Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Building a new Wargaming table

I'm moving next month. Bad thing (besides the sheer stress of it all): Had to demolish old table of 11 years. It's been sturdy held up to years of abuse in my cold dank basement.
Good thing: Getting a really beautiful gaming area. The new place has an area that was probably meant for a pool table, complete with bar. My wife, being the wonderful creature that she is, is letting me use it for the war room. "Wargaming is part of family. Why hide it?" God, I love her.
Now I have to build a new table, and it must be worthy of the room. So, I'm thinking of taking common kitchen cabinets to use for storage and a base, bolting them together, putting the whole thing on locking casters, and:
Thoughts?
UPDATE: More Details:

8 comments:

Andy said...

That's an interesting idea. Cabinets come in some standard sizes, but I have no idea what they are-- what dimensions table will you be able to make?

I've considered similar designs, but I also sit at the table sometimes, too. No way to do that at a table designed like this.

Michael Mathews said...

It looks beautiful but I would see myself hitting my knees against the doors all the time. Of the many tables I've had, the best one for me was 6x9' on top, which rested on a 4x8' frame. The protected my knees and feet plus I put down a 4x8 sheet of plywood for a massive shelf 8" off the floor. So I could slike those "under bed" containers under it, while piling hills, fabrics, boxes of trees, etc. etc. on the shelf in a handy fashion.

I framed the topper with 2x4" boards for heft and stability, then painted it be a base color for flying games.

Good luck with it. It can be both fun and a royal pain to do.

Capt Bill said...

What a "neat" idea.

James Brewerton said...

I think you have a wife in a thousand. The idea of the table looks neat great idea using cabinets as they will be at a nice hight for gaming.
Peace James

Bluebear Jeff said...

Jaye,

Leg room is important . . . and with this plan you don't have any.

Also, where are people to set their drinks, dice, drinks, rule books, drinks, food, drinks and other necessities (like beverages)?

You might want to consider a table top that extends out over the cabinets . . . a "false top", because . . .

Then build a framework about 14" in from the "false top" to support the "real table top", which would be about a foot or so less wide than the "false top".

This would give everyone a shelf for their "necessities" . . . and because of the "support framework", stuff couldn't get pushed in too far to be comfortably reached.

Also get some of those inexpensive shallow "food containers" (like Ziploc makes) for guys to hold their dice safely under the table. They can also set their rules, rulers, rosters, etc. under there as well . . . and the drinks and munchies (provide more of those cheap plastic containers) can sit on the shelf as well.

Anyway, Jaye, that is what I would think about.

BaronVonJ said...

Thanks for all the feedback. The table will be 6 x 8 like my current one. We never had trouble with legroom before so I'm not too worried about it. This table will also double as a big buffet table for parties, etc., just throw a tablecloth over. As far as drinks, dice and other wargaming stuff, I've never been a fan of clutter on the battlefield. I has been barelt tolerated in the past because the table was on it's last legs.
I'm thinking of some cabinets with drawers for quick access to dice, etc. And where does the beer go? There's a lovely bare a few steps away...

Bill said...

Are you building a base for the cabinets? I did something like this for storage in my bedroom, and the weight of the cabinets tended to push them apart. Mine was sitting on the floor so it wasn't a problem. It might cause problems with this application unless the whole thing is supported.

If you are going to put cabinets on the ends also, you might want to cut the backs out of one on each end so you can put the rollers you use to store the table covers inside.

BaronVonJ said...

Yes to all questions, Bill.
-J