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This is Dan, Co-host of Dice Like Thunder podcast. I’m doing a bit of research on upcoming show topics and a 5+ show series on gaming tables. It will probably start in episode #105.

It would be more than simply us chatting about stuff (we do enough of that already). The plan is to take advantage of ustream and give everyone a "how to" show on game table design and construction.
I'd like to hear from you guys on exactly what you like in game tables so I can come up with a good design;

What size game table do you guys like to play on; 4x4, 4x6, 4x8, or large enough to have an apocalypse game on?

Storage; do you want to see a table that can be broken down for storage or a permanent table that can’t be moved?

Do you like a basic flat surface with movable terrain or a table with permanent terrain that’s been sculpted in but looks friggin awesome?

What kind of surface do you like to game on; flat with only paint, textured with sand, or a softer flock surface?

What kind of added features would be nice; added storage, a built in dice tray, folding legs, raised edges (to keep the dice from scattering off the table), a drink holder, a built in turn counter, etc.....?

So we know how elaborate to make these plans, how much money are you willing to spend to build the following types of home built game tables;
basic playing surface with no terrain?
a folding table with a full sized playing surface?
a custom table with a “work of art” playing surface and all the upgrade options you can think of?

If we put out a pdf with instructions; on a scale from 1 to 10, how complicated can you accept the plans being?

4x6 is standard size for the game, and I feel awkward playing on anything smaller. Anything bigger is usually sectioned off to make it 4x6. Apocalypse could be played with two tables. Skirmish-games (Malifaux, Infinity) could be played by sectioning off the table. It'd be cool if you have a built-in method of sectioning off a 3x3 potion of the 4x6 table. Also, please try to avoid the line-down-the-center folding problem as it gives too much of an advantage for games that do not allow premeasurement (and things fall in the crack).

Personally, I prefer sculpted boards if only that they look awesome. Of course, as a my-first-table.pdf, a flat surface is the best and most recommended choice.

The surface should be rough and have low friction. Flat looks boring. Too much texture makes placement of terrain and models odd. Too little friction (or coefficient of) of the surface and terrain/models will fall and be bumped around making gaming difficult. Also, don't make it too bouncy, I want to roll dice.

Add an area where you can store models for Reserves and pre-deployment placement. The mere existence of the scatter dice means that rolling on the table should be allowed. No need for a die-roll tray.

Make the plans cater to a variety of builders. Have a "luxury" option under each major instruction header for those that want to spend extra money for reinforcement or prettiness.

No folding table.

Make the plans are elaborate as you wish. I personally love complexity. Perhaps you can have descriptive headers for each section and a small summary for the damn-the-instructions tl;dr people.

---

Finally, a consideration would be a "modular" table. Example: Make a 4x6 "frame" where you place several modules for the terrain. Then you can place several pieces in that frame in any arrangement desired.

I can take the 2x2 "Downtown" frame and put it all the way on the left with four less-dense 1x1 "City" tiles around it. The right could be filled with 2x1 and 1x1 modules of forest.
If desired, the board could be arranged with the city in the middle. Or perhaps you want to use the beach tiles.

Max the Dog wrote:

What size game table do you guys like to play on; 4x4, 4x6, 4x8, or large enough to have an apocalypse game on?

I like tables that can break down from 4x8 to 4x4. I rarely play on 4x8 but it's nice to have an extra section or two on modular tables for variety.

Max the Dog wrote:Storage; do you want to see a table that can be broken down for storage or a permanent table that can’t be moved?

Something that can fold out of the way is ideal, but it doesn't need to collapse down into a suitcase or anything.

Max the Dog wrote: Do you like a basic flat surface with movable terrain or a table with permanent terrain that’s been sculpted in but looks friggin awesome?

I like a mix of both. A textured modular table with enough space to give you plenty of leeway with separate terrain pieces is my ideal.

Max the Dog wrote: What kind of surface do you like to game on; flat with only paint, textured with sand, or a softer flock surface?

Textured. Flat with paint is usually pretty crappy to look at and soft flock doesn't usually wear very well. No-one like bald hills.

Max the Dog wrote: What kind of added features would be nice; added storage, a built in dice tray, folding legs, raised edges (to keep the dice from scattering off the table), a drink holder, a built in turn counter, etc.....?

None of these are really necessary. An area to roll dice and put casualties/reserves would be ideal. The rest is either fluff or ties in to the whole permanent/storable issue. Durability is most important IMO.

Max the Dog wrote: So we know how elaborate to make these plans, how much money are you willing to spend to build the following types of home built game tables;
basic playing surface with no terrain?
a folding table with a full sized playing surface?
a custom table with a “work of art” playing surface and all the upgrade options you can think of?

To build it myself? I'd probably expect to spend around $300, but that's with an intricate urban theme in mind with plenty of pre-made components that I've been picking out. I wouldn't want to spend more than $100 on a solid modular gaming table, and there's really no need to do so unless you're also buying tools to make it that you didn't own before. You'd probably have to stretch to break $50 unless you're making it out of hardwood.

Max the Dog wrote:If we put out a pdf with instructions; on a scale from 1 to 10, how complicated can you accept the plans being?

10 I guess. Only because I'd be interested to see how complicated you could possibly make plans for a table.

Well I dont play any games larger scale than warmachine so 4x4 is great for me. mine is actually 4x5 cause we need somewhere for books, cards, dead guys, and drinks.
For me a collapsible table is a must, I dont have room to have a gaming table up in my home 24/7 so it needs to fold up and slide under the bed. If i did have a permanent table it would be nice to have storage for terrain, army cases, or at least tape measures, dice and cards.
The awesome sculpted tables are the dream but they arent practical unless you have several and can rotate them and not let things get stale. for one table movable terrain is ideal.
I detest rough surfaces on tables like rocks or coarse sand. You just know one of those larger or unbalanced models is going to tip over and when it dose I want mine falling over on a somewhat soft surface. My table currently has a swatch of green canvas secured to the top that offers at least a little padding and a fine texture as well.

First off, big fan of your podcast, been listening since... well since a long ass time.

I like a 4x6 for normal battles, two or three of those pushed together for apocalypse battles. The terrain should be moveable but it needn't be a modular set of tiles or anything. Just hills that can be moved etcetera.

I play a very European style board terrain wise, lots of it and it's BIG. I like hive city boards with impassable LOS blocking terrain. Makes for lots of interesting strategy and cuts down alpha strike if you're careful.

I like 4' x 8' tables.

An extra shelf underneath is a nice place to put figure cases and books. Casualties too.

Sculpted tables are nice for tournaments or showpiece games but unless you have unlimited storage space movable terrain is the way to go. We cover the table with a flocked battlemat and then add hills, rocks, trees, etc. as needed.

I think that something like this table is pretty much the Olympus of game tables in my eyes. Looks so damn good that you will not mind playing over the same 6 sections for the rest of your life

Add in a few bits and pieces of themed terrain and you can have really fantastic looking battles. Plus it all folds away into the original RoBB case for ease of storage.

Plus it is pretty easy to add in more sections as time and money permits. Even some sections you have made yourself.

I like to play on 6x4 but also love playing on massive tables with friends for fun...

Love the Pod Cast, really funny and enjoyable.

jim

I'm a big fan of moduler tabels, something that I can make be a 3x3, 4x4 or 4x6 table would be awsome.

Most people who don't have a separate games room probably play on their dining room table. These are usually about 4x6 feet or slightly smaller -- you can put a plywood board on top of course -- which is why this size or smaler is the standard for most tabletop (duh) games.

The best table is the largest one you can fit in the space available, get around the edges easily and still lean over and reach to the middle without bashing the models on top of it. If the table is bigger than 4x6 you don't have to use all of it.

My preferred terrain is a mat with moveable pieces on top. This gives maximum flexibility to set up different sorts of battlefields.

I love the kind of detailed fixed tables people do for show games, but they are a lot of work and get dull to play on every time.

Catyrpelius wrote:I'm a big fan of moduler tabels, something that I can make be a 3x3, 4x4 or 4x6 table would be awsome.

So far this is one of the ideas I've got planned. A modular table built using 4 sections of 2'x4' hardboard that can be used to make a 4x4, 4x6, or 4x8. It's far more practical for people who live in apartments. In later episodes we'll do a permanent table.

Rich and I are doing a test build this weekend of a plan with a target cost of $35 (or about as much as a box of marines). If it works we'll build another live on ustream in episode #105.

Hi Dave, love the show.

My preferences on :

6x4 table (it's been standard for many games for several decades now).
Able to be broken down for easy storage.

Do you like a basic flat surface with movable terrain or a table with permanent terrain that’s been sculpted in but looks friggin awesome?

I like a flat table, but if it is possible to put 'subsurface' details in that do not rise above the surface, that is also good - like rivers/canals. Then hills and other surface features can be added with different pieces.
I've played on everything from bare dining tables to sculpted sand-pit tables over the years. Some texture is good (anything that stops stuff skidding over the surface is good.) - Too much or too rough a texture is bad.).
Modular layout (dovetails with break-down for storage).
Scale of 1-10: 8. I've been doing this stuff a while. What might be difficult for some is just barely on the hard side for me.

Modular. Collapsible. And if you are really going for complexity, then make it out of toothpicks or popsicle sticks, lol.

Play on 4x8, 4x6, For apocalypse 8x8.


Most of my tables have been permanent and a place i can place my armies on display while not playing.


Moveable terrain (buildings, forests, ect), but sculpted rivers, hills, trenches



A texture surface made with sand. Roads are not textured.


Dice trays, cup holds on the on the side of the board. Something really nice is to have a basic 4x6 table that can fold into a 4x8. So you have one foot seconds on each end that can be propped up.


basic playing surface with no terrain? - 10 bucks
a folding table with a full sized playing surface? 30
a custom table with a “work of art” playing surface and all the upgrade options you can think of? 60

If we put out a pdf with instructions; on a scale from 1 to 10, how complicated can you accept the plans being?

5. Making tables are pretty easy.

Max the Dog wrote:So far this is one of the ideas I've got planned. A modular table built using 4 sections of 2'x4' hardboard that can be used to make a 4x4, 4x6, or 4x8. It's far more practical for people who live in apartments.

So you're going for a flat table, then? If you're going to sculpt anything permanent, I'd suggest halving your sections. 6-2'x2' sections is a LOT more flexible than 3-2'x4' ones, unless your only concern is surface area and shape. Plus, 2'x2' is enough room to make big, impressive terrain features (big ol' hill, huge building, etc.) on a tile or two and simpler terrain sculpts on a few other, while allowing flatter tiles to be swapped in when you want killing fields or room for your modular/scatter terrain. It's also a much more manageable size when throwing together replacement/expansion tiles.

The basic 3-section flat job you're suggesting is great for the impoverished apartment-set among us, but if it's just 3 sections of hardboard with a grass mat or some paint thrown on top, someone who can't figure it out themselves is going to need more than a .pdf to remedy that. If you want to strike a middle ground between truly awesome, fantastically helpful, and totally feasible then you'd design a 4'x6' collapsible (at least in 2 sections that lock together for play) frame tabletop (to sit on the dining room table, sawhorses, a fold-up table, etc., possibly with plans for an optional and permanent under-table support and storage unit, for those with dedicated gaming space) to hold modular terrain tiles (I think 2'x2' is best for general setup, but if those work, nothing is stopping you from swapping 2 of them out for a 2'x4'), all for under $100 (I'm talking the whole deal, here - lumber, fasteners, adhesives, foam (foam topped tiles can be sculpted up or down ), etc. as well as paint, flock, sand, and all the finishing supplies. Plywood and its kin have gotten pricey, but not that pricey). If you can devise a cheap and effective rail system for (re)movable casualty trays, cupholders, etc. then I think I've found a new god.

A tall order, I know, but shoot for the stars and all that. I also apologize for all the parentheticals. While proofreading I realized that, in the quest for clarity, I made a 6-line sentence. Still, I think a point-by-point is the clearest method.

I've been working on an 'ultimate table design' for a while now, so I'll give you my input:

1) Most people don't have a dedicated games room, so the table either comes out of storage on game days or is a board to go on top of the dining table.
2) As others have said, 4x6, possibly 4x8 to give extra room for graveyards.
3) Definitely a lip around the board
4) Flat, Lightly textured with either sand or flock. If you do go with sculpted boards, have them in 2x2' sections as this gives maximum versatility. The realm of battle board is the ideal style of scenery you want on a board. (in fact, the ROB is awesome in every way except that it costs 5x what it should)
5) I prefer to have some kind of shelf for off-ground storage. I would like a built-in turn counter / VP tracker but I can cope without.

Ultimately, the bit getting me very stuck with my design is that I don't think all of my requirements can possibly be fulfilled, as I would also like:
6) Storage space underneath the table to fit terrain - ideally this would be 2' wide (so you can store full gameboards in there) or as a compromise, 2' tall.
7) Drawer to store dice and rules
8) Cupholders
9) Folding table such that when folded it can be rolled through a standard doorway (6'6" tall and 2'6" wide), deploys to be 6'x4', and further extends to 8'x4'.
My current design basically finds the major restriction to be the width of the doorway: it comes to 6'5" wide, which doesn't give a lot of room for error in my construction or the construction of the house; and no possibility at all to get around any kind of corner. Another very similar design manges to be a few inches thinner but adds another problem of having annoyingly placed dividing lines on the tabletop.
I would be fine with an 11 on the scale of difficulty, but that may have to do with my shed being a fully kitted workshop with every variety of power tool known to man.


I did a post in the tutorial section at one stage of me creating a realm-of-battle style board for about 20% the cost of GW's one; unfortunately i've moved house since i made it and my brother kept it so I don't have any photos of it finished. If you look at my gallery you'll also see some of the designs of my 'ultimate table'

I have been designing a general purpose gaming table for a while now. My goals are

1. 6'x4' table top surface. We play Warhammer 40k primarily, and we currently use three 2'x4' foam sections placed on top of my kitchen table.

2. The table top should be smooth. I don't want a rough table top because I want this table to be used for board games as well.

3. Standard table height. This is a bit of a tricky situation. For normal gaming, I want to be able to comfortably sit around the table, but for wargaming we are usually standing and a standard table is a bit low.

4. Leg room underneath. I like the idea of storage underneath, but I have enough shelves for terrain and such that it's not needed. I want to be able to site at the table without banging my shins into a shelf.

5. Drawers or sliding platforms for rulebooks, models, drinks.

Nice to have:

6. Cup holders

7. Lip around the edge of the table to prevent dice from rolling off

8. Fold up for storage


My current plan is a 6x4 table at about 31" tall. It will have two ~3' long x 8" wide x 4" deep drawers on each side for storage. I will be using a pair of folding table legs, so I will be able to fold it up for storage. The table top will likely be covered in polyurethane. I was considering felt, but the possibility of spilt drinks makes the hard coat more appealing. Then if I want a textured board for wargaming, I can continue using the foam we currently have, or I can create a new one piece foam board to lay across the top. That will also solve the height issue.