tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2839601747923375105.post2528429559207551578..comments2024-03-19T03:26:09.398-03:00Comments on Battle Game of the Month: Does size matter?Ross Mac rmacfa@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04053555991679802013noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2839601747923375105.post-13091057865897355632010-11-10T17:19:21.803-04:002010-11-10T17:19:21.803-04:00Thanks, Cesar. Unfortunately underneath the table ...Thanks, Cesar. Unfortunately underneath the table is already fully used for storage and the ceiling is very low (it is upstairs in a 150 yr old farm house). But that reminds me that I will lose some of that storage area when I make the table smaller. Something else to consider.<br /><br />I agree that a crowded table with no room to manouver is less fun.Ross Mac rmacfa@gmail.comhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04053555991679802013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2839601747923375105.post-62405068173801772662010-11-10T10:34:03.297-04:002010-11-10T10:34:03.297-04:00Hi Ross, I think you probably have more options. P...Hi Ross, I think you probably have more options. Perhaps you could store something under the table, or 80/90cm. over it. For me the relationship between the size of the table and the numbers of soldiers is critical. A cramped game for me has no fun. Try to keep your table as large as you can.<br />César.Cesar Pazhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10667136720001247288noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2839601747923375105.post-57228911437459522022010-11-08T16:05:49.002-04:002010-11-08T16:05:49.002-04:00Thanks to all for the comments so far.
Fitz-B. Y...Thanks to all for the comments so far. <br /><br />Fitz-B. Yes I've been revisiting the Maj-Gen over the last while. He's crammed some marvelous games onto that dining room table! <br /><br />Steve. You are spot on about flat surfaces accumulating "things" I thought the pendulum of basing was bad enough....<br /><br />Jeff. Good points sir. I had forgotten or perhaps never noticed that your table was 5 ft across. Sort of says a lot doesn't it. btw saw some nice glass fronted cabinets on sale in used store here. They would have looked good across the end.<br /><br />S-W, hmm smaller than the old been-there dreams maybe.<br /><br />John, That's a familiar waffle, I feel almost embarrassed when I am forced to concede to myself that I no longer have any real desire to recreate the great battles of history in any meaningful sense. Who knows if that desire will come back and in what form? Would sure make writing rules easier if I was clear in the desired end result!<br /><br />Tim. I think designing games to fit my chosen space will be a key factor,Ross Mac rmacfa@gmail.comhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04053555991679802013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2839601747923375105.post-31660336833868265902010-11-08T11:05:13.756-04:002010-11-08T11:05:13.756-04:00I've gone for the ease and comfort option with...I've gone for the ease and comfort option with a permanent 6x3.5 ft table and I now tend to design games which will fot on this area. I can extend this by moving my modelling table (a blue formica-topped 3x2 ft monstrosity my parents bought new in 1964) and again by bringing a folding 6x3.5 up from the garage.<br />As to your original question, clearly there are as many answers as there are wargamers!<br />TimTim Gowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00561988214539953646noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2839601747923375105.post-9191446320709306382010-11-08T10:12:38.475-04:002010-11-08T10:12:38.475-04:00Hi Ross,
I use three 2.5 x 6-ft folding tables now...Hi Ross,<br />I use three 2.5 x 6-ft folding tables now, giving me a fair-sized battlefield; but now find that I keep second-guessing myself. Should I reduce it to 2 tables 5 x 6? It is easier to fill with terrain and troops, more closely matches most published scenarios, etc. Hell, I can't even make a final decision if I want to focus more on skirmish scale or maneuver battalions, so I am re-basing my troops to try to support either option.<br /><br />In light of such waffling, it seems like flexibility might be a prime consideration, hence an expandable table. That's my two cents and worth at least half.<br /><br />Good gaming.<br />JohnThe Ferrymenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07741552972862333515noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2839601747923375105.post-9560523774426229102010-11-08T09:39:17.690-04:002010-11-08T09:39:17.690-04:00Option C/. for me - any other choice (than a/.) wo...Option C/. for me - any other choice (than a/.) would mean a wargaming table smaller in size than your dreams.... :o)Steve-the-Wargamerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07077311120172727690noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2839601747923375105.post-31496619199375070512010-11-08T08:35:55.210-04:002010-11-08T08:35:55.210-04:00Ross,
As you know I'm fortunate enough to hav...Ross,<br /><br />As you know I'm fortunate enough to have a very large gameroom . . . and I have enough space to have a 6' wide table . . . but I don't. I have a 5' wide table.<br /><br />Why?<br /><br />Because my arms aren't long enough to comfortably reach the middle of a 6' table . . . particularly while sitting down. And keep in might the fact that terrain and troops can interfere with how far one can reach.<br /><br />Let me suggest to you, sir, that comfort . . . both for reaching over and moving around . . . will become more important to you as time goes on than having the biggest (uncomfortable) table possible.<br /><br />You can always make battles fit either by reducing unit sizes or movement rates . . . you can't grow longer arms or cause your friends to become thinner.<br /><br />I hope these comments help . . . remember, my friend, that we aren't growing younger even though we still play with toy soldiers.<br /><br /><br />-- JeffBluebear Jeffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05171345165563779232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2839601747923375105.post-19158774591368853602010-11-08T02:56:18.605-04:002010-11-08T02:56:18.605-04:00A perennial puzzle :-) After many years of trying...A perennial puzzle :-) After many years of trying to fit the biggest table I can into the space available, I'm currently in a phase of sacrificing some square feet for the greater comfort of being able to circumnavigate freely, with less stretching and bodily contortion and less risk of elbowing/nudging the scenery.<br /><br />I don't know yet whether this is a permanent settlement or another of those cyclical things.<br /><br />I make a 7 x 5 table in the garage by laying two 3.5 x 5 sheets of MDF over a 6 x 3 retired dining-table. I don't leave it up permanently however, as it soon gets covered with non-wargaming stuff; it's as easy to assemble it when required as it would be to clear a permanent table of debris.<br /><br />I'm keeping an eye out for a second-hand table tennis table (9 x 5); I used to have one and would feel comfortable reviving that solution. Nonetheless, I can see the benefits of a squarer table, as proposed by CG; it does have a different psychology.<br /><br />Best of luck with the experiments.Steve Gillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00784652695519954845noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2839601747923375105.post-50138008382861873062010-11-07T23:54:57.484-04:002010-11-07T23:54:57.484-04:00I don't have a lot of psace to leave a table u...I don't have a lot of psace to leave a table up all the time. I use 28mm figures, have reduced unit sizes to 8 figues for line infantry, 6 cavalry, and use an expandable table that expands out to 40 inches by 6 feet. I'm happy with that. Sure, it doesn't have the epic look of big battalions (no cast of thousands). But I am able to paint enough miniatures in a reasonable amount of time (I'm not a fast painter), they don't take as much space for storage, and I have fewer pieces to move during a game, so I can finish a game in a reasonable amount of time and collapse the table when I'm done.<br />As far as scenary goes I've been exploring the idea of "flats", like the mountains in Major-General Rederring's site, small footprints for buildings and such. So the ground scale can be "telescoped" or foreshortened.Fitz-Badgerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15510866929782142007noreply@blogger.com