"What Lives on Your Side Table?" Topic

A photo from a Napoleonic 'Valour & Fortitude' game got me wondering how other gamers organize their "command post" away from the battlefield.

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On my side table you'll find things like:

Dice and dice trays
Casualty figures and removed units
Event cards
Scenario notes
Quick-reference sheets
Tokens and markers
Rulebooks
Tea/coffee (at a safe distance from the troops!)
NB NO towels or wine fridges.

Some gamers like everything neatly compartmentalized. Others seem to operate from a glorious sea of paper, dice and miniatures.

How much table space do your games require beyond the actual battlefield?

Do you use a dedicated side table, TV trays, storage boxes, tackle organizers, card stands, tablet computers, or some other system?

And what single accessory has made managing your games easier?

All these things--pretty much--depend on the rules played and where we're playing them. Most commonly rules & scenario, measuring devices, status markers, randomizers and casualties.

As for where, for years my regular opponent had an eye problem which made it difficult to shift focal distance, so it was very common to play the game on a card table to spare him headaches and use his 5x9 ping-pong table as the "side table." At home often I'll play on a 4x6 and use the (four seat) dining table, or set up a 2x4 folding table.

Off my 8x4 gaming table, I have a 2x4 floating side table on wheels with height adjustment. The side table is either used for more gaming space or to hold all the things you mentioned.

In addition, I have a 2x2 floating side table (wheels only – fits under gaming table when not in use) for dice, tape measure, and sometimes rules or reference sheets.

Looks pretty familiar! Side table holds extra minis not on the table -- reinforcements and casualties; markers; rules and QRS sheets for players, dice and so on. And no drinks on the game table!

My side tables are the tops of bookcases to try and minimize
the assorted "stuff" and impedimenta of gaming like QRS, dice death caos and "dead" figures. It doesn't work.

Don't have a side table. Everything is on my 8 x 5 table.

My side table looks like yours, Ochoin.

We use side tables for reinforcements that did not start the game on the game table.

Grelber