e-photo-tile3.jpg (BGG pic184447); rotate this diagram 90° CW to match the photo

+-----+-----+     +-----+-----+
|     |                       |
+     +     +-----+-----+     +
|        T  |           |     |
+==D==+-----+     +     +     +
               H  |     |
+     +-----+-----+     +     +
|     |              T  |     |
+     +-----+-----+     +     +
|                 |           |
+-----+-----+     +-----+-----+

• Walls V: (1,1)|(1,2), (2,2)|(2,3), (2,4)|(2,5), (3,3)|(3,4), (3,4)|(3,5), (4,1)|(4,2), (4,4)|(4,5), (5,3)|(5,4)
• Walls H: (1,3)|(2,3), (1,4)|(2,4), (2,2)|(3,2), (3,2)|(4,2), (3,3)|(4,3), (4,2)|(5,2), (4,3)|(5,3)
• Doors: (2,1)-(3,1)

Layout D — photo 6e-photo-tile2.jpg (BGG pic184446); rotate this diagram 90° CW to match the photo

+-----+-----+     +-----+-----+
|           |                 |
+     +     +-----+-----+     +
|     |  T                    |
+     +==D==+-----+-----+-----+
      |        H
+     +     +-----+-----+-----+
|     |              T        |
+     +-----+-----+-----+     +
|                             |
+-----+-----+     +-----+-----+

• Walls V: (1,2)|(1,3), (2,1)|(2,2), (3,1)|(3,2), (4,1)|(4,2)
• Walls H: (1,3)|(2,3), (1,4)|(2,4), (2,3)|(3,3), (2,4)|(3,4), (2,5)|(3,5), (3,3)|(4,3), (3,4)|(4,4), (3,5)|(4,5), (4,2)|(5,2), (4,3)|(5,3), (4,4)|(5,4)
• Doors: (2,2)-(3,2)
• Note the long east-west corridor through the home row — this board is unusually open left-to-right.

Layout E — photo 6e-photo-tile6.jpg (BGG pic184683); rotate this diagram 270° CW (90° CCW) to match the photo

+-----+-----+     +-----+-----+
|                             |
+     +-----+     +-----+     +
|        T  |           |     |
+-----+     +-----+     +     +
      D     |  H        |
+     +     +     +     +     +
|     |           |  T        |
+     +-----+-----+     +-----+
|                             |
+-----+-----+     +-----+-----+

• Walls V: (2,2)|(2,3), (2,4)|(2,5), (3,2)|(3,3), (3,4)|(3,5), (4,1)|(4,2), (4,3)|(4,4)
• Walls H: (1,2)|(2,2), (1,4)|(2,4), (2,1)|(3,1), (2,3)|(3,3), (4,2)|(5,2), (4,3)|(5,3), (4,5)|(5,5)
• Doors: (3,1)-(3,2) (a door on a vertical wall)

Layout F — photo 6e-photo-tile4.jpg (BGG pic184665); rotate this diagram 90° CW to match the photo

+-----+-----+     +-----+-----+
|                             |
+     +-----+==D==+-----+     +
|        T  |                 |
+-----+     +     +     +-----+
            |  H  |
+-----+-----+     +     +-----+
|                 |  T  |     |
+     +-----+-----+     +     +
|                 D           |
+-----+-----+     +-----+-----+

• Walls V: (2,2)|(2,3), (3,2)|(3,3), (3,3)|(3,4), (4,3)|(4,4), (4,4)|(4,5)
• Walls H: (1,2)|(2,2), (1,4)|(2,4), (2,1)|(3,1), (2,5)|(3,5), (3,1)|(4,1), (3,2)|(4,2), (3,5)|(4,5), (4,2)|(5,2), (4,3)|(5,3)
• Doors: (1,3)-(2,3), (5,3)-(5,4) (this photo was the lowest quality; verify)

4. Board setup / sector connection rules

From the 6e rulebook's back-page "Set-Up Diagram" (images/6e-rules-setup-diagram.jpg) and the 7e rulebook pp. 8-9 (images/7e-rules-setup-2-8-players.jpg). CONFIRMED as printed; interpretation of the letter labels is LIKELY (verify exact wording in the rules text).

General procedure (from period rules summaries): boards are shuffled/randomly rotated under the table and laid out in the configuration for the player count; each player is assigned the sector containing their home star.

Configurations:

• 2 players: 2 sectors stacked in a 1x2 column (5 wide x 10 tall). Edge labels: top sector {top A, left C, right B}; bottom sector {left B, right C, bottom A}. Matching letters are wraparound-connected: walking off opening A at the top re-enters at opening A at the bottom; the top sector's right opening (B) connects to the bottom sector's left opening (B), etc. The 7e rules also show a "two player variant" (B'/C') with the pairings swapped straight-across.
• 3 players: stair/L shape — one sector on the top row (offset right), two on the bottom row. Convex outer openings pair by letter; at the concave corner, the two openings that face the notch are joined by an "Aisle Warp" (drawn as an arc around the corner — stepping out one opening brings you around the corner into the other).
• 4 players: 2x2 square (10x10 spaces). Wraparound is straight across: left-edge openings A,B pair with right-edge openings A,B on the same rows; top C,D pair with bottom C,D on the same columns.
• 5 players: plus/cross shape (4 arms + center). Requires 2 sets (i.e., more than 4 boards). Opposite arm tips wrap to each other (A-A top/bottom, B-B left/right); arrows in the diagram show the concave corner openings warping around the corners.
• 6 players: 3x2 rectangle. Requires 2 sets. Straight-across wrap: top A,B,C to bottom A,B,C; left D,E to right D,E.
• 7 players (7e rulebook): pinwheel arrangement of 7 sectors with aisle-warp arcs around the notches.
• 8 players (7e rulebook): two printed options — a large cross (doubled arms), or a 2x4 rectangle with straight-across wrap.
• "Relocate Sector" spell card can move a whole sector during play; the rulebooks show a resulting offset/staggered configuration and how edges reconnect afterward.

Line-of-sight examples printed beside the 7e diagrams confirm: LOS is blocked by walls and by board-edge except through the wrap connections (wrap-connected openings are treated as adjacent).

5. Expansion boards summary

Product	Era	Boards added
Expansion Set #1 (Jolly Games 1985 / Chessex 1994 reprint)	4th/5th/6th ed.	+2 sector boards (the 2 extra layouts among the six above)
Expansion Set #2	5th/6th ed.	none (cards/tokens only)
7th ed. "Classic Edition" (1997)	—	base has 4 boards; no separate board expansion found
8th ed. (FFG 2012)	redesign	4 double-sided sector boards (one side "classic" layout, one side new), still one home + two treasure spaces per sector
8e: Malefic Curses (2013)	FFG	+1 sector board + portals (enables 5th player)
8e: Bestial Forces (2014)	FFG	none (monsters/spells)

6. What still needs the physical 6th-edition copy

1. Door verification on Layouts D and F (photo quality), and a general once-over of all six ASCII maps against the real tiles (the machine read is high-confidence but the photos are ~1024 px scans of hand-drawn art).
2. Which 4 layouts are in the base box (if the owner's copy is base-only, whichever 4 they have answers it; the other 2 are Expansion Set #1's).
3. Exact rulebook wording for: treasure-space setup, wraparound/aisle-warp movement and LOS, sector assignment, and the 2-player variant.
4. Physical dimensions of a sector board, and whether the backs are blank.
5. Any errata sheet in the box (the 5th edition shipped one).