Recommendations for Gamemats and table size?

[Historiker]

Dear fellow Treasurehunters,

my efforts to introduce fellow travelers to the glory of skirmish gaming have finally proven successful and the last couple of weeks have seen several games at last!

Now we all want to hunt for fame and fancy stuff in a beautifully ruined city and although I do possess enough old Warhammer and Renedra buildings to build a sizable Meteor / Magical Blizzard-rearranged town I have yet to decide on the "turf" under the adventurer´s very feet.

Would you be so kind to recommend me a gamemat (the mousepad stuff) if you find one particularly good quality wise?

Also: What is your experience with table sizes in regard to Frostgrave? My hunch is that 3x3 is the perfect size, big enough to be varied  but not that much un-epic legging through ruins - any opinions on what is best? I assume the table sizes will not change for Frostgrave 2nd Edition?

Many thanks and may you have many adventures in the fallen city!

 

[Pascal]

Most skirmish games play fine on 3'x3' or 4'x4'

Specifically, for Frostgrave, if you only play 1 v 1 3' x 3' is fine.  If you ever want to play 1v1v1v1 then a larger 4' x 4' would be better.

I typically just buy 4x4 because that is the size of my table and the mat covers the entire table.  We just use the first 12" to place our cards and other items.

This is the official Frostgrave Mat
https://www.pworkwargames.com/en/gaming-mats/33-299--wargames-terrain-mat.html#/1-material-pvc_vinyl/6-size-3x3_92x92cm

[FierceKitty]

I'm in love with my mat from Tiny Wargames.

[snitcythedog]

Personally I made mine using canvas sheeting and acrylic caulking.  If you are inclined there are bunches of tutorials on You tube.   For size, we use three.  For normal one on one games we use a 3X3.  For bigger games we use the 4X4.  We also have a smaller 2 foot circular mat that we use if we are limited on time for one on one games.  It is effectively a knife fight but lots of fun to play on. 

[Historiker]

Many thanks for the replies!

I´ve now ordered a 3x3 from Gamemat.eu and will offer my impressions once it arrives!

4x4 would stand a tiny bit over the edge of my table and I think I prefer the tighter games with 3x3 (provided we set up lots of terrain). I might still get one of those 4x4 for smaller games of 40K and the like in the future, but for Frostgrave and other skirmish games we´ll use 3x3.

Again many thanks and happy adventuring!

[Manchu]

3x3 is really ideal — that seven extra square feet at 4x4 is a pretty big jump in required terrain to get the density you really want for FG. I think most of the tables I’ve seen posted around are still pretty sparse, certainly not enough LOS blocking.

[Sir_Theo]

I really like the Deepcut studios mats, especially the neoprene/mousemat ones. Great quality.

Modulus have also just brought out a double sided neoprene mat for their Elder Sxrolls game that would also suit Frostgrave

https://www.modiphius.net/products/the-elder-scrolls-double-sided-battlemat-dungeon-wilderness?variant=31917169279057

[Manchu]

Fair warning that mat from Modiphius is shipped folded in a box and people have reported troubled getting the resulting creases out of it, even with ironing through a towel.

[EndTransmission]

I'm in love with my mat from Tiny Wargames.

I'll second that. They will do custom mats to your exact specifications too. I had one made to the exact size of my gaming table (which is slightly odd dimensions due to it being on kitchen cabinets) and the quality is really nice. They also do the same prints on very good quality cloth for mats that are easier to store/transport

[Bloggard]

also check out battlebrush sigur's AAR posts on this forum - he has a cloth mat, and as a result is able to make convincingly '3d' in terms of hills / undulations etc.

mouse-pad material is too heavy to get the same effect (I've tried).

[Historiker]

Again many thanks for the further replies!

My 3x3 mat from gamemat.eu arrived today and I have to say that I am very happy with the product!

The print quality and the product quality overall are great and it arrived not only quickly but well packaged and in perfect condition. As a nice bonus it even came with a small bag to put the mat into when in storage or for carrying it to a friend´s house.

If anyone is looking for a good Frostgrave mat I definitely recommend them! I chose the "Forgotten Lands" mat which is not snowy but my version of Felstad tends to look more like Warhammer Fantasy / Mortheim anyway

PS: I have to say that this is my first gamemat, so I unfortunately can't compare it with other manufacturers!

[Thorsmitersaw]

Am I going to miss 4 inches of width?

The table I plan to play on in my basement is about 5' long and just 32" wide.

[Historiker]

Am I going to miss 4 inches of width?

The table I plan to play on in my basement is about 5' long and just 32" wide.

As far as Frostgrave is concerned: I would not worry at all. Just use whatever table you have and enjoy the game!

You might deploy the miniatures closer to the table edge but that is about the only thing I would do in your situation.

[Darksider]

I play on a 4x4 Krakenmat (I think so, it's a long time ago since I bought them), have a snowy one and a swamp one, looks kinda cool.

An alternative to mats is battle maps, they also look cool and often come in the standard 30" to 24" size, you could buy two and have relative reasonable battlefield.