OK so I know this seems ridiculous but here it goes. We are gonna play at home just for fun and know one at my house has ever played a table top game before. I have a card table that is just shy of 3 feet by about 2 inches. So with room for our cards and everything the playing field is gonna be about two and half feet. To an experience X-wing player this seems very small I am sure. But to my wife and kids this is gonna feel massive. Is there a way to adjust the game to a smaller gaming area?

Thank-you

You could just place the cards on the fringe of the play area itself and avoid reducing the play size. Outside of deployment time, it'll be rare that your ships spend much time right up against the far ends and so the cards shouldn't be in the way. And if a ship does end up in that area, you can just move the cards.

The standard 3'x3' play area is designed for 100 points per side and 6 obstacles. If you want to play on a smaller area with less experienced players, just reduce the number of points per side and the number of obstacles. For two-and-a-half by two-and-a-half, you could do something like 60 or 75 points per side and 4 obstacles and it would work pretty well. The game balance is affected somewhat, but not hugely.

If you want to get more play space, put another small side table nearby to put the cards and tokens on.

Thanks guys....

3'x3' ?!? Daaamn what's that?

Civilized countries already have adopted the metric system.

That's why we have got a Royale with Cheese. And not a stupid Quarterpounder.

It sounds like a side table is needed for the cards/templates, if you're able to get one.

Beyond that it might be good to reduce the obstacles by one since there's less field to play in. Seems to work for our group on occasion.

It's not about the size of the play area, but what you do with it.

4 minutes ago, Mumblez said:

It's not about the size of the play area, but what you do with it.

Indeed. Played a Team Epic game on Sunday where pretty much all the action took place on one mat*

*it did not end well for us

3 hours ago, Schu81 said:

Civilized countries already have adopted the metric system.

And yet, every tabletop mini game out there, no matter where it's made seems to default to Imperial for measurements. There are a few out there that list both imperial and metric, but even then they list imperial first.

Take the new 8th edition of 40k, everything is listed in inches. Units move 4-12 inches, a bolt rifle has a 30 inch range, you charge 2d6 inches, ect... I don't think I've seen a single mini that doesn't use imperial, even though bases and the models themselves are always measured in mm.

13 minutes ago, VanorDM said:

And yet, every tabletop mini game out there, no matter where it's made seems to default to Imperial for measurements. There are a few out there that list both imperial and metric, but even then they list imperial first.

Take the new 8th edition of 40k, everything is listed in inches. Units move 4-12 inches, a bolt rifle has a 30 inch range, you charge 2d6 inches, ect... I don't think I've seen a single mini that doesn't use imperial, even though bases and the models themselves are always measured in mm.

This means, we have still got no elegant tabletop for a more civilized age.

14 minutes ago, VanorDM said:

And yet, every tabletop mini game out there, no matter where it's made seems to default to Imperial for measurements. There are a few out there that list both imperial and metric, but even then they list imperial first.

Take the new 8th edition of 40k, everything is listed in inches. Units move 4-12 inches, a bolt rifle has a 30 inch range, you charge 2d6 inches, ect... I don't think I've seen a single mini that doesn't use imperial, even though bases and the models themselves are always measured in mm.

X-wing is clearly metric-based: bases 2/4 cm, firing ranges 10cm, and play area 90*90.

3 minutes ago, Giledhil said:

X-wing is clearly metric-based: bases 2/4 cm, firing ranges 10cm, and play area 90*90.

you're right, the rulers are metric, but the play areas is not 90 x 90, it's 91.4 x 91.44, the rule book says 3ft by 3ft.

I just find it interesting that companies like Warlord games or Games Workshop both based out of the UK don't even mention metric measurements in their systems. The only one I can think of that listed metric measurements was Flames of War, which is made in New Zealand, and even then they list it as 18"(46cm).

7 minutes ago, VanorDM said:

I just find it interesting that companies like Warlord games or Games Workshop both based out of the UK don't even mention metric measurements in their systems.

That's imperial oppression (of the metric system). Clearly.

1 hour ago, Schu81 said:

This means, we have still got no elegant tabletop for a more civilized age.

What does it mean if my mat is exactly 2 cubits by 2 cubits?

6 minutes ago, Darth Meanie said:

What does it mean if my mat is exactly 2 cubits by 2 cubits?

It means that your ships can do the cubit run in less than 12 parsecs.

6 hours ago, Schu81 said:

3'x3' ?!? Daaamn what's that?

Civilized countries already have adopted the metric system.

That's why we have got a Royale with Cheese. And not a stupid Quarterpounder.

Adopting the metric system is what countries do when they can't put a person on the moon

Even as someone from a Metric-taught country, games have made it so I usually use Imperial.

Plus if you ask how tall someone is and they say a number in CMs, it just sounds stupid lol

But yes the mats are 3ftx3ft

My son and I regularly play on a 2.5x2.5ft area, with cards, dice, and templates on the table, and generally with less than 100 points (he picks what he wants and I go 15 points under that)

6 of the biggest asteroids from both starters is absolutely fine in that area.

Casual games can be run on any size area, and personally I think a smaller area makes you more aware of your maneuvers.

When I first started playing, we used my drafting table .. 2.5ft by 3.5ft long ... still did 100/6 and worked out ok

Consider:

• 3x3 play area = 9 square feet.
• 2.5x2.5 play area = 6.25 square feet of play area.
• 3x3 asteroid setup area approximately 20.25"x20.25" = 2.85
• 2.5x2.5 asteroid setup area approximately 1.19'x1.19 = 1.41 square feet.

Moving from a 3x3 area down to 2.5x2.5 area cuts your play area about 30% and reduces the area to place obstacle by over 50%! If you play with the same six asteroids your density is going to be about twice what it should be.

2 hours ago, Joe Censored said:

Adopting the metric system is what countries do when they can't put a person on the moon

Or what the scientists do when they are doing science:

http://www.space.com/3332-nasa-finally-metric.html

Imperial is a coarse measurement system - it works well for macro sized objects, but it doesn't scale down very well. Once it gets down to sizes unwieldy for fractional representation, it converts to a decimal system (0.0057 inch for example).

Metric, on the other hand, is a precision measurement system, and scales down extremely well. This is due to the fact that it uses a base 10 system identical to the mathematical counting system (which also conveniently correlates to the number of digits humans have on their hands!)

12 inches to a foot, 3 feet to a yard, 5.5 yards to a rod, 4 rods to a chain, 80 chains to a mile... its just doesn't make mathematical sense.

1000 nanometers to a micrometer, 1000 micrometers to a millimeter, 1000 millimeters to a meter, 1000 meters to a kilometer - its neat, and easy to remember.

Why do wargames use inches? Because the biggest market for them is the USA and UK, who still measure using an antiquated method based on the length of some long dead monarchs body parts. Simple economics.

@DJRAZZ Play on your smaller table. It will feel like you're taking advantage of people when you play on the 3 x 3!

1 hour ago, Exogauge said:

Imperial is a coarse measurement syit works well for macro sizsciemcyed objects, but it doesn't scale down very well. tthe coce it gets down to sizes un wieldy for fractional representation, it converts to a decimal system (0.0057 inch for example).

Metric, on the other hand, is a precision measurement system, and scales down extremely well. This is due to the fact that it uses a base 10 system identical to the mathematical counting system (which also conveniently correlates to the number of digits humans have on their hands!)

12 inches to a foot, 3 feet to a yard, 5.5 yards to a rod, 4 rods to a chain, 80 chains to a mile... its just doesn't make mathematical sense.

1000 nanometers to a micrometer, 1000 micrometers to a millimeter, 1000 millimeters to a meter, 1000 meters to a kilometer - its neat, and easy to remember.

Why do wargames use inches? Because the biggest market for them is the USA and UK, who still measure using an antiquated method based on the length of some long dead monarchs body parts. Simple economics.

Conversely, metric isnt very good at the level of table top wargames. Because centimeters are too small for practical use, and meters are too big. So for practical use kn the context of gaming, imperial is best.

Metric is good for sciemcy stuff, but not great for day to day use.