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Hey everyone, I'm going to be moving to a new place soon, and I'm going to have room for my own gaming table. The only problem with that is that I want to get something to cover it, that isn't a tablecloth.

I looked around, and saw that people really like the gaming mat, but GW had discontinued it in favor of the realm of battle board. I'm wondering, are there any alternatives, or should I try to find the GW mat?

Thanks,
B

Our club has a few of those mats, they have stood up really well to regular use, and look reasonable too.

Might be worth digging around a little to find one, yeah.

Otherwise there's a company Kroothawk often suggests, Hotmatz IIRC, that look good, but I don't have first hand experience.

Edit: Almost got it right..

http://www.hotzmats.com/

If you can find the mats, they are worth it. Another option is to find a pool hall that has pro-sized tables. If they have recently re-surfaced their tables, the wool cloth is great for a game table cover. Run it through a laundromat and it is awesome.

I go to Fabric Hut or any other material sewing store and buy 3 yards of whatever vinyl color swath. I have a brown one(desert) and a gray one(city) right now. Gonna get a greenish(forest) one soon. Ends up being about $30 each. Rugged stuff and the dice roll pretty good on it.

Zuzzy mats are really nice. They're vinyl and textured, but not so much as to make your models tip over. They can be drybrushed and painted also, and it doesn't flake off.

My friend has this one:
http://www.zuzzy.com/rl-tf-001_terra_flex_gaming_mat.html

They're not cheap, but they're beautiful!

baritowned wrote:
Hey everyone, I'm going to be moving to a new place soon, and I'm going to have room for my own gaming table. The only problem with that is that I want to get something to cover it, that isn't a tablecloth.

I looked around, and saw that people really like the gaming mat, but GW had discontinued it in favor of the realm of battle board. I'm wondering, are there any alternatives, or should I try to find the GW mat?

Thanks,
B

A 4X4 sheet of thin plywood, with a coat of paint with some sand mixed into it.


1/4 x 4 x 4 Pine Sanded Plywood - $16.92
Paint- Valspar 8 oz Pantone Jet Black Interior Satin Paint Sample $2.98 per can
OR you can get some hobby paint for a couple of bucks, and some brushes.

Then the sand, free or a couple of bucks.

Base 4X4 board, and your ready for some scenery. thickness of a 1/4 to 1/2 inch, and 4X4. You can make 2, as well, for the 4X8, or expand that to a 1/2 or 3/4 inch plywood sheet.

This costs around 20 bucks for the lot, by the way.

I think I might go with the Hotzmats, having one that's 6x4 with three-inch squares would be great for Deadzone, and I could use it for any other game too.

Just for the record:
You can also get them without a grid.
My favorites are Dirty Planet for 40k and European Fields for Fantasy.
And Zuzzy mats are rubber, not vinyl.

 Kroothawk wrote:
Just for the record:
You can also get them without a grid.
My favorites are Dirty Planet for 40k and European Fields for Fantasy.
And Zuzzy mats are rubber, not vinyl.

Kroot, just the man I wanted to ask! How well have your mats stood up to using them?

And I thought about Zuzzy, until I saw that he can take months to ship and has no customer service. I was looking for felt anyway, so it's not a big deal.

The first batch had issues with fuzz developing over time. This is now fixed and they are durable. Also miniatures don't slip on felt and dice rolling is silent.
Keep in mind that normal mats are an inch short of 72x48" size (because his standard machine was a gift) and if you really need that extra inch you must pay a bit more.
Also Hotz is a small garage company like Zuzzy Each mat is produced to order, so it might also take 2-3 weeks.

You could always make one as this guy did: http://mallencreations.blogspot.com/2013/06/new-gaming-mat-part-i.html?m=1 - http://mallencreations.blogspot.com/2013/06/gaming-mat-part-ii.html?m=1

I have been using a green wool blanket for a long time now.

 Kroothawk wrote:
The first batch had issues with fuzz developing over time. This is now fixed and they are durable. Also miniatures don't slip on felt and dice rolling is silent.
Keep in mind that normal mats are an inch short of 72x48" size (because his standard machine was a gift) and if you really need that extra inch you must pay a bit more.
Also Hotz is a small garage company like Zuzzy Each mat is produced to order, so it might also take 2-3 weeks.

Kroothawk Have you ever had any issues with comms with Hotz (Eric isn't it?) as I emailed him a few days ago, with the express intent of buying one, and haven't heard back yet. It's not been a silly amount of time, but longer than I expect if I wave money at people!

 azreal13 wrote:

 Kroothawk wrote:
The first batch had issues with fuzz developing over time. This is now fixed and they are durable. Also miniatures don't slip on felt and dice rolling is silent.
Keep in mind that normal mats are an inch short of 72x48" size (because his standard machine was a gift) and if you really need that extra inch you must pay a bit more.
Also Hotz is a small garage company like Zuzzy Each mat is produced to order, so it might also take 2-3 weeks.

Kroothawk Have you ever had any issues with comms with Hotz (Eric isn't it?) as I emailed him a few days ago, with the express intent of buying one, and haven't heard back yet. It's not been a silly amount of time, but longer than I expect if I wave money at people!

He is always busy and bear in mind, it is one guy operating out of his garage-type scenario so give him a bit of time.

Ok, cool, wasn't getting stressed about it but it was one of his clearance mats I was after, and as they're first come, first served I was keen to hear back as soon as poss.

Will see what pans out I guess!

Yes, he takes a while to answer emails, just try again.

I would highly recommend against any DIY solution that involves paint and sand. You'll make a model destroying surface. If you are going to texture a surface, get large containers of flock from Woodland Scenics or something. Keep things soft and natural looking rather than abrasive.

Here's one other suggestion from a friend of mine. Tye dyed polar fleece from the fabric store. The texture of fleece is nice but not so fuzzy as to make things fall over and the right color of tye dye can look quite good. Also it's cheap!
Green

Brown


Heres a brief article about his tables and coverings
http://chicagoskirmish.blogspot.com/2013/05/csw-unveils-new-gaming-table.html

As for myself, I have a table painted white and sprayed with sandstone colored texture paint. For other surfaces I just use old wool army blankets. You can find them cheap at surplus shops and they come in great colors for ground.

I like the desert one there, but the grass mat doesn't look right.

I recently just bought three 2' x 4' boards for some negligible fee.

All you need is sand and some grass type material as well as pva and your set. It may also be a good idea to paint on an undercoat to protect the wood from water/moisture whatever.

If you can't get access to this stuff, the GW scenery painting pack may not be a bad investment, if you have enough in your budget for it.

i second the desert board.
Also, if i were to make another game board, I would get three 2'x4' MDF boards, use ballast and broken up thin cork to make an even field. As is, I have 2 of these boards (that have raised areas built into it) and a citadel game board.

I'm trying to stay away from the MDF/Plywood route, as the table I'm going to be using is doubling as a dining table and I really don't want to scuff the surface. Kind of why I asked for alternate mat companies in the first post...

 -Loki- wrote:
I like the desert one there, but the grass mat doesn't look right.

The desert is definitely the best. As for the green one, on it's own, it's not great, but when you put a bunch of swamp or jungle bits on there it looks quite good.

The main point though is that folks should head to the nearest fabric store to see what is available in their area.

thanks for the info on the mats, folks, they look pretty impressive. wish i'd seen this thread before I stepped out for some (overpriced) ply from B&Q.

I'll put in another endorsement for Hotz Mats. I've got a green one (Earth Green) that I'm super happy with. It is plain green on one side (for 40k) and has hexes printed on the other side (for BattleTech). I'll get around to buying their Dirt Planet mat eventually too.

 Eilif wrote:
Heres a brief article about his tables and coverings
http://chicagoskirmish.blogspot.com/2013/05/csw-unveils-new-gaming-table.html

As for myself, I have a table painted white and sprayed with sandstone colored texture paint. For other surfaces I just use old wool army blankets. You can find them cheap at surplus shops and they come in great colors for ground.

I have a GW gaming mat (probably one of the best things of value from GW), and I was going to come in here and tell people to check out what you guys use .

Cheap and effective! Does the cloth come dyed already? Or did you guys do that?

The polar fleece is mine!

It comes tie dyed like that already. It is also available in many different colors if you want some sort of alien surface...

I agree that the desert one is the best. Here is a shot of the green mat with more terrain so you can see that it indeed can look awesome:



Here is a link to the desert fabric if anyone wants to order some:
http://www.joann.com/blizzard-fleece-fabric-khaki-tie-dye/zprd_09439183a/

Makes me want to snuggle up on your table.

I've been admiring the Zuzzy mats for years but the customer service and high shipping costs have put me off. May have to bite the bullet and pick one up.

Anybody know a way to make a GW-style battlemat with Static Grass and have it be just as nice? I swear its like they press molded the static grass in or something!

Model Railroad grass mats are made for looks and are not abrasion-proof, grass flocked boards should be the same. That's what made the GW grass mat so special.

Here another special option for vinyl mats (so far I only like the ice and the galaxy mat):
http://www.deepcutstudio.com/