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Hi all,

I have been on the mats topic, but it now seems a competition between manufacturers to see who showcases more mats, so decided to open a new topic.

I'm looking into maybe getting a new mat (first one actually) and still deciding between the following.
- gamemats
- urbanmatz
-FAT mat (some still available in element games)

Could someone give some honest feedback on which is better?

Also, urbanmatz sell a nice folding table, has anyone used it? (sorry gamemats yours is too big even folded for the space I have assigned to keep it)

I can't speak about either Gamemats or Urbanmats. I have a Frontline Gaming mat and a Deepcut Studios mat. Both are 6'x4' and the mouse pad material. The Frontline Gaming (FAT mat) is one of the earliest snow/rock mats and the Deepcut Studio is their beach one.

The Deepcut Studio mat has much better print quality than Frontline Gaming. I believe it was less expensive as well. Of course, my FAT mat is one of the earliest generations, and it looks like I paid the peak cost as they bumped up the cost when I got mine and it looks like the price has dropped since.

Ultimately, I think either company does a good enough job. I think you should look through both catalogs of each picking the mat design you like the best. Although, I would lean toward Deepcut Studios (especially if theirs cost less) over Frontline Gaming. Just remember, that Deepcut Studios makes their mats in different materials and pick the one you want.

Hi thanks for the input. I will have a look if they are available in U.K. Without expensive shipping.

For anyone else providing feedback, I'm uk based which means I rather get one with cheap uk shipping

I agree with Saturmorn.
Look for the theme you want in all manufacturer catalogues. Choose the design you like best.

I did it with a 'Swamp' theme, looked through everything and decided on Deepcut on Mousepad material. Feels nice, rolls flat perfectly after storing, rolling dice is silent and enjoyable. Print quality is good, although it is a bit dark for my taste.

If I buy a second mat sometime, I will follow this course of purchase again.

Thanks guys, I will definitely have a look at them.

Still would love to hear some more review of the gamemats.eu and urbanmatz if anyone can chip in

Only have Deep Cut stuff at the moment, but will be looking at Urbanmatz for one shortly.

The only advice I can give you is: stick with something very simple as the pattern. You want to get your money's worth out of your mat, and that means using it for a variety of games. The last thing you want (unless you can afford a half dozen mats) is large printed items on the mat. The more chunky art thrown on the mat, the more you have to cover up or ignore when playing other games. A lot of company's try too hard with the art. In the end your models/terrain look silly on some mats because they put so much contrast/stuff drawn on the mat. FAT mats used to be really bad about this (and their art was very poor compared to other companies - not sure if it's changed since they lost the mats from Table War or whatever).

So I suggest the more plain mat, at least as a good generic cover-all mat. Also, certain companies look like they have much better art than others. PWorks for example has some absolutely terrible artwork on some of their mats (looks like someone designed them using Microsoft Paint). Deep Cut generally has excellent art/print quality. They also have a nice thing which shows a 25mm base on their mat so you can see the scale of the print.

My favourite mat I own currently (and I've owned a couple) is the Steppe pattern mat from Deep Cut.

http://www.deepcutstudio.com/product/wargames-terrain-mat-steppe/

Here it is set up for my Old West game:


Why? All the reasons I listed above. Simple, medium colour - meaning it works for Old West and greener areas. Some rocks, but no boulders or skulls or flaming chasms, or lava flows etc. Supremely versatile. In the future I'd like to get a water mat of some sort, and a crumbled/street mat. But if you're starting out - get something simple and versatile.

kaintxu wrote:
Thanks guys, I will definitely have a look at them.

Still would love to hear some more review of the gamemats.eu and urbanmatz if anyone can chip in

I'm very happy with my gamemats.eu one. High quality materials and it looks great on the table. I have a grassy highland one. I'm getting a FAT Mat this week for Shadow War, so I can compare then.

I have one from Urbanmatz and one from Frontline, both I feel are pretty much the same quality.. print quality and quality of the matt itself is good, and they both came with the same carrying/storage case/bag, so I'm guessing they probably both used the same manufacturer. I'd definitely recommend either one if they have a design you like.