Thinking about a wargames room / shed....

[Charlie_]

So, I'm looking to buy my first house. And obviously, I want to have a wargames room! In fact, it's one of the main criteria.

Ideally of course, as I'm sure you all understand, I'd like to find a house with a spare bedroom or other room big enough for the job. I'm sure I could find such a house one day, but until then I'll be constantly turning down houses that would otherwise be perfect.

Anyway, I've been pondering other options...

1 - A garage conversion.
2 - An extension.
3 - A purpose-built wargames shed.

The garage conversion would be the simplest... BUT most single garages don't quite have the right dimensions. They either seem to be just too small overall, or are nice and long but really narrow.

An extension would be ideal, but obviously the most expensive. It's something to consider though - I'm currently looking at a detached bungalow with a fair bit of garden around it, and it's POSSIBLE that a simple extension could be added... If the stars align and the finances all work out.

So as of tonight, I'm seriously thinking a 'shed' is the way to go. It would be a BIG shed. I want room for a table 4 or 5 feet wide, at least 8 feet long, permanently set up, and room for shelves, storage, display cabinets, chairs, perhaps a sofa, and space to move around of course. I'm thinking a 10ft by 20ft shed would be ideal. A quick search online tells me I can get such a thing for... several thousand £. It would obviously be cheaper than an extension of the same dimensions.

Having it in a detached shed or garage.... I dunno, would it be a good thing or bad thing? It would basically be used for storing everything, including having the miniatures on display in cabinets. My painting desk would remain in the house. I wouldn't necessarily be using it for gaming much, perhaps just a couple of games a year! Strange as it sounds, I probably wouldn't actually spend much time in there.
Being in the UK, extreme heat or cold isn't really much of an issue (might be chilly for gaming in the winter though).

I want to have my entire hobby isolated in a room of its own, not scattered around my house. The one exception being the painting desk, which will need to remain somewhere warm and comfortable, but that can be discreet.

Anyway, I'd be interested in hearing from anyone who has done something similar. Whats the best way to go? Garage conversion? Purpose-built shed?
If I find somewhere with the outdoor space, is the shed a no-brainer? Or should I just be looking for somewhere with a garage ready to be converted?
How much room do you find you realistically need, to fit storage/cabinets around a permanently set-up table?
I'd love to see pictures of your rooms, and hear any advice you have!


EDIT - this is a plan of the ideal dimensions, and how the table would fit in it. Obviously a shorter room (16ft?) would still work, and at this size there is potential to have a longer table (10ft or bigger).

[AKULA]

As you are talking about possibly building an extension, it sounds like your budget is pretty flexible...in which case you might want to consider something like the following, particularly as you mentioned getting a property wi a decent sized garden.

First point...it’s not a shed, it’s a complete outdoor room...if you go down this route you’d want to use it for games, painting etc etc

This one is 5.5m x 4.5m (but can be whatever size you want)
Has heating, electricity, double glazed, WiFi, and an alarm.





You can completely bespoke it, size, shape, windows, flooring, do you want it plastered or even painted etc etc but you get what you pay for 


https://www.thegardenoffice.co.uk/

[gamer Mac]

I have just recently built one, a shed not a room
https://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=124517.msg1591332#msg1591332 
If I had the money I WOULD HAVE LOVED A BIGGER ROOM

[flatpack]

Did exactly the same thing, 5 years ago.

Kids were getting older and no longer required the swing in the back garden, so my wife said “why not have that shed you always wanted, to wargame in ?”.

Looked into it, and went for a 10ft by 20ft.

Tried to cut back on costs with thinner grading flooring and walls, but went and saw the product already built, and made a mental note, to go for the thicker grade, floor and walls, because as we all know, you only get what you pay for in this world.

Also went for double glazed windows.

Paid for a base to be built, ordered the shed, then paid a carpenter to build it.

I’ve been very happy with it, and my mates and I used to game about once every couple of months in it, before the pandemic.

I bought ikea billy bookcases, with glass doors, to store my figures in. They line one wall, then I have my painting table opposite them.

The gaming table sits just as your diagram shows it.

I have also added bench seats down either side of the table, so we can sit and play the games.

Worth investing some cash in lighting too.

Hardest job for me, was painting the walls white, to give the impression of space/room.
I used the “one coat paint”, but this was a lie, as I have to coat it 3 times.

The shed is fitted out with blinds, and full electrics.

Hope this helps.

Finished shed.


Still finished shed, from the rear.


Naval game in progress. This shows the billy bookcases on one side, and my work bench on the other.


Early Indian Mutiny game set up, but shows the need for seating down the sides. This has been overcome by buying bench seats.

[Captain Blood]

When we moved into our current house (18 years ago, where does the time go? ) I had a couple of ramshackle old outbuildings demolished, and a new separate double garage block built, expressly so that I could have a games room over the top of it - much to my wife's disgust

It's never had a car parked inside it, but does have a lot of assorted equipment in there.

Downstairs is also where I store all my modelling and scenery building stuff, and terrain boards. It's also my workshop where I make scenery and terrain (although I do all my figure painting in my den in the house).






The floor area of the upstairs games room is 5m x 4.5m - although the pitched roof means that the outer edges of the room are not standable, so the effective usable space for gaming is about 5m x 3m. If the local authority planners had been more co-operative, I'd have made it that bit bigger, but this was the most they'd allow me...

Then deduct space for the staircase, plus all the display and storage cabinets and trunks I've put at either end of the room, and the actual usable space is about 4m x 3m!

The biggest tabletop I can fit in (and still leave practical circulation space around it) is 7ft x 5ft. But with four people playing, a 6ft x 4ft table is a more comfortable size.

I've actually played games with six people in there around a 7ft x 4ft table, but that is a bit of a squeeze.

On the plus side, with all the roof windows, the room actually feels larger than it is, and quite light and airy - good for photography with all that natural light.



I guess I play games up there about a dozen times a year? If it's a really big game though, I'll just move stuff into the house as required.
But especially when playing solo games, it's great to be able to just leave a game set up and be able to play it over a period of several days.

The biggest problem unfortunately, is that the planners wouldn't allow me to run water to the building (concerned it would get turned into an additional dwelling ). So my various weak-bladdered wargaming friends have to keep running off back to the house, 50 yards away, mid-game, to use the loo... Fine in the Summer. Not so good when it's wet and cold outside...








Unfortunately, the building was broken into at the start of this year.
Luckily, none of my wargames collection was stolen or damaged. The burglars ignored all that and went straight downstairs and made off with several thousand pounds worth of power tools and gardening machinery.
 
However, I have now moved most of my figure collection into the house for safekeeping. All that's up there now is terrain, buildings and trees etc. Plus a few of the older, less well painted parts of my figure collection.

And the garage block has now had a shitload of security installed. It's now like Fort Knox - alarmed with movement sensors, new triple deadlocks, Birmingham bars, reinforced hinge bolts, sensors on every door and window, security lighting, CCTV, and - my personal favourite - a double row of razor sharp, unbendable, six inch steel spikes running the entire length of the 8ft high garden wall immediately behind the garage block (which is how they broke in last time - by climbing up onto the wall, smashing in one of the Velux roof windows, dropping into the games room, then hastening downstairs to force open the up-and-over garage doors from the inside, and make off with a lot of expensive gear... Fuckers.

Well, if they try that way again, they'll end up missing a few fingers...  )

[Eric the Shed]

Can I suggest that you seriously consider building your own shed? My original shed has been extended three times in the last 10 years as my hobby has outgrown the space. If you can handle a saw, a hammer and drill then your options are open to save a load of cash. Anything prebuilt that is 10ft x 20ft will cost £000's. You can easily halve the bill by building it yourself. Just let the experts install the electricity.

PS; There are building regulations you need to abide by

Build examples here

second extension here

http://shedwars.blogspot.com/2016/04/the-shed-extension-beginspart-1.html

third extension here

http://shedwars.blogspot.com/2020/03/time-for-another-shed-extension-part-1.html

Good luck and keep us all posted

[Mindenbrush]

Go as large as you can because you will always find more things to store in there.
I have a basement which has 3 rooms, one is my painting and figure storage area, the second is the gaming area where I have a 5 x 6 table which can go to 5 x 10 and the third area is a workshop/general storage area.

[Charlie_]

As you are talking about possibly building an extension, it sounds like your budget is pretty flexible...in which case you might want to consider something like the following, particularly as you mentioned getting a property wi a decent sized garden.

Hmm, looks about the same price as an extension though... and possible I'd be able to get a bigger simple extension for the same price?

I have just recently built one, a shed not a room

Ah yes, I've seen your shed thread. Hows the shed going? Getting cold this time of year, or is it nicely insulated?

Did exactly the same thing, 5 years ago.

Excellent, that's very helpful to see, thanks. A few questions!
- It just occurred to me, is the 10ft by 20ft measurement the overall footprint, or the interior space?
- Is yours insulated at all? What's it like inside during extremes of weather? Ever tempted to get some sort of heating in there for the winter?
- How big are the table setups in those pics? How big are the gaps down the side of the table, and are they spacious enough for people to stand and sit comfortably when gaming?

When we moved into our current house (18 years ago, where does the time go? ) I had a couple of ramshackle old outbuildings demolished, and a new separate double garage block built, expressly so that I could have a games room over the top of it - much to my wife's disgust

Well that's lovely, if I was to ever buy a house with a double garage there would certainly be no cars parked in it!!!

Can I suggest that you seriously consider building your own shed?

It's a nice idea, but not something I'd be able to do myself.... However I have seen your shed build posts before and found them very useful and inspirational.

Go as large as you can because you will always find more things to store in there.

Yes, I think I will!


It looks to me like a shed is the way to go 
This realisation is a bit of a relief actually - it means I can not worry about having to find a house with that elusive extra large bedroom or living room... If there's a reasonable garden space, a shed can be built!!!

[gamer Mac]

Not got to use it as much as expected due to current pandemic
I have a small electric heater so insulation has not been an issue yet

[Eric the Shed]

Best of luck with your search

[Mammoth miniatures]

Another alternative, if you're going to be painting in there, running casting gear/3d printers etc - consider renting a studio. some artist studios will rent you a nice fully secured, wifi enabled bills included lockable room for very little money. I have a studio for my actual work, But in every studio building I've been in there's been at least one wargamer/wargame group working there.

Hell, if you have a regular group you can split the monthly rental cost and then use it as a collective hobby space/gaming room.

[flatpack]

Answers to your questions....

The shed footprint is 10ft by 20ft.

I insulated under the floor only.

I use electric fan heaters in the winter if we play a game.

I’ve also fitted curtains half way down the length of the shed, so that if I want to paint in the winter, I draw the curtain, and just paint and heat half the shed, ie 10ft x 10ft.

The gaming table is 5ft wide by 6ft length.

In this photo, you can see the bench’s I added either side of the table. I would guess there is a bout 2ft either side to sit.

Hope this helps.  Know I’m happy with what I have. I know I can just leave as is when I’ve finished, and then sometimes I even tidy up, but don’t tell the wife that 😂

[LazyStudent]

Gents,
Some amazing shed/wargames spaces on show. Luckily we have just bought a house with a basement, so I am lucky enough to be able to have a small corner to play in!

Charlie_
If you are feeling adventurous, you can copy what this chap did:

Best
LS

[Hammers]

Richard,
as I have visited it I can truly say it is quite a wonderful hobby refuge. Fuckers indeed; it is a pity you have to put such measures in place for you secret walled garden.

[syrinx0]

Good luck with your shed. Definitely go as big as you can afford - the space fills up too fast.  Luckily I live where basements are rather normal.  I had to originally share it with the kids but now that they have graduated college and mostly moved out... I have started expanding my hobby space.  I had plans on moving above ground where the light is but covid moved my wife's work home to the spare room and I remain underground.   

a double row of razor sharp, unbendable, six inch steel spikes running the entire length of the 8ft high garden wall

That is some serious defenses.  Hopefully it keeps the scum away from your gaming room and equipment!