"6 x 4 Game mat" Topic

I am looking for ideas for a 6 x 4 mat that my gaming group can use for tournaments and demo games. Because we will be using it frequently, I am looking for something that is of decent quality. As for colours, probably green would work best with the terrain we have.

Which manufacturers/ suppliers would you recommend? We are located in Indianapolis, so would prefer a US supplier if possible to reduce shipping etc.

Monday Knight Productions have worked for me over the years. It's felt but the green color is not garish. They used to have a flocked and unflocked option. Not sure now.

If you can get a hold of one, a GW game mat is de bomb. Probaly the best gaming aid they've ever done.

I second the GW flocked game mat. It's great. Very durable.

We looked at getting a GW one, but I believe they are discontinued.

That is a shame that they don't make them anymore. I have three of them I found them so useful.

Another place to look would be zuzzy mat. You can paint it yourself and it takes flocking. I have a 4x4 one and it is great.

Funny you should ask. I recently was faced with the same kind of problem. I needed to build a portable game surface to fit 6X4 game tables at a convention. Here's what I did. I bought a three pack of 4'X 2' X 5/8" acoustic ceiling tiles at Home depot. Cost $19. USD Then I got a 50"X 100" roll of Ready Grass vinyl mat at Hobby Lobby. Cost $33 USD (I used their 40% of coupon so paid less). I bought a can of spray adhesive and glued then trimmed. I left about an inch overhang on two of the boards so they would overlap when placed side by side. They are light weight enough to be portable but sturdy enough not to bend when you move them. I would think that both retailers should be available in your area so as to avoid shipping costs. Hope this helps.

Funny, I have one to sell. 4x6 and a mix of dark and light green. Not flocked but looks flocked (no shedding!). From Point of Contact Miniatures.

Normally $20 USD, asking $10 USD plus shipping (I'm near Chicago). Brand new, still in the shrink.

mark@scalecreep.com or PM me here.

MKP Flocked Mat
link

Unflocked Mat are no longer available in earth or green sadly. Mine was plane felt with hexes. It has held up well over the years.

You could go online to a fabric company and order some olive colored felt. They should be able to accommodate a 6X4 piece of felt.

Felt is readily available at Wal-Mart, Hobby Lobby and fabrix stores.

Green wool US Army blankets also work nicely, and they're more like 8x6.

We're looking for something a bit more substantial than felt, preferably with some kind of backing on it.

Felt is more durable than you think…

How about buying a canvas dropcloth, some housepaint, and make your own?

A recent Wargames, Soldiers and Strategy magazine had a nice article on how to make a really good-looking game mat with canvas.

I can second the recommendation on the Zuzzy mats – I have two and they are great.

I used army blankets for years. They look fine with lots of terrain.

I got a 6' x 4' olive green table cloth for £3.00 GBP so it's worth checking local outlets at those sort of prices.

Felt is more durable than you think…

Extra Crispy is right. I got a sheet of white felt, 6 x 4 for $10 USD at my local Joannes. Once you place trees and other bits of terrian on top it looks like snow. A friend did the same for sand, we just need to fire up my air gun to give it some light sprays of paint to off set various brown tones. Green is harder to find in a nice color, atleast with the selections I've seen. But its worth a try. And felt is very, very durable as long as you keep it away from things that could snag it.

Felt does tend to snag corners of figure stands. I use Suede and spray paint it.

Use a large sheet of fur from a fabric store and trim the fur down to the base with an electric razor, to flock the roads with dirt. Trim all the fur to a height that works best for your scale and spray paint it for the colors that you like. There are how to do this tutorials on the internet and you tube. Check them out. They look very nice and realistic.

The approach these fine Gents have taken worked for me.

link

We're looking for something a bit more substantial than felt

My felt mats have held up really well over the years. They are stored in a basement that is less than hospitable and still no signs of wearing. Like Mark says, they are more durable than you think.

Felt is plenty durable, very cheap, easy to shape with scissors and color with paints, and looks good if decorated profusely in nice terrain bits (farm fields, hills, buildings, trees, fences, walls, lichen bushes, etc.). I started gaming with olive-colored felt, and later "improved" my favorite ones with spray painted blobs of various drab greens and browns to break up the sameness of the green field. Those served me well for a couple decades, and I still use them for many games, especially when packing space is tight. I also made blobs of terrain in various browns and greens to mark woods, fields, towns, swamps, etc., which I then decorate with nicer-looking 3D models (trees, pools, rocks, buildings, etc. as appropriate). The felt blob doesn't move during the game, but the 3D bits can move out of the way as the miniatures come through; this way you always know where the edge of the terrain is for gaming purposes but the terrain bits aren't physical obstacles.

Several years ago I found a very drab grassy green fleece and bought a bolt of it. Since it's thin and stretchy, I lay it *over* the foam hills and mold it into the contours, which gives a really nice impression of rolling hills and sunken riverbeds. Again, decorating it with terrain bits breaks up the sameness of the green field and vastly improves the appearance.

As pointed out above, cloth surfaces have the disadvantage of catching the edges of miniature bases. Felt is especially bad about this.

Here's an example of the kind of effect you can get with canvas and latex paints:
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All the greens and browns you see on the field are latex paint. The green was mixed with sand to give it texture and then drybrushed yellow to make it look grassy. It looks even nicer in person, and it's really durable. You could make one in about a weekend with stuff from a home improvement store: a canvas drop cloth, some lumber to make a frame for stretching the canvas, some matte or satin latex paints, and a brush.

An even bigger crafting project with interlocking foam tiles:
link

Here's how it was done, demonstrated on cloth:
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- Ix

What is your budget? These are really nice but expensive.

Frontline Gaming

You should look into the game boards by War-Zone. I've had one for years and its held up fine. They are fold-able boards. I have their 4x6. They're made from durable 1-1/2in thick Hard Blue form. Already painted and flocked. You can order the flocked coloring in several different variation. And they're very transportable. They fold up into a 2'x4'x4.5in.

war-zone.com

Make your own. Go to a fabric store buy some muslin. Then spray paint it 2 or 3 colors in a random pattern. I make gentle slopes by stacking scrapes of either carpet pad or cardboard under it. You likely already have greens and browns to paint it. Use white over the browns for winter terrain. The stuff is dirt cheep.