What kind of gaming mat/board do you recommend?

[Daemon_Primarch_Lorgar]

Hello again! Just to not take my own topics off topic: here is another one .

I'm planning on getting a nice, high quality gaming mat for my groups BFG games right from the start, so my question for you guys is basically:
Which company/mat do you use/recommend?

Here are two companies I've been considering, but I can't come to terms with which mat would be best suited for BFG games.. Which mat would you get if you could choose freely?

http://corseceng.com/fabric-mats/

http://www.hotzmats.com/mat_1-en_deep_comp.html

All help is very appreciated .

[Vaaish]

None. given the choice, I'd still make my own. Cheap, modular so I can rearrange it at will, looks good, and all fits in a medium sized box for transport.

[Bessemer]

If space isn't an issue for you, I'd recommend getting 3 2'x4' plywood boards. Paint black, get some skull white (or whatever the hell it is now) and use an old toothbrush to make stars and spray varnish them. Quick and cheap
Those mats you can get on-line look the biz, but are a little steep for my wallet.

Would recommend 1" thickness or more. My 1/2" boards are starting to bow a little more than I would like

You can even add nebulae and stuff with an airbrush if you've got the nounce for it!

[AndrewChristlieb]

Im cheap



4x8 sheet of OSB and some old black curtains from my black out everything days . The lint makes great stars .

[horizon]

We have three wooden (about 18mm thick) parts of 120cm x 60cm each. Makes a good 180x120cm. Painted Black.
http://www.forum.specialist-arms.com/index.php?topic=1225.0
for reference.

[Markconz]

Couple of weeks ago I e-mailed the hotzmatz guy, and he e-mailed me back the price offering to send invoice. E-mailed him again saying yes please, send invoice. No reply. E-mailed again couple of days later, still no reply.  Annoying.

[Daemon_Primarch_Lorgar]

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 !

[Gothmog Lord of Balrogs]

The nice thing about felt is that if models fall over, they are obviously protected pretty well. The issue is that for space, the fuzzyness is going to be awkward, but the prints on them look awesome.

I always stored gaming surfaces behind my couch, so it you still want to go with the board, 2 modular ones should fit behind a sofa or under a bed.

You could buy your own rubber matting- something like this
http://www.rubberco.co.uk/products.php?SID=2&secname=Commercial%20Rubber%20Sheet
And then paint it however you want. It will still be space saving, though not as much as felt. But it will be extremely resilient and durable. Models that tip over still won't be damaged. And you can set glasses with condensation on them with no fear. You can likely find this at your local hardware store.

[fracas]

I've used the GW gaming mat: grass on one side and black rubber on the other.

[Daemon_Primarch_Lorgar]

Hehehe, funny thing is: I don't have either a sofa or bed.. I'm sleeping on a mattress on the floor (and yes! I do prioritize buying a gaming mat over a bed! My mattress is nice ok?! I'm not addicted, don't give me that look!)..
Do you think the rubber mat would look better than the felt mats from corsec considering their fuzziness ?

I have never owned a GW gaming mat, would you recommend me buying one of those instead of a mat from corsec fracas ?

[fracas]

If you intend to play Karan's based games
And have a hard surface to put the mat on then yes
Duo function and reasonable priced. I fold it back up into the box it came in

[Armiger84]

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.

[Khar]

Black fabric and some spraypaints are your friends. Can look really nice and is whole lot cheaper than an of those prints.

[afterimagedan]

Cloth or hardwood, black, white stars with paint flick method, spray paint, varnish the wood if you used it.

[Markconz]

Are there any good tutorials on making nebula etc on a cloth out there?