I've been dithering over whether or not to back this project as I'd prefer a 6'x4' table but, for the price, I finally caved and ordered one today.
Should've checked here to see if anyone wanted to go in on a 4 pack. Oh well...
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1296268806/the-duchess-a-gaming-table-from-boardgametablescom?ref=hero_thanks (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1296268806/the-duchess-a-gaming-table-from-boardgametablescom?ref=hero_thanks)
Congrats! That is a beautiful table. O0
For me, it's still too expensive. With a top it costs $800. Much lower price than in the past but after reading GJK's thread on building one from scratch I'm still thinking about going that route. I do think that there is a demand for these tables. If someone could make one with a top for around $400-$500 I wouldn't hesitate.
That is a very nice looking table that looks every much as good as some tables that I've seen that cost twice as much (or more). Making a table that has a lid that can open/be removed with a deep recess area underneath was the greatest thing for me. I can leisurely play a turn or two of a large game and then close the lid and come back to it in a few days or weeks or whenever. If I were advising people on what to look for in a gaming table, some things to look for would be:
1. How easy is it to remove/replace the tabletop?
2. Can the top be replaced without the possibility of disturbing a game inside?
3. How deep of a recess is there (clearance) under the tabletop? This is subjective but I like to store the gamebox, manuals, my dice tower (laying on its side) and whatever else all in there so that I can quickly get back to playing.
4. Make sure it's a good, sturdy table. If there's any wobble or play in it should it get bumped- well, that wouldn't be good.
5. Is the tabletop going to protect a game that is inside should liquids be spilled? Some designs have the top remove in sections. If that table is also acting as the dining room table and food or drinks are spilled...also not good.
Now, whether to buy one or make one yourself- that just depends. If you've got the spare cash, have little or no woodworking skills and the table will be a showpiece in your home, then yeah, it would make sense to buy a nice quality gaming table for sure. And conversely, if money is a little tight and you welcome the opportunity to do some woodworking stuff then the tables are out there. I see suitable tables every weekend when I stop into some local thrift stores/Goodwill stores.
I'd love to build my own. Sadly, I don't have the space for a workshop or even tools (gotta love living in the most expensive city in Canada). A co-worker said I could use his garage if I wanted so I looked into building my own and found some plans online. I figure I could get it done in 3-4 days during a week off (so 6-7 in reality). I costed it out. Materials, tools,pipe clamps, and rental beer was going to run me a minimum of $600 so I just went with this instead. Almost the same price. No need to kick myself if (honestly when) I screw something up during the build, and I'm not stuck with a bunch of clamps I'll need to get rid of in the end.
Sounds like you made the wise move SDR. Realistically, the project would take longer than a week even working 8 hours a day on it and then you'd of faced the difficulties of working it out with your buddy to allow you to extend the time to store all of your materials. My project took months but I had to strip all of the old finish off of the table and there were many times that I almost gave up because that was tedious. But putting on a good finish (a few coats) and then a few good coats of polyurethane would take 3-4 days in itself. In addition to the table itself ($35), I purchased the board that goes underneath, a nice rubber poker mat, finish, polyurethane, a circular sander, a paint sprayer (for an even finish and clear kote) and several pieces of hardware (most of it not used after I finally figured out how I was going to "hinge" the tabletop). So I spent a good couple of hundred bucks and spent I don't know how many hours doing the project. Damn glad that I finished it though! Realistically, (for Mike), you could get a decent table for the $25-$45 range at Goodwill. A piece of 4'x8' thin plywood for $30 (for underneath) and some felt (if you wanted) and a very cheap piece of whitewood stud and complete the project if you just needed a simple "hideaway" game table. You could always go back and refinish it if you felt that it needed to be done at a later time. That's a no-frills, on-the-cheap way to make a gaming table but again, you'd need at the least a circular saw (preferable a tablesaw) and the space and time to complete the project.
Wow, how neat! Made of true wood as well. Congratulations :)
Hmmm...sorely tempted. I don't need a top (and probably not cup holders) but I wouldn't mind replacing my buffet tables with something nicer looking.
SDR, did you spring for the top and cupholders?
That price is mighty tempting... I really shouldn't be spending any big money for at least a year but all the games on my game shelf are yelling to be allowed to spend some time out of their cardboard prisons... ( :tickedoff: <-- my games)
Yeah. I thought about getting the basic table and just building my own cover but then I figured since it was going to be spending most of its time as my kitchen table, I might as well get the works.
If this were offered about a year and a half ago, I would've jumped on it.
Hell.. I'm surprised some regular table manufacturers haven't started offering a mass produced line of game tables that come with a dinner table cover. Last I looked, the offerings were all very high priced hand-made stuff.
Another team is kickstarting their own table. I like the look of the Duchess better, but this one's got some cool features that I'd like.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/geeknson-kickstarter/the-taylah-boardgame-and-dining-table-by-geeknson?ref=project_page_recs
(https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/geeknson-kickstarter/the-taylah-boardgame-and-dining-table-by-geeknson?ref=project_page_recs)
That's another nice table. Still pricey and my other problem is space. I need a small desk (24"x42") to fit in my tiny room. I think that's why I'll probably end up building my own.
Hey SDR, how does that tabletop attach on the Dutchess? Is it a solid piece or in sections? (looked to be solid). Also curious about how it anchors to the frame of the table. That was the biggest conundrum in mine, how to have the tabletop easily remove yet still stay stable when in place since it's so big and heavy. I'd be curious to know what they came up with.
Quote from: bbmike on July 12, 2016, 05:22:17 AM
That's another nice table. Still pricey and my other problem is space. I need a small desk (24"x42") to fit in my tiny room. I think that's why I'll probably end up building my own.
this is too big then?
http://www.carolinagametables.com/product/coffee-game-table/
BBmike - this one gives you other sizes, too
http://geek-chic-hq.myshopify.com/collections/custom-coffee-tables-for-gaming/products/rift-deposit
An option for a small room/area is a map cabinet such as (excuse the ebay link): http://www.ebay.com/itm/5-Drawer-Stack-able-Oak-Wood-Map-File-Cabinet-for-24-X36-/130466929049 (http://www.ebay.com/itm/5-Drawer-Stack-able-Oak-Wood-Map-File-Cabinet-for-24-X36-/130466929049)
Sounds like a standard 22x34 would fit in a drawer.
I soooooooooo want a map cabinet like that at some point in my life
The coffee tables are great but I need this to be a desk since the wife will be using it at times. I just found a site that lets you order unfinished, customized table kits that might work. I haven't priced everything out yet, though.
Wow, I never thought of a map cabinet before! I can see filling each tray with a game, walking into the room to play one and staring at it like I do with the game icons on my PC trying to figure out which one I really want to play. ;D
That's too funny (but oh so true!). The easy part is setting the game up. The hard part begins when you actually try to play the game and have to use the rules that you've been reading. It's very easy to say "too much...I'll just play Battle Cry" (or something). Same with PC games. I launch HOI4 and I think "ugh, I know what I *want* to do but I have no idea in what layer of menu items that feature is...too much!" so I go back to Grogheads forums to read and post instead. :)
Well, my table finally arrived today, 8 months behind schedule.
I'd read that assembly was a challenge so I was happy to discover that it went together fairly easily. The instructions could have been clearer though as they don't inform you which way certain slats are supposed to face and naturally, I had them backwards every single time.
Things progressed well during the build....too well.
Once I'd assembled the table and the cup holders, I moved on to putting the table top on and only then did I discover that they only sent me one half of it.
One day....one day things will work out the way they're supposed to with zero hassles and I'll probably have a nervous breakdown when it happens.
bummer - it looks suh-weet!
Yeah, hopefully I can get things sorted with the distributor tomorrow. Apart from the missing half of the table topper (and the play mat. They're being delivered later as the original ones shrank over time and didn't fit the well), I'm very happy with it. I mean, look how well it holds my pint!
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4335/37340763551_8f9468a293_b.jpg)
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4500/37293687936_6df1ca1c1d_b.jpg)
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Wow, that's a beautiful table. O0
Missing 1/2 the top just means that you will always have to have a game in play to make it 'look right'.
Right nice looking table! :bd:
Thanks. You still coming to Van this month?
Been and gone.
I was so busy with work I couldn't get anywhere. :(
Boooo!
The missing parts showed up this week so the table's now complete. The dual-sided mat is about 1cm too long so it doesn't quite fit into the well properly but according to chat posts on the Kickstarter page, it should shrink to fit within a few days. If not, it shouldn't be too hard to trim it. I dithered a bit about the colours for my mat, but I'm quite happy with both the burgundy and the blue that I ended up going with.
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4456/37516709571_cf3f2c287d_h.jpg)
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4493/37468592526_8efed742ec_h.jpg)
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(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4487/37516709311_78e5c8fd70_b.jpg)
there's no games on that table!!!!
OK! Here's Duel in the Dark with the Baby Blitz expansion. We did a one-night scenario. I played the RAF. The game uses secret planning for the bombers and V1s and there are options for combined raids, spoofs, delayed starts, formation splitting, and other stuff. I usually try to get too clever with split raids and Window and Mosquito decoys and I always get spanked for it so this time, I went pretty straightforward. I launched the main force (Lancasters) against Munich while a spoof raid (Halifax) went against Lubeck. Both took off at the same time and flew more or less direct routes to the targets, trying to stay in clouds as much as possible. I sent one group of Mosquitoes with the spoof raid, hoping to lure some fighters away from the main force while the other Mossie group stayed back to defend England from the buzz bombs and Griffons.
The Germans were the ones to try and play it all sneaky. They delayed sending their bombers and their rockets for several turns, hoping I'd get bored and move off. They ended up sending all three V1s to London while their He177 bombing raid hit Bristol via a circuitous route over the Irish Sea.
Things went fairly well for me. My use of the Mossie decoys with the spoof raid worked reasonably well and drew off 1 Me110 Gruppe, 1 Do-17 Gruppe, and the He-219 Uhu nightfighter while the remaining 2 Me-110 gruppes went after the main force. I got lucky with the weather as there was a lot of cloud cover, no moon, and a nice tail wind for me/headwind for the Germans. The spoof raid took some losses but managed to hit Lubeck hard enough that I made more points than I lost in bombers.
The main force slipped through the German defences with only a few losses and managed to hammer Munich for a tonne of points but they got ripped to pieces on the homeward leg and I actually ended up losing more points than I gained. Fortunately, my Mosquitoes managed to knock down quite a few nightfighters which helped to offset the points losses.
London took a beating from the V1s and I wasn't really able to do much to stop them as my Mossie was tied up with the Griffons and my AAA didn't amount to much.
My Mossie that was harassing the He177s earned me a lot of points. I was able to crater the bomber's airfield before they took off so they lost a few to accidents. Then I dogged them over the Irish Sea, to Bristol, and back home again and, while they did hit their target, their losses were so severe that it swung the points total well over in my favour. Score ended up being +8 for the RAF (My high point was right after hitting Munich when I got up to +19 and the low point was just as the Lancasters crossed the Channel when the Germans were up +7)
Good times! (so much so that I forgot to take and photos after turn 3)
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4508/37478073856_75512e4163_h.jpg)
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4479/37478073926_75835a1cfd_h.jpg)
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