Sorry in advance if I just haven't seen this listed somewhere, but…

Is there an official play area size?   What did they use for the GenCon tournament?

The GenCon demo videos looked like it was around 3'x3'

 In the rules the "standard" is 3x3' but also say you can expand and make it bigger. 

The rules imply that 3' x 3' is good for upto 100pts but suggests that expanding the game beyond 100pts would probably be better in a larger space.  But doesn't give any rules of thumb.  Pretty much the rulebook says go ahead and experiment, which makes me think there hasn't been a lot of play testing at a larger scale.

-DavicusPrime

 3'x3 is the official play size, but the rules do imply that it can be addapted for point games over 100 points.  I found that if both players were playing imperial (something I would discourige) that 3'x3'' seemed very cramped.   We had a lot of difficulty avoiding collisions and losing our actions.  

 I measured all my play surfaces last night and was astonished to find that I have no 3x3 surfaces (except for the floor, which is far too dangerous in my opinion). Finding that size is harder than I thought.

What I've done for skirmish gaming at home (Most skirmish games play on a 3x3 surface) was to make a board I could just put on a table.  I went to Home Depot and had them cut a piece of ply wood to a 3x3 size.  Then I sanded the edges to smooth the cut.  After that, I used a cheap dollar paint brush to spread wood glue in a thin layer on the surface.  I then placed a slightly over sized piece of felt on it (If the glue is on to thick it will bleed through.  I then used a metal ruler to smooth down and make it look good ( a roller of some sort would be easier though.

In all parts probably cost me 40 - 45 dollars, but now I have a nice play surface for at home.

MrDNA said:

cool, picts please

I just finished a weekend project to build a table topper game table.  I already had a poker tale, but the surface was just a bit too narrow (about 22 inches on the short side).  So this was my project:

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a156/SirNot/Table1.jpg

a 4x6 piece of plywood with 11/32 quarter round around the edge and 2 pieces of 11/32 x 11/32 edging out a 4x4 play area.

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a156/SirNot/Table2.jpg

Primed and painted with Rustoleum flat black.

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a156/SirNot/Table3.jpg

I used acrylics and sponges to create the "nebula" and a asic splatter technique for the stars.  I had some help from the kids on this one.

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a156/SirNot/Table4.jpg

In action!  the only thing left for me to do is seal it with a coat of polyurethane, which I'll proaly do next weekend.

Enjoy!!!

One word . . . AWESOME!

Purely awesome.

FYI -- the 3rd link is not working.

 Try it again.  Photobucket was being a bit wonky earlier.  Seems to be working now.  And thanks for the kudos!

I bought a piece of black felt at Joann Fabrics.  It is 36 inches by 72 inches.  So, I can fold it in half and have a 3 foot by 3 foot area for smaller games, or spread it out and have a 3 foot by 6 foot area for larger games.  Looks great (since it's black it has a space feel to it), works well since it's heavy fabric, is portable since it folds/rolls up nicely, and it fits nicely on my dining room table.  All for less than $9 including tax. 

El_Tonio said:

I did about the same thing.  JoAnn had a 72" wide black felt with glitter built into it.  2 yards cost me $8.42.  My wife cut it into one 3' x 6' play area and two 3' x3' play areas.  My cousin who also got the game at GenCon was the happy recipient of the extra 3x3.

The last time I saw that much enjoyment from a gift that cost $2.10 or less was my son playing with the boxes his Christmas presents came in.  The glitter on the felt is just awesome since it gives the map a sense of movement as you move around.

Highball said:

Wow, I'm going to have to go to JoAnn's and look for something like that. Sounds perfect!

Sir Not said:

First thing I have to say it that you have a great looking table there.  I am a little jealous.  But I have a question for you.  Did you think about putting felt on the table and then painting over that.  I'm asking because I was trying to play a game this weekend on a table without any cloth and we had problems with accidentally rubbing up against the table and having the ships move.  Have you had that problem?

Roy

i did that years ago for mechwarrior, but they pilled and after about a year they had to be redone.  bumpage is always a concern in any  minis game thats not played on a grid, even on a felted surface.  in fact felt will make the models more likely to topple when bumped.  i say do what works for you.  not everyone wants to drop sixty bucks and a weekend on a game board.  i needed the space anyway for other games so i will get my moneys worth.  what im thinking of doing is using poster putty on the bottom of the bases one i get the ployurethane down to controle bumps.

I was looking online at Joanne Fabrics for a space print.  Couldn't find anything though, just black.  

I am new to miniature gaming, and was wondering (especially since there is no grid to play on) if moving the pieces by accident was a problem.  If it is, i was wondering if you could get some felt for the playing area and putting some stick on velcro on the bottom of the figures to get them to stick a bit.