"Chain of Command/IABSM and table size" Topic

Good morning folks!

Looking for a bit of advice regarding table size for small-scale CoC or IABSM games. I'd like to get started with either of these sets but my minimum available table space is about 3 foot by 4 foot, maybe stretching to 4 by 5. Would either of the following options work:

1). CoC with 15mm figures, distances in inches.

2). CoC or IABSM with 10mm figures, distances in centimetres.

Thank you for your advice!

Good morning folks? Would Chain of Command still give a good game on a minimum table size of 4 foot by 3 foot? Either using 15mm figures and inches for measurements or 10mm and centimetres.

Thank you for your advice!

C o C and Bolt action work on a table 50cm by 75cm by switching from inches to cm's. Cannot comment on IABSM but I would imagine, it would translate to.

jon

I think 4' by 3' would be very limited if using inches, unless you have a very urban board. Using cm should be fine from a size point of view, if maybe slightly fiddly.

Thank you for the snappy replies, sorry about the multi-post spam! I think CoC in 10mm with centimetre measurements will get me started.

Defintiely worth going on the TFL forum, I would say – link

Thanks for that, I'll get on there later today after work. It sounds like either game would work cutting the distances down to cm with tiny toy soldiers, with my limited play area.

I think you can use a small table with inches if you use a lot of terrain that blocks line of sight.

I believe that CoC ground scale is 15mm and IABSM ground scale is 6mm.

Keeping inches with CoC can be problematic on a smaller table. Some of the scenarios do not work well when playing width wise rather than length wise – chopping off a couple feet from the normal 4 by 6 would not work for those.

Best bet is to use 10mm and CM (or 15mm and a custom ruler so that 4' ends up being 6' – 2/3 inch to the 'inch' should handle that well enough)

CoC as written is pretty much at 1:100 so 15mm figures fit the ground scale. It's a better looking game IMO in 15mm even if sold as a 28mm game.

Bolt Action pans out about the same despite its quirks.

In both cases a 6'x4' table are fine – smaller if heavily urbanised.

IABSM likewise is a 15mm game that plays on a 1:300 ground scale so is frequently played with 6mm in the same manner because they fit the ground. Again a 6' x 4' is fine, although if you can stretch to a 8' x 5' the extra elbow room is nice.

I've played IASBM on a 5' x 6' in 10mm and it felt about right and the 10mm models looked good with the ground scale. If you only have 3' x 4' I'd definitely only consider 6mm for it.

If I wanted to play both I think 15mm is the best all round option but then I do think you'll need more space. can you arrange a temporary table, perhaps putting a broad never your 3' x 4' or getting a folding table of some sort?

IASBM will play on a a small board. The issue being that unless the terrain/ buildings are dense, the blinds movement doesn't make too much sense when the opposing forces can see each other at the start.

As noted above, in tactical games, terrain density is key.

So if playing in a smaller table, just make sure there are lots of terrain features to block LOS.

Some of the scenario tables in the various IABSM campaign guides are pretty small, particularly urban ones.