Hi all,

I am thinking of buying one of these but am worried that the textured surface would be a bit rough on my models, especially if they are laid down on it, and also that it may be a bit pricey for what it is.

http://www.terrainmat.com/Desert1.1.html

Has anyone bought one of these? If so, what do you think of them?

I'd love something a bit less "sand-papery" such as the latex rubber ones below:

http://www.zuzzy.com/rl-tf-001_terra_fl ... g_mat.html

However they are in the US and I am in the UK, so the postage might be a bit steep. I would also have to paint it, although that isn't a big deal.

Does anyone use a "Battle Mat" approach for their gaming surface, and if so, do you have any recommendations?

I use one and I don't think it will couse much damage to you minnies at all . they come in a sturdy card tube so all you have to do is roll it up for transport and storage .

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"All Men for the rights of Every man, every man for the rights of all Men"

There was a local push among game masters to make their own. I haven't tried yet but have the 4x6 and 6x12 sheets of felt in green and tan to make my own. They talk about spray painting odd squares and rectangles for farm fields and undulating ground, and I've seen some that really look great. The ones I bought from Monday Knight Productions have lasted nearly 10 years (one green countryside and one blue "open sea", and a black "star field" for space battles) and are as nice now as when I started with them. No damage to any of my troops, just an occasional snag by a rough spot on a base to the mat, but no damage. As they have aged, I do find small piles of green dust after rolling up my green mat, and suppose a desert mat might leave the same in tan, but I expect to get another 10 years out of mine.

Tom

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Tom Oxley
OD Green Old Fart
FoF: RtB, EF, AV, CWGH, DotR, BW, DMA, Fal, C-SOM, SOG

I recently bought a mat from the "Terrain Guy". I got the "arid" one as I have several friends with the "regular" grasslands one. I'm reasonably happy with it. I kind of wish I went with the "desert" one...as mine is a bit more green than I thought it would be.

Shipping may be a killer. I've found that anything coming "across the pond" is very expensive.

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I could agree with you...but then we'd BOTH be wrong.

I bought a huge piece of tan felt from one of those fabric stores here in the US (JoAnn fabric I think). Gave it a mottled effect with some brown spray paint and it looks perfect for Africa or Afghanistan. Cost about $20 total.

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My site:

www.freewebs.com/bradswargaming

I was using felt also...but I use the Woodland Scenics "clump foilage" to model brush. This is a royal pain in the a$$ to clean up from a felt mat.

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I could agree with you...but then we'd BOTH be wrong.

I saw a guy cleaning up after a game at the Drums at the Rapids event last weekend, with the home-made felt mat, green with lots of painted on stuff. He also used a lot of the clump foliage. Cleanup was done with a hand vac. That might be an option, and if you just use the vac for this job, you might re-use the foliage.

Tom Oxley

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Tom Oxley
OD Green Old Fart
FoF: RtB, EF, AV, CWGH, DotR, BW, DMA, Fal, C-SOM, SOG