gaming in a 3' x 4' space and less

[Norm]

Thanks all. One of the things that I have noticed with the smaller scales is that despite the scale allowing more and bigger armies, I don't necessarily want big armies with lots of units. It is not just the painting aspect, more the nature of the encounters that I like to play.

[Arrigo]

well... long long time ago... in a galaxy far away... my and my cousin put our first demo game at an italian convention. My cousin had a sort of gigantism when terrain was involved (and always ended up with incomplete terrains... but is another story). He decided for a 6x6 feet table for a 6mm game because he wanted plenty of maneuver space (Daugavpils 1941...) and I was fine with that. Then we debated about practicality. He said... no worries he can reach the center (he is a little taller than me). But then the convention organizer gave us a 200cm by 200cm table, as to have a little safe place on the side (plus it was based on the size of table the location had...).  And we could not... reach... the... center...

Next convention... my cousin said 'the Table has to be tailored to our arms' lenght.' 

There is also a legend about the game Master Europa, where Switzerland is actually not represented on the map to leave a gap so people can literally pop up from under the table to move counters in the central area of the map... 

But yes, in the end, the game table is supposed to reflect our own gaming preferences beside our space constraints. What I am saying is that sometimes people tends to cram too much in too little space.