"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