Yep, I agree. I worked with a local carpenter to design custom gaming tables. My first table design included a gaming well, with removable flat tabletop pieces (not shown); this design utilized pull-out drawers, on rails (with hinged doors to hide them when not in use -- see photo), for gamer's books, dice, etc. This table is made of solid Hickory wood, clear coated w/o stain. I decided that the game well would, in my case, always be open, so I abandoned that design for my personal table needs.
The carpenter came up with a simplified version of my pull-out drawer design, which he sold a few copies of. He still sells this design. This table is made of solid Hickory wood, clear coated w/o stain.
I came up with a flat-top with pull-out drawers design, which I ordered from him, for myself. Mine has an electronic lift system, as shown in the photos (no sound system, no USB ports, no wireless phone chargers, no rail system for hang-off trays, dice towers, etc.). I had it stained, with some fancy laser engraving of art designs done, and a clear plastic overlay for my end station's pull-out drawer. It is solid Hickory wood. I love it, but if I could do it over, I would just buy a couple of Ping Pong Tables, replace their under-carriages with folding table leg assemblies, and keep thousands of Dollars in my bank account (see below).
I discovered, after several months, that my table was sagging from the middle, as it lacked proper cross-wise support in its structure. The carpenter refused to fix it, so I spent around $300 USD out of pocket to add metal support struts, screwed to the underside of the tabletop -- I came up with these with the help of some friends. These struts fixed the issue, and I've been happy with my modifications for 3+ years now -- rock solid, works flawlessly.
Truth is, it is too small for my games! I took two folding tables, side-by-side, tacked onto the end of my 5-1/2 foot by 9-1/2 foot custom table, to make it 15-1/2 feet long, for my last big fantasy mass battles game.
My Wife loves to use my Gaming Table as a Cutting Table for her fabric crafts: she elevates it to a comfortable height, and cuts fabrics as needed. This was one of my selling points to get her to agree to my getting the table…
I've since purchased a Ping Pong Table top, attached four sets of folding table leg assemblies to that (salvaged from my previous Ping Pong Table), to tack onto the end of my custom table, for future mass battles games (I also play war games with classic 54mm Army Men figures, so a huge tabletop is necessary -- I'm too old for floor games anymore).
My highest recommendation for a gaming table for mass battles, is to: get a Ping Pong Table topper for a Pool Table (<$150); attach sets of folding table leg assemblies beneath it (use four sets @ $68 USD/set=$280); attach the four segments of the Ping Pong Table together using hasps ($8 for a set of 8 hasps), to keep the table sections held solidly together as one table surface.
I used a Ping Pong Table for 20 years, both for mass battles games, and for my RPG games: 5 feet x 9 feet. When the surface got hashed, I covered it with burgundy vinyl from the local fabric store (the photo shows the folding legs beneath, and in the bottom right corner, you can see the burgundy vinyl): I had to seam two pieces together down the middle, and for this, I used carpet tape to hold them together; I wrapped the vinyl around the edge of the tabletop, employing a common utility stapler to secure the vinyl underneath, after I pulled it taut. That vinyl covering was removed and re-purposed after I retired the Ping Pong Table.
The nice thing about a Ping Pong Table, is that you can use it for RPG and miniature gaming, as well as playing Ping Pong on it! After the particle board surface gets hashed, you can cover it with vinyl, and it will last another 15+ years… The total cost for this type of 'gaming table', is around $400 USD (without the vinyl). If you really need space, like me, for bigger games, an investment of <$800 will give you a table size of 5 feet x 18 feet (two Ping Pong Tables!), or 9 feet by 10 feet! Ping Pong Tables are hard to beat for cost effectiveness and utility. ;-) Cheers!
