"Size matters" Topic

I was reviewing my terrain, in particular my range of buildings and why I had not made anymore. I realised there were really no more that mattered from a tactical standpoint and I am not big on artistry.

I suppose I should declare my bias.
1) I am a 20th Centaury (sort of gamer) in predominantly 1/144 scale and a bit in 1/72.
2) I am a gamer at a level of teams not individuals so the buildings are out of scale with the ground scale between a factor of 5 to 10.
3) the floor plan of villages is fixed for a game not just ornaments on an area designated as Urban.
4) we have vaguely plausible rules on Dead ground.

This limits the useful size of hills and terrain. The tallest buildings are 3 levels above ground level, this makes the dead ground from the top level close on 240mm (10")on a 3 story building in 1/144 scale and 2ft at 1/72 scale. This is a lot of table space on our typical, 6ft(ish) square board. Much taller would make the dead ground so large the top floor would be virtually useless tactically so it is really not useful to have taller buildings.

Similarly hills are limited to about 4 contours so the dead ground is around 1ft in 1`/144 and nearly 3ft in 1/72 taking much of the space on the table, again limiting tactical usefulness of anything taller.

Also much much taller and due to the limits of slopes to allow models to stand up on the slopes, such slopes covers most of the board which basically means it becomes just a sloping flat table. No real gain over a flat actable pretending to be on a slope.

Much the same applies to buildings footprint. I could make an industrial building say 100 yds long in real world dimensions, 500mm long at 1/144 but it becomes tactically very implausible. What would you do to the interior that would make the game plausible, nothing I can see that makes it credible.

On that basis I can see ma need for taller than my existing 3 story buildings and my biggest Industrial building as about 250mm (10") at 1/144 seems a logical limit. Even my 3 story buildings are on the very edge of plausibility being about 10" side but very shallow 75mm (3") to make there footprint more plausible n the table.

Do you have any limits on building size and what are the causes that impose such limits?

My friends and I are building towards a Wild Western town, with a bank to rob, a saloon to brawl in, an OK Corral to, you know…
Single figures, 28mm, based for stability. 3/4" washers, 1" rounds, similar metric.

Jim has a massive US Cavalry "army", and Plains Indians. I have Indians. Fun to paint. Battles on the plains are no problem at all.
The problem comes from the notorious figure to terrain problem. The buildings look fine in scale from the outside. But even with removable roofs and separate second stories, it's impossible to have anything more than a diorama inside. A bank is bad enough, but a thriving saloon? I'm lucky to fit a bar and a single poker table inside. Nothing cinematic at all. 🙄
So I use a wooden drawer insert to game indoors. I can fit a bar, piano, faro table, poker tables, a mariachi band, etc. I can't even guess at how much roomier it is in area compared to the resin or MDF exterior.
Yes, it's a suspension of disbelief. Everything is "normal" on the outside. The town is not a template. Every bit of terrain is real, buildings, hitching posts, trees, etc. terrain effects apply.
Inside, the same.