What makes a board/table good

[Marshal Vespasian]

Hi guys,

 

so lately I have been thinking about the play experience at our club.

We have multiple tables and a bunch of terrain, but it all feels a bit thrown together sadly.

So I have been wondering. What makes a table good/narratively engaging?

 

I am also wondering about this topic since I might be moving to a larger flat in 2021 if/when I do I want to build a modular table for cool gaming experiences.

 

Thanks for your i put already.

[Prim]

Personally, I like a table that looks like a real place. Too many of the games I have played have been on tables that are half jungle, half urban battlezone and had no clear setting. A good set of terrain that feels consistent and fits the setting is ideal. Architecture doesn't necessarily need to match (most modern cities are incredibly diverse), but having the same basing throughout helps sell the image. Set dressing such as lamp posts (the old Cities of Death sets had some), wrecked vehicles and rubble piles can help the board come alive.

 

Try looking for photos of the terrain set-up you want to try to create. WW2 Europe for a city fight, 'Nam for jungle terrain etc. Having an image to work towards helps a lot.

Edited January 2, 2021 by Prim

[Brother Tyler]

I think that "modular" is the key. If you build towards a single setup, it might look great, but you'll eventually grow tired of playing the same setup each time. By using a table that supports a modular setup, you allow for variation and better preservation of interest over the long haul. A modular setup can get more expensive in the long run, especially as you expand the options available to you, but you can control this through planning and budgeting.

There are several factors to consider:

• Table/room size
• Game scale(s)
• Biome type(s)
• Terrain features
• Technologyical/cultural representation
• Storage capacity

Most of us lack facilities to house a massive "war room" style table that military planners of bygone days would recognize.

 

 

Frankly, most of us don't need that kind of table, which was used for operational level coordination of the Battle of Britain. All we need is something that will support small scale tactical level gaming. The key factor is table dimensions sufficient for the games you will play. The 9th edition Warhammer 40,000 adjustment in recommended table sizes is something to be considered, but it's highly likely that you'll play other games in addition to WH40K, or GW might adjust those dimensions in a later edition. So in order to build in forward compatibility, don't limit your table to certain dimensions. In this, I recommend looking at the ergonomics of the game table - buy/construct a table that allows your players to reach any point on the table without needing tools (such as those in the image above). With larger tables, players may have to move around the table in order to reach points (i.e., they don't need to reach any point on the table from one position on the floor). With many games, you'll have a little extra space on the tabletop, and that space is good for keeping things like rulebooks, supplements, dice, tools, etc. handy. In this, I think that 4'x6' or 4'x8' works fairly well. If you have a larger room, you might even be able to have multiple tables, allowing you to potentially play special scenarios or to move tables together for a larger gaming experience.

When I bring up game scale, I'm focused on how this is translated into any built in terrain on the board as well as removable terrain. This is especially important if you're going to have permanent terrain.
 

The image above shows a table that has fixed terrain features, including the natural terrain as well as the man-made structures. These are all ideally suited for a specific scale of miniature (most likely 28mm) and don't work as well when the scale changes. For example, the width of roads is a byproduct of the vehicles that operate upon them, in this case the cart in the front near the barrels is the example. If you try to use models of a different scale, things are going to look wrong. The natural terrain is more easily adapted to different scales of models, though the trees might be problematic. It is for this reason that certain features should be removable in order to support the different game scales you might need (e.g., WH40K and Adeptus Titanicus use different scales); and you should only use fixed terrain tables sparingly. Fixed terrain tables are great for events and when you want something special, but they impose their own limits. At the very least, I recommend at least one table that is modular so that it can be adapted to whatever you want to play.

For many hobbyists, matching their models' bases to the terrain biome type can be important. In addition, some games allow for special rules that reflect the environment in which a battle takes place. A battle in an arid desert can be a very different affair from one fought in dense woodlands. With modern technology, many of us are able to use gaming mats and boards (such as Games Workshop's battlezones) to quickly change the basic environment/biome. If you're planning on constructing your own board, however, you'll need to consider how that board will look in terms of setting up the environment. One easy alternative is to have removable sections that might be turned over, having different terrain on each side. If you have sufficient storage capacity, you might even have options for even more types of terrain (e.g., basic green/brown for a variety of terrain types, something for a desert, something for an arctic/winter environment, something for an urban setting, etc.).

Looking beyond the basic environmental biome, having a variety of terrain features suitable to the biome can be very helpful for variation and replayability. Lots of natural features such as plants, hills, etc. are a given, but artificial features such as fences, buildings, vehicles, and the accoutrements of any settlement are also very useful. The more of this that you have, the better.

In a similar manner, the basic environment and any artificial constructs will have an impact on your game play and whether or not the board "feels right." Much of the industrial terrain for WH40K, that of the Imperium of Mankind, wouldn't be suitable if you're playing a wargame involving Feudal Japan. A table custom built to support Necromunda would be very different from one designed for Gorkamorka. Similarly, if you are a T'au player, you might build terrain that is very different from that which someone who plays Necrons might build. In this, fixed terrain will be especially important in setting the scene. Moreover, removable terrain features will go a long way towards giving you flexibility in scenarios. This is another area where purpose-built boards/tables look great, but are necessarily limiting (though there are often ways to adapt them to other purposes).

The most important accessory to the gaming table is storage. The more storage you have available to you, the more options you'll have for the table. Separate cabinets and shelves will greatly support this, especially in the long term. In the short term, integral storage such as shelves and drawers built into the table will support your immediate needs. I recommend that such storage not be flush with the table edges in order to avoid the inevitable foot intrusion (stepping onto lower shelves or kicking the table and potentially disrupting models/terrain).
 

The table above shows excellent use of drawers at the ends and shelves beneath the table, all arranged in a way to minimize intrusive feet. This kind of table is great for tabletop miniature wargames. This type of construction, however, generally limits players to standing while playing. If you plan on sitting while playing, you probably don't want to include storage capacity under the table beyond small drawers.

Ultimately, I recommend building a table that will allow for flexibility. It's possible that you won't play just tabletop miniature wargames on this table - you might also play other boardgames. A table that is built specifically to support the Kill Team game will be very different one that is built to support Twilight Imperium.

[Noserenda]

To me its being able to look at a table and see a reasonable facsimile of an area, a farm, city block, factory, whatever but a bunch of random inconsistent terrain chucked together always throws me.

Oh and put the biggest terrain in the middle of the table ;) 

[MARK0SIAN]

One thing that always breaks the immersion for me is tables arranged symmetrically like a lot of tournaments. Even in a city things are rarely symmetrical so seeing two sides of a table that suspiciously happen to mirror each other always feels a bit forced.

[Warhead01]

I prefer a fixed terrain table with just a little scatter terrain. 
These are two tables I made back in 2010-ish. I donated the first one to our local game shop and they let me make two more for them.

Just putting in links for the larger pictures. to keep the clutter down. 

This first one was a rebuild of one from my home that was mostly just low hills and rocks. Not very impressive before the rebuild. 

https://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Jmcmugzz3KM/TBMhyeH3DFI/AAAAAAAAAHI/XpxKdb8PFjE/s1600/FILE0533.JPG

 

https://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Jmcmugzz3KM/TBMhx5_wqZI/AAAAAAAAAHA/JgFou8Ekatk/s1600/FILE0532+(2).JPG

 

 It had been at my home and then donated and then changed to this. I had a sort of pinball machine in mind. 

This next one went in a different direction.

 

https://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Jmcmugzz3KM/TCroZtbIMMI/AAAAAAAAAJQ/ujdkeYavrA8/s1600/table+22+paint+1.JPG

 

https://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Jmcmugzz3KM/TCroaGtvezI/AAAAAAAAAJY/f---ZNtSlLM/s1600/table+2+paint+2.JPG

I had been watching blue table painting videos back then and liked the idea of a painted desert.

Sadly I don't have pictures of the other two Tables I made from that time period. 
I'd made some industrial looking stuff which was mostly modular and the board was sort of sloped up to a large hill top on one side with a lower hill top bordering the other with some water wat between. very basic but easily used. 

The last, again sorry for not having pictures any more, was mostly just weird ork terrain that could be set up where ever with sort of stacked up rectangle boxes for hills all with a very industrial feel.  Similar to what BTP had been doing all those years ago. Not complicated but easy to use. I think I had fashioned some tesla coils as well. 
Terrain rules were a bit different back then (5th) 

The thing with modular terrain, for me, is still to try to theme what's available as best I can too often or more often it seems the players are more interested in balanced terrain to mitigate or share advantage.  Balance is nice and all but I find it becomes repetitive very quickly. 
I've planed many games where the tables were a few hills woods and a bunker or two. It gets old. 

My last set of modular was themed to be a jungle with several clumps of trees, water hazards and various 1 to 3" tall hills and standing stones. 
Over all it worked but the wooded areas could have been better. 

 

 

 

I'm still trying to wrap my head around terrain for 9th. I want one nice set, maybe the last one I make, of top shelf terrain for the house. 
and on top of that I am also looking for how I sill store this next set of terrain. I'm looking ad hard sided banker boxes for the light durability I will need and then I am also trying to keep the storage aspect in mind for the terrain I build.  
I hope this was helpful.

[SkimaskMohawk]

Back in the days of 5th there was a very good section of the rules that talked about having 25% be terrain of some sort. It stressed the importance of big los blockers to fully hide some vehicles and limit fire lanes, scatter terrain and area terrain. The 30k rules still have this blurb.

 

It holds up even better these days with the 8th+ism of how lethal everything is in the game. 4 str 8 shots that rerolled hits on 3s was considered meta volume of quality anti-tank fire. If the terrain situation was considered important to limit stuff like that, then it's extremely more important now.

 

Things like empty coffee containers make great silos and can be painted to match almost any board.

[The Yncarne]

Hi guys,

 

<snip>  What makes a table good/narratively engaging? </snip>

 

 

In short, for me, the base terrain and removable terrain must match to the greatest extent possible. Depending on scale, little 'lived in' details can add a sense of narrative context.  Ultimately, the best answer is one that fits within your budget, storage, and time constraints.

 

You may want to consider bringing this up to your group and setting aside some dedicated group time on your terrain and table options.

[Brother Kraskor]

A good board feels coherent - not just thrown together like OP recognises. And that means style/nature of scenery as well as paint/basing scheme. 

 

Big impressive centrepieces are nice but are not necessary imo!

[Marshal Vespasian]

Thabks for the insights!

I think for me what I want to do is roads on my terrain tiles and dedicated areas where to put buildings. These have to match up in a way that I can place them with some modularity.

 

If I think about it: having all the terrain be painted in one style and being reconizable as fitting to the board that its placed on will be a huge thing. Because I feel thats whats what feels weird to me at some of the terrain at my club.

When watching some board setup videos on the 30k channel, david braines talked about 'blending in' the terrain with the board by using slate and gravel. And it looks amazing. Something similar could propably be achieved by a unifying oil wash or pigments or something like that

Edited January 3, 2021 by Marshal Vespasian

[Leonaides]

Cat litter. Cheap, light and can be crushed smaller if required for a range of grit sizes. Will also take staining/painting and hold it longer than stone might.

 

Edit - can also be scented for a fresh whiff if you anticipate a long days gaming ahead with opponents of questionable odiforousness ;)

Edited January 3, 2021 by Leonaides

[ThePenitentOne]

A good board feels coherent - not just thrown together like OP recognises. And that means style/nature of scenery as well as paint/basing scheme. 

 

Big impressive centrepieces are nice but are not necessary imo!

 

How big are your tiles?

 

I too use a tile system; mine are 15 x 15; this allows me to very closely approximate the minimum recomended board sizes. A 2 x 3 tile arrangement gets you 30 x 45; my long side is 1" longer than minimum. One advantage to the tile system is that I can increase my Incursion board to 45 x 45, whereas using gw boards means fighting Incursions on the same board size as Combat Patrol.

 

Like you, I wanted roads and dedicated places for buildings. I left a 4" strip of road along one board edge on most of my tiles. A handful of other tiles have 4" roads on 2 adjacent sides to form a turn. You can put two boards with their roads together to form highways, This arrangement will allow you to build a staggering number of road patterns.

 

As for buildings: I grow weary of battles where EVERYTHING is ruined; I'm an old City Fighter, so I like intact buildings. I play Kill Team, Spacehulk and Combat Patrol, so I liked the idea of detailed interiors too. The plan is to build 3 ground level buildings on bases; they can be capped with a removable roof or a removable 2nd story. Since all upper stories are identical, each of my three buildings can be as short or as tall as it needs to be.

[Inquisitor_Lensoven]

Personally, I like a table that looks like a real place. Too many of the games I have played have been on tables that are half jungle, half urban battlezone and had no clear setting. A good set of terrain that feels consistent and fits the setting is ideal. Architecture doesn't necessarily need to match (most modern cities are incredibly diverse), but having the same basing throughout helps sell the image. Set dressing such as lamp posts (the old Cities of Death sets had some), wrecked vehicles and rubble piles can help the board come alive.

 

Try looking for photos of the terrain set-up you want to try to create. WW2 Europe for a city fight, 'Nam for jungle terrain etc. Having an image to work towards helps a lot.

There places here on earth where it goes from urban to dense jungle pretty quickly, so a jungle/urban table doesn't seem that unrealistic to me.

[Inquisitor_Lensoven]

Hi guys,

 

so lately I have been thinking about the play experience at our club.

We have multiple tables and a bunch of terrain, but it all feels a bit thrown together sadly.

So I have been wondering. What makes a table good/narratively engaging?

 

I am also wondering about this topic since I might be moving to a larger flat in 2021 if/when I do I want to build a modular table for cool gaming experiences.

 

Thanks for your i put already.

can you explain why you think the tables feel thrown together, that could help narrow down the list of options of what to make a table/board feel together.

[battle captain corpus]

Terrain thats linked to the table even in some small way, such as drybrushing the ground colour onto bottom edges of buildings as dust etc is a neat trick. That and good height ranges to work with.

 

BCC

[Xenith]

Back in the days of 5th there was a very good section of the rules that talked about having 25% be terrain of some sort. It stressed the importance of big los blockers to fully hide some vehicles and limit fire lanes, scatter terrain and area terrain. The 30k rules still have this blurb.

 

It holds up even better these days with the 8th+ism of how lethal everything is in the game. 4 str 8 shots that rerolled hits on 3s was considered meta volume of quality anti-tank fire. If the terrain situation was considered important to limit stuff like that, then it's extremely more important now.

 

Things like empty coffee containers make great silos and can be painted to match almost any board.

 

This is also a critical thing for me in 8th/9th. As I recall the 4/5/6th ed rule said a minimum of 25% of the area of the board should be terrain, as a mix of ruins, area and LOS blocking. This is actually way more than people realise, for a 6'x4' table thats at least 3 square feet of terrain. Keep adding terrain to one quarter of the board until it's completely full, add a bit more, then scatter it. 

 

There's a few battle reports in my BA and Tyranid plogs featuring some cool terrain. For what it's worth, I think battlemats are amazing and probably the way to go - I'll be trying to get my own. They look so good with terrain - even GW sector mechanius stuff.

 

I also think that you should do some conversion or scratchbuilding to have some emotional investment in the terrain - like the models, kitbash an awesome building that you want to fight over each game. 

 

So key things for me:

1. Surface - cool to play on battlefield- suggest a game mat
2. Amount - (min. 25% of table surface)
3. Type - mix of LOS blocking, difficult, scatter etc terrain
4. Heart - Connection to terrain - why you want to battle over it.

[smileyjim]

I'd check this vid out, nice themed table is only part way to an enjoyable table.

 

Edit: lol forgot the link https://youtu.be/lTVSTduzf-M

Edited January 4, 2021 by smileyjim

[Cheex]

For me, it comes down to three things:

1. Something that tells a story. Even just having all terrain fit a consistent theme is enough to tick this box, but adding more little quirks that tells me a little about the battlefield we're on makes it so much better. A ruined city is great when all terrain fits the same style; a ruined city with recruitment posters sprayed with GSC or Chaos graffiti, or propaganda billboards about local politicians (bonus points for moustaches etc graffitied onto their faces), or buildings that look like they could have served a function is even better.
2. Playability. In the end, the battlefield needs to be practical for miniatures to balance on, the players need to be able to reach the places where their miniatures will go, and you need to be able to roll dice without having to reroll cocked dice every time (looking at you, Sector Imperialis). Rubble for your ruined city is all well and good, but make sure your minis and dice will still be usable.
3. Gameplay impact. The terrain needs to have sufficient LOS-blocking pieces (very few parts of the board should be able to see all the way to the opposite table edge, IMHO), but also have some movement blockers and defensive pieces. Players should be presented with options and choices to make; there shouldn't be one obvious way to play.

[Xenith]

I recently found this image in my gallery, which is of the 5th ed rulebook I believe. This is GW's reccomendation for amount of terrain for that edition.

[mughi3]

While you never want a table setup to obviously favor one side of the board or the other, immersive setups also make a huge impact on how enjoyable the game is. 

 

As somebody who has been playing for decades with basically all of my armies finished i have turned largely to focus on interesting terrain. 

 

 

Even with fixed terrain mats it is still possible to swap out the terrain to make the table a bit different. even though some scenarios require some large open spaces dependent on the type of game being played (like a WHFB ranked army battle) i tend to avoid large swaths of open terrain. 

 

 

Tyler's post is pretty thorough on the fine details

 

here is how some of my tables have varied to keep it interesting and different while using the same base mats

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Chaeron]

Others have touched on this, but it’s definitely cohesion for me. I want the immersion of it appearing to be an actual setting, rather than just a smattering of terrain for the sake of it. I think in many ways, that’s quite easy to do with modular kits and a distinctly urban theme, but I do feel that making it believable just adds to the narrative and the game itself.

 

One other thing that I don’t mind - that others may do - are table set-ups that are fixed in particular configurations. Whilst this might make things more static, with varied deployments and changing up where objectives are, it can still keep things fresh and offer new perspectives, especially if you bring in different forces too.

[Evil Eye]

I'm in the immersive/narrative camp myself. I want the board to feel like a miniaturized slice of a real (imaginary) battlefield, rather than just a flat surface with a few obligatory craters, trees and one small ruin in nonsensical locations. I generally prefer more terrain, too- unless the board itself has been adequately landscaped and modeled (obviously not always an option), I find barren boards look a bit artificial, even if the battle narrative supports there being less cover. Granted I'm also the kind of obsessive freak that would never buy a battlemat as they're "cheating", so YMMV on that one!

 

In terms of permanent vs modular I'm in two minds. Permanent will always look better, of course, but transporting and storing it will also be a pain in the backside, and if you want a scenario in a different location you're out of luck. Modular terrain can afford a surprising amount of variety between games, but obviously the more modular the terrain the greater the chance of it looking slightly disjointed. I think there's a middle ground to be had though; I always liked boards that made use of multiple "panels" that could be switched around depending on the scenario for different looks to the board (like Realm of Battle, but less expensive!), with mixes of smaller, more modular and more generic terrain with bigger, bespoke pieces that are meant for a particular place, even if they're removable.

 

As a side note, I highly recommend tracking down the old How To Make Wargames Terrain book both for ideas on how to set up your board and also how to make it in the first place. All these years later and it's one of my favourite resources that GW (or indeed many companies) have ever made. Whilst a little dated due to hailing from 3rd edition- green flock being more frequently mentioned than the now standard static grass for instance, and don't expect any airbrush tips- it also has many invaluable tips on actual board construction using DIY materials and the like, which you would never get from modern GW! Also has some rather wonderful reference pictures, including studio boards and some Jes Goodwin(?) concept sketches.