I tried it today. I like it personally, but its also expensive.

What do you all think about it?

What star field, nebula, awesome cool looking star maps would you recommend for xwing play?

I'd totally love some real life galaxy or nebula prints, but i also want some super nice material for playing xwing on.

i like all the mouse pad material mats.. wish somebody would make a 3'x6' one..

I'm still waiting for the FFG mats to be "widely available for inspection", but that hasn't happened on my side of the world (or much of the world for that matter, at least from what I can tell). That being said I have the HCD star field mat and I love it. I tried to get the planetscape one (to add to the starfield) and they told me it was not being reprinted.

I suspect FFG might release Epic/Armada mats at some point in the future.

I own the HDC mat, picked it up at GenCon. The mat is wonderful and I found myself putting it out for most of my board games as the neoprene material makes it easier to pick up cards of the table. This comes as no surprise as they sell player mats of the same material for Magic the Gathering and other popular card games. The price is not that far off when considering the size of the mat. FFG also makes official play mats now at the same price. I have picked up both the Star Destroyer and Star Field mats they make. I'm very pleased at the quality and the correct size. That is the only warning I would give to those in the market for a mouse pad play mat for X-Wing. the only mats I've found ( I own 4 different brands) besides the FFG ones are slightly off in size, anywhere from a quarter inch to a half inch. Does not seem like much but can make a difference in the first moves when you should be out of range but on a short map find your self under fire.

i like all the mouse pad material mats.. wish somebody would make a 3'x6' one..

I was once like you and wanted a map for Epic at the full size. The reality is this mat is cumbersome and heavy for transporting around. It's much easier to deal with in two halves.

I'm a big fan of GripMats. they also have announced that after they get all their kickstarter stuff out of the way they are planning on producing 3x6 mats for armada play.

I've tried a few mats, but not the HCD ones, but overall I reckon felt is the best material for ease of carriage and grippyness.

You can make your own for very little ( http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Craft-Felt-Fabric-72-180-cm-Wide-10-colours-2-mm-Thick-4-30-Metre-/181269156049?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&var=&hash=item2a347bd0d1 ) but if your artistic ability is anything like mine - or you can't be bothered to paint it yourself, I've heard good things about the Hotz Artworks mats http://www.hotzmats.com/mat_1-en_deep_space.html

The HCD original space battle mat which had the ice planet and moon was put in the Origins Awards contest where it won its category of Best Gaming Accessory last year. It wasn't in stores so I had to order one online. Which is saying something since I exclusively go to brick and mortar flgs's. That's how much I wanted one after having a chance to get touchy feely with it. I had been searching for a neoprene mat in that size for a while with out success only to stumble upon it at Origins. I played Magic for many (wasted) years. And was familiar with the material and applications. Some of my friends are judges and store owners and they have some 5x3 full table mats that were gifts from card companies for special occasion thank yous. So they can come bigger but they are unwieldily and are more permanent layout and leave type deals.

After the original print HCD put out the star field run which we managed to get our flgs to order. (The first run wasn't through a distributor ordering was compatible with.) And quickly became a best seller. We picked up one of those to complete 6x3 table for Epic play with the only flaw being that the has clouds between the two mats are perfectly aligned making it seem that the blank starfield and ice planet versions were cut from a single image. But between runs the down time must have given them time to think and they sadly had a blue tint applied to the starfield version so now the colors don't line up. Fortunately they both have a 'blank' edge that line up fine. But the colors are still a tad off. Only other issue with the HCD brand mats is that they often are not perfectly cut to 3x3. Of the three in our playgroup each are slightly off (+/-) eighth of an inch on one dimension and the edges are slightly curved requiring some fussing to sit flush to one another. None of these issues have adversely affected play however.

A few months later FFG wised up to the notion and produced their version fixing some of the flaws. The image between the two is continuous, the edges are straight and the size is more accurate. They did however use a thinner sheet of neoprene but it hasn't made terribly much difference other than storage and transport is a bit easier I guess? The thicker HCD brand is more comfortable to pay on and rolling dice on it gives a satisfying tumbling thrum. For X-Wing and Armada I use either but slightly prefer HCD for X-Wing and FFG for Armada. For imperial assault and other gaming I default to HCD for comfort.

Many complain that the models have a sliding tendency on the mat which is the trade off for easier game card manipulation, token use, comfort, and model damage prevention, and dice use. It is easily corrected any number of ways. My personal favorite is rubber glass bumpers that are easily acquired at most local hardware stores. (The little dots that are often installed on glass cabinets and tables) other solutions include steel washers super glued to the base and liquid latex fill with texturing. Plenty more out there if you look.

All on the table. Any neoprene mat you buy will be a sound investment in the long term. Pricing is actually really good on any brand too. $40 for 3'x3' as compared to most card game mats that are $20+ for 18"x24" or some such. There are few other off brands out there as well but most have the quality comparable to HCD so it's more just trying to decide what image you want on your mat. That's all I got! Later space cowboys.

i like all the mouse pad material mats.. wish somebody would make a 3'x6' one..

Lucky for you...

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gamersdoor/war-mats

Jacob

I'm a big fan of GripMats. they also have announced that after they get all their kickstarter stuff out of the way they are planning on producing 3x6 mats for armada play.

GripMats look and sound pretty good. Pricey, but hopefully the quality is there. I might consider getting one should sufficient disposable income be simply laying around at some point.

I am a little sad that the exact size is off by a little bit. :/. That isn't cool. :/

Front line games makes a 4 x 6 mat. I HAVE the 4 x 4 version. It's really nice. Quality wise it's better than both the ffg one and the HCD ones. But not by much. I own 3 of the hcd mats and one of the ffg mats. The ffg mat is simular to the hcd one quality wise.

Hmm but hcd size is a little off? Compared to ffg?

The texture is too smooth. having bases slip and slide is just as bad if not worse on a polished wooden table. To be honest before it got banned I would play on it upside down so that the base of the ship won't keep sliding around as the game is played.

Why did it get banned?

Why did it get banned?

it's not exactly banned, but FFG have said that if play mats are going to be used at any official FFG tournaments they need to be the official FFG mats.

Otherwise you just don't use any mats at all.

Of course outside events that FFG participate in directly (and will presumably supply the correct mats for anyway) - everyone is going to ignore the ruling so it makes no difference

hmm the only mats i find too smooth are the vinyl ones.. i mean its not like i am playing "Dominos" and yelling "Bam" (Pew) (Pew) when i slam my ship on to the board with an authoritative smack after every move!! also along the lines i have weighted my ship bases but more so for the solid feeling it gives.. i also havent measured my FFG mat to see if its perfectly the correct size...

I've weighted all my bases down with black silicon and a washer. This process is very easy to do and does not require any super high level crafting skills. The washers were around $10 and the silicon $6 ( less then $20 total) The reason I mention this is for two reasons. First, the weight helps against small bumps from completely changing the ships position. Second, the silicon with it's rubbish feel has better gripping on all most any surface. I could even play of a sheet of glass and have no problems with my ships staying put.