So how big are your gaming boards?

I ask this as it seems GW tend to play on rather big gaming tables, 8 by 4 feet, where I am sure most people don't get to play on surfaces that big. Maybe 6 by 4 at the most. I have a really nice fold out gaming table my Dad helped me make that I can stash in my SUV if I wanted, but it only opens up to a little over 4 by 4. And 4 by 4 worked fine with small games of everything from AT/SM1, SM2/TL, 40k 2nd, 40k 3rd, Necromunda, Mordheim, Man O War, and lots of other non-GW games like Vor and Trinity Battleground. But it didnt take me long to realize that it wasnt ideal for Epic 40k as your detachments could spread out pretty far if you wanted (heck across 60cm if you wanted), and even with Epic A, march rates means you can nearly go from one end of the board to the other in one move (which is ridiculous to me). Since I build the board game in AT/SM1 and 40k 2nd days, it works for me. To be honest I dont play 40k with Wraith Knights and multiple Land Raiders to have a great need of space. And to be honest, if I am playing with 30 miniatures or 60, tactics are the same.

Even in brick and mortar stores, I have seen large table spaces get shrunk down to smaller sizes when a lot of people show up, or even vast amounts of space gets unused do to not enough miniatures being in the game.

So that being said, if you sat down to design a game today, like Epic, what size gaming table would you set out to play a typical game on. Obviously the more miniatures the need for bigger space, but imagine a typical space.

4x6' is the tournament standard, or 120x180cm. We sometimes go up to a 8' long board for a 5k or bigger game though.

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6 x 4 is what I play on as well. It's basically two 6 x 2 boards joined by a couple of hinges, but I must admit this is hardly compact when it comes to storing. I keep trying to think of a better way, but it escapes me.

So far as size for a game of Epic goes though, I reckon it's perfect. 8 x 4 would be nice to really get some flanking play going on but I don't think my missus would stand for it!

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4 by 6 foot ideally for up to 5,000 points. Maybe bigger if over 5k points.

I've played on bigger tables, with the troops starting further away than normal and it effects the balance between armies, with some benefiting more than others and slow low range troops suffering.

8' by 4' was the old size of table GW used to use. If you look back through White Dwarf battle reports from the early to mid 1990s, this was the size of table which they were using. They switched to 6' by 4', although I can't remember when, but it has been the default playing surface for many years now.

I play on a 6' by 4' table. It is comprised of two boards mounted on a fold up table, so it takes up very little space when not being used.

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I have a 4'x4' and a 4'x2' board. I haven't got my minis ready yet, so haven't played on them, but I think upto 2, possibly 3k can go on the 4x4, above 3k upto 5k on the 8x6.

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6' x 4' is an ideal size though some games use either smaller or larger boards.

Many years ago I made up two boards each consisting of a 4' x 3' and 4' x 2' board hinged along the 4' side. This allows the two reasonably compact boards to be stored or transported as a 4' x 3' package.

And they can be set up in a number of combinations ranging from 4' x 4' (both boards being used upside down) up to either 8' x 5' or 10' x 4'.

I used to have a permanent 8'x4' table set up at my parents which was great for 6000pt games of 2nd Ed.
These days I have to make use of the dinning room if I want a game and I use 2' scenery tiles to make a 6'x4' board normally.
If I go down the games club we typically play all our games on 6'x4' gaming mats which is just large enough for a 4000pt NetEpic game, though if we played a larger point game I would try and extend the mat to 8'x4'.
Moving away from Epic, there seems to be an influx of skirmish games that are staring to make use of 3'x3' gaming areas. This means a 6'x4' board would be ideal to accommodate two games on the go at the same time.

Matt

Like most old school GW players a board meant 8'x4' to me. EA seems to be fine on 6x4' for most games up to 3k though i always try to set up a 8' whenever possible - for me it really helps the game feel more tactical with more movement space. I wouldn't want to play much below 6' without dropping the points significantly.

Nectromunda and infinity seem right on 4x4'.

I've always considered 8' x 4' to be the "ideal" size, anything less and the "recommended" game size (2-2.4k for Warhammer, 5/6k for SM 2nd ed feels a bit cramped, and maneuvering difficult to non-existent. Personally I'd like to grab a cheap ping pong table - 9' x 5' which could easily fit the 8' x 4' board with room for casualty storage/paper work, fold up (for solo ping pong) if a 4' x 4' board is needed, or just use the whole 9' x 5' for really big games.