There was a GenCon video that I saw Tuesday that left me unsure as to what exactly I was looking at, it never really showed the entire item to the viewer. Today I noticed people on Twitter were chattering about the same item, and now I know what I am going to do if I ever make it rich folks…
Behold, The Sultan Gaming Table (don’t even continue reading at this point, just clicky-clicky and check this thing out - but come back when you are done drooling!)
I don’t even know what to say about this except for Oh Mai Gawd!
OK, let’s talk about what this table has going for it: it’s made of dovetail jointed wood, 4 player stations that are fold-out desks with drawers, dice/counter/pencil trays, two book library stations, an enormous 4 x 7.5 foot playing surface for maps/miniatures/etc., cup holders that slide under the table to hold the drink out of the way from being bumped over and spilled, and you can place any type of map on the playing surface… there’s certainly enough space.
This is a geek’s dream piece of furniture - I used to think that I’d like to own a house some day that would be able to fit a pool table, but now I am swapping out that dream for a room that fits The Sultan. But it really is only something I can dream of, at just under $10,000 USD I don’t think I could ever afford such a beautiful thing.
There’s certainly a lot of buzz building around this table too: Forbes is calling it the Belle of the Ball at GenCon, there’s a bunch of Sultan pictures over at Boardgame News (just scroll down to the bottom for the pics), and there’s a cool picture over at Purple Pawn with a world map on the table.
I can picture this table being used in so many game genres too; imagine plotting the flight path of your bi-planes to cross the enemy lines, lining up your Civil War infantry for a showdown between North and South, or the winding tunnels of a dungeon crawl that dares enter the bowels of the Dwarf Lich-King’s cavernous kingdom. I’m telling you, this table just gets the creative juices pumping through my brain just looking at pictures of it, I could not imagine getting to play at such a table, never mind trying to imagine life owning one!
Oh Mai Gawd!
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{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
I loved it so much I managed to pick one up! It is going to be awesome!
Really if you game a bunch do you not deserve to game on a real table that you can actually put all your creativity to use. Yes a little expensive but it is real classy furniture that will hold its value in the long run. It is put together very well.
Personally they are working on doing a custom/prototype table they might start offering as another option. Instead of having a library/game master at each end there will be an end with two gamer stations slightly less to them than the side stations. But this way it gives a total of 6 players and one game master station. Now I just have to talk them into adding cup holders for this end station for each player.
Sean
Wow, that is awesome - congratulations! You’re going to have to take some pictures when you get it and send them to us so we can post them and see it in action.
Definitely keep us updated…I’m curious to hear what it’s like to really game on it. Let us know your impressions when you get it or send us a little review and we’ll post it. Haha…I bet your gaming group is pretty excited and can’t wait for it to arrive!
Me and Karn were just talking last night on skype about how great an idea this is. It’s just cool to see a company producing quality, fun stuff for gamers and realizing that the market for “grown-up” gamers is not fully tapped…more like virtually ignored. I’m just dying to see what else Geek Chic comes up.
Sure it’s expensive, but honestly a lot of well-crafted, truly quality furniture is expensive. Just like any other piece of heirloom furniture - it’s pricy but you can have it forever and even pass it on to the next generation!
If I ever move out of NYC and have a house as opposed to an apartment…I would definitely consider something like the Sultan.
Yea that is another note. I do have room in my house; kind of, but since we will be selling this place in a year or two we are going to keep it at our friends house rather than take it up our stairs and possibly get it damaged. :O)
I will post updates/photos of it when it gets here. Which it sound like at the minimum though it will be two months since I am getting a “custom/prototype” done. Apparently normal turn around is 6 weeks. Plus they are taking the feedback they got at Gencon and putting into use. For example the flush table top so it can be used as a table if needed, having more than one game surface might be in the works as well. Those type of things. It is awesome though.
I like the idea of the different maps I can get printed out that would fit under the clear plexiglass to represent different terrain. This is great for airplane games or even space games I suppose. I think I might look into having a map with contour lines on it for where the hills and what not are for my Micro Armour games. Not sure about that though part of the micro armour appeal is the 3D aspect. I guess I could put a matt down on it and still have the hills and what not for the micro armour. We will see. I will take lots of photos.
You could also print out a dungeon or what not if you had the proper software and put it under it and run it that way. Me I have a ton of the Dwarven Forge stuff and with a two inch clearance under the table top they will sit nicely under the table top until the dungeon is revealed. So that is my plan anyways.
Sean
OK, I am officially jealous! Sean my man, you’re going to have to hook us up with a Skype phone call to tell us all about it when you get it, especially once you have a game or two under your belt while sitting around The Sultan.
Did you see it in person at GenCon by chance? I’ve seen a lot of footage of this table now, but I am itching to know things like, how tall is it… because I am concerned with the size of it. A 4ft wide playing surface surrounded by a good deal of wood at its sides might mean one hell of a reach to move units near the center of the table… but then again, perhaps you could get one of those cool “reach-sticks” to pull/push units around if it was ever an issue (you see people in movies use these all the time… do they have an official name?).
Wow - I won’t be able to sleep now! Someone is getting a Sultan! I am excited, and it is not even me!
I did see it at Gencon. It is officially 5.5 feet wide. So really not much wider than two banquet tables put together. Which is what my group has gamed on up to when I get the Sultan. To reach the center from one side it is a 33 inch reach. Not that bad really considering it is only another 3 inches or so beyond what most people play on.
The height of the table is dependent on how high of the legs you want. The actual main part of the table is 11 inches deep. Then you add the legs onto it and in the advertisement they say you can decide how tall you want that to be (personally we have not got to that part yet.). I am going to make it where my legs just fit under it on a normal size chair. That way the top isn’t to high if your using it as a regular table.
I was actually thinking about the “pusher” sticks you see in the movies as well for when I get lazy. :o)
Sean
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