"Board Size for Skirmish?" Topic

Given your castings are individually-mounted 28mm, what's the minimum board size you'd regard as suitable? And does it vary with period? Would it vary with larger or smaller figures?

As usual, I'm as interested in the thinking behind the numbers as I am in the numbers themselves.

I have fun fights on a card table, three by three feet. These generally are focused on the defense of a single building like a blockhouse or cabin or the wonderful MBA ranch house. So only a handful of defender against maybe a dozen attackers.

My normal table is 4' by 5' and I do skirmishes with up to 60 or so minis per side. Always 28mm

I think one key is visibility. I assume you could do a skirmish with spacemen using unlimited range lasers, but if the terrain was close, jungle or urban jungle, it could still be done on a small table.

4x8, but that's just because it is my table size.

It gives plenty of room for nothing to happen on.

That said, I did a very enjoyable road game on that table that involved 3 major actions being fought over several sessions.

They were an ambush, river crossing, and assault on a prepared position.

The attacker's force was fixed and the defenders received reinforcements at each encounter.

The group that I have been playing with has been doing 3'x3' for skirmish games. We use about 7-10 figures per side, and use plenty of terrain (generally). The 3x3 size allows for action to happen quickly as weapon ranges cover almost the entire board. So yes, 3'x3' would be the smallest board that we would use in a face to face game using 28mm figures.
In a solo game, I have been comfortable on a board as small as 22"x30" and with 28mm figures

Could do a 2' x 2' if the game is set in a building. But I think 3' x 3' works better.

Board size really depends on rules as much as figure size.

We used to play some really fun skirmishes on a checkerboard (playing on the vertices, so 9x9) with 28mm figures.

Our nominal size is 3'x3' using the QILS rules. 3'x4' is common.

I used to play Gloire. It used 4 figures per side in a DnD type scenario on a 2'x2' board. Last time I used those rules was a "Rescue Roddy McCorley" game with ~100 figures per side in a 9x5 board.
Oh, well. We had fun.

I sell a lot of 2 x 2 foot mats which guys use for skirmish. Battlesystems sell them

All my Pirates and Good Guys 🙄 are mounted in 3/4" washers. This is on 28mm resin ships, but also on land.
My Musketeers and Cardinal's Guard were similarly mounted. I developed a "wooden drawer insert" for Blood and Swash saloon brawls.
I'm doing the same for Cowboy poker games. "Let's have a spelling contest!"

TBH some games on land with Pirates, Rogers Rangers, Spanish, Iroquois CdB and Hawkeye need "skirmish based" figures, and the table can be as large as needed.

Table size can also depend on the scenario or terrain. My group will be putting on a What A Cowboy game at Fall-In Convention in November on a 10 ft by 6 ft table of the town of Tombstone. 8 players controlling 2 characters each, but lots of NPC models for towns people, room to maneuver in the city, and the ability to engage at various ranges.

While only a "Skirmish" game, this "Tombstone Showdown" was awarded one of two best gaming tables at HMGS Little Wars this past April.

Kim

Kim

It will also depend on the era. A game where shooting is the main weapon, bigger is almost always better. Were combat is all melee then 2x2 works well.

We will play gladiators on smaller than that.

Most of our games could be considered skirmish and the smallest is 8x5. 4 to 6 players each with 40ish troops on the table.

"A game where shooting is the main weapon, bigger is almost always better."

To be fair, with dense enough terrain…

Some of the examples have to be seen as 'a bunch of' skirmishes. Too large a table and forces can take awhile to get stuck in, or you are wasting table.

That's not really a problem; I have plenty of such games. Just skews the original parameters.

As to the smaller areas, a proper ship's deck(yes, I saw that mentioned) or arena can really shrink the battle. Does that count as skirmish?

Kudos to the OP if they were holding off making such points to avoid fire hosing the discussion.

Doug

Thank you, TheBeast. Yes, I had thoughts on the subject, but the idea was--and is--to get the widest possible range of other people's.

Same as what Col Durnford says because that is my table size. Although mine is only 4x6. I could make it much bigger since I 'own' half the basement but this is a good size.

When we are playing truly skirmish (man to man) games we use the 40mm miniatures. They seem to fit a 4x6 perfectly with 6 to 10 per side.

Most recently had a river skirmish where there were 2 frontiersmen (trappers) doing their thing being attacked by 8 Indians. Seems overwhelmingly bad for the trappers however the Indians only activated on a die roll each turn with a max of 2 entering per turn and then at random locations. It was a fun game and ended using the whole table in what amounted to a evade & pursuit game.

I play FRPG's, on a table sized 5.5 feet by 9.5 feet, with a vinyl, erasable grid mat, sized 4.5 feet by 8.5 feet. I employ miniatures for combat, terrain is typically a mixture of 2D and 3D elements deployed onto the mat. I love to utilize as much surface area as possible.

I am on the fringe, obviously. But at least you know some of us like to play BIG! LOL! Cheers!

With all the caveats listed above the smallest area could be about 1'x 1' It gets to the point where you need space to be able to move the figures about and have some space for scenery. Most of my figures are on 1" or 3/4" rounds for close in games, inside buildings smaller may have been better.

Once I played a game in a building where once 3 figures were in the room there was no space for maneuver

Yes, Sgt Slag, we know. But the question wasn't "how big would you like?" "how big could you possibly use?" or even "what do you normally use?" but "what's the minimum?"

I know. Actually answering the asked question is not the TMP Way.

Actually answering the asked question is not the TMP Way.

The TMP way! 🫡

Also, "It all depends on…"

With all the caveats listed above the smallest area could be about 1'x 1' It gets to the point where you need space to be able to move the figures about and have some space for scenery. Most of my figures are on 1" or 3/4" rounds for close in games, inside buildings smaller may have been better.

Once I played a game in a building where once 3 figures were in the room there was no space for maneuver.

Lately we've been playing a lot of OHSW and 3'x3' seems to be a good size board for a one on one games.

It all depends on- what you like
– what you have
– what you need…

and what you settle for, see above.

There are few conclusive answers for most of these questions. The best fix is to run the scenario a few times
and review your conclusion. Yes we did conclude on occasion
where 'the table was too large or there was too much terrain.'
Change the scenario it could become too small a table and not enough terrain. Ok-I'm done here. No thanks necessary.

I know. Actually answering the asked question is not the TMP Way.

Asking a massivley underspecified question is the TMP way.

I know. I know. "Skrimish" is only one thing and it is impossible for anyone to enjoy or even play different types of skirmish game that have different criteria.

'"Skrimish" is only one thing and it is impossible for anyone to enjoy or even play different types of skirmish game that have different criteria.'

Well, there you are, then! OR

you could try to be more specific than I have been without either specifying individual rules--and I'm still working on rules--or writing a multi-paragraph description. Either way, the objective is to have more than three responses from people with pertinent experience.

Cpt Beefheart, with specified rules, a single scenario and time, even I could arrive at a conclusion about table size.

Actually, I've been quite pleased with the responses. They suggest that 3x3 is doable, and 2x2 may be doable with few enough castings and either short weapons ranges or sufficient clutter blocking lines of sight. Smaller than that, when mentioned at all, is seriously hedged. This suggests that (1) my 3x3 table is adequate, (2) the Pathfinder (30" x 24") and the old Wizkids (2' x 3') pre-printed terrain sheets might be useful for a quick one-off bought at the right price, but (3) the "Big Book of Sci-fi Battle Mats" and its fantasy counterpart probably aren't worth fooling with unless I buy two compatible ones, which would give me an iffy 24" x 17" "board." This is useful stuff, and gives me a standard for assessing other such products as I find them.

I thank you all, and several retailers should be grateful as well.

I play The Sword and the Flame. I USED TO base everything on washers. Basing on washers is by definition (and I don't care what nay-sayers may say) a skirmish game.
Even with 300-400 figures on a side. And I don't give a hoot if you disagree.
Well, those figures now belong to my buddy Jim. He rebased to 800 Fighting Englishmen standards. Suddenly it's not a "skirmish game" anymore.

This is a TMP poll, which are notoriously ambiguous about definitions. Who cares? My personal Stalker will obviously disagree, bless his heart. 😄

I built a 3' X 4' tabletop for Saga, which I can mark down to smaller sizes as needed.

My Saga infantry are based on 3/4-inch fender washers. Cavalry, chariots, elephants, etc. rate larger bases.

Grelber

Ignoring gridded games*, the smallest I've played a 28mm skirmish game on that I offhand recall is 30"x30". I see no reason somewhat smaller couldn't work, but it probably gets silly if you go much smaller. So let's call 24"x24" a rough minimum?

* I've played gladiatorial games on hexgrids small enough to fit on a single A4 sheet, which has worked about as well as you can ask for given I'm not very interested in the genre in the first place.

I played a fun game with grandkids using plastic pre-paints on an outdoor table 18" diameter. Terrain was three rocks. The three werewolves could jump up on the rocks; the six humans could not, but their halberds could reach up. We used SONG OF BLADES. Fast and fun and we really only used about a 12" section of the small table. So limit the number of miniatures and use good rules and a fun skirmish is possible in a very small space.

you could try to be more specific than I have been without either specifying individual rules--and I'm still working on rules--or writing a multi-paragraph description. Either way, the objective is to have more than three responses from people with pertinent experience.

What is the minimum thickness for a wall?

Given your castings are individually-mounted 28mm,

Invidually mounted, 25, 28, and 32mm, depending on the game and forces.

what's the minimum board size you'd regard as suitable?

Maybe 3ft x 3ft, for the inside of a ship, whether a spaceship or a seagoing ship.

And does it vary with period?

I run science fiction and contemporary. No.

Would it vary with larger or smaller figures?

Not in the 25-32mm range. 15mm miniatures could possibly work on a smaller table. I don't think I'd want to try individually mounted skirmish gaming with anything smaller.

I don't think I'd want to try individually mounted skirmish gaming with anything smaller.

It comes back to what you consider skirmish.

We play some ~5mm games at 1:300 scale so a 1'x1' covers roughly one city block or a slighly compressed sports arena. We generally have small squads (on 1" bases) for skirmish vice individuals. But depending on theme and scenario individual figures, especially atv, motorcycle, or cars on 5/8" bases.

The 1'x1' board allows some simple but realistic rules. F'r'ex, a vehicle floored and moving fast will likely move off the board (you need to move in roughly a straight line to move fast in this situation) in one, sometimes two, turns. so a vehicle leaving the board must stop at the edge to give other units a "parting shot".

This is not "physics realistic". But it is "situationally realistic". When a vehicle takes off like that from a skirmish combat situation, people recognize it and can usually choose to take a shot before it is too far away to practically engage.

In that, and several other ways, the small board helps contain the fight from unrealistic situations caused by rule insufficency.

I do agree that single based ~5mm figures only make sense in specific situations.

For me it is a question of basing. 25mm/1" or larger I go for a 3 foot square table. 20mm or smaller two-feet square is sufficient.

This is for games with a good amount of scenery on the table and substantial breathing room for maneuver. Games can of course be played in smaller spaces.

There are some fin indie skirmish games that use smaller setups:

Necroplis28 uses a dense 16"x16" board. It helps keep everything fast and deadly.

1490 Doom has a 2 foot circular board. I've been wanting to make a skirmish board this size and try it with some other games. It would be packed with terrain to make it harder for shooting to dominate.

Would it vary with larger or smaller figures?

Smaller figures should work on smaller tables, all else equal. But the smallest suitable size probably scales with base size rather than figure height.