A little enquirie for you all... I will very probably going to have to do major works in my ex office... that means a new wargame room... what is the best minimal size for a table for wargames in 6 mm as Antietam or Gettysburg?... the bigger the better not a good answer... I already know that... emphasis is in minimal size but a very good solo game. Thanks in advance.

Hello ironass!

Great question. In order to play Antietam or Gettysburg with 6mm on a reasonabley sized table you need to first have a flexable rule set. Unless you only want to play really abstract games using Divisions on a single base with lots of dice. For a number of years we have used a folding ping pong table 9' x 5'. We have played both Waterloo and Borodino with every battalion and regiment on a 60mm x 30mm base. Next year were hoping to play Waterloo, Borodino and Gettysburg and upscale the battle to give us a faster game, using multi based Divisional units (a Division made up of a number of 60mm x 30mm bases) to give the Division the ability to change formation. To me this is a critical factor in reflecting the ever changing dynamics of a battlefield. To accomplish this we only use the Polemos rules "Ruse de Guerre" that I wrote. We use them for the French & Indian War, American War of Independence, War of 1812 (that are the subject if the rules) and also our European Napoleonic Wars and the American Civil War. We do this because the rules have a unique sliding scale that lets us play any size of battle we want to fit our table and or our collection without having the burden of having to learn a dozen or more different rule sets. So basically our "Club Rules". So were able to size our battles to fit our table and or number of players as well. It also allows other members to scale their battles to fit their tables at home for solo or one on one games. So my answer to your question is use whatever size of table you want if you use "Ruse de Guerre".

Best regards,

Glenn

We have played those 2 battles in 6mm on a 6' x 4' table using Altar of Freedom.

If that level of abstraction satisfies you, Greg Wagman's scenarios for this set would work very well for solo games if you can find a mechanism to manage the Priority Points "bidding system" that's at the heart of the game system. I seem to recall someone came up with a mathematical algorithim to allow Blucher to be played solo, so I suppose anything's possible.

Cheers, Peter.

Having just done a quick search, here's one blogger who has tried to solo Altar of Freedom in a recent and very nice report...

https://elenderilsblog.blogspot.com/2021/08/altar-of-freedom-i-done-seen-elephant.html

"Bloody Big BATTLES!" (BBB) fits Gettysburg or Antietam on a 6'x4' (1800mmx1200mm) table. Almost all the many BBB scenarios available so far use that size table or smaller, as its elastic scale is designed to make even the largest battles manageable and playable in an evening. The rules use an activation mechanism - a die roll to see if a unit moves - which is good for injecting unpredictability into solo play. Reviewed here by Dr Paul Le Long for "Lone Warrior", the Solo Wargamers Association magazine:

http://lonewarriorswa.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Bloody-Big-Battles-rules.pdf

Have fun in your new wargames room.

Chris

Bloody Big BATTLES!

Reviews of BBB

BBB on FB

Maybe I shoud have said that I got POLEMOS, ALTAR OF FREEDOM, BBB, RUSE DE GUERRE but mix and match is my motto and I use my own mechanisms for a rewarding SOLO play (which does not mean sons and grandsons and the remote possibility of my brother coming to play are not excluded!). Thanks for all the answers by the usual punters (love you guys!) so far 120 cms by 180 cms seems the strict minimum. (6' x 4'). Please keep them coming (and yes the maximum reach of arms is understandable). Cheers and thanks again!

Good to know you've got all the rules you need already. But maybe you should get another copy of each for your opponent!  ;-)

SOLO is the answer Chris!... LOL

Another vote for 6x4' (or 180x120cm). I made myself a permenant table of this size over 10 years ago and it has fitted almost all my battles ever since. I have come to the conclusion that you merely have to fit the battle to the table size rather than the other way around. I have done some big 'ole battles on it, including Leipzig and Gettysburg, as well as Sword, Juno and Gold combined with the British Airborne landings on D-Day on one table.

Hello ironass!

Yes the 6' x 4' is the most popular table size in our hobby so if possible thats a good minimum size to have. However, to maximize the advantages of 6mm (big battles with all battalions/regiments on the table) you should always strive to have a bigger table, if possible. So any table larger than 6' x 4' will certainly increase your options to improve your game dynamics. Although I've used 9' x 5' for years we did for many years use an "H" pattern that was the same 9' x 5' but with two 4' x 8' tables on each end for a length of 17'. It was too big for 6mm and we rarely used the full table. We also had a 2' x 4'  side table that was rarely used as well. If I had to do it again and I might, it would be 12' x 6'. 

Best regards,

Glenn