"My new Desert Mat from theterrainguy.com" Topic

I love the Sharpe series of books and I read all the time about the Baker and how the balls were wrapped in greased leather patches and rammed down the barrel. But what I can't figure out is were the balls pre-wrapped or had to be wrapped before firing?

Ok,

I own all kinds of terrain, both what I have made and what I have bought, so I am very familiar with the normal quality of what out on the market. Last year, I decided to spend a lot of money on some really nice terrain mats from terrainmat.com in the UK. While the mats were nice, they are more fragile than I expected and the way they were mailed folded up was a crime for what they cost. Now I am very upset with Allen of the terrainguy.com!!!!!

Why am I upset? I just received my new desert terrain mat from him today and in the few moments it took to roll it out and look it over rather closely, I was almost ill. Not only was I feeling rather sick, but my wifes comments just about pushed me over the edge. What was so horrible about the mat you ask? Well, I am here to tell you.

It is an absolutely beautiful piece of work. It is sickening that I paid so much for the mays from the UK when Allen's are in my humble opinion so much better. Its really noticeable when my wife is pointing out that the new mat is so much nicer than the other ones I "just had to have" and "which I paid far too much for".

What's so great? The mats are backed by a very nice canvas material that is very strong, but not too terribly heavy. The flocking is applied in a very uniform manner and it is stuck to the mat far better than I would have imagined possible. The surface does not seem to shed at all and the overall appearance is perfect. I also got a number of hills and a big container of flocking so I can match some of my terrain and miniatures to the mat. The hills are very nice and the flocking on them is very well attached. Maybe not quite as good as the mat, but still better than I would normally expect. I need to get some pictures to show off what it looks like with some Crescent-Root buildings (also a great company) and some of the newer HAD vehicles I've painted recently.

Now, for the negatives. First there is a smell to the mat from the adhesive, but that is fairly normal for such products and only listed here since I figured I need something to pick on. Second, I am ticked off at Allen that he was not making these last year when I ordered from the UK. It really urks me that he had such a great idea and made us wait this long to get our hands on these. That issue leads into number three. I am kicking myself for not having ordered a larger may and more of them. Now, my wife has reminded me that she will kick my ass if I order anything else right now, but I will have to start hoarding away funds for another order. I need a brown-green mat. Its calling to me and I must obey that call (but must also not tick the wife off too much . . . ).

I bought several sections of roads from Allen while he was selling on eBay prior to his store opening and I have always gotten great products with perfect services. I can not recommend him highly enough. Take that tax refund (remember to put enough of it away to pay the income taxes on it next year first!) and order some new terrain items from Allen. The refund is to stimulate the American economy, so spend some of it with Allen in Texas. I am sure the government would prefer that than buying a new flat-screen TV from Chine or doing something responsible like paying off your credit card debt (also held by Chinese banks).

Thanks Allen and I look forward to using the new mat and planning a future order.

Jeff

Irish Marine, how did you hijack my post? LOL While I like Sharpe's riles and all, not sure how wrapping balls has anything to do with my terrain mat review. :)

(Well, unless I order more stuff from Allen without the wife's permission, that could result in rapping of b---s, but that is a different matter.)

Jeff

Jeff…shouldn't you be working on that database instead of playing with wargaming goodies?

:P

Looking forward to seeing it.

I put in another 13+ hour day today at work and all the while I new my package had arrived at the house. That is really torture. I still have not eaten anything since I got home and its 11:30 PM, so I have been distracted. I actually got some Americans painted over the last two weeks, Painted up some Palm trees yesterday and have at least eight various Technicals and other light armor vehicles partially painted on my work table. All in all, I have been getting some things done other than the forsaken reports for work. I guess I should be gald I sill have a job, but considering how much fun I am having at work, its hard to feel lucky to be there.

Jeff

Oh! Thanks for ruining my day Jeff!

I paid 130 to same UK guy for my 4x6 flimsy. This one from terrainguy is 59 dollars!? Better quality too!?

Great…. thanks a bunch![Deep sarcasm]

Really, thanks for showing me the light.

And Irish. I haven't the foggiest.

Well Jeff I must be psychic or something because I just sent part of my rebate (which I technically haven't received yet) to Allen yesterday. More hills, some walls, some trees. You are absolutely right – Allen's stuff is top notch, and his prices and service can't be beat.

I haven't bought any mats yet, but I too am hearing their Siren call…

*must resist, must resist*
Well, I suppose the point of the weak dollar is to make us purchase stuff from the US even if we don't really need it and can't really justify it.

So, it says on the website that it can be rolled up for transport.Can we have some reports from the happy buyers above on this?

And Allen, can you give us a ballpark figure on postage to Europe, Sweden in this case?

@Thomas Nissvik,

IN regards to rolling the mat up, that is the only way I would store it. It was mailed in a long double walled box and the mat itself was wrapped around a piece of pvc plastic pipe. The really nice thing about it, especially in comparison to the other expensive mats I own, is that the thick cloth means it rolls up without wrinkling or creasing all over. Very nice indeed.

In regards to shipping, it may be rather steep. Boxes are not too bad to ship it they are square, but many companies charge extra fees for unusual lengths. I'm sure Allen will be able to clear up the matter, but I hope it's still affordable for you.

Jeff

Jeff, thanks for the nice comments, I am glad you like the mat!

Thomas, depending on mat size the shipping to Sweden would be $40 USD to $50, which I know is a lot, sorry to say. I also cannot ship my largest (6 foot wide) mats to Sweden, the longest box I can send to most of Europe is 60 inches, so counting the box the mat could be no more than 59 inches wide.

The mats are designed to be rolled up for storage, I don't think folding them (to ship or store) would be a good idea.

I, too, ordered the desert mat, hills and palm trees. I was blown away that it got to me in less than a week. The quality is top notch. Mr. Terrainguy will be getting many, many more orders from me. I, too, have ordered from terrainmat.com and can second that the mat arrived folded and sheds terribly. I have also ordered from Hotz, and while the quality was there, the customer service was not.

Does the Terrain guy offer custom sizes? i dont see anything on his web site about it, sent him an e-mail, but no answer yet. I usually order 6 foot by 16 foot from terainmat in the UK, as I prefer to not have to marry two sheets together to cover my game table.

How thick is the canvas? Can I lay hills underneath it and have it lay properly?

Thanks
Andy

Is the desert mat made with sand or brown flock? I've never thought that flocking captures the look of desert very well. One thing I like about the other dude is his desrt mats are done with sand.

Is there a mat that would work well for "prairie?"

AX

Andy – Yes, I do custom sizes, have not seen your email. I will need to check and see if I can get 16 ft. long base material. I don't recommend placing hills under the mat, don't think you would like the look.

AX – The desert mat is not made with either sand or brown flock, but with sand colored flock. I have tried both sand and flock, and the flocking is vastly superior looking. A mat with a layer of sand embedded in it is much heavier for shipping, not to mention the fact that playing on what is, in effect, sandpaper, is not good on figures.

My "dryland" mat should work well for prairie, you can see it illustrated at theterrainguy.com

I'm please to see some good replies about The Terrain Guy products. I was waiting until the invasion beach mats to buy something from him. My FoW US assault army needs a beach to fight from. It forces them to go forward and running away isn't an option.

Thanks for the answers. I may have to order one if you can get the larger size material. I have about 9 or 10 of the ones from the UK right now, but i would be interested to see how these look in person. I normally place my hills under the mat, so that is the only thing that might deter me, as all of the hills I own are unfinished so that I can place them under any of my different mats, and dont need a set of hills for each different kind of ground cover…

Andy

Thanks Allen, 59 inches is more than enough to cover my table. I can't really motivate buying a new mat in the same colour as the one I've got, but in other colours, that is a different matter. Do you have an ETA on those winter or Invasion mats? Will you be announicing them here, or can one even sign up for a notification when new stuff arrives?

Irish Marine,
The Baker rifle (of which i own one) had a patch box where these special pre-greased leather patches are stored. These were used for special purposes like when sniping. The soldier also had a powder horn with finer powder in it. Again this was used for special purposes. In a standard engagement the soldier would be using premade cartidges.

Thomas, I hope to have the winter and beach mats within the next week or so, will definitely announce on TMP. I can email you direct as well, go to theterrainguy.com and send me an email requesting this.

Regarding mat sizes, the longest one piece mat I can do without a seam is about 14 1/2 feet. I am going to experiment with producing a mat with seams and see how that looks.

I am a victim of the bug, sorry about the weird post which has nothing to do with yours. I now know what happened to my first post on the subject.

Has anyone used theterrianguy's roads? I was wondering how they look/worked on the battle field.