This looks like a good way to make everyone reach right across the board every time they want to do anything.
Stark, especially, is at the opposite end of the board from where his army is AND is never going to be down there. The same goes, to a slightly lesser extent, for Lannister and Baratheon.
Whenever we play, we always rearrange seating position at the table to the order of the houses around the outside of the table Stark-Greyjoy-Lannister-Tyrell-Baratheon, usually with Stark and Tyrell on the 'ends' of the table if the table is short enough. It makes for a lot less reaching across the table, makes looking at orders on the board easier, and so on.
Heh, heh. I suppose I should explain. In my group everyone has THEIR chair. So no matter what the game, everyone's sits at the same table location. If that means having to reach across the board then so be it. (It also means always having the same players on the left and right which can get annoying.)
As for the table cloth, I have a very Geeky game room with with medieval tapestries, banners, and Charles II chairs. So the cloth actually fits in quite well. (Although I usually take pix on my kitchen table nowadays to avoid the distraction.)
The Clash Of Kings rulebook suggests switching Greyjoy's and Tyrell's spots on the King's Court track. This prevents the Greyjoy player from being able to use a special order, thus giving Lannister a little breathing room at the beginning of the game. This suggested change is listed in the "Errata" section of the FAQ, and I believe it's an official rule in some translations.
