TY 6mm Lessons Learned 22

 Finally, the traveling is done for my job (for now) and I got to try out the "new hotness", the new gaming table I built for the group and I have to say that, even though I was focusing almost exclusively on all the imperfections, it was still an excellent table to play on. Why was I focused on the imperfections? When I create something, that is all I see, I am just one of those people, sadly. Anyway, the table was fun to play on, and it's huge, so I wanted a huge fight. "We have all this room," I said to Uriah, "let's really throw down - 150 points!" He said no, that'd take too long, he wanted a shorter game. "Okay, we'll do Blue on Blue, my Americans with their fancy tanks versus your Brits with your fancy tanks, no horde lists, no infantry." He agreed to that, and to list building I went. So, can't do a horde of M60 Pattons, I want to do more spendy tanks, but not so spendy I don't have anything to support them with, so 105mm gunned M1 Abrams it is. Only one tank in the HQ element and three full platoons of four tracks each make the core of this list, and a terrifying hammer it is. Also in the main formation, a two tracks element of M901 ITVs with TOW-2 missiles ('cause I had to spend a point somewhere and it put these in line with everything else in the force), and two, two-track M3 Bradley Scout Sections. All that Spearhead-goodness really helped out, which we'll discuss momentarily. From Divisional Support, a six barrel battery of M109s with minelets (I was hoping, since none of the NATO units have mine plows these would be a huge PITA for Uriah, but nope, never used them), a M113 FIST, four VADS in an AA platoon, and two A10 Wathogs (yes, yes Fairchild Thunderbolt IIs, but to me, they will always be Warthogs). The first iteration of this list had three fewer Abrams and a whole mess of other vehicles - RDF L/Ts, mech infantry, M106s, and Chaparrals, but I promised a quicker game with fewer, more expensive vehicles, and the above is what I came up with. It worked pretty well, though my A10s did not show up often, and when they did, I was too timid with them and they were ultimately ineffective.

The mighty US Force cards.

As for Uriah's force, he brought a Challenger Squadron - two tracks in the HQ with two, three track troops, three Swingfires, and four Scorpions for his recce needs. Then from support, he brought three M109s, a FV432 FOO, three Marksmen, two Tracked Rapiers, four Harriers, two TOW Lynx, and three Chieftains (and a partridge in a pear tree). This is nastier than it looks, because I only had a few weapons that could threaten the Challys from the front (TOWs and the Mavericks the A10s carry) and where I had reduced my AA capabilities, Uriah had expanded his and the number of aircraft he was bringing. The Chieftains are very close, stats-wise, to my M1 Abrams, with some give and take between the two, but the Challengers are hands-down winners versus 105mm Abrams - better armor and a better gun. And the Scorpions (we call them "cockroaches" for a reason) are generally so hard to kill they occupy many more Units than you would think necessary. It looked like it was going to be an ugly fight.

The mighty British Force cards

As usual, we threw as many pieces of terrain onto the board as we could stand and went to town. Doing Blue on Blue, I picked the Red cards and went with Attack, while Uriah picked Maneuver from the NATO choices. Just a side note, I saw an announcement for an upcoming TY tourney, and they said out of the four fights you were guaranteed to have, you would have to use the three combat choices (Attack, Maneuver, Defend) at least once during the tourney. I think that is neat and adds a layer of strategic thinking - okay, I'm Attack focused, when do I throw down with Defend? When will Maneuver give me the best advantage? Anyway, with the sides chosen, Uriah rolled and we got Escape, which worked out well, as we were already set up at the opposite short sides of the table. My brain was not working 100% and I was having trouble doing math and adjusting to a full-size table where we didn't have to take an extra step to adjust our distances across one dimension of the table, but in the end, we figured it out and we setup our forces.

Mission - Escape!

DEPLOYMENT - being Defender, Uriah had to deal with protecting both Objectives, and yes, I placed the one that was closer to my Deployment Zone and as far away from any hills or trees as I could get. Uriah did a good job placing his forces and especially his six (SIX!!) minefields to funnel me away from the more accessible of the Objectives. I used my two sections of Scouts to Spearhead almost all of my Abrams tanks 14 inches (we halve all movement distances... which did neatly put me the necessary distance away from enemy Units) closer to the Objective on the US right/British left. I almost put my HQ track into the Spearhead as well, but I'm glad I did not as I had failed to notice that the Defender's Immediate Reserves would Deploy BEHIND my Units. And yes, for his Ambush, Uriah chose his Chieftains, and for Reserves, he chose his two Troops of Challengers. I scared him with the hammer of Abrams heading his way, and he scared me when his Challys came onto the table behind me. It was going to be an exciting game.

British Reserves.

British Ambush.

A look across the field from behind the British right flank.

Most of the US Force.

TOW Lynx ready to pounce.

British M109s assessing potential targets.

British Ranged In marker.

British minefields (left and top), and US Ranged In marker (hilltop).

The schwerpunkt.

US Units behind the main hammer.

TURN ONE - Escape is an odd Mission in that the Defender goes first, not the Attacker. Attacker does get to pick time of day, but since we were both playing NATO, I chose to stick to Daytime just to keep everything flowing faster, though I would have chosen to try and get either Dusk or Dawn if I had been playing US versus any of the WarPacts not Soviet, as their night vision equipment is sub-par. Uriah rolled for and got both a set of Reserves and his Strike Aircraft, the latter of which he aimed straight at my VADS and the former at the center of my rear areas, the M109 artillery. He rolled out his Scorpions (Cockroaches) and maneuvered his Lynx in to fire on my Abrams. In the shooting phase of the Turn, he managed to kill three Abrams (one from one Platoon and two from the other) with shots from the Swingfires and the Lynx, and an artillery bombardment from the M109s. The Challengers from Reserves don't fire because they Dashed, trying to get into the fight in future Turns or get to a firing position next Turn where they could use a Halted ROF. The VADS and the Harriers go after each other, hammer and tongs, with two Harriers crashing to the ground but the Americans losing three out of four VADS. I knew I should have kept the Chaparrals in my army list. I did try shooting at the Lynx with the AA .50cal MG on the FIST, but that produced nothing (you miss every shot you don't take, and I didn't figure I had the FIST in a position to Range In this Turn anyway).

Chieftains appear from Ambush.

Scorpions and Lynx maneuver British right, US left.

Challengers from Reserves Dash onto the table.

Four Harriers going after four VADS.

On the American side, I push all the pedals to the metal and charge into the teeth of my opponent. Remember, I automatically lose if I don't have a Unit within two inches of one of the Objectives at the beginning of Turn Six, so no playing this one safe, time is NOT on my side. The roll for Strike Aircraft fails, but the passed Morale check on the VADS means the lone track is staying on the board. I sneak a Platoon of Abrams and a Section of Bradleys around the far right (US right, British left) table edge, avoiding minefields and getting clear Line of Sight to the Swingfires. The other Spearhead block charges pretty much straight ahead, looking to get to grips with the Ambushing Chieftains between them and the Objective, and get away from the Ranged In marker. Anyone else who is bored and not doing anything (both Bradley Scout Sections and the M901s) fires at the FOO, but barely manage to Bail the vehicle. The M109s swivel turrets and fire at the approaching Scorpions and Challys. The HQ track maneuvers to try and get Side Armor shots on the Challys as early as possible. The Swingfires are wiped off the map. The M109s take one Scorpion off the board, and then I realize I can't penetrate the Challengers from the front, not even Direct Firing a 155mm howitzer, so I use those M109s to put smoke in front of the Challengers - if I can't Destroy or Bail them, I can force them to move (or at least check for a Blitz move) to get around the smoke and lower their ROF to one.

"Bad" guys to the rear...

...and to the left.

CHARGE!!

CHARGE!! (take two)

Those are smoke markers.

Swingfires go bye-bye.

M109s shooting at Scorpions.

One burning Cockroach, I mean, Scorpion.

TURN TWO - Again, Uriah gets his Reserves and Strike Aircraft, the former being his last Troop of Challengers which come on threatening the very edge of the table (US right/British left, same narrow alley I ran a Platoon of Abrams and a Section of Bradleys up last Tutn); and the latter going right back after the remaining VADS. The smoked Challys that came on last Turn move Tactically up past the smoke and commence firing on the M109s. The freshly arrived Challys Dash to make up some ground across the board. The Marksmen withdraw as they don't want to face the American 105mm cannons heading their way. The HQ element adjusts to fire on the Abrams cresting the hill in front of the Chieftains, while those same Chieftains make a Cross Here check to shift to face the Abrams coming in from their left flank. The Lynx move to better engage the same block of Abrams and Bradleys, and the Scorpions head for the rear of that group of tracks. When Shooting commences, the lone VADS manages to take out one of the two remaining Harriers, and the remaining Harrier fails to do anything in return. The Challys that arrived last Turn light up the M109s but only manage to Destroy one of them. The FOO (which had remounted at the beginning of the Turn) Ranges In again on the Abrams practically within spitting distance, and the fire from the British M109s and the Lynx manage to Bail one of the Abrams.

It is at this point, while typing this up, that I realized I had made an error. That block of Abrams (two Platoons worth with a Section of Bradley Scouts), last Turn I moved them Tactically, fired at the Chieftains (causing no damage) and then I did a Shoot n Scoot with them to get them off the hill... which is illegal, you can't do that maneuver unless you did not move or Assault that Turn. They should have still been up on the crest of the hill, to be fired at by the Chieftains and the HQ Challengers. My apologies to Uriah, it was not done on purpose.

Two Harriers versus one VADS.

Challys shoot up an M109.

Marksmen adjust back and Chieftains shift to better cover their left flank.

Lynx going after Abrams.

One Bailed

Back to the game and the American half of the Turn - the Bailed Abrams remounts! The last, lone VADS fails Morale and scoots off the table! I finally get Strike Aircraft on! Yes, this was a bit of a rollercoaster for me emotionally, but just wait until Shooting when... well, I won't spoil it for you, it's coming real soon. I placed the A10s at the very edge of the table, JUST outside of range of the Tracked Rapiers at the other end of the table. I still don't know how effective missile AA is versus the hearty Warthogs, so I was playing super cautious with them. I manage to Blitz the FIST to a spotting position so I can use my M109s as the artillery they are meant to be, but what about the Challys coming up from their 6 o'clock? Well, that was part of the plan with the A10s - if I attack that Troop with the 'hogs, with no other AA cover available, Uriah will be tempted to use the AA MGs on the Challys and won't be able to shoot next round anyway. It was a very big gamble, but time is running out (or so I thought) and I need to get something onto one of the Objectives in the next two Turns (actually three, more on this in a bit) or I automatically lose the game, so I need to move forward with the units around that Objective that has become the schwerpunkt as much as I can and ignore everything else. The Abrams I had pulled back off the hill (illegally) charge right back over, keeping the trees in between themselves and the Challenger HQ element. The Abrams on the flank turn the corner to also face the Chieftains. The Bradleys with the flank follow, and the other Section of Bradleys maneuver to face down the Scorpions coming up from the opposite flank. And the HQ Abrams maneuvers to get Side Armor shots on the Challys threatening the M109s. This is the true benefit of the Abrams tanks - a fast Tactical speed (14 inches compared to 10 inches of practically everything else, which becomes 7 and 5 respectively in our 6mm scale version of the game) and ROF two even while Moving. In Shooting, it's another rollercoaster, as my first three attempts at hitting anything fail. A10s shooting Challys (which do try to strike first with AA MGs, so that gamble paid off at least, and no A10s were shot down) was a total miss. HQ Abrams was a total miss. M109s manage to Range In on the Marksmen 2nd roll, then miss one and hit the other (even with five barrels still up and rerolling my miss, I missed again), but that SPAAG makes Armor Save easily. Then eight Abrams unload 16 shots on the Chieftains... only to Destroy one of them for all that noise and thunder. The Bradleys on the flank and the M901s (who I probably should have been moving by now) finally Destroy the FV432 FOO. The Bradleys facing the Scorpions Destroy one and Bail the other two. See? Lots of RNGeezus giveth, and RNGeezus taketh away happening.

I assure you, those stands represent my A10s. Yes, yes, another project on  the pile.

Scorpions catching hate from the Bradleys.

All that fire from the Abrams for one Destroyed Chieftain.

I did at least get that FOO.

Marksmen catch artillery fire for no effect.

TURN THREE - Where my dice had gone mostly cold last Turn, this is the Turn where Uriah's dice went cold. We also did not have Brandon's big, red d12 keeping track of which Turn it was, and I'm pretty sure at this point both Uriah and I agreed it was Turn Four. Uriah had his entire Force on the table at this point, and even though he had already lost one of his Formation Units (Swingfires), he was still In Good Spirits, so no Formation Morale. He fails to get his Strike Aircraft, the one, lone Harrier, back onto the table. He does manage to Remount one of the Scorpions but then they fail Morale, and become the first of the Brits to scamper off to home. The Challys in the American backfield, seeing that I am going to throw everything nearby at that Objective (because we think our clock is further ahead than it is) ignore the targets around them and Dash as far forward as they can. The Brits roll plenty of dice in Shooting, but like I intimated earlier, not much happened. The Challenger HQ element and the Chieftains and the TOW Lynx fire at the Abrams they have clear Line of Sight to, but only manage to Bail one track, which immediately Remounts in the American half of the Turn, and Destroy one track out of the last, full strength Platoon coming in from the flank. I did just notice that, having lost the FOO, Uriah didn't do much with his M109s the entire rest of the game, and if nothing else, could have used them to sit directly upon the Objective, freeing up his HQ to do some more maneuvering of their own. 

On the American side of the turn, I fail to get Strike Aircraft back, but do Remount the one Bailed Abrams, and it's back to driving towards that Objective. Starting in the backfield, I make a Blitz roll and shift the M109s just enough to get them all on line and unmask their guns so they can all fire without incurring a Slow Firing penalty. Better yet, they are aimed directly into Side Armor of one of the Chally Troops. The HQ track follows up (no Blitz needed, just a straight Tactical move) and line up in the rear of the other Chally troop. The M901s, not wanting to stick around, motor over the hill they are on and head towards the where the FIST is at, see if they can threaten the other Objective. The Platoon with three remaining Abrams sits where they are, while their neighbor Platoon with two tracks moves around the stand of trees the Chieftains are in to put rounds into the Marksmen and threaten the Objective from US right. The last Platoon of Abrams move up just enough to get all three guns on line to shoot at the Chieftains. Meanwhile, the Bradleys in the center move back to where they were, and the other Section Dashes forward to the other side of the hill the Marksmen are hiding behind. As Shooting commences, my cold dice run suddenly hot and I start Destroying vehicles left, right, and center. In the backfield, both Chally Troops lose two out of three tracks to Side Armor shots from the M109s and the HQ Abrams, forcing Morale checks next Turn. Out of the Chieftains, I Destroy one and Bail the other. The Marksmen catch rounds and outright lose two of their three tracks to 105mm cannon fire, also forcing a Morale check next Turn for that Unit. Again, RNGeezus giveth, and RNGeezus taketh away.

The Scorpions fail Morale and run away.

Burning Challengers in the American backfield.

American Abrams swarm to the Objective.

I should have taken more pictures of that Turn. *feh*

TURN FOUR - For Uriah, disaster strikes hard. No Strike Aircraft this Turn. Already down to three out of the five core Units from his Formation (the Scorpions and Swingfires having already left the party), he then fails the Morale checks for both of his Chally Troops. That is it, he is down to one and only one Unit left in the Formation, the Challenger HQ Unit. This is where we made another mistake, as we both thought (or had forgotten this wasn't true) the Chieftains were a core Unit, but they're not, they come in from Divisional Support. No Formation Morale check is made, but I am not salty over it as I type this, as continuing the fight was more interesting than just winning right here. At the time we thought everything was kosher and kept going. The Marksmen that I mauled last Turn make their Morale check and stay in the fight. Uriah keeps the TOW Lynx at the edge of the battlefield, as we had both remembered that the Bradleys' Bushmaster cannon has Anti-Helicopter as a Weapon Ability, and I was going to start using my Scout Sections as impromptu AA pieces. The Chally HQ shifts over in the woods, using another Cross Here check to bypass the Cross Check, you know, the ones our little group seems to fail so much. This puts them on the other side of the Objective. In Shooting, the TOW Lynx manage to Destroy one Abrams out of the three track Platoon, and the HQ Destroys one track out of the two track Platoon, and not much else is left to shoot because everything else is out of Line of Sight.

Challenger Troops have left the building.

The blue die is a reminder to check for Unit Morale.

TOW Lynx on the extreme edge of the battle. The black dice are holding down the hills they are on, as it was a hot day, we had the windows open, and it was a bit windy.

Back to the Americans (cue NSFW theme song), who again fail to bring the A10s back out to play, but do pass the Morale check for the Abrams Platoon. Remember, I'm still under the impression this is Turn Five, so I think I have to get one of my Units onto the Objective NOW! or I'm going to lose the game at the start of the next Turn. With just one track left in that Abrams Platoon that I just made Morale with, I know I am not going to have it long, so I might as well get some use out of it, and Dash it across the table to contest the Objective. With that taken care of, I prepare for a long slog of wiping out the last pair of Challengers and anything else Uriah throws at the Objective to keep me from capturing it. The American M109s are now Dashing up the table heading g for the other Objective to try and divert some resources that way. The Bradleys in the middle of the table move back to the reverse slope of the hill, hopefully to get TOW missiles into the remaining Chieftain next Turn, if it becomes necessary. The Abrams HQ track Dashes up table to try and support the Objective capture where all the action is occurring. The other Bradleys, well, I couldn't get to a good shooting position with them, so they sat and looked threatening. The other two Platoons of Abrams move Tactically past the Chieftains for the Challengers to start putting rounds into them. Even the M901s leave the hill they were hiding behind and Dash forward to do... something, not really sure what I wanted to do with them. Much shooting of guns happens in the Shooting phase, but all that happens is the final Marksman goes down (shot by the three track Platoon of Abrams, since I don't have much chance of penetrating the Challengers from the front) and one of the two remaining Challengers is Bailed from Side Armor shots from the two Abrams Platoon.

Get on that Objective!

HQ moving up.

M901s and Bradleys moving up.

M109s moving up.

And then the Shooting happens.

TURN SI... I MEAN FIVE - Uriah is sweating at this point. To be honest, so was I, Challengers are tough tanks, and it looks like it's going to come down to knife fighting practically on top of the Objective while my support Units crawl across the table, dodging minefield after minefield, to get to the other Objective, all while trying to avoid getting shot by the Lynx or the last Harrier. Uriah Remounts the Bailed Challenger! He then Fails to Remount the Bailed Chieftain, and then fails Morale, it's off the table! At this point, we think he has to make a Formation Morale check even though that should have happened last Turn. He fails Formation Morale, the Brits are in full retreat! We both start breathing again, he with remorse, me with relief, and neither of us suffered a heart attack.

And in the end...

LESSONS LEARNED - Man, woman, and child, what a rollercoaster ride that was! Yes, we played high points, but with the force compositions we both played, the game went fast, three hours at the most, and really, it was closer to just two hours as we did a lot of BS'ing and joking around before we got the game truly underway. The extra table space was excellent, we both sprawled out and really enjoyed the extra maneuver room. Now I want to play a game on there with a large WarPact force with tons of vehicles and infantry, try a classic long side to long side battle, but we'll have to make sure we have the time to get everything done. 

I think the biggest takeaways from the game was that neither of us did really poorly in our tactical decisions, we just really messed up on remembering all the rules. Bad luck with the dice were the biggest troubles either of us had, as there were entire Turns where one of us just couldn't manage to hit, Bail, or Destroy anything, or couldn't make an average Armor Save to save our souls. I also can't remember a TY game that I've had so few Units lost, even in my winning games - yes, I lost plenty of individual vehicles, but I only lost one Unit, my VADS way back in Turn Two. I don't think that was anything on my part other than luck, as I was throwing everything into combat pretty recklessly. 

I swear it says somewhere in the rule book that Bailed vehicles don't count towards Unit Morale, and if your last vehicle in a Unit is Bailed and doesn't Remount, it counts as Destroyed and that Unit is done. I couldn't find it in the few moments I had at the game, and haven't had much time since then and now (as I type this) to dig deeper. I need to rewatch the TY Tutorials vids with my rulebook to hand to catch any changes between original TY and the latest version of the rules. I don't know, maybe we need to start over and play some very small games, maybe run through the original rules' intro scenarios (which are fantastic, if you've never played before, and ease you into the different Teams really well) with our third member reading the rule book out loud at each step so we can all really get the rules down. Who am I kidding, my brain is mush from too many years in the Army Guard and whacking my friends with a stick and getting likewise whalloped in return, and I have too many game rules in my head as is, as I'm also the Dungeon Master/Game Master for a D&D 5e game and a Cyberpunk Red game, and trying to get a Savage Worlds game with multiple settings up and running, too, three very different and unique game systems. I will not impugn Uriah's mental faculties, but simply state my idiocy must be virulent and communicable and he is hanging around me too much. 

Yes, Uriah should have done more with his M109 artillery, Marksmen, and Tracked Rapiers, and I should have done more with my M901 ITVs and my A10 Warthogs. I should have attempted to use the Minelets from my M109s, maybe used them to deter the Challengers from Reserve instead of smoke, but then they could have shot at me over the Minefield at a higher ROF instead of being forced to move and shoot at a lower ROF. I don't know, I pushed the attack (admittedly, which is the point of Escape playing as the Attacker... which I just figured out, the Attacker is trying to escape, hence why the Defender's Reserves come in from behind the Attacker’s Deployment... told you my brain has been slow this week) and boxed Uriah in, there wasn't a lot of opportunity to use the Minelets as they would have just blocked my advance. And I didn't give Uriah a lot of targets for his AA pieces, as my A10s arrived only once, just outside the range of his Rapiers, and my softer vehicles were well behind my Abrams and out of reach of his Marksmen. Neither of us got to do much with my VADS or his Harriers, they essentially nullified each other out of the fight. The Harrier is a fantastic weapon for the British player, with a lower Strike Aircraft number than practically every other airplane in the game. I may have to add some to my US force in the future, the Marines won't mind if I borrow some from them. If anything, I could have traded in the M901 ITVs, and maybe half of my M109s and the Minelets, for 12 points that I could have turned into Apaches or more A10s/Harriers. I'll have to think more on this list. Uriah didn't say much about changing his own list, and I think it was pretty solid. About the only change was the AA selections, maybe down with one less Marksmen, or just get rid of the Tracked Rapiers entirely, though those were too effective at keeping my A10s at the far end of the board, so I'm torn between which way I'd lean there. Oh, I know one thing we definitely need to change - I need to acquire a very large die, like these 55mm d20s, so we can keep track of what Turn it is when Brandon can't make it. Uriah and I need some remedial counting lessons, apparently. 

There you have it, folks, another month, another Battle Report in the books. Hope you enjoyed it, hope you learned something from it, and hope to see you back here again next month for that BatRep. Go out and roll some dice with your friends until then, it's fun whether you're winning or losing.

Gaming Table Lessons Learned

In my local group of Team Yankee in 6mm scale, we have come to realize that even playing a tabletop wargame at a much smaller scale and even halving the majority of distances (we halve everything except weapon ranges, basically), playing on anything less than a full 6 foot by 4 foot surface becomes more and more of a problem the higher the points values go up. Why yes, I do like long, complicated run-on sentences to open my posts, why do you ask? The discussion in the group has been how we can solve this issue. We currently play at a friend's comic book shop, because we like giving him the foot traffic and we like chatting with him as he used to play wargames with us. Unfortunately, his needs lean towards either purpose built comic bins or plain tables that can hold boxes full of comics. Which is what we have been playing on, the folding tables that is, which are not 100% unusable, but not quite as good as a table built specifically to play wargames on. First off is the size, your standard folding table is six feet (in the middle, it has rounded corners so it's less than six feet at the corners, minor complaint) by 29 inches (more than a foot shy of what you really need, major complaint). Next is height, as folding tables are only about 30 inches high - for a game you play standing up, this is too low for your needs, and us old, broken bastards always have sore backs the day after a game. Third is size again - there is never any extra room to put books, roll dice, keep your Reserves/Ambushers/dead guys, keep your tokens and templates, and so on. If we're splurging and getting something specifically for us, it has to have a big enough play surface, plus extra room, plus be tall enough we don't have to bend, and also be strong enough to hold many boxes of comic books. Yes, this will not be a teardown that goes home with one of us every month, so it has to be sturdy enough to serve as a comic display rack in the store in between games. 

From there, our options were buy a bespoke, handcrafted lovely bit of furniture from somewhere like from... wow. More than a decade ago, someone started a little business making nothing but gaming tables, and that business was called Geek Chic. I say "was" because they went out of business and are no more. In their place, however, has sprung up multiple companies that make game tables that would suffice for our wants... but we ain't made of money (one of the reasons we play in 6mm scale is it's much cheaper), so we couldn't afford that. Instead, we'd have to build one to fit our needs. I learned a long time ago (particularly from playing paintball) that if I waited for everyone (anyone, really) that expressed a desire to join in with [insert hobby here] before doing it, I would never do that hobby ever again. With hobbies in modern society,, your best bet is to jump into them, play with whoever is doing it and drag anybkdy who will stand still long enough along with you. I've learned that I can't be scared to try new things and that it's okay to mess up every once in a while. While I am not a YouTube carpenter who has a fully stocked shop of tools and years upon years of experience, I have just enough tools, a Harbor Freight local to me, and a stubborn streak wide enough to do the things I want to do. Yep, I offered to build a table for the group.

Now, caveats to this whole endeavor - I will show you my plans and the results, but like I said, I am not a fancy carpenter. My plan (which you will find below) barely makes sense to me and I am the one who drew it. I made a few mistakes while making this, hence why this is labeled a Lessons Learned post, and yes, I will share my personal struggles with this table. However, in the end, I still have a table me and my friends can play on, it's not glaringly obvious I did an awful job (I did not do an awful job... it could definitely have been prettier, though), and it's definitely not about to fall apart. Before you take on a carpentry project of your own, go watch all those YT carpentry stars, find a better set of plans than mine, and practice on making other, smaller, more private items for your own house before you make a huge table that is going to reside in a public store... and write a post on the internet about how much you suck at this. Don't worry though, as one of my favorite internet personalities likes to say, "I'm an idiot and so can you!"

To take care of two off the list of our wants, I immediately knew I wanted the table surface to be a 4x8 sheet of plywood. Yes, a solid board measuring 4 feet by 8 feet would be excellent, but they don't sell solid wood boards in that size, your options are build it out of multiple boards and then plane them into uniformity, then glue and screw them all together to make your desired table surface. Or be a cheap bastard like me and go for a composite - MDF and particle board are less expensive options but good old plywood is only a little bit more expensive and will last so much longer than the other two. The four foot by eight foot surface will give give us our requisite playing surface plus two extra one by eight feet sections to put books on, roll dice, store tokens, etc. Again, this table will also have a bunch of comic long boxes on it in between games, so I can't go super cheap and purchase quarter inch plywood. I was leery of trusting half inch, so I went for 3/4 inch oak plywood, by far the most expensive piece of lumber in this build.

I never claimed to be a draftsmen, nor have good handwriting. None of this is to scale.

The important bit is in the upper left hand corner, the layout of legs and braces for my under shelf. Ignore the maths, that was just me making sure I had correct measurements and didn't miss something.

As you can see above the plan is very basic - 4x4s for the upright legs, 2x4s just below the table surface around the entire perimeter of the tabletop and then another set of 2x4s in a matching layout below that to tie it all together. A 4x8 sheet of plywood, three-quarters of an inch thick for weight and durability makes the top, and then I found adjustable table feet that claim to support up to 330 pounds apiece. If I only had 4 legs, a four pack of the feet would suffice, but I have six legs, and the next pack up has eight feet, so the middle pair get two each and the end legs get just one. This gives us extra height if we want it, and we can adjust them individually to make the table sit level on uneven surfaces. The cuts are very basic, cutting the three 4x4s into 6 equal lengths - as stated earlier, we wanted higher than a sit down table, so after some measuring of other available tables, we decided about 39 inches high would be ideal, so these legs are cut taking 3/4" worth of the plywood on top, plus another inch worth of adjustable foot, and that gives us 37 and a quarter inches of leg length. As for the 2x4s, the four on the long sides don't need to be cut at all, they're already good at eight feet long. You do need to cut four other 2x4s into lengths that will fit between the outer, long length 2x4s - four at the ends of the table, and then four as crossbracing underneath the table surface and down on the lower level for strength. You can't just cut them 48 inches long, though, you have to account for the thickness of the two ends of 2x4s as the short pieces will fit inside the long length 2x4s. Forty-eight minus the width of your 2x4s (usually around one and a half inches, mine were one and 7/16", and two times that gives us two and 7/8") gives us 45 and an eighth inches. Last, your 1x2 furring strips - two of them will go up the sides of the table edge, the long edges, so they can be left at eight feet long. The short edge lengths, opposite of your 2x4s, will overlap the long edge pieces. Why did we flip here? The 2x4s are inside the perimeter of the plywood top, but the 1x2s are outside the perimeter. What are the furring strips for? to finish off the edge of the plywood, always the roughest edge of any chunk of plywood, but also to provide a lip to help contain dice as they bounce around on the tabletop.

All my lumber (minus the tabletop, shelf, and another 2x4 purchased later)

Putting one side of legs together. Every joint is glued and screwed together with Torx head deck screws.

I had a plan, I had the lumber and then I realized several things - unless we were going to switch our games to my basement (where most of my carpentry tools reside) I was never going to get the table out of the basement if I fully assembled it there; okay, I'll build it in my garage... except it would then also be too wide to get through either of the doors at the shop we play at, and also too tall if we laid it on its side. I was going to have to build it in as few pieces, the biggest chunks I could still move and fit through respective doors, as possible and do final assembly at the store. The other big issue is that I did not have access to a vehicle large enough to haul all these bits around, but that got solved with rental of a Ford Transit at the local U-Haul. Took half a day to get final assembly done, but it is a very solid table and no wiggle anywhere as every join is heavily glued and I used plenty of deck screws. Go for Torx bits, pre-drill your holes, and then drive them with an impact driver (not a hammer drill, impact driver). 

It is heavy and solid.

You can stand on this thing.

It was this point that I realized a few things, but I'll discuss those in Lessons Learned below. On another day, separate from assembly day, I brought the wife in and we stained as much as we could of the visible parts of the wood. I could have gone with a lacquer or a varnish and really sealed the wood, but we had a gallon of a dark stain in our garage from another project rhat never happened and we wanted to use it up. A gallon of good varnish can run you $60, so we were also trying to save some money on the project. Yes, we did not stain but a foot (and half an inch) on each side of the actual top of the table, because the plan has always been to paint the "combat" area in browns, greens, and dark yellows to represent fall ground cover in a temperate climate. I think it came out very good looking.

Aw yeah.

Probably need to do a second coat with the "foliage" colors for the actual play area.

I did finally get back into the shop (if you have not realized it by now, this project took over a month from purchasing lumber and hardware to what I would consider "finished", due to work and life and everything else) and got two more cross braces put up on the under support and put in more plywood down there as an "under shelf". Remember, this is a standing table, so you don't have to create room underneath for people to slide their legs under it (that's why the legs are where they are in classic four post or trestle style tables), so that under area is just BEGGING to be useful and not just wasted space. I should have planned for a shelf under here from the beginning, but it all worked out in the end. Once I had the extra shelf in, it was another week or two until I could get back, stain the newly laid wood, paint up the "battle area", and then seal the entire top surface with two coats of polyurethane. My wife helped with all the staining and sealing, and both the stain and the polyurethane were found in our garage, bought years ago for forgotten projects, but now finally getting pulled out and used. To get a randomized, more natural looking foliage pattern I used three cans of spray paint (green, brown, and a light orange/dark yellow), laid down a good amount of green but didn't cover everything in green, then put down slightly less brown but still trying to fill in the bare spots where there was no green, and then highlighted (read: randomly sprayed here and there) with the yellow/orange. Not only am I not a carpenter, I am not an artist, but I think this worked pretty well and looks random enough that it emulates natural terrain enough for our Central-Eastern European battlefields. No, I did not want to get all fancy and make a surface I could swap out, if we do lean heavily into the Oil Wars or Fate of a Nation books, we'll just have to squint really hard and pretend it's a very verdant patch of the Middle Eastern deserts.

The table stretches a long way out there, doesn't it?

You can see the one foot by four feet "utility" patch in use at each end of the table.

And that's it. The above pictures were taken not immediately after I painted it (the polyurethane was still very wet over the painted portions and very much soaked in and dried over the stained portion of the wood, and I could not wait around for it to dry) but at the first game I got to play on the table, weeks after we finished the table. You can read that BatRep and see the accompanying pretty pictures here.

Lessons Learned - number one, always measure your lumber. I hope we all know that dimensional lumber (2x4s, 4x4s, 2x6s, etc) are not actually those dimensions. Sure, a 2x4 starts as a rough chunk that is two inches by four inches, but it is rough and has so many splinters that it will tear you up if you don't finish it. So before you buy said 2x4, it gets sanded and rasped until it is roughly 1.5" by 3.5". And the boards I bought for this project were actually 1 and 7/16th inches by 3 and 3/8th inches. I remembered to measure that part to verify, but what I didn't know was my plywood top was not actually four feet by eight feet, it was actually 4 feet and half an inch by 8 feet and half an inch. I built my legs and frame with the idea the 2x4s would be directly under the top, flush with the top edge, but I've got roughly a quarter inch overhang all the way around, which I didn't find out until I put the top onto the frame and legs... and all the wood glue I had put down to more permanently affix said top. Yes, I could bring my circular saw and shorten up the edges, but we can't get the table out of the store in one piece, and neither me nor my comic store owning friend want to spray the inside of his store with that much saw dust. 

Second Lesson Learned is the furring strip lip I put around the entire edge of the table. This is such a game changer for a gaming table, we can roll dice with impunity on the table itself and not worry about having to chase dice across the floor. But if I had my druthers, and had gotten the top flush with the underlying support 2x4s, I would change the 1x2 furring strip out for 1x3s. Probably square edge base boards, as those are meant to be seen, and not furring strips, as those aren't finished very well as they are meant to be hidden behind things like sheetrock. The extra inch on the height I would use by overlapping both the 2x4 and the edge of the plywood top, giving more strength to the lip itself and just a little bit more height over the 1x2 furring strips.

Third Lesson Learned is write down your final measurements. I measured my 2x4s and instead of being one and a half inches wide like most 2x4s are supposed to be in final form, my 2x4s were one and seven-sixteenths inches wide. This mattered on my cross braces as I was putting the cross braces between the 2x4s running the entire length of the table, and I wanted them to be snug and still be 48 inches across the short side, flush with the short edge of the plywood top (that part didn't work, see above). So instead of 45 inches (48 minus 1.5 minus 1.5 equals 45), the cross braces needed to be 45 and an eighth (those two missing sixteenths add up to an eighth). Of course, I did this all last minute just before I cut four of my 2x4s up for cross braces (two on each end, two under the top, and two more on the lower bracing. When cutting lumber, it's always a good idea to cut some off the end of the piece to get the most square end, measure from their and make your cuts. Trying to remember I needed to measure 45 and an eighth, plus the squaring cut, I managed to cut one of my boards to a length of 44 inches and some odd fraction. Why? Because it was all a jumble in head of how I got there - one sixteenth and one sixteenth equals one eighth, now did I add or subtract that? - needless to say I messed up, and it is always easier to subtract wood from a carpentry project than it is to add wood back. This was not a total loss, as I left out the missing board from the lower braces, where I wasn't planning on needing the vertical support, merely the horizontal tie to box out the frame and provide more rigidity.

Which brings us to the fourth Lesson Learned - I should have planned from the start to put a thinner plywood board on top of the lower braces as a storage area from the start. Not that you can see it in the pictures above, but I assure you I went back and added it, as well as another pair of 2x4 braces underneath. This table is solid, there is no reason to not go ahead and plan for a second shelf as a storage area from the beginning. And yes, the under shelf is noticeably thinner and less expensive than the one used on the top, why not go with the thinner sheet as the table surface as well? I wanted the sheer weight and thickness of the top because it is going to be used roughly - metal miniatures getting dropped haphazardly on the table, people leaning on it, that sort of thing. For sure the storage shelf underneath will get much use, but not quite as much or as often, so the 15/32nd plywood will suffice there. And because I am not putting a lip or a veneer around the edge of the shelf, I had to spend extra time sanding the outside edges to make it smooth, saved a small amount of time by going with the thinner sheet. As I already had the top on the table, along with the upper cross braces, when I did put the under shelf on, I had to cut the plywood into 4 sheets, as well as putting in cutouts for the legs. After getting it in, I like it.... but I think I could have spent double what I spent on the 15/32 sheathing and gone with a 23/32 hunk of plywood instead. Fortunately, when I was cutting all the leg notches and sanding the 15/32nd piece, I thought it felt a bit flimsy, so I only screwed it onto the table base instead of gluing and screwing. I'll see how it lasts and if it breaks (long boxes full of comic books weigh more than you think) I'll simply upgrade to the 23/32nd sheathing and glue that down as well as screwing it.

Onto Lesson Learned Numero Cinco - my original plans for this table called for using a roundover router bit on all the likely edges that someone may grasp. If I had left the edge of the plywood uncovered, this would have been a good idea, but even just edging the plywood with furring strips - which are not meant to be used where they are visible and are much rougher than the rest of the dimensional lumber - and a quick pass with some 220 grit sandpaper was plenty to keep everything touch friendly. The 2x4s and 4x4s definitely didn't need the roundover, as they come finished enough the sandpaper kiss was sufficient. And note I didn't cover this table with a varnish or lacquer that would encapsulate the wood, lock away the rough under a layer of smoothness, no, it just got stained for the majority of it, and painted for the gaming surface. If you do decide to varnish or lacquer your wood, make sure you do it somewhere with good ventilation, as those two substances off-gas like nobody's business.

Lesson Learned number six - I shopped for all of my lumber and hardware at the big blue box store (as opposed to the orange one) because I get a military discount and I also have their charge card because it saved us some money on replacing a water heater recently. For screws and glue, that worked perfectly well, but I'm kicking myself for not even considering the smaller (read: not nationwide chain) lumberyard. I'm afraid to go look and see but I'm betting that the quality of all the lumber would be better and while the price might be better, it'd be worth it just in the improvements of quality and appearance. And speaking of glue, years ago I had gotten into watching many YouTube videos about carpentry and thought I was going to build a proper workbench (never did) after putting up some shelves in the basement (which did happen). If you've watched any of those videos, the gluing techniques are... something to behold, but having watched all of that, and convinced I was going to do all this work, I bought a full gallon of decent glue and a GluBot bottle/applicator. Which I filled once and then never used all of that glue, which has now dried enough I need to buy some paint thinner and get it out of the GluBot and just throw away the remains of the gallon jug, because it isn't worth rescuing. But didn't you glue this table? Yes, I did, because I bought a $5, 16-oz bottle of Titebond Original Wood Glue, and it had plenty for the whole table. It even came with its own applicator tip so I didn't need the GluBot! I still have some left over. Yes, I know the GluBot and a full gallon of Titebond aren't that much more expensive, but unless you have plans for further projects after this one, save yourself the hassle and the space in your work area and just buy a small bottle of the stuff.

Lesson Learned number seven - projects like this are scary to contemplate, but the sheer satisfaction of having something like this to play on after you're done, it really is a great feeling. Plus my friends keep telling me how much they like it, and while I try to remain humble, the ego boost is immense. If you want to do a project like this, or get into model painting, or making your own terrain, or building your own gaming computer, or getting into 3d printing, or drone racing, or any other hobby, there is so much more access to information and tutorials and plans than there ever has been, not to mention that the internet and stores like Harbor Freight have made tools and material much more affordable. It is a fantastic time to stretch yourself and try a new hobby or even new aspects of a current or past hobby. Remember, none of us are producing results that are award winning right out of the gate, and while that is an admirable goal to strive for, just so long as you and your friends can get together and have fun doing whatever, how pretty your minis or terrain or even your gaming table is a distant third consideration. Your friends aren't going to stop talking to you if you make a table that is not quite as pretty as the fancy ones that cost upwards of $10,000, they're going to appreciate that you have put in the effort to make the fun your group is enjoying just that much more pleasant. Like I said earlier, "I'm an idiot and so can you!"

That's it for this post, hope everyone is having a good week, and you get a chance to go play games with your friends.