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I'm curious as to what people would want out of a gaming table - I'm planning to make one for my home, and am giving thought to making some and selling them if I enjoy it!

My current goal is:

1: Storage, to keep your scenery & such in
2: Modular, so you're not stuck with a 6x4 lump in your room all the time, and can have bigger or smaller tables easily
3: Under-edge storage for books, reserves etc.

My goal is to make this work for 40k and for D&D as well. What else would you lot want from a gaming table?

 some bloke wrote:
I'm curious as to what people would want out of a gaming table - I'm planning to make one for my home, and am giving thought to making some and selling them if I enjoy it!

My current goal is:

1: Storage, to keep your scenery & such in
2: Modular, so you're not stuck with a 6x4 lump in your room all the time, and can have bigger or smaller tables easily
3: Under-edge storage for books, reserves etc.

My goal is to make this work for 40k and for D&D as well. What else would you lot want from a gaming table?

Multi purpose, or as an addon to a different multipurpose table.

Ability to get out of the way when not in use. I'd rather store scenery on a shelf or in a closet with a table that will fold up out of the way I think.

lowered pull out boards. Somewhere you can store drinks / food that is lower then the stuff you do not want to pour drinks and food on XD... maybe extra room for big games like TI or Mega-civ.

 Type40 wrote:
lowered pull out boards. Somewhere you can store drinks / food that is lower then the stuff you do not want to pour drinks and food on XD... maybe extra room for big games like TI or Mega-civ.

Man, I'd rather spill coffee and chili on my table than on my carpet. A coffee or chili stain on the table might even make it look better and more varied. No way is it making carpet look better.

Breton wrote:

 Type40 wrote:
lowered pull out boards. Somewhere you can store drinks / food that is lower then the stuff you do not want to pour drinks and food on XD... maybe extra room for big games like TI or Mega-civ.

Man, I'd rather spill coffee and chili on my table than on my carpet. A coffee or chili stain on the table might even make it look better and more varied. No way is it making carpet look better.

Lol, where as I do not have a carpet but some of my board games are worth 400 euro+ and my wargaming mat and terrain is easily 300+ ... or mtg cards,,,, oh god...

I personally pick my floor... but I guess if you have a nice carpet... i understand...

Conclusion...
Peoples tables will have different needs depending on their games, floors and etc. XD ...


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Is it still common to have carpeted floor where you are ? that has been out of fashion here for decades . Just curious ?

Lightweight and foldable, but rigid and stable when set up, and size adjustable.

I use 2 6x2 1/2 fold up tables side by side.

Easy to store and carry. Can stick the proper size play mat on them. Useful for other applications.

In addition to pretty much everything above... to expand on the pull out trays? Pull out drawers.
Not just as a storage option, but you can have one as a dedicated dice tray (I'd have this on one of the short sides so that it's within easy reach and visibility of both players).

 Super Ready wrote:
In addition to pretty much everything above... to expand on the pull out trays? Pull out drawers.
Not just as a storage option, but you can have one as a dedicated dice tray (I'd have this on one of the short sides so that it's within easy reach and visibility of both players).

I like the idea of a dedicated dice rolling drawer for both players to use, it's always such a pain finding a good spot on the table to roll a bucket of dice!

If you are building a custom table and it sounds like its going to be a fixed table with storage, not a fold away, then there's a few thoughts:

1) Make sure the table is bigger than the board size you need to play on. Within the restrictions of the room its going into of course. Having extra space around the table allows you to have room for cards, killed models, books, reference sheets, dice trays and other accessories and such.

2) Keep the top layer simple. If you go with loads of custom raised edges and all manner of fancy things you might shoot yourself in the foot. For example if you consider point 1 then the table will have a lot of free space around the edge, sometimes you might well use that for games going larger than normal. That's dead easy to do if its a simple top; harder if you've got loads of raised lip edges all over the place. If you want to do segmented sections then consider making them optional dropdown trays that you can otherwise store underneath the table.

3) Raised edge - yeah I know what I just said above, but for the actual full edge of the table consider a raised lip edge. This just helps keep cards/sheets/dice/tokens on the table and not flying off the sides.

4) Disabled access. Might not be important in your circle of friends or might be - depends on your situation but if its a consideration don't forget it.

5) Height. It wants to be tall enough that you're not stooping over for the entire game. I assume you'll stand to play so do spend a while working out a good comfortable height, chances are its much higher than you think.

6) Leg space. Even if you are not sitting at the table, if you are gaming then consider that your legs will want to go under the edge, so do keep this in mind when designing under-table storage options.

7) Removable/extendable top. Depending on the complexity/skill, and the size of the room consider having different top options. If you've a big enough room you could use some additional stack stands and really make the table huge for an apoc game; or cut it down for smaller more regular games. Remember the more you go down this path the more storage space you need. If you've a large room you could just have different tops that you lift up and slot down to swap them over so they could be stored on one of the wall sides; or you might make it so that segments slip under the table and can be brought out and added to the end; with optional feet attachments so that its always got proper support.

8) Storage under the table is a great thing, esp for terrain. Keep it simple though. Lots of draws and cupboards can be really fancy, but each one eats up more space with more wood for dividers and sliders. It also locks you in more and more to what you can and cannot put inside easily. So do keep in mind the practicalities of it. Plus if you've got overhang consider that draws might not be ideal since if they are at the top the overhang would get in the way of accessing the interior of a draw. Plus having more open storage space means you can store larger things like terrain features and such which might otherwise be a pain to store elsewhere.

Breton wrote:

 Type40 wrote:
lowered pull out boards. Somewhere you can store drinks / food that is lower then the stuff you do not want to pour drinks and food on XD... maybe extra room for big games like TI or Mega-civ.

Man, I'd rather spill coffee and chili on my table than on my carpet. A coffee or chili stain on the table might even make it look better and more varied. No way is it making carpet look better.

Chili would never stay on our floor long enough to stain - the dog would see to that.
He seems to have a 6th sense for anything descending past the edge of a table. Especially anything edible. And he loves gaming night so he'd be close by. So an overweight Aredale would streak into the room & probably inhale the chili out of mid-air. It'd be a sight.


My ideal gaming table involves Star Trek HoloDeck tech.

I'm working on a modular table and storage.

Features:

Each table piece measures 2' x 2' (24" x 24", or 60cm x 60cm)
Each table piece is 60mm in thickness at all borders being a general point, with a minimum thickness of 15mm or a maximum thickness of 100mm on any elevations or depressions at least 2" from the edge.
All table pieces are to have the same edge material, extending at least 2" from the table edge.
Each table piece edge is to be bordered in aluminum with a male and female slot to lock them into place with each other.
Lots of affixable terrain pieces - installations, foliage, debris
Permanent terrain features - hills, depressions, nothing too detailed, but can serve as places for the affixable terrain pieces with mounting slots
A storage shelf/rack 6' in height with at least enough space for up to 30 table pieces to be stored horizontally (so 2' 4" x 2' 4", or 70cm x 70cm)

The eventual aim is to have a heavily customizable tabletop which allows for randomization of the battlefield each time - it could be a desolate plain, or a world suffering the early effects of a Tyranid invasion (lots of vegetation).

For me it would have to be fold away/storeable as priority no.1. Got barely enough room for anything as is.

Would also be big enough with a bit of a sideboard for admin stuff.

Would need a good gaming mat of some sort and terrain to match the theme plus enough scatter to bring it all together.

 some bloke wrote:
I'm curious as to what people would want out of a gaming table - I'm planning to make one for my home, and am giving thought to making some and selling them if I enjoy it!

My current goal is:

1: Storage, to keep your scenery & such in
2: Modular, so you're not stuck with a 6x4 lump in your room all the time, and can have bigger or smaller tables easily
3: Under-edge storage for books, reserves etc.

My goal is to make this work for 40k and for D&D as well. What else would you lot want from a gaming table?

I have a large 4'x7' wooden table that I made a long time ago that I use for wargaming.

However, I think if I were to make a table today, it would be a set of smaller tables. Two table 3'x4', somewhat shorter than an average table, with matching side tables that can slide underneath them and hold books, armies while staging, reserves, etc. Geomorphic game board tiles would go on top of the table for terrain, since I need to be able to swap between 28mm, 10mm, and 5mm terrain.


I have a couple of thoughts on requirements:

1: the table shouldn't be a single object of regulation size. I live in a big house with big rooms, and 6'x4' is too big to live inside and instead stays in the garage. If you have a border around it, it will get even bigger and more impractical to have inside. Thus, I think it should be composed of two or more smaller tables that can be pushed away to the wall to display things or be used for other purposes when not being used for gaming.

2: edging the table with a border isn't really desirable. In order to practically have space around the edge, you're going to wind up with a monstrous table. Instead, build smaller tables that can hold everything. This way, you can also move them to always be behind your deployment zones so you can always be sitting behind your board edge and easily access all your things. Having to play from a position that isn't also my board edge because there isn't staging space for my books, dice, models and cards on my board edge is something I'm feeling increasingly aware of as an inconvenience in the age of COVID-19 when you're hyper aware of whenever someone is within 6' of you.

3: the table should be shorter than an average table for use as a wargaming table, at least below waist high. This permits you to easily reach beyond the center of the table without having to always be walking around, as well as play easily while sitting in a chair.

4: practical multiuse! The table should be able to be used usefully as something other than horizontal storage space. While 2 3'x4' short tables and 2 even small tables doesn't sound super practical for "other things", horizontal space always finds a use in my house, and my table requires everything stored on it to be removed from it before we play. This is going to necessarily preclude things like having a lip, or raised rim, or having molded-on terrain.

Big, flat, solid.

Big enough to take a 6x4 board or mat, with space around the edge for 2 armies, bookage, drinks and food. In theory I'd like a dice rolling area too, but in practice, that size, I'll find somewhere free to roll 'em.

I actually use 8 2x2 ikea lack tables, sometimes with a 6x4 board on top, so I can change sizes easily, and the whole thing comes apart easily if I need it to.

Underneath I have underbed storage boxes, sorted by army, and scenery. Again modular, and cheap.

The under edge storage is a good idea - gives you a little leg room too - but think height and knees.

I also have 2 2x2 side tables for "stuff", because there's always stuff.

The only fly in the ointment I see is that its either cheap and cheerful like mine, or expensive customisation - and neither are easy to make money out of on repeats, if you start making multiples for sale.

Either way, good luck!

Ok, thank you all for the feedback!

My current thoughts (combining what I have had here with what I need for my own purposes) are coalescing on:

1: It's going to be another piece of furniture when it's not in use as a gaming table. I don't want it to be propped up in the way somewhere when not in use.

2: It's going to be solid. Alas, this means it's heavy, but I'd rather that than risk it breaking if someone leans on it too hard, and I don't want it to wobble too much when people lean against it either.

3: It's going to feature storage underneath for scenery.

4: If I can, I want to feature around-the-edge storage, but underneath instead of making an already huge table even hugerer. So a shelf under the edge of the table for dice, cards, reserves etc. Also useful for secrecy-based games, if you have to keep your cards secret.

Currently throwing my ideas around to work out how best to make it transform from one piece of furniture to another. Wish me luck!

The guy who build most of our stuff has book holders and dice trays that slot into his table at home when he needs them, and can be removed and stored underneath when he uses it as a regular table.