"Favorite game mat material" Topic

I saw the Cigar Box vinyl game mat and wondered what your favorite material was:

1) Vinyl
2) Neoprene (mouse mat)
3) Thin cloth
4) Felt (the OG)
5) Terrain Squares
6) Other

Anything hard wearing, that looks nice and isn't too expensive!

Bedsheet, the OG's OG.

Back in the day, I had some old sheets, dyed (poorly, but it have a nice texture) as dirt, grass, and water. Fabric paints and fabric markers were friends, too.

Also, right now I am taken by custom printed throws and "tapestries" (basically, bedsheets, again).

And, whatever the Lemax Christmas village mats are made of. Got a bunch of them. They're on sale right now …

Rubber rug runner covered in laytex caulk with ground detailing.

Depends on the use.

Most typically:
7) Micro Fleece — the regular Cigar Box material, unlike the broad category of thin fabrics, this drapes nicely over contours and it does not wrinkle in storage.

For DBA, 30" squares of carpet with multi=coloured texture spray paint.

For terrain mats with printed detail that will always be flat (OGRE with miniatures and ocean mats for Man O'War, etc):
Neoprene.

I like lots of game mats at convention but still use painted partical board

I like the mouse pad. It does take up storage space,since you can't fold it up.

Kalistra Miniatures Hexon II. Technically, category #5, I suppose.

Thin cloth:

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Flocked Mat:

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For winter battles, white felt.

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Neoprene

Let's add marine upholstery vinyl to the mix. I have a navy blue and a black mat for ocean and outer space setups. Minis and dice tend to "grab" the surface nicely keeping minis in place and dice on the the table.

I've got felt cloths also. I don't remember where, but I found a large picnic tablecloth which is plastic with a cloth backing and looks like grass. It's very light for it's size & resists staining by spilled drinks. I've also got a large textured table mat designed for wargaming, so my table is well covered.

Neoprene. I'd like to try building large tiles for skirmish games like I've seen in YouTube videos for homemade versions of Zombicide. Expense and time means neoprene for now.

Other.

I've used Tee-Time indoor/outdoor carpet for many years. It is a mixture of green and black fibers. It is super durable, super easy to clean (take it outside, hose it off, literally, let it dry; vacuum it with a house vacuum cleaner). I carved up open-cell foam hill armatures on my hot-wire cutter, covering these armatures with the same carpet, to make matching hills; the hills can be stacked to make mountains.

It is not the most realistic looking, but it is phenomenally durable, and epically practical, for long-term use. My initial carpet piece served me for 20+ years, before I replaced it with my current carpets. I stapled that piece to my wooden steps in my garage, when I was done using it on my gaming table: it was pristine when I cut it for my stairs, after gaming on it for 20+ years! It's still durable, still ruggedly strong, on my steps, being in use that way, for 3+ years!

It rolls up, easily, for storage, when not in use. It comes in rolls which are 6-feet wide, cut to length, at local DIY stores. It is affordable, on top of everything else, being <$2/square foot. My table, shown in the photos, is 5.5 feet by 9.5 feet, so I was able to cut the piece down to fit my table; I used the cut-off's to make the hill pieces: I cut pieces to match the foam armature top surfaces; I cut strips of carpet to wrap around the edges of the hill pieces; I used Hot Glue to attach the carpet ovals to the top of the foam armatures, and I used the same Hot Glue to attach the carpet strips, around the sides. Modular, inexpensive, durable as I could ever want, and functional, stepped hills/mountains, which perfectly match the ground surface.

I put a rug anti-skid pad beneath it, to keep it in place, during games. The weight of the carpet piece, alone, is sufficient to keep it from sliding on the smooth tabletop surface. Cheers!

I'm closer to bedsheet. I sometimes use polyester fleece, but most of my cloths are simple cotton or cotton-polyster painted with rattle-can spray paint, brushes, and fingers.

I'm closer to bedsheet. I sometimes use polyester fleece, but most of my cloths are simple cotton or cotton-polyster painted with rattle-can spray paint, brushes, and fingers.

Neoprene