Table Size (was Room to Game)

> My wife and I are buying a house (if we can ever get through all this

I would suggest nothing bigger than 12'x6' as a maximum - if you have
room for this, then you're very lucky!! Even a 6 ft. width is a bit much to
reach the centre, especially for shorter players (sorry, "vertically
challenged" in these enlightened PC days...). 4'x6' or 4'x8' is usually

I've got a game room in our house--much improved over the basement I
used to be in. I've got a closet and some metal shelves for storing terrain
and games, and a little desk for painting. I've got some stools to sit
on--they
allow you to rest without sitting down all the way.

The main item is a ping-pong table.  Every now and then I clean off the
table well enough to play ping-pong.  :)  It's 150 cm from the inside of
the white line along one side to the other, and not twice as long (I don't
know how long it is). It has been plenty big for any game I've played, plus
stuff on the ends. I wouldn't want something lower, since I think I'd have to
lean over more.

My wife and I are buying a house (if we can ever get through all this
financing paperwork) and I have been promised one of the rooms as my
"Spaceship Room" as she calls it. Its a finished room in the basement I can
fill with boxes of games, miniatures, and a table.

Now to my question. What size table should I build? I was thinking of

creating my own table with plywood and 2x4s but how big of a playing surface
should I create? What do you guys use and what size would be your 'ideal size'
for a table, one that is big enough for fleet actions but small enough to be
accessible from all sides? Also do you prefer tables of normal hight or low
ones like I see at some game stores?

Thanks for your thoughts,

> On Fri, 26 Jun 98 08:18:45 -0600, dean.gundberg@bcbsnd.com writes:

If you're building it yourself, 4x8' works really well. Starting with
a pice of 3/4 or 5/8 plywood and then frame in a square on the bottom
with 2x4"'s and add 4x4 legs. Solid as a tank.

(can you tell I have one of these?  Of course, mine got co-opted as a
computer table, but oh well. It seems I do more gaming via email and on the
computer than I do face to face these days. Something about spending a hour
every other night at 9 or 10pm gaming)

> At 08:18 26/06/98 -0600, you wrote:

You might want to make the table 3' to 3'8" high. In my club we have a few
blokes with back problems. The higher table means that you're not bending down
as much and can use bar stools instead of normal chairs. One of our group has
done this by making a simple box frame which goes on his desk then the boards
go on top of that. It is now a very popular table with the bad back brigade.
As for area say 5'6"x7' and leave plenty of room to walk around it.