X-wing table complete

Last week I made headway on a space board to use for X-Wing. However to make it playable I had to mark out a 3 by 3 square. As it was already three foot wide I just had to divide up the length.

Marking the line. I was going to paint it white however I decided to go with blue in the end so the contrast wasn't so stark. 

I am happy with the final result. I preferred the table as solid space however the line had to be made for a game of X-Wing. Of interest, while cutting the wood originally I didn't think about size, so if you were to play two games of X-Wing at once, there would be one 3 foot side and the other about 1/2 a cm off. 

The table even looks good for an epic board game. My green felt however does provide an easier surface to use, namely when picking up tokens and cards. Here Dan, Alex and I are playing a game of Arkham Horror. 

It was nice playing Arkham Horror as it is truly a classic. The mechanic is very clunky although it is impressive that it manages to hold such a complex co-operative game and keep it fun. We didn't quite finish however I am pretty sure Shuddle M'ell would have consumed us and inevitably the whole world. 

Grr, I am Shuddle, call me uddle for short. 

First Gaming Table

I'm feeling pretty chuffed. After years of playing games on the kitchen table I now have a dedicated gaming table. We decided a month or two back to get a bed for the spare room which is a king single however a trundler fits perfectly underneath. The trundler not only makes two beds for guests but also raises up to the perfect hight to make the bed into a superior king sized beds for couples. We now have a new flatmate however who had a bed so we set the guest bed up in the second lounge for guests. That was when the idea came to me, if we put the spare mattress under our bed we can put a piece of ply and felt on the guest trundler to pull out for games. One of the great things about the idea is now being able to leave games set up hidden away under the bed. Fortunately my flatmate Zac is a builder so cut the ply into shape and came away with a result.

We initiated the table with a game of 2 player Eclipse. We both played combat focused race. I played Rho Indri Syndicate (effectively space prates) and Zac the Orion. Zac lost and I won my 3rd 2 player game in a row, score. In the photo you can see Zac recounting his points to confirm his defeat. 

In the background you can see some of my board game collection. 

As you can see I still need to get the felt but it is on order. In the end I am pretty stoked about all of this. It is nice to have a dedicated gaming space even if it has to be hidden away, just one step closer to a gaming room... I guess my only complaint is due to the table being a single bed its long and narrow so a odd size but it works. 

Now all I have to do is make some terrain for wargaming. I have some wood to make hedgerows following a method that I got off Big Lees Miniature Adventures here and trees from Scotts Wargaming here. Who knows I may even make some buildings with the left over MDF. 

My New Games Room

With the arrival of the new Empire of the Dead miniatures motivating me, I finally finished off setting up my games room.  The big job was constructing a 6x4 table over the top of the smaller table I have.  The room houses a few of my other hobbies as well (beer brewing, guitar), and I am pretty happy with the space I have created.

Painting desk and table:

Note I did not choose the curtains

Evidence of an English degree, models and wargaming books:

The guitar collection, and my daughter's cello:

Close up of the models, FOW on top, Isengard army below with EOTD and then Rohan and the Escape from Goblin Town figures:

Looking forward to spending a bit of time in here.  You don't see the storage cupboard for the terrain pieces as well, by the way and the stereo to keep me occupied.  I have a bit of 28mm steampunk to paint up now!

The Ultimate Games Room

While in France we visited Loire Valley to see a few castles. One of my favourites was Chambord which was built for King Francois as a hunting lodge. Once it was constructed he only spent 40 something days there and decided he didn't like it so moved on.

Unfortunately I didn't take that photo. One of the best feature of this castle was the games room:

Once again I lost my photos but here is one I found to the Internet. It is a very impressive room looking over the moat and grassy plains of France. It has a very large fireplace to keep everyone warm while they enjoy a beer and some billiards. I also imagine a game of Eclipse, Settlers of Catan, and Empire of the Dead would occur every now and then. 

They even designed the place with a separate cards room: 

Oh and don't forget the trophy room, you have to have a place to show off you victories after all.

So here is something to aspire to for our next games room which I imagine Dan will be constructing soon. Just to update you of our location, we are now in London after taking a train with Victoria Beckham (aka the spice girl) there. I didn't actually see her, or if I did I probably wouldn't have noticed as I have no idea what she looks like.