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Hi folks,
What size of board are you all playing SWA on? It seems like 3-4' square would be plenty, but could you see it working on a 2x2' board? How vertical would it need to be for this to work?

Thanks!

Any more than 4*4 is going to be too much. 2*2 can work, but definitely double up on that vertical terrain (although you should already have a lot of that going at any size anyway). Just keep in mind that faster melee fighters like Harlequins and Tyranid Warriors will be all the more potent on smaller maps.

 Fafnir wrote:
Any more than 4*4 is going to be too much. 2*2 can work, but definitely double up on that vertical terrain (although you should already have a lot of that going at any size anyway). Just keep in mind that faster melee fighters like Harlequins and Tyranid Warriors will be all the more potent on smaller maps.

unless there is plenty of height in the deployment zones.

As others have allready noted, small boards with dense terrain favor cc armies. However, if you go too heavy on vertical terrain, it would favor shooters cause every pin near the edge forces an ini test to see if the model falls. So, shooters can just climb higher and shoot everyone who attempts to get to them. Balance is required. SWA games in general are very terrain-sensitive.

I'm using 3' x 3' and have been pleased

I generally set up 4x4, but my last game we only ended up using a 1.5x4 amount of space

Due to loot placement and terrain

I use 3' by 3' with two heights of Shadow War terrain (so 10" high plus spires) and enough ground cover that there is no LOS from one deployment zone to the next.

My experience with necromunda is that 4x4 is good, but 3x3 is better if it means that the terrain will be more dense.

The rulebook says from 2'x'2 to 4'x4' but then every mission says it's intended to be played on a 4'x4' or slightly smaller...

I'm building mine as a 4'x3' on a 4'x4' footprint to have a space for dice, books, models etc.

+1 for 4x3

I'm a 3x3 man, personally

I tried convincing my local group that 3x3 is better, but they thought it gives close combat factions too much advantage. Of course, they're also playing on relatively wide open tables. One player realized the problem when his Chaos Marines spent most of the game pinned out in the open.

If you're tight for space, use a 3' x 3' board, but set up 2" from the edge instead of 8". That gives you the same separation as on a 4' board.

 AndrewGPaul wrote:
If you're tight for space, use a 3' x 3' board, but set up 2" from the edge instead of 8". That gives you the same separation as on a 4' board.

This is a very good idea. Shrinking the deployment zone helps to make the best of a small space. Combined with a smaller board it can also help eliminate the dead space around the edge of the board.

I wouldn't want to play Shadow War on anything smaller than 4x4 with lots of terrain, like forget your 40K ideas of what a lot of terrain is. You want to build a maze of narrow passages at ground level, and lots of places to climb up (the better to fall from). I'm finding that every edge of the table should be pretty well jammed with terrain so that no matter what edge you start from, your team has a way to begin completely in cover if they choose, while still having the option to approach the center of the table from lots of angles. There should be interesting tactical options within 6" of any given point on the table. If you have an open space larger than about 6" x 6" you should probably place a crate or barrel there.