A room of one's own
A few months ago I moved into a new apartment. While I am limited in space, I have designated one room as being partially devoted to gaming. I want to be able to invite friends over and play games of 40k or fantasy. The first step in this plan is to have the room to do so. That being accomplished, I am moving on to step 2, which involves creating a place to play. While it is possible to play on the floor, I don't recommend it. Even without pets or small humans (I have neither) bad things can happen to miniatures on the floor. Bad things can also happen to your feet if there are miniatures on the floor. The picture below shows a battle over the ruined bunkers on the steppes of Orientalcarpetland. While nothing bad happened in this case, it was far from ideal. (And quite hard on the back, reaching over to move minis.)

Moving up in the world
When I originally started playing 40k, I mostly used my dining room table to play on. This was not an ideal situation, since it was a tiny thing, perhaps 2.5 by 4 feet. This made our deployment zones and indeed our whole battles cramped. Chaos Mike (yes, I still call him Chaos Mike, even though he also has a Tau army) came up with a solution. He created a 4x4 top to go on top of my dining room table. Since 4x4 is a pretty good-sized area (and I didn't want it covering my table constantly) he cut it in half and hinged it, with some support pieces to keep it a bit on the stable side. (Further down the page, you'll find a picture of Mike's table top, with one of his early Chaos armies squaring off against my Dark Eldar.)

Stable as the British Pound
Mike's solution was a good one for the time being, and we ended up getting a lot of use out of that table top and it's twin when we went to the local gaming store. (Ludicrous Games, since gone out of business.) The store had a number of tables, but they didn't have many that were 4 feet wide. If there were a large number of gamers in the store, they initially only had a few tables that were the correct size. When Mike asked them, they were happy to allow us to put the table tops up on top of a standard table, transforming it into a full-width playing surface. Unfortunately, with more people using them, the problem with the table tops became more apparent. Although they were heavy and balanced, they were not attached to the table. This meant that they could slide around a bit and were prone to being bumped by passersby, or even the gamers themselves. Compounding this, the edges were not supported by the table (since the table wasn't 4 feet wide.) This meant that most of the deployment zones weren't directly supported by the table. This also meant that the areas most likely for a player to bump or accidentally lean against were not supported by the table. I don't recall us ever having a table top crash to the floor, scattering minis and terrain everywhere, but we had a lot of near misses. The table tops were also somewhat big and awkward, though they eventually let us store one of them there. (That was handy, because they didn't fit in my car very well.) I would like to note that it is possible to make a top for a table that has brackets that will fit around the actual table so that it is more solid. More is the key word there, as it will still be unsupported at the edges, even if it won't slide around. No, for true stability, it needs to be solid.

Solid as a Rock
I have played on a variety of table types when I have gamed. Of the good ones, the most common has been the solid table. These are often purpose-built tables, generally the full width of the playing surface. I actually had one like this years and years ago. (Long before I got into 40k.) Heavy wood frame, heavy plywood top, thick wooden legs. It was built solid and you could pretty much do anything to it without worrying about damaging it. It took up a lot of space and was kind of awkward to get around, though. Variations on tables like these are found in most gaming stores. They are fairly easy to build, and will stand up to years and years of gamers. They are heavy and awkward and take up a lot of space, though. For some of us, and for most gaming stores, space is at a premium. (This is why so many gaming stores have small playing areas, the more space you spend on tables, the less space you have to sell stuff.)

Space, the final frontier...
I have a limited space to work with, so I want the space occupied by my gaming table to work double duty. I have seen a few gaming tables, both private and at gaming stores, that offer storage underneath. The simplest version simply involves putting something under a standard table. That solution isn't entirely convenient as it basically amounts to storing stuff by putting it on the floor. That means that you have to worry about kids getting into it or people stepping on it or kicking it unawares as they play their game. You also can only stack things so high under the table, and not everything stacks well. A better solution is to have some sort of cubbies or storage lockers or drawers underneath the table. This allows you to organize things a bit and to have multiple, smaller stacks. It also lets you do much of the storage higher than ground level, which makes it easier to see and get things that you might need. Discordia is a good example of this, as most of their tables have shelves or drawers with terrain stored in them. But even with settling one problem with space, there is still another one. I mentioned that these tables were heavy and awkward, right? Sometimes they get in the way. You might need more space to do a certain project, or you might need to only use the space for gaming temporarily, and have to move the table when you are done.

Rollin', Rollin', Rollin'...
Most of the gaming tables that I have seen are big, solidly constructed things. If you want to move them, it takes a pretty concerted effort and probably a couple of people. On the other hand, simply putting wheels or casters on the bottom of the table makes it much more convenient to move. This is the solution that Discordia uses, and it works quite well there. Even if the wheels don't have locks or brakes, the sheer bulk of the table makes it hard to shift by simply leaning on it, but giving it a good push will get it moving. I have seen plans for a table that folds out from the wall, with support legs dropping down, just like you would fold out a murphy bed. This is a great solution (as long as you can set up the support legs correctly and with stability.) Even though it is "built-in" and can't be moved, the table folds up onto the wall so that it only takes about a 4-6" space along the wall. Obviously, this would preclude using the area underneath the table for storage, but it saves so much space that it's an elegant solution.

Surfacing
The next thing to consider with a gaming table is what the surface is going to be. This may be as simple as using the wood of the table top as a surface. A plain wooden surface isn't great for gaming, as it will pit and dent over time and it may also be a bit rough. Putting down a few coats of polyurethane or an actual surface on top of it is pretty easy, however. (My old table used Melamine, which can be used as both a dry-erase and a wet-erase surface. That made it pretty handy for my role-playing games.) Typically, though, we want something a little less utilitarian to play on. (A jungle board is somehow less cool if it's got wood instead of grass or dirt.) You can coat the top with a mixture of sand and glue (nearly indestructible, just roll it out and let it dry. Note that if you are coating a table top that has not been built into the table yet, consider where your screw/nail holes will go and also take care that it doesn't warp!) You can also use low shag carpet. (This is what Discordia uses, and it works quite well.) It's available in a variety of colors to suit whatever particular kind of terrain you want to use. On the other hand, if you build it into the table, that limits the kind of terrain that you can use. Sandy brown looks great for a desert, but not so good for a jungle, and is right out for city fights and ice fields or space hulks. Here is where we encounter the second version of the table top.

A little off the top
If you have a full-width table that can hold it, you can make a table top that is much more stable, but still removable. This is handy if you want to have several different surfaces, depending on what sort of terrain (or what sort of use you are putting the table to if it's not just 40k or Fantasy. You might want to play a different game or even use it as a worktable for various projects.) If you are going to do such a thing, consider using something to keep the top on the table. A simple solution would be to screw a small border around the edge of the table so that the top will slide into it. Alternately, you could put the border on the top portion so that it fits down over the table. Either way, it will be held more securely to the table and it will still be fully supported all around. You could also simply have mats of different colors that can be rolled out to suit your terrain. Although this is easier and takes less space than creating a separate top, it is less durable and sometimes miniatures can catch on the surface and pull it out of place.

Toppings
The next thing to consider is what you are going to put on top of the tabletop. Terrain. Most gaming stores use stand-alone terrain pieces, since they can be arranged in any combination and configuration that you want, giving essentially infinite variety. One drawback to this method is that the terrain gets moved around and will show wear and tear fairly quickly. The really impressive terrain at Games Day-type events, however, is generally built-in terrain. That is, it's an entire board with all the terrain on it in one solid unit. This tends to be more durable and makes it easier to do some things (such as rivers and valleys) and it coordinates better by design. On the other talon, it's a lot bulkier and severely limits the variety of terrain that you have. While you can make removable boards and thus have several different kinds, each one takes up a lot of space, which again limits your variety. There is also modular terrain. This is generally in the form of several boards or tiles, often in 2x2 sections. They usually have built-in terrain, but they can be arranged in different ways, giving sort of a hybrid between the infinite variety of stand-alone terrain and the static nature of built-in terrain. These do have to be planned more than built-in terrain, since you will want to arrange them in different ways, so the edges of the boards or tiles have to be able to sit together no matter which way you turn them. (You don't want to have a river running off of one tile, but not starting up on the next!) Finally, you can do another kind of hybrid, the partial built-in terrain. This usually involves a whole board where there is some terrain (usually rivers and valleys and the like that need to be built-in) but there is space for stand-alone terrain pieces to be placed in a variety of ways, giving a lot of variety. Being a hybrid of the two kinds, it has a hybrid of their disadvantages as well. It still limits the terrain somewhat. (If it's based on hills and grassland, it'll look odd to put cityfight or desert pieces on it.) The stand-alone pieces will also start showing wear and tear as well.

Plans
I have a roughly 12x15 room that will house the table. There are a lot of other things in the room as well, so I can't take up too much space. I think I'd like to have the table be able to move as well, so that I can make more space when needed. Due to the layout of the room, I can't really take the option of the Fold-Down-From-the-Wall table, even though I think it's a great idea. The simplest thing to do would be to pick up an 8-foot folding table from Costco (they're fairly cheap and I wouldn't have to build the table itself, always a bonus!) On the other hand, it would take up a lot of space and require a lot of storage and it would also require me to make a full-width table top for it, and it wouldn't be as stable as I like. I also really need some more shelving and storage. All of this points to a solid table with storage underneath. I think, though, that in addition to making it mobile (wheels on the bottom) I'd like to have the ends fold down when not in use. That'll let me store it in a corner without as much hassle. I'm thinking a 4x4 gaming island would be good. I can hinge some panels on two sides to fold out 2 feet in either direction, giving me a 4x8 surface to play on, which should cover any games I want up to about 3500 points per side. Beyond that, it'd start getting pretty crowded, but I don't often play games that size, so I'm not too worried. So the top will by 4x4. The height of the table shouldn't be too high or shorter gamers have a hard time reaching the middle and everybody tends to bump terrain and miniatures as they reach. It also shouldn't be too short, or taller gamers get back strain bending over to move things or to get a "model's eye view." Based on rigorous scientific experiment (I decided my kitchen counter was close to the right height and measured it) I think that a height close to 3.5 feet will be perfect. That will have to take into account the height of the wheels as well, so I'll plan the table part to be about 3 feet.

So I've got an island 4 feet wide by 4 feet long by 3 feet high. I want to put some storage on the long edges (the gaming sides of the table.) I want these to be easy to reach and allow both good space for storing odd-shaped things (such as terrain) and multiple areas to organize things. I think that one side will have large cubbies (think divided shelves as in the last picture on this page) about 1.5 feet high and 2 feet wide, while the other side will have smaller ones, 1 foot high and 1 foot wide. Since it's hard to reach stuff stored below a table that's more than about a foot back, I'll be limited the depth of all the cubbies to 1 foot. That'll give me 4 large cubbies and 12 small ones. That should cover most of my storage issues, but it'll also leave me a space in the center that's 2 feet wide by 4 long and 3 feet high. I'll use that to store larger pieces of terrain or special projects and the like. I'll have to make sure that I have something to support the 2 foot extensions solidly. I'm leaning toward a pair of pull-out planks that the extensions can rest on. I haven't quite worked out how to do them, so I think I'll start with the main island first. Once that is built, I'll have a better idea of how everything goes together and can work out the extensions and their supports. The supports definitely need to be solid, though, since one end will probably get used as the sideboard to place models before deployment. No crashy the minis! Getting the island itself started will be my project for next week.

At the top of my game
I haven't yet decided what I want to do in terms of the actual table top and the terrain that will go on it. When I first had the idea of making it, I was thinking about doing some semi-built-in terrain boards. The plan was to have each board have 2 sides. (So like one side would have grass and gentle hills and rivers, while the other side might have urban streets and debris.) I'd have to make a lip around the edge of the table so that the boards could sit either side up and not crush the underside. I was going to have them split in the middle for easier flipping, and store several different flippable boards underneath the table. Looking at it now, I think that's too ambitious a project for the moment. I think I will start MUCH simpler and then I can always adjust it and do those further down the line if I decide that's what I really want to do. In the meantime, I think I will start off with a flat surface so that it can double as a workbench. I can lay out mats or something for the moment to change the color and style of the board. I'll also be initially going with stand-alone terrain, as that's the easiest. Later on I may decide to do some of the fancier stuff with semi-built in boards and things, but right now I just want to get going on it so I've got a place to play.

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