Finding the perfect gaming table

Always wanted to have my own gaming table but for one reason or another I never got around to do it.

This year I will finally get my own table so I can introduce my son to some tabletop wargaming.

There are so many options these days that choosing the right one for you can take some time. Since I live in England the houses here are not the biggest, so storage space is a premium. Also you need to consider which games you want to play in it because that will define the theme of the table. Lastly the price is obviously quite an important factor when choosing the right table for you.

So personally I was looking for something very easy to store, that works well with both fantasy and scifi settings and as cheap as possible ( under £100 ).

Option 1 

Games Workshop

Citadel Realm of Battle table: Easy to store since its plastic modular tiles and comes with a bag, theme is generic so you can paint and flock the way you like it, price £175 + flock, glue and paints.

To much money for what it is and I still need to paint and flock it, I also do not like the hills attached to the gaming board, I prefer to have them detachable... 

Option 2

Secret Weapons Miniatures 

Tablescapes: Easy to store since its modular and tiles smaller than the GW version. 5 different themes to choose from but you still need to paint and flock it, price £164 + flock, glue and paints.

Nice themes but unfortunately the price is just to much...

Humm modular tables for some reason are expensive and not even considering the tiles at http://manorhouseworkshop.com/ or http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/...

If I need to flock and paint the things I may as well go and get some tiles in MDF and do it myself for a small fraction of the price.

Option 3

Deep Cut Studio  

Easy to store since if its a PVC mat you just need to roll it... and if you choose the CLOTH version you just fold it into a drawer. Lots of printed themes to choose from and the price is £40 for PVC and £45 for cloth. Some nice reviews online and this looks like an affordable option with different themes and materials to choose from. No need to paint or flock but you will  obviously need a normal table to lay the mat.

Option 4

Frontline Gaming 

F.A.T. mats look great and again storage is not an issue since you just roll this water resistant mat. Price wise is around the £59 mark. Theme wise some interesting options. Looks like the durable option and again no need to paint or flock it. You will need one table to lay it though.

Option 5

Hotz mats 

Felt mats with hand airbrushed details. This company is the oldest in the market so they have plenty of options and printing choices. You can have them with Hexes and square grids and also there is an interesting option of dual printed mat ( front and back). Again easy to store and lots of themes.
Price range is so wide its hard to say, the site needed a bit more simplification because its just damn confusing. Again and as any other mat a table is required.

Option 6

Back 2 basic-ix

Battle Frame 5000 is a magnetized modular MDF table. Seems easy enough to store due it being modular and sturdy with the magnets solution. No theme so you can do what you want so you will need to invest in glue, flock and paints. It costs £92. Interesting solution.

Option 7

Kallistra

HexonII Terrain board is a really groovy solution with plastic hex tiles, like any modular table they have tiles the only difference here is that they are arranged in hexes. Modular= good storage and theme wise they have lots of different shapped hexes solutions for hills etc.
You will need to flock and paint them if you choose the cheaper plain version (£50) but you have the choice if you wish to spend more of your gold coins and buy the flocked versions(£75). Although for a full 6'x4' you will have to spend more than that. This is the coolest table I have seen but I have no need for hex play. Cool product.

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There are more options on the market and I really like for example Zuzzy battlemats which are latex rubber mats but as a principle I will not link to it or add as option 8 because there have been some terrible reviews about their business practices, lets just say they are not fulfilling orders in a transparent way. A shame because they have a good product.

So this is it! I picked my top 7 options on the market and next post I will reveal and review what I actually got.
Good gaming to all.

Wargaming on a budget & cheap rules.

First post of the year yay!

I have been very busy painting ferociously my goblins and I'm currently doing 2 regiments at the same time, more news and pics when they are finished.

While I was having fun with my WFB goblins some radical rumors from credible rumor mongers did hit the net and holly cow!! Looks like GW will be changing things for WFB. There's a talk about a major reboot of the game with factions merging, armies reduced, bases changing etc! I fear for the future of my Goblins.

Generally speaking and regardless of their fate I will continue painting my gobbos,  just not their bases in case they change. Painting armies does take time and dedication... so if GW decides to make WFB something closer to 40k they may end up with a problem on their hands with vets moving elsewhere for their mass battles fix. Last thing any collector likes to see is their painted armies rendered useless. I have been at this for 2 decades and I think the rumored changes may well be some of the most extreme ones in a long time. Lets wait and see how all turns out to be.

As far as my projects go for this year you may think that these news would slow me down, but actually it had the opposite effect.
I actually decided to introduce my 8 year old son to 40k. We already play Spacehulk and Xwing but I wanted him to get the feel of a tabletop game.
With that in mind I looked into getting the new rulebook and codex... at £75 Its not going to happen. So I went with the idea of running some small killteam games, again I needed the books... Humm I have forgotten that the prices increased considerably over the past 4 years.

I can spend as much as £100 on a single mini if I really like it but spending more than £30 - £35 for a rule set is not going to happen, I just do not see the value in it. This brings me to " Wargaming on a budget"... This year I'm going to do some posts on that subject. I mean wargaming does not need to be expensive.

So I will spend the £75 of the rules in making myself a nice homemade table, as for rules I want something simple and fast like Killteam style rules... guess what? I found them at this wonderful site.

ONE PAGE RULES

Downloaded the KT rules and extras so Im set for rules and it cost me £0, I know that they are not comparable with the real thing but for now they will do just fine.

There's more rules on the site if you are curious about it.

Have fun guys.