What kind of gaming mat/board do you recommend?

[Gothmog Lord of Balrogs]

For a long time, I used a large black section of felt that overlapped a 4' x 8' table.  Used the tooth brush method to sprinkle on a mix of white and yellow stars, I could vacuum it with a DustBuster, and it rolled up nicely for storage when I wanted to use my game table for other things.  Later, I got 2 sheets of 3' x 4' plexiglass from a hardware store, sponged on a few red/blue nebulae and toothbrushed on stars to one side, then sprayed over that with matte black before adding a gloss seal cost to it.  Added lots of felt feet to that side, flipped it over and had a gorgeous space board for about $40 total, including spray cans.  The only problem with that one was it was VERY reflective.  Ships and tokens stood out well against it, but it was difficult to photograph well.

I was thinking about plexi-glass. How thick of glass did you use? Does it scratch easily if models fall over (particularly metal ones)

[Armiger84]

I don't really remember what the thickness was.  It was probably a good 2mm thick I think.  It really wasn't bad, although I do wish I could have dulled it down somewhat without scratching it up and hiding the detailwork from the reverse side.  As far as scratching goes, I didn't really abuse it but the thing never seemed to pick up any scratches, even with metal models moving over it and occasionally keeling over.  Come to think of it, my brother's Ork ships had metal washers glued to the undersides of their bases to keep them from falling over and I don't think that even did much damage at all to the boards.  The one big caveat is that they really don't travel well.  One snapped when my parents changed houses, and the other one my father's using (playing surface side down) on top of some padding as an exercise mat now, and he still hasn't scratched my seal-coat on the painted side.  I might have to make up another set of them once I've finally settled down somewhere and have enough space to set up a game room again.

If you decide to go the plexiglass route, get some sawhorses and a couple of 2x4s to support each panel when you paint them.  These things like to sag unless fully supported and since you DEFINITELY have to paint & spray them outside, if it's hot out, you might manage to do some damage while leaving them out to cure if you don't have them well-supported.  Also, as some advice, for a cool effect, pull the protective cling-wrap off the painting side right before you start toothbrush-spattering paint on.  The lingering static charge will actually affect how the tiny paint droplets fall and pull some of them into some neat bands and sweeping arcs of denser "star" clusters when all's said and done.

[RaptorEvolved]

Thanks for the replies guys !

Actually, space is more of an issue than cost in this case. I'm a student so I actually don't have a lot of money to spend, but our group consists of 5 people, so even the most expensive mat would just be some 15 dollars (and that's less per person than the cost of the beer we drink at each game ..). My "apartment" is 19m^2 though, so a wooden board is sadly out of the question. But if cost wasn't an issue for you, what mat would you like to have? The black curtain solution is nice, so I'll probably adopt that one as well since it would probably be pretty easy to transport and also highly modular. But I think I'd like a mat as well. I've heard hotzmats are exceptionally bad with their delivery services, so I'm leaning towards corsec. Has anyone had any experience with these mats? Do they have "to much" detail for BFG games (not subtle enough) and which mat would you prefer to play on if that's not the case?

Thanks again !

Honestly use black felt store it in a small plastic bin so as not to damage it when not in use. Then play with it whenever you want

[Armiger84]

Honestly use black felt store it in a small plastic bin so as not to damage it when not in use. Then play with it whenever you want

Seconded.  A fabric store should be able to sell you sections from 6ft wide bolt of cloth, which will give you a 1ft overlap on a 4ft wide table.  With a roll of felt (cheaper than curtain material and about as sturdy) you can roll it up, don't fold it, and bag it to keep the dust off.  With the money you save there, pick up some cotton batting to use for gas/dust clouds and go to a craft store for styrofoam spheres and half-domes for moons and planets!

[Daemon_Primarch_Lorgar]

Thanks all! You've convinced me, I'll get some black felt and make som stars on it with an old toothbrush and some white paint .