Board Size

[Phototoxin]

Hello Malifauxians!

I'm planning on making a sort of winter bayou/tundra-esque board for which to play upon.

Upon determining local wood merchant suppliers, I can get a 2x6 sheet of board. Now simply slicing this in half gives me a 4x3 board. (two 2x3 sections side by side = 4x3)

Alternatively I can get half a foot trimmed off one long edge (giving me a 1.5x6 sheet) and then have this cut in half to get 3x3 which is closer to the recommended size but wastes

Storage isn't an issue, my only concern is game balance at this point. Particularly pertaining to M² - if crews are going to be a bit bigger is a bigger game board better?

My gut instinct as a wargamer says stick with the bigger board since it gives more options - after all you don't have to use all of it.

Thoughts?

Edited October 3, 2013 by Phototoxin
subscribin'

[kross1]

Go with the bigger table, that wah you have.somewhere to put your cards.

[Mister Shine]

If you're putting the table on another table, go with the 3x3 instead. Having to mark off a foot of nomans land every time gets irritating

<- Has a 4x3 table

[Misery Rex]

Standard size for a lot of construction materials is 4x8. I got a sheet of 3/4" plywood in that size and had them cut it in half. A light sand and about a quart or so of green deck paint gave me two heavy surfaces to play on.

I bought some of the blue painters tape and some cheap orange spray paint and marked off the 3x3 play area giving a good 6" of free space on all sides. It is basic but actually looks pretty sharp.

[entropolous]

The tri-fold cardboard display boards that kids use for science fairs are 4' x 3' with a fold crease a foot in from each edge. If you cut through one of the creases you get a 3' x 3' square. There is a company that makes cork faced version that I used used for my playing surface.

[Forar]

Go with the bigger table, that way you have somewhere to put your cards.

This is my preferred solution as well. Mark off six inches on each side and each person has their own personal play space to put cards, extra/summoned minis, etc.

[i_was_like_you]

3x3 is the recommended size for two players. From 1.5 edition, 4x4 was recommended for brawls and for multiplayer (see Chronicles).

My table is only 4x4, and we play a lot of multiplayer games. So we've had to use tv trays to set our extra pieces and stat cards on. Given the option to have a bigger table that can accommodate cards and such, I'd say go big.

Back in high school, a buddy of mine's gaming table was 6x12. It was covered by 1x1 floor tiles. A 2x6 section was one color, for him to use when game mastering an rpg. The other 6x10 was another color for the rest of us to use. When playing Battletech, he'd cover the whole thing in a green felt cloth or in terrain board. The legs were detachable to make set up and storage easier. The whole thing was heavy, so easier is still a bit misleading. Had to have a fifth leg in the middle for added support.

[Dracomax]

Well, if you plan to build anything permanent onto it, just leave 6" on either side of the long section of the 4/3 board blank, maybe put a heavy line down. Even if you just want to paint the board white and have movable terrain on top of it, this would work. No measuring, and you have a 6" space for cards, removed and summonable models, and other bookkeeping tasks. also, consider either making templates, or putting something down on the board to indicate possible deployment zones and the middle of the board(you could line up a few buildings, add some difficult ice terrain, or make simple light pencil lines. it doesn't have to be super obvious to be effective).

[Phototoxin]

I'm going to make various scatter terrain for it (a lake, a shack, some rock 'walls', a stack of rocks with a bridge, a modular hill.

I think I will go with the bigger table - easier to make and 4x4 can be used for a few other games.