"Have you ever played on a sand table?" Topic

A sand table is a table which holds a quantity of sand. The sand can be sculpted to replicate actual geography in detail, and a fixative is used to hold the sand in place. The downsides to a sand table include weight and the effort to keep the sand clean.

Have you ever played a miniature tabletop wargame on a sand table?

Yes, Bill. My mate's table is a sand table. You can sculpt them into great terrain, but the sand gets into everything.

For that there are invented artificial sand.. but it fear moisture.

They just had a sand table at Gary Con and while it looked great, it took them quite a bit of effort to clean up after and there was sand everywhere.

Yes, at Lexington Games (renamed The Source) in Saint Paul back in the late 80s and early 90s. Some of my experiences…

1. Hard to keep clean, sand on floor and customers spilling food on table. New sand was frequently added, and old sand retired.

2. Every game looks like it is fought in the desert.

3. Sand is abrasive and will take a toll on paint jobs over time. Painted bases degrade even faster.

4. Heavy, don't even think about moving the table.

5. I lost a few micro armor miniatures in the sand and found them the next time I played.

6. Shaping and molding the terrain to create depressions, riverbanks, ditches, ridges and hills was amazing!

Yes, long ago, at the old Dungeon Hobby Shop in Lake Geneva, WI. One was erected in the basement in 1980-81 and while it was beautiful, and a manifestation of dreams, it became apparent after gaming a while why a sand table is NOT the ideal setting.

It's impractical -- takes a lot of maintenance and upkeep and has to be set up fresh for every game.

It adds confusion to games -- is that a "higher elevation?" Is that behind line-of-sight? Is this restrictive to movement? Sand is too subtle!

Sand gets on the minis and is troublesome and abrasive to clean off!

I could add the weight of the table required to hold all that sand is enormous, so you have the expense and bother of extra engineering.

That's what I remember from my experience.

What Tgerritsen said, above!

Yes. One of the gamers at whose house we used to play had one. There were drawbacks. Ince, when we were playing an ACW game, I asked if all the figures on the table were in play. Jim, the host assured me that they were. So I opened up on the rebel line with an M1919 machine gun crew that had gotten buried during the previous week's WW2 game and not picked up. The Confederate players (including Jim) were not happy.

Yes, I had a small sand table back in the 1970s. I can't say it was very practical!

Yes, played on a friend's dad's one in the 1980s. It was great!

Long ago.

Yes. Our head of the History Department got one for the wargames club at school back in the 1970's.

All the comments above are true.
Remember to add an hour to your set up time as well as clean and clear time.

Have fun.

Not since I left the military. They're a much better system when you can tell someone else to clean up afterward.

I had one and a buddy did back in the 70's and 80's. Agree with comments above.

Thanks

John

Yes, many many years ago. The mess was indescribable.

Nope

I've played in a sand box. None of the weight or storage issues but a local cat caused a mess.

No.

Actually, my first wargame was ACW on a sand table. Cannot remember much about it other than I was the only newbe and played on the Union side. It was probably 25mm or larger figs. It did not turn me on to miniatures gaming. That came several years later at a hobby shop.

Yes I have, and it was nice, I would not go to all the trouble for one though.

No, but I built several for 1st Brigade HQs when I was with the 3rd AD in Germany.

Yes, in Gary Gygax's basement back at GenCon 1.

No. I hate sand. Gets in everything.

I'm sure if I played at a sand table, the sand would find its way into my underwear.

Yes, back in the late 70's. A friend had one in his parents basement. All of the above applied.

Yes and it was a mess beyond the value.

No. Would love to do it once, for the experience of literally touching gaming history.

After that, I will go back to my indoor/outdoor carpet table coverings, and carpet-covered foam hills; not the prettiest, nor even close to being realistic, but they are eminently playable. ;-) Cheers!

Yes. I had a sand table that I built when I was in high school long before terrain was a readily available purchase. I not only had it for years, but I moved it FOUR times. I still fondly remember the smell of damp sand to this day. Finally got rid of it when geo-hex terrain came on the market.

Sand tables and cats do not mix …

Oh and it weighs an absolute ton!

Use silica sand (used for sand blasting)
Once formed to your desire sprinkle with water using your moms old ironing sprinkle bottle.
let dry.
Then using elementary school powder paints paint the table to your desires.
when you want to change it use a trowel to break it up and start all over again.
We used ours so long the sand was mostly green as that was the most used color.
Best gaming table ever!!

Regards
Russ Dunaway

Not on a sand table, but on a "kitty litter" table once at Larry Brom's house.

Jim

Yep, It was a 12' x 18' x6 foot U-shaped table. It took about 40 cans of spray paint before a battle to make it look good. We tried to be careful during the game to not mess up the hard shell coating, but by then end of the 2 day battle there would be sand showing through.

The problem is that the owner of the table had 2 cats.

"Sand tables and cats do not mix …"
"Oh and it weighs an absolute ton!"

That must be one. big. cat! ;-)

Same as Dragon Gunner…same table, same experience, but I was able to lay out nice terrain for a Battle of Khafji.

pjm

My friends and I gamed for many years on a sand table at Prosek's hobby shop in Winfield Illinois. The sand was nice for creating topography but I agree with all of the downsides mentioned above. I wouldn't dream of having one in my house

I also played on Charlie Prosek's sand table way back around 1989-90. All of the above comments apply and then some. I did learn one could not spray paint a road (well, duh). All in all I felt it was a real PITA.

Cats and a sand table, is that where kitty corner comes from?

I even know a scenario for that table, "The yellow sands of katmandu."

No, but I would see them in the side room of The Armory in Raleigh, NC. Back in the '70s

An advantage that may have been overlooked, with time, care, and suitable flower seeds, one could grow an actual "forest" or "jungle" for terrain… ;-)

Used to play on a big 12x5 one, but it was a mix of sand & flock. They would just scatter fresh green flock before each battle, i guess after 20 years it was probably more scatter than sand.

No, never have.

I have played on tables where kitty litter was used to make the desert look more like the desert -- very effective.

No

This probably won't be seen since I just came across this, but we've been using a sand table since the mid 70's. The one at my house which is 6'8"x8' weighs about 800lbs, less than a water bed. Here is a link to my FLICKR page.

link

Some of those figures have been used on that table for 30years. For terrain you are pretty much limited by your imagination.