Saturday, December 07, 2013

Games Room Redux

I had hoped to get more done on the Empire of the Dead stuff over the weekend, but circumstance, and experience, led me in a differing direction, and I decided it was high time to 'adjust' the "Gentleman's gaming parlour"...

I was in a very fortunate position, several years ago, in being able to plan and have built, our home...  now this was a rather novel experience for a person from the the UK, where the norm is more to buy, and move house to house... Back in the UK the idea of having a house built never crossed my mind... after all, where would you put it? Anyone from the big smoke, or urban sprawl, will know what I am talking about...

Here, in 'God-zone'...AKA, 'New Zealand',  I was lucky enough to afford and find a plot of land to do just that...

So top of my list of must haves for my home was a dedicated games-room... wifey-poos attended to the rest ... ;-)
Bedrooms check, kitchen check, lounge check etc etc...

Having a realized man-cave/shed/zone/"get outta here its mine"- kinda thingy, with oodles of space, sent my space restricted Pom-ey mind into a frenzy of apoplexy... and with visions of grandeur I designed and put forth the biggest table I could muster, this being 12' x 6', or approx 360cm x 180cm, for you jolly ol' colonial types reading this ;-)

The idea being to be able to host those 'big battles' you see in magazines or on the web, or whatever...sadly such games have been as rare as  the proverbial 'blue moon' around here, and for regular sized games, the table has always been over sized, making 'regular gaming' a bit of pain, it being difficult to reach towards the centre, or end of the board, unless you are over 6' tall, which sadly I am not...

The games room was also a place I had hoped to foster gaming for my young son and I, but he has never had a shit show of reaching the table, and I guess always having had to have had Dad reach for and move the models for him, has dulled the experience... so hence additional boards were built and stuck on the dining room table, to allow him to participate... which the whole point of having the games-room built, was meant to avoid... (to keep 'SWMBO' happy)... he's 10 now, so I feel at that pivotal step, in really grasping gaming before being 'hard-wired' does for him forever...

So push come to shove, with most games being played in 'Chez-Bowman' requiring a 6' x 4' or 4' x  4' area... it was time to bite the bullet, and cut the over-sized grandiose table into three smaller 6' x 4' tables... This will allow 'No.1 son' to participate in the 'man zone', and to even have several differing games on the go at once, none of which need tidying away until completion! So perchance, FoW, LotR and EotD, could all be going on at once! Perhaps even a return to LotHS...

The mind boggles...

So here's a quick snap of games room redux...


... Three 6' x 4' tables, with enough space to move around them... heck I could perhaps host a mini-tournament too, should the desire so move me...

Biggest job today though was actually sorting the under-table storage as this all had to be reconfigured to fit under three smaller tables, not one big one...but we managed (No.1 son helping with the lifting and carrying, Gods bless his cotton socks), with Ipod blasting my ear canals with groovy sounds, and power tools humming!

I swear, a man needs nothing more than good music, power tools and wood glue to be happy! Though a bit of spray paint in a confined space works wonders too ;-)

I now relish the chance for some decent father and son gaming in the man-zone!

So that was Saturday... Sunday being the family trip to Wello for the Santa parade, fingers crossed, we get good weather...

Oh, just to prove why I need to move 'subsidiary' tables from the dining room, given any length of time unattended, they are immediately occupied by one of four, interloping unauthorized personnel... for some reason cats just love to be up high and hidden from view... it's a comfort thing I guess...

"Monica", captures Jerusalem, ... or was it Minas Ithil... I cant recall! ;-)
Happy gaming folks, and a very merry Seasons Greetings to you all... and for all those in Curts Analogue Hobbies Challenge - get prepping!  ;-)


Cheers
Scott


39 comments:

  1. I am very jealous of your space! As you say, here in the south-east of England space is at a premium. My wife is currently investigating an extension but a one story room on the side of the house is going to cost upwards of £72,000. Maybe I should take a shot of my playroom to demonstrate that I am now completely clogged up!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wow, 72K for one room...it would obviously cost more, but what if you made it two story, you'd get two rooms which would probably be better value per room, and may give you a further man-cave for your use! Your arguement could be for increasing the value of your property accordingly ;-)

      Delete
  2. I think you have it made sir, the time spent getting this sorted will reward you with much more quality Son/Dad time

    Ian

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Looking forward to it... I think he wants to play The Hobbit today, I wonder why? ;-) One week till it hits the cinema here...

      Delete
  3. Thats just pure awesome! So Jealous of your mancave!

    ReplyDelete
  4. As someone who lives in a Victorian house in an urban sprawl in blighty, can I come and live with you, please?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LOL, I'll see if I can tidy up the spare bedroom ;-)

      Delete
  5. I haven't had that kind of space in years so envious Sir! I do have the unauthorized cat interlopers though.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Interesting post !
    I suppose that you are lucky to have those possibilities for you and your son (and even for your cats !)
    Enjoy it !

    (I've tried to post something a bit more consistent but I've some problems with blogger (or Google account I can't find where it is!) and sometimes the pc is de-connected from internet and the posts are deleted (Cybermen ?)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks - yes blogger seems to have been acting up a bit over last few days...

      Delete
  7. Great looking room and tables, Scott. I do like that "Siege of Jerusalem" fortress. I suppose you could move all three tables together for a really large game too. Happy Holidays to you too. Dean

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes the three tables can still be moved back together, so I haven't lost that opportunity entirely ...

      Delete
  8. Looks great, and a good idea to make it more useable. Love the music, powertools and wood glue idea.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A beer or two, afterwards, wouldn't hurt either! ;-)

      Delete
  9. You lucky swine, not just...... A gaming table! But 3 of 'em!!!!! A wise move on your part, it'll definitely help your son participating in games, he needs to get the gaming bug before puberty sinks in!

    ReplyDelete
  10. A fantastic games room, you lucky chap.
    Cheers,
    Pat.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Yeah, many years ago now, from the North East...
    Actually I started making the tables in our prior rental property here, whilst our home was busy being built, so I could put up a table in the garage there, for a game...

    At the time of moving in, I was starting to get into a bit Napoleonic gaming, and plans were for big battles use Black Powder rules... so tables that the Perrys, and Rick Priestley et al were show casing was the inspiration and end target... so the three tables I had made were bolted and screwed together with a glued on top layer, and under table storage units made to fit ... but as so often happens plans don't always work out and the Napoleonic thing never really got off the ground as I got side tracked by other games...

    ReplyDelete
  12. That looks pretty amazing. Even my wife thinks so with no interest in gaming, hopefully she will buy me a house with a games room for Christmas now... Your posts always inspire me to do more painting!

    ReplyDelete
  13. I think that's a great idea, Scott.

    I need to make a new year resolution to start getting involved in a few more games with you guys. I still have the ongoing issue of childcare whilst my wife is doing shift-work. But oldest daughter is returning home to live next year, so maybe that'll help ...

    I really want to play on your EotD board, plus some of us samurai guys need to get together.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It would be good to see you round here again Roly... its been a long time, too long!

      Delete
  14. You're not the only one to suffer from "bigger is better syndrome" where tables are concerned. I built a stupidly large fixed table quite a while ago too. It lasted a few years but has been replaced with several smaller collapsible versions which can be moved together when need arises. Common sense won out in the end ;-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think its difficult resisting the chance to 'go large'... despite practicalities! ;-)

      Delete
  15. Scott you are very lucky! Not only because you have a play room with three tables ready for action, but mainly, because you have such a nice storage place for all your terrain pieces and stuff! For me, something like your recent "huge" buildings are unstorable and for that, forbidden!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes I know, and that's a very good point... for so many, space is at a premium. I am indeed a lucky chap!

      Delete
  16. I did like the epic nature of the big board, but splitting them up frees up the middle space for use. Being over 6 feet it wasn't too much of a problem for me. Perfect now for tournaments too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The 'epic' board was cool in its way... it just wasn't getting used that way sadly!

      Delete
  17. Great set up! A much more practical and efficient choice Scott! I like the idea and could probably manage two 6 x 4 ft. or 6 x 5 ft.in my hobby room which is good sized, but not quite the luxurious space you have.

    Christopher

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I just like the ease now of getting round the tables, and the chance of differing games easily on the go at once... which is necessary, as, in gaming terms, my son has the attention span of a cricket on P ;-)... we'll get part way into a game, and he'll want to play a different game too!

      Delete
  18. Good looking reboot of the war room. Extra points for the Mighty Empires tile map.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, LOL, Yes, ME was quite a nifty campaign backdrop... lots of blu-tac holding all that in place!

      Delete
  19. Your a lucky boy, Scott !
    That gaming room nearly looks too good to be real... ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  20. LOL, thanks... of course I must now content with childhood imagination, that wants a huge game over three tables with bridges built across the gaps between the tables... Sheesh, what have I done! ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  21. Charge money to game - you've created your own venue!!!

    Ahh to be able to leave games set up. I've a few years before thats a reality although my eldest does enjoy his games of Thomas the Tank snakes and ladders (he's four and half) my youngest likes to throw things and try and eat them (nearly 3!!)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Now there's an idea I hadn't thought of ;-)
      Have fun with your littleys!

      Delete

Please feel free to comment on my blog. It is always nice to get feedback.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...