Anyone know where to get a decent 6x4 Table?

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**GoDz BuZzSaW**

Wasn't too sure where to put this, but as my local GW is having a change of the use of their tables, I want to start having games at home as there won't be much space at GW. Does anyone know where I could find any decent 6x4 tables? I am planning on painting the board and putting scenery on it without spending a ridiculous amount of money on GW ones, but still might get a few Cities of Death Scenery.

Cheers,

**Orlanth**

MDF from a hardware store as thick as is convenient for you to lift around your home. Be sure to buy MDF not plywood. Plywood warps like the eye of terror.

Special tip, Cut the corners off a little, say six inches off each side at the corners so the table is 'slightly' octagonal. It saves on corner wear and makes the table far less incnvenient in a small sitting room 6x4 is big in a domestic setting and thd corners really stick out, remove them a little and the table loses half a square foot but gains in conveneince.
It also helps wirth gaming, with a 'slightly' octagonal table you cannot pull off the unflankable Leman Russ anymore where there is no room to get around the tank and not be shooting at Av14 because of a tight right angle of board edge 'force fields' , with a cornerless board that exploit cant so easily be used though there are still corner areas for deployment..

**Ensis Ferrae**

Yeah, Basically the best or cheapest thing you can do is get materials from a hardware store and build one, then get the terrain to add on yourself.

**AustonT**

Mdf is $36 for a 4x8 sheet
Folding Legs are $20
I am owed a $50 consulting fee you may send to
43 Sundance Trail
Four Corners, MT
C/o Butch Cassidy.

**p_gray99**

AustonT wrote:
Mdf is $36 for a 4x8 sheet
Folding Legs are $20
I am owed a $50 consulting fee you may send to
43 Sundance Trail
Four Corners, MT
C/o Butch Cassidy.

It's not often that I actually laugh out loud. Which probably explains why I didn't this time, but it was still close.
Where can you get this stuff for this price? Is it available in the UK for a similar price? Perhaps just link the website or something.

**Jihadin**

Auston you live at a FoB? Four Corners is refernece to.......disregard you shadowy warrior you. I see what you done

**AustonT**

p_gray99 wrote:
AustonT wrote:
Mdf is $36 for a 4x8 sheet
Folding Legs are $20
I am owed a $50 consulting fee you may send to
43 Sundance Trail
Four Corners, MT
C/o Butch Cassidy.
It's not often that I actually laugh out loud. Which probably explains why I didn't this time, but it was still close.
Where can you get this stuff for this price? Is it available in the UK for a similar price? Perhaps just link the website or something.

TBH I don't know much about UK home centers, you could try Jewsons or any other lumber supplier. Often Sawyers make their own MDF from mill waste. Whatever price you pay should be consistant across the area so make sure to check around. My premium hardwood supplier sells 3/4 MDF for $36 as does the smaller shop down the street and the BORGs. The only difference is quality and that's a mushy difference in glued and pressed sawdust

Jihadin wrote:Auston you live at a FoB? Four Corners is refernece to.......disregard you shadowy warrior you. I see what you done

As much as it sounds like a joke:
http://www.trulia.com/homes/Montana/Bozeman/sold/1000051114-43-Sundance-Trl-Bozeman-MT-59718
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Corners,_Montana

I used to play football in a stadium named Rip Van Winkle stadium...not so strange in a Dutch community; cept it's named after a real person.

**Jihadin**

There is a FoB Four Corners in Afghanistan. Literally a NATO base with all reps there....well by their messhalls

ggooooodddddd eating

**AustonT**

I knew a FoB Four Corners existed, you just made it sound secret squirrely and I didn't want to leave that impression.

**Shadowseer_Kim**

Aye building your own is really the way to go. I am in the middle of building a table as proof of concept, so I can build 7 more for the store.

I am building a table based on plans for building a workbench. A workbench needs to be sturdy, what with all the hammering, and vice work, etc. So I figured concepts for workbench should make a good game table.

If you are using this table in main areas of the home, and can not always have it set up, do the one big sheet of MDF like others said. If you have a dedicated game room. Build one.

There is a company out there that makes a gaming table that is convertible. Basically it can look like a usual big table, but you pull the top off in sections, and it has a lowered area with a playing surface, deep enough to hold your terrain. Very cool design, but expensive.

**Ouze**

AustonT wrote:
Mdf is $36 for a 4x8 sheet
Folding Legs are $20
I am owed a $50 consulting fee you may send to
43 Sundance Trail
Four Corners, MT
C/o Butch Cassidy.

Could you expand upon the folding legs thing? I'm intrigued by the idea of building my own table.

**AustonT**

None of these are gaming tables but hopefully some of this helps
These 3 tables are made out of a single sheet of plywood ripped in thirds and I think I knocked another 1/2 inch off (1/4 on each side to clean up the edges).
I scrounged the legs from 3 folding tables that were ruined. ANY sheetgood you stretch between legs without stiffening will warp so these are backed by a 2x4 on each long edge, they act as handles for moving too. I rounded the edges with a 1/2inch rounding over bit in a router set slightly below the base to make a step. This is 99% for safety and 1% for looks...because who wants to see the core veneers? You could also simply camphor the edge.

This is an example of different types of plywood. I would consider for building a gaming table.

The top is a high quality 3/4 inch 13 ply AC plywood, it is more resistant to warp than the 5 ply sheathing, CDX, etc. I probably wouldnt use it for a gaming table unless you were just establishing a 3/4 base and then MDF is generally cheaper.
The middle is an 3/4 inch MDF veneer. The veneer is useless to building a table but its all I had around. It's more resistant to water than particle board and more stable than plywood. It's also miserable to work with on a daily basis. If you use this, and you should, seal it with an acrylic latex paint much like you would foam.
The last one is a laminate coated particle board. I inclided it because it makes a very durable top, but very slippery (which can be good). For gaming you can staple felt to the bottom edged to make a bullet proof nonslip surface. or for a modular table drill pegholes in a grid to secure MDF based modular terrain that you can take the pegs out of to slide around the deign and then fix in place for the game.
Good Luck...I have to go sand those tables and poly them for my wife.

Automatically Appended Next Post:

Ouze wrote:
AustonT wrote:
Mdf is $36 for a 4x8 sheet
Folding Legs are $20

Could you expand upon the folding legs thing? I'm intrigued by the idea of building my own table.

Legs like the ones on those table are at Lowes, not HD ( I checked yesterday) In the lumber section where the pine table top blanks are (most times) for 19.99. Theres also various carpentry solutions if you can't find those. They are in general more complicated to build but cheaper in materials. I vastly prefer a solid table for gaming, you can use ply wood for legs too if you can't get straight 2x4s...which seems to happen to me at the BORGs all the time. If you have the space I'd recommend that route.

**Jihadin**

I've kicked a similiar idea but I was going to go further and make a "sand table" just so I can have the "realism" of fighting positions and trenchlines.

**Ouze**

Thanks for the info. I am intrigued further.

**AustonT**

Jihadin wrote:
I've kicked a similiar idea but I was going to go further and make a "sand table" just so I can have the "realism" of fighting positions and trenchlines.

I played a game in our sand table...I do not recommend it.

Automatically Appended Next Post:

Ouze wrote:
Thanks for the info. I am intrigued further.

Are you still at DM, or am I mixing you with someone else?

**Kilkrazy**

English tables are not often as large as 4 x 8, so your best bet is a moderately priced smaller table on top of which you can put a piece of MDF or plywood.

For example, if you buy a table 3 x 6 feet, the overlap of a 4 x 8 sheet will be six inches on the short sides and 12 inches on the long sides. It should be safe unless someone leans on the edge really hard. The main issue is whether people have room to move around the edge without casualties from Dunlap Disease, in a small room.

So, fit the sheet with a rectangle of wood on the bottom to hold it in place on top of the table. Line that with baize to avoid scratches.

Line the edge of the sheet with say 1-2 inch high walls and you can put different terrain boards built on squares of MDF, plywood or hardboard, and they won't slide off the edge. By clever planning, you can make your terrain geomorphic and swap it around for different set ups. By super clever planning and construction, you can build basements and sewers into the terrain.

If 8 feet is too long, the sheet could be cut in two and fitted with slats and catches to keep the two sides stuck together.

Obviously if you don't want to go to all that trouble, you could just screw your 4 x 8 sheet down on to the smaller table permanently. At least it saves the expense of a large table.

Another idea is a folding ping pong table. Standard size is 5 x 9. There are junior size tables available measuring 6'9" by 3'9". The downside of a table tennis table is that it isn't constructed to take a lot of weight, so you couldn't put a large terrain assembly on top.

If you go down the route of building your own, B&Q or Homebase will cut timber and board to size for free.

An electric drill-driver would be useful when you come to the assembly.

**daedalus**

Make your own. I know nothing about carpentry, but I did. I made mine from floor joists, 3/4" MDF, 2x4" for the legs (and diagonal leg supports).

I put a melamine surface across the entire surface of it and scored a 1" grid on the top of it for D&D. If I'm playing 40k, I toss a mat over the top of it that I got from Monday Knight Gaming.

All things considered, the rig cost me about $100, a six pack of beer, and a night of hanging out with a friend.

It's kind of wobbles around, but I've had my 6'4" 350 lbs friend lay on it without it collapsing. It's not going anywhere.

**Ouze**

AustonT wrote:

Ouze wrote:
Thanks for the info. I am intrigued further.

Are you still at DM, or am I mixing you with someone else?

Someone else, i think.

**Mannahnin**

One of the easiest ways to do it is to get two 4x3 or three 4x2 board sections and paint (or cover them with felt or cloth) them green or gray (depending on whether you want outdoor or cityfight). Get two six foot long supports to place on your dining room table (put a dropcloth over it first to prevent scratches), then lay the gaming table sections over the supports.

**-Loki-**

Why are you guys complicating simply getting the table portion?

Folding trestle tables. Each is 6x2.5. Put whatever board/mat you want on top. Cat is mandatory.

**Mannahnin**

Well, if space isn't limited, that could be a good option. Some of the other suggested solutions would work better if he's an apartment/otherwise has limited space.

**-Loki-**

Mannahnin wrote:
Well, if space isn't limited, that could be a good option. Some of the other suggested solutions would work better if he's an apartment/otherwise has limited space.

Those tings fold up (they're folding trestle tables, afterall). Once folded up, they are a lot smaller, and would easily stack on top of a cupboard. I'm not exactly swimming in space right now, and I can store those fine. 2 fold up trestle tables and a mat of some sort is a lot more space efficient than some of the options people have said in here, and a lot easier than custom building a fold up table.

**Shadowseer_Kim**

Doh, I forgot about this option, and this is what we have to do when we have more players for a tournament at the store. It works too. The tables should be easy to come by, not only do the legs fold, but the whole table folds in half, making each 3'x3'x5-6" when put away. Do it this way. then you have a nice kiddie table available for holiday meals too.

-Loki- wrote:
Why are you guys complicating simply getting the table portion?

Folding trestle tables. Each is 6x2.5. Put whatever board/mat you want on top. Cat is mandatory.

**purplkrush**

Sorry if this is the wrong place but why do I keep seeing people referencing 6x4 tables and battlefields? I was under the impression the game was meant for play on a 8x4 platform.

**-Loki-**

purplkrush wrote:
Sorry if this is the wrong place but why do I keep seeing people referencing 6x4 tables and battlefields? I was under the impression the game was meant for play on a 8x4 platform.

Depends on the game. 40k is recommended to be played on a 6x4 (and all deployment diagrams are based on a 6x4), 8x4 for smaller Apocalypse games.

**Pacific**

Ensis Ferrae wrote:
Yeah, Basically the best or cheapest thing you can do is get materials from a hardware store and build one, then get the terrain to add on yourself.

Absolutely - just go to Homebase or B&Q. If you buy one of the sheets of MDF, they will even cut it to the required size in the store for you. The only problem then is transporting it back home (some people cut the board into smaller 'modular' pieces because of this).

Cheap to buy as well, and there are any number of websites that can show you how to make the board depending on what kind of thing you want to do.

**MarkyMark**

As above b&q travis perkins or better yet find a smaller local supplier, T&P B&Q and the smaller ones will cut to size for you, at my gaming club we use three sheets of MDF, lot easier for storage and setting up, so you would have three sheets of 2x4, laid in line will be 6x4.

**Praxiss**

15mm thick MDF will set you back about £15 for a 8x4 sheet. most of them also offer wood cuttign sevrices so you can chop it down into more sotrage friendly pieces (i ended up with 4 2x4 sheets.

once they're that sort of size they slide behind units and are easily to plonk on top a dining room table for a quick game.

**kronk**

I bought three, pre-cut 4'x2' MDF boards, 3/4" thick. I put these on my dining room table to play Warhammer 40k to make a 4'x6' playing surface. They can be easily put away and don't take up much room. To make them look pretty, I cut up and glued onto each 2'x4' board a section of this 50"x100" Woodland Scenics Vinyl Grass Mat that I picked up at a local hobby store.

Glue, Mat, and MDF boards cost a total of ~$60 USD.

**Bacms**

http://www.coolminiornot.com/articles/6397-how-to-make-modular-terrain

That is an excellent tutorial