I know that this may well be a relative question, but I am about to begin work on a scenic table for the Battle of Maldon/Anglo-Saxons in the tenth century. What size would others recommend? Having nevef actually played with 10s I haven't got a clue!
How many units in your armies? work out the length of your battle line and add a foot either side. Personally I like huge tables as I have a lot of cavalry armies
My local club has 6' by 4' tables, so that's the size I work to.
Allows two or three 1870 corps a side at a squash!
8' x 4' for me: the extra width gives more scope for maneuver.
Figure size is perhaps one of the lesser deteriming factors for table size. the rule set, figure ratio, ground scale and size of the battle will probably have a greater bearing. 6' x 4' is probably the closest we get to a standard table size. Dark Age (or Early Medieval if you prefer) battles were generally quite small affairs and the armies tended to start fairly close together so you could use a much smaller table (or really large units)
Go for the best fit in your available room. You never know when you might want to do 28s or naval games etc. If I need a smaller size than the table (eg. a Peter Pig 5'x3') I use masking tape to mark up the edges.
I'd agree with NTM that rules - particularly ranges and move distances - are the chief arbiters of table-size. You can fight a reasonably large WW2 battle on a 4 x 4 table in 10mm, mainly because the forces are spread out. Conflicts with large unit-frontages demand more room. The other factor that governs width is how far can you reach across the surface - about 3 feet for those of us without simian builds - so not more than 6 feet wide.
My own table is 8' x 4' for a number of reasons: a) it's the standard size of a builders' sheet of chipboard, b) it fits the room, c) I can reach the centre without difficulty, and d) better to have too much room than too little. You can always restrict the playing area on a large table; adding to a small one is much more difficult.
I built a 6 x 9 table. I also, added industrial casters to the legs so I can move it out of the way.
The bigger the better - Size matters!!!!
When DBM was all the rage we used Irregular Miniatures 6mm figures. These come in blocks and to save the mucin about and time cutting blocks we used a 30mm frontage. This obviously made the army frontage 25% smaller tan a usual DBM army. This gave you open flanks which was much more realistic as you had to try and find somewhere to anchor your flanks too - particuarly if the opponent had more units or more cavalry. THis gave much better and more realistic games
So with this in mind I wouold go for the widest you can depth is less of a problem wioth 10mm and you can get away with 3 foot.
I only have space for a 4x4 table in my spare room, which so far has proven adequate for all my 10mm stuff (BKC and warmaster 2000pts) as well as my 28mm skirmish games like Mordheim and others like Dystopian wars etc.
I use the dining room table , wich is 180 x 95 (in centimeter that is :P ), and it works for me. Little bit close from edge to edge, but wide enough for long fronts :D
Also fun for 'corridor gaming'. Use the table from short edge to short edge to make long battlefields, perfect for battles on 'hell's highway' ;)
Size does matter but it also depends on the gamer(s). For quick and dirty 28mm clashes i use my 80(?) cm round kitchen table.
I prefer covered tables with lots of terrain. The smaller the scale of the figures the more room for maneuvre you get.
6' x 4' works perfectly well for me.
Hi there
I'm in the lucky position to have a 10' x 5' table. But I think the average size is 6' x 4', but whatever size table you use the most important thing is to scale the forces down to the size of the table you're using.
Take care
Andy
Some very sound advice from forum members. I have decided on 6 by 4 as my initial set up. I want the table to double for two periods, dark age England (played with a modified Hail Caeser rule set) and Flodden field (though I haven't thought of a rule set for that yet, any suggestions?), considering that plenty of battles went on around that area. I plan to cut my teeth on the Saxons I ordered before getting my hands on at least 4 packs of Flodden Scots/English to complete a project in the conflict's 500th anniversary. I wa t scale and huge armies with thousands of models a side!
For Flodden you might consider Pike and Shotte, Impetus, FOG R, or any sets specifically written for the Italian Wars period, eg.Virtue 'Gainst Fury or Maximillian. Poleaxed, the Wars of the Roses rules, would also work well for Flodden.
Yep - you can't go far wrong with 6x4 or thereabouts really , I reckon :)
Trying to pick up a 6mm tank in the middle of an 8ft wide table, soon see that too much width is NOT a good thing.
If you can access all sides the 6x what ever is OK, otherwise it needs to be no more than 5ft wide, and that's if my size (almost 6ft with ape like arms) ;) ;).
IanS
Also depends on how you're going to build your table. The point about 8 x 4 is that the boards come ready cut. A good timber shop will cut them to size, but they may charge you for the whole board. If, on the other hand, you're going to make the playing surface up from smaller modules (a mate of mine used 4 x 2 decorators' folding tables) you can use whatever multiples you choose.
Scale will obviously make a massive difference but, at 10mm, I like 8x4 because it allows more opportunity to manouevre.
Today i had an interesting talk with the wife. We were in a DIY store getting stuff for the garden (i'm getting the terrace done), and i was looking at some garden sheds. She said that when all is done (mind you that would be a year or 2, as we are doing it in bits, saving a little then get some materials, saving again, etc..) i can have a shed for my wargaming needs :D :D :D
So i'm already asking myself the same question (and working at the double-quick to get the work done :P )
Sure it's not a trick to get the terrace done quicker? Women are tricky that way.
Quote from: fsn on 31 August 2013, 08:52:05 PM
Sure it's not a trick to get the terrace done quicker? Women are tricky that way.
Nope, because she knows i will never shut up about it now :D
It's actually a compromise. I want to move because we don't have enough room. She doesn't want to move. Sooooo she lets me make my 'room'
Quote from: petercooman on 31 August 2013, 08:45:07 PM
She said that when all is done (mind you that would be a year or 2, as we are doing it in bits, saving a little then get some materials, saving again, etc..) i can have a shed for my wargaming needs
Yep did similar - you can see the result below
http://www.flickr.com/photos/zippee/sets/72157633554453675/
best of luck!
Quote from: Zippee on 31 August 2013, 10:33:12 PM
Yep did similar - you can see the result below
http://www.flickr.com/photos/zippee/sets/72157633554453675/
That is awesome :-bd
Wow, that's quite something. :)
:o :D
Quote from: Zippee on 31 August 2013, 10:33:12 PM
Yep did similar - you can see the result below
http://www.flickr.com/photos/zippee/sets/72157633554453675/
best of luck!
Wow Zippy, that is amazing! Love the pictures, now can we have the book? Did the structure pre-exist, or did you have it custom made? How long did it take? Any tips for the unwary?
Mollinary
Quote from: mollinary on 01 September 2013, 11:59:36 AM
Wow Zippy, that is amazing! Love the pictures, now can we have the book? Did the structure pre-exist, or did you have it custom made? How long did it take? Any tips for the unwary?
Mollinary
Let me illustrate the before, during and after:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/zippee/sets/72157633554453675/
Pretty much a self build, took longer than planned due to some family problems, weekend working took 3 years for two of us.
Tips?
Check your planning - I built in block and brick because that way I can go to the edge of my property line, in timber you need to leave a metre fire break either side. I elected a flat sloped roof because that kept height to below 3 metres and thus meant I didn't need planning permission (this changes with locality, so check). Total cost for garden and shed came to some £6k - fully half of which are the doors! Remember you can have power but not water - that makes it residential and you'll need planning permission (hence the external pipe stand) - power and data cables run under the right-hand bed.
Most important, plan what you want, stick with it don't make changes on the fly, that is expensive and time consuming. My wife and I sketched this out on a napkin in a bar on Tenerife and it's pretty much identical to that original outline - you can see the rest http://www.flickr.com/photos/zippee/sets/72157633554741029/
Hope that's of assistance, it was a lot of effort but well worth it
Thanks for the kind words, always happy to open the doors to anyone in the East London area - just pm me :D
Thanks Zippee, a real work of art. If it is not an impertinent question, how large is the room, and how big is the table within it?
Mollinary
Quote from: mollinary on 01 September 2013, 01:01:39 PM
Thanks Zippee, a real work of art. If it is not an impertinent question, how large is the room, and how big is the table within it?
Mollinary
No problem, and thanks - we're pleased with the look.
The room is actually not square (the rear property line slopes dramatically). The width is c5.5m and depth 4.2m on the right, 5.5 on the left. overall it's over 28sqm. The table in the photos was my temporary 8'x4' - now replaced with two matching 6'x4' which usually sit together as an 8'x6' still with plenty of manoeuvre room around it. We quite frequently have 8-9 round the table for RPGs and it's never felt cramped. Mind you having the fan on and the doors fully open has been essential this summer!
WE are pleased with the look: you have some lady there :)
I'm planning a 12 or 16 m² workshop/playing/storage room.
I'm a lucky man.