So I recived my 2 HCD96669 Space Battle Mats today. Although I have yet to play an actual game on them I thought I'd share my initial impressions.

First the good:

The mats are constructed of a heavy neoprene similar to a mousepad. This has several benefits. First it grips well to whatever surface you place it on. Second it compensates for irregularities in the surface. Despite a significant diffrence between the table height and the leaf expansion the surface remains relatively flat. In addition to the quality of the material the artwork looks really good. And despite being assymetrical two of them look good togeather when laid side by side.

Now the bad:

The play surface is slicker than I would have liked. I was hoping for a bit more grip on the pieces to limit fat finger bump skitters. I don't think it will perform as well in this regard as I had hoped. Now the big one: It is slightly undersized for tournament play.about a half inch on each side. Or a full inch lengthwise for epic play. If your tourney guy will give you the ok then no problem.

ok Tried to attach pictures but they won't take.

You probably have more flight stands than you really use. Therefore, try adding some heavy rubber to the bottom of the stand to increase its grip, adds weight to the stand and improves the feel of the stand. That should reduce the slippery feel.

ok Tried to attach pictures but they won't take.

Upload the pictures somewhere else and then link to them. Click the 'Image' icon and enter the url

Here it is.

Link? What is HCD?

Ah, nvrmnd

Got it to work!

The line going across the planet is the where the leaf meets the table.

Cheaper to buy two of those than one Galeforce mat locally or even online

For the ship stands, I've cut squares of thin mousepad and glued them into the hollow inside the base. The pad is just barely thicker than the hollow, so it sits firmly on the play surface. Adds lots of grip to the base.