I've been wanting to get a few game matts for a LONG time... I first encountered them at the first 40K tournament I went to... like... SIX years ago... I've kind of wanted to get a few ever since. It was agreed upoon that I should get them after the Game Room was renovated.. It's been renovated for over two years now... It was time...
HOWEVER...
WHAT SIZE TO GET!?
Six years ago I would have said 4'x6' without even thinking about it... (initially I didn't really consider matts... because I had a 5'x8' table and terrain tiles I'd made that could cover it completely!? My table isn't QUITE that big now, though... though I kept the two large chunks of MDF that made up the table to make into a tabletopper of sorts... I doubt I'll ever play a game THAT BIG again... I'm not even sure I have the patience for something that would be played on 4'x6' - Warhammer Games aren't even played on 4x6 anymore, the suggested size is 44"x60"!? But I don't even LOVE playing games that big... Do I get 2'x2' for small skirmishes...? or 3'x3'...? There are games I have that suggest both sizes... or 22"x30" - the size used for Warcry and Kill Team and Age of Sigmar: Spearhead...!?
In the end I settled on 44"x30"... it's the size recommended for 1000-1500 point Warhammer games... any games that are meant to be played on 3'x3' or 2'x2' can easily be played on with with little modification... They should fill a good chunk of the table for fairly large skirmishes or role-playing game encounters, but leave plenty of space for dice trays, character sheets, quick reference charts, books, reinforcements and dead...
I ended up ordering three from FLG matts... I liked the pattern. I settled on a Grassland, Desert and Cobblestone... I was thinking about getting a Martian and/or Snow matt as well... but thought maybe I should just start with the three and see if I DO use them and maybe order more later...
The parcel arrived while I was out.. I was a little disapointed to arrive home to see a box that was not nearly as long and skinny as I'd imagined... I had hoped they'd be shipped rolled up properly...
Not-so-much... they were folded in the packaging they were sold in... and those were folded into a box...
So... they're pretty wrinkled...
This one's called "Prairie"
"Civic Cobblestone"
Honsetly... those cobbles are a LOT larger than I'd imagined...
I'll get over it...
maybe...
eventually...
"Badlands 2"
I'm sure once they're flat... IF they're ever flat... they'll be really nice!
I was further soured on the whole experience by the $59CAD I had to pay for taxes, duties, and fees on an order that only cost $210CAD (of which $35CAD was shipping!?). Now I don't mind paying taxes... I like roads... and firefighters... and other public services... but the fucking $45 "brokerage fee" UPS charged seemed like a much. Fuckers... Canada Post charged $9.95 for that service... But no, keep telling me that privatization and "competition" will mean basic services will be cheaper for me...
So all that along with the wrinkled matts... I think I might look elsewhere for a snow or martian surface matt - or if I decide I need a different size...
Anyway...
Luckily I have NO SHORTAGE of heavy books, so hopefully a few days of this might sort out SOME of the wrinkles... If we get sunny days again, I could try leaving them outside for a bit... We are fully into fall it seems, today, and things are very grey indeed...
Really want these to be flat NOW so I can get on with PLAYING Devilry Afoot or continue on with the Five Men in Normandy campaign...
Hopefully the wrinkles will work their way out as they look pretty decent, I have a couple of mats, I went for the Neoprene backed ones, one for a 3'x3' and one 6'x4', these came in tubes and were wrinkle free, I like them, your ones should cover a fair few scenarios for you.
ReplyDeleteI think these are neoprene as well...? like giant mousepads..?
DeleteYes that's them.
DeleteYou could try throwing them in the dryer for 10 minutes and then pulling them out immediately and either laying them flat or hanging them to try and get the wrinkles out.
ReplyDeleteThanks! Alas, I do not have a dryer... we just hang dry everything..
DeleteI was hoping to accomplish something similar by laying them out in the yard on a warm sunny day... unfortunately, the insanely warm days of summer seem to be past us...
Yeah, those are a bit big for cobblestones. The other two mats look better. Hopefully the wrinkles will get flattened out soon. I have a couple of mats - one tricky thing I still haven't really worked out is how to store them when not in use. I mean, I roll them up very loosely, but that still leaves a long piece of kit that doesn't really fit well anywhere except on the top of a bookcase or similar.
ReplyDeleteAs for the size, if it's bigger than called for for a specific game you could always block off the excess somehow, such as with a line of masking tape.
Yeah, after only one evening of laying flat the wrinkles were almost entirely gone. I left them laying flat with the books still on them yesterday as well. Haven't checked on them this morning.
DeleteWhat I found odd was these came with "carrying cases" but they're 44" long (or... 48", I haven't really checked) ... like these are meant to be rolled up and stored lenthwise...? is that the word I'm looking for... like starting at the long edge and rolling them up!? I would have thought rolling up the short edge would be better!? I wonder if it's because they only make one size of carry case?! Is that what they give out with the 2'x2' matts, though!?
Yes, for playing on a smaller area, that's exactly what I was thinking ..
I'm sure if you ironed the mats over a damp towel the creases would come out???
ReplyDeleteIf they're ever wrinkled again, I will have to try that out! Turns out they only needed one night laying flat and most of the wrinkles have come right out!
DeleteI've been there, and its frustrating.
ReplyDeleteCheers!
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