Speak to me of Battle mats...

[TheBlackCrane]

... or point me to a thread discussing them as I will probably have missed it 

Having seen various photos on here of games using them, what are people's thoughts on Deepcut Studios vs Cigar Box? Or any other purveyors of suchlike?

Ideally I'm after something I can roll up but which will still lie flat when unrolled. I like what I've seen in photos, but recommendations/experiences of using them always welcome.

Cheers

Rob

[Jeff965]

I have mats by Deepcut, cigar box and Tiny Wargames. I've ordered direct from Deepcut and from a supplier based in the UK, I've also ordered direct from Tiny Wargames and via NorthStar for Cigar Box mats and had no problems with the service recieved.
Firstly I have Deepcut mats in Mousepad and cloth material, the mouse pad material is stored rolled up the cloth material is stored folded and when laid on the table they both lie nice and flat.
I have Tiny Wargames mats in cloth and the old Lino type material which I don't think they make anymore, again no problems with storage or how the mats lay when on the table.
The CB mats are made from a fleece type material that folds easily and again lies flat on the table.
The CB Mats actually come larger than 6x4 feet(not by much mind you) the other mats are 6x4 feet bang on, you have to keep this in mind should you wish to put something under the mat to make a hill.
Putting something under the mat is only really an option with the cloth mats and the fleece material from CB. The mousepad mats don't IMHO lend themselves to having something put underneath to form a hill.
The CB mats are superior to the cloth mats as the material has a way of sort of clinging to the item put underneath it, but both types would benefit from pinning the sheets at the foot of the hill.
I bought a sponge jigsaw type mat from Halfords (£10 for a 6x4 size), I put this on the table and then if I have to use pins they go into the sponge easier than chip board.
Mats are extremely convenient, both in the quickness of laying out the terrain and in storage, they take up very little room. They will however in my eyes never take the place of sculpted terrain boards and if I had the storage room I would go with terrain boards every time.
Price wise CB are more expensive than the cloth mats from other suppliers but I think this has more to do with the pound/dollar relationship than anything else.
I hope this has been helpful for you

Jeff

[Elbows]

There are a ton of decent manufacturers --- the main difference lying perhaps in price, customer service and the art used.  The overwhelming number of manufacturers now use mousepad or neoprene material (ease of printing, most likely).  The usual benefits are:

1) Rubber backed so they stick to the table nicely.
2) Roll up and store in a bag.
3) Protect falling miniatures and makes picking up cards and tokens easier.
4) Reduces dice noise (a ton)
5) Lays flat as a pancake.
6) Almost all companies who sell them will put grids/hexes/overlays on them if you're interested in gaming a certain way or with a certain system.
7) Available in a number of sizes and tons of styles.

The cons?

1) Heavy, so shipping is expensive.
2) Routinely $65-90 a pop, so be sure you plan on keeping it a while.
3) May or may not be water proof, so accidents or spilling things on them could be more costly than a piece of cheap fleece.
4) Some of the companies use really piss-poor art...so give the mat a good look when you order it.
5) If you buy a very specific art design...you're stuck with it.  I heavily advise the more "bland", versatile mats to start with.

There is at least one company leading the charge with double-sided mats (Gamemat.eu) and I think that'll be a big thing in the future.  You lose your rubberized backing, but you gain two mats in the space of one.  Sadly they're discount on cost isn't great...but I think if someone nails a decent discount, this'll be the next big step.

In the United States, expect to pay round about $90-100 USD for a single mat (almost all companies include a cheapo storage bag or tube with them) shipped.  I'm not sure about other countries.  The US is pretty lacking on companies actually producing them, so most of us order from Europe --- and even then the cost is about the same.

Things to watch out for in neoprene mats:

1) Art.  As mentioned above, some people are using Microsoft Paint to design theirs it seems...
2) Art.  Be careful about the art you choose, a lot of mats have scale-dependent little doo-dads thrown on the mat (like a cow skull, or a tree branch) which narrows the board to one scale unless you cover it.  I friggin' hate this stuff.  The better art is more diverse and doesn't really pin you to a scale.

Personal experiences:

Deep Cut Studio: Excellent quality, bang on colours and printing.  Have had two mats (sold one off when not using it enough).  Grade A.
Urbanmatz: Received two mats for Mordheim (one for a buddy).  Great printing, great quality - colours were deceptive from the site a bit, and both mats have a very slight satin sheen which is not visible on the Deep Cut mats.  Grade B+.

[Sir_Theo]

I've got some Deep cut mats (mousemat and pvc) very good quality, nice art. I ordered them direct from Deepcut and he service was great, although shipping is not. Heap to come to the UK. Wayland games stock some of their stuff which is a cheaper option (although as ever with Wayland make sure whatever you order is in stock)

[Malebolgia]

I own all kind of gaming surfaces now...the GW battle mat, MDF tiles, ABS plastic tiles (Games & Gears), vinyl mats, mousemats, cloth mats...and my favorite one at the moment is the vinyl mat. I prefer it to the mouse mat because of its sharper printing and richer colours. The mouse mats are always a bit more grainy in prints and colours are more washed out. It's probably due to the materials. And I don't like how 'bouncy' mouse mats are for dice.
So my favorite mats are my two Playmats doublesided mats: 3'x3' ice/grass (Frostgrave/Malifaux) and 6'x100cm wasteland/space nebula(Warzone/space battles). They are a lot cheaper than mousemats, have excellent colours, I don't mind the slight sheen (with scenery on top you hardly notice), are not that heavy and can be stored in a tube well. Phone pictures:

https://1drv.ms/i/s!Ahm6dRdoZNxdzTfczYq8mDdgWvQu
https://1drv.ms/i/s!Ahm6dRdoZNxdyF0HCZBNKKDxSNmZ

[fred]

In my group we have a number of cloth DeepCut mats - the steppe design is great for a scale independent 'green' mat.

I like to put hills under my mat, and the Deep Cut ones work great for that - I got a custom size, which is 6" bigger than my table, so that I don't have to worry about it not quite fitting.

[Jeff965]

Hi Fred, I'm interested in what the best material is to put under the mats, what do you use?

[fred]

I use some kind of blue insulation foam - its quite hard about 7mm thick, cut into rough ovals. I often put a fleece throw over the foam hills to take off some of the rough edges. For bigger plateaus I will use bigger sheets of polystyrene or even books to give a big raised area.

My mate uses Hexon tiles under the mat.

Both work well.

[Jeff965]

Cheers Fred, I think it's all about layering with a number of sheets or blankets to get a smoother result

[aircav]

I have a highlands at war mat from gamemat eu & I love it, bought it through incom gaming
https://www.incomgaming.co.uk/collections/gamemat

[TheBlackCrane]

Thanks all, useful stuff!

I have a highlands at war mat from gamemat eu & I love it, bought it through incom gaming
https://www.incomgaming.co.uk/collections/gamemat

Intriguing, didn't know there was a store in Cheltenham, might be worth a visit!

[FierceKitty]

I'm using a Tiny Wargames double-sided mousepad rubber mat, and I'm crazy about it. Both sides look excellent, and the appearance of my games has improved exponentially.

[Schogun]

Be aware that some companies describe their mats as "cloth." This is not cloth as in fleece or felt or cotton; it's thin vinyl.

As such, the vinyl cloth mat I purchased did not drape well over hills underneath.