Hey all:

I know a few Armada players had posted asking about the quality of the GripMats that recently came out sized for Armada (36 inches by 72 inches). I received mine a few weeks ago, and, as explained below, happen to have two of them. So I thought I would pay the community back with a review of it and the company, BFR Games.

I received two mats because the first mat came in without the grip coating on it, so it was essentially a big neoprene mousepad. When I contacted them, the company sent me a second one with the coating on it.

Art

The mat without the grip coat I received looks gorgeous. it is very highly detailed with no repetition on the pattern and makes the game pop. I cannot compare it to FATMats, but I have seen other companies, including the FFG ones, and this one tops those. The level of just barely noticeable background nebulae and star clusters, plus the more obvious ones,looks like something from the Hubble Space Telescope.

The mat with the grip coat I received is not as crisp. I cannot tell if this is because of the coating, or the printing. There are a few stars where I am convinced the printer bled (if that is a proper term) and the star "stretched" out to look more like a line. Does it take away from the mat? Not much, because even that looks like a space anomaly. But there is a noticeable difference.

Grip

The mat without the grip coat I received is just neoprene. It is pretty slippery. Even nudging the ships with the measuring tool will cause them to move, especially the light squadrons. Kind of what you would expect.

The mat with the grip coat I received does, in fact, grip pretty well. The capital ships can be moved by sliding them, but it takes a fair amount of effort. It's really designed to make you pick them up. The light squadrons, however, still will move a bit if nudged, but truthfully, this is pretty minor. Most stuff tends to stay put. That being said : looking at the original GripMats that previously had come out by watching video reviews and demonstrations, I can tell you that the grip on the previous mats seems a bit stronger. The back side of the grip mat is definitely more grip, and the company boasts that both are supposed to be about the same. I am betting this is due to the production process (see below). Still this is not a deterrent for me.

Production

The mat without the grip coat I received looks awesome. But the function is not there.

The mat with the grip coat I received has some moderate streaking on it, and this is a negative. Some of the streaking is linear, and others is zig-zagged, and there is even a circular one. Imagine if you sprayed a fine layer of satin varnish atop a matte top of furniture tabletop, but was somewhat haphazard with how your sprayed it. Sure, you'd get some drops of satin on the surface such that any object (in this case, ships or squadrons) would be laying atop a layer of satin varnish, and in the case of the grip mat, therefore not move. But looking at the table, it would be really obvious where the varnish was an appropriately thick layer, and where the varnish was so razor thin that the sheen looks more matte than satin. That is what this mat looks like. It does not look like the 2014 videos I had watched reviewing this mat.

Dimensions (as requested by other users)

As is stated below, I was asked to measure my mats for accuracy (I had not done so previous to Thraug's reply). As Thraug mentioned below, my mats are not 36" by 72". The short end is about 35.75" on one and 35.5" on the other. The long end is about 5/8" short of 72" on both mats.

Customer Service

I have mixed reviews of this. On the one hand, when I complained the first mat did not have the grip coating on it, they sent me another one free of charge and I got to keep my old one. On the other hand, it took over a week for them to reply to me, and I had to do it multiple ways (email, FB messenger, and even a phone call) thinking they had not gotten my message. Plus, I am somewhat surprised that the quality control was not higher than it was.

Overall

I love the art work of the non-gripped mat. I think it is probably some of the best I have seen. And the art is there on the gripped mat, but I think the sheen takes away the detail and for me, it is hard to ignore the streaks even though I would say they are moderate. Even the linear ones are not terrible, but the zig-zag & circular ones just looks unprofessional and hurried. That being said, if you are a super competitive Armada gamer, the grip mat will, in fact, hold the ships down. And if you can ignore some of the streaking, then it may be for you. For $100, I expect a bit more. In the interest of disclosure: I am a modeler and hobby miniature gamer, so to me, aesthetics is really important. So I am going to try and salvage the second mat by trying a few things, like maybe some Testor's Dullcoat or something similar so the streaking is not there. Regardless, I shall be playing with my non-grip mat, since it looks that much better.

Photos (the first set is what I would like to point out) Note I am using an iPhone camera, so some granularity is noted, especially in the second set.:

GripMat with streaking: https://www.flickr.com/photos/94052595@N00/26923460824/in/dateposted-public/

GripMat with circular streaking: https://www.flickr.com/photos/94052595@N00/26924531583/in/dateposted-public/

GripMat with zig-zag streaking: https://www.flickr.com/photos/94052595@N00/26923453904/in/dateposted-public/

GripMat (with Grip coating) from high level view: https://www.flickr.com/photos/94052595@N00/27532820955/in/dateposted-public/

The following photos are from the Gripmat without the Grip coating. While the camera photos areimperfect, you should be able to get the sense that there is no streaking and the printing is better. The final photo is probably the most representative, as my iOS camera really does not do the other photos justice.

High angle view: https://www.flickr.com/photos/94052595@N00/26924517783/in/dateposted-public/

Very close up: https://www.flickr.com/photos/94052595@N00/27256391580/in/dateposted-public/

Mid angle view: https://www.flickr.com/photos/94052595@N00/27460654341/in/dateposted-public/

Thanks for the review!

Do you have/can you take pictures of the two side-by-side? I have two 3' x 3' FFG mats that I really like, but I'm considering another one to keep at home. Leaning toward Deepcut Studios myself, especially after this mixed review.

(schuwa, can you please add a "Dimension" category to your review? See my reasons below. I'm VERY curious to hear about the dimensions of your mat. Thanks.)

I also recently received my 6x3 Sector V space mat and would liken to share my almost entirely negative experience. I'll use the same criteria as schuwa, but with the addition of what I feel is the most important feature, mat dimensions. I did not receive a 6x3 mat without the grippy-coat, but I did receive a 3x3 mat a few weeks ago, which is the the wrong size that I ordered (6x3). I will also assign a 1-5 "Star" rating to each criteria, with 5 being the best and 1 being the worst.

Art (Rating: ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆)

The printing looks very good., and would have received a 5-star rating had it not been for the next 2 issues.

My mat has the exact same streaks mentioned by schuwa. They streaks would be VERY noticeable had my mat not been a Nebula/Starfield image, which makes the streaks look a bit like cosmic noise. The streaks are ugly but they don't reder the mat useless. The vendor is aware of this problem and I do not believe he has a solution. He has had to apply a new layer of grippi-coat to most mats and, from what I gathered from his Kickstarter notes, streaking occurs on most mats.

My big complaint is the image used to print my mat looks as though it was edited by a novice Photoshop user. There are very large and noticeable eraser swaths all over the mat, as if the graphic "artist" took a large erase brush tool and just randomly deleted swaths all over the image. Before placing my order I inquired about these anomalies because the Sector V image on their website showed all of these eraser problems. The vendor assured me the image on the website was the artist's "concept image" and the final print would not have these erasing markings. The vendor has since replied to my concerns, stating that they must have accidentally used the "concept image". Not good.

Grip (Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ )

The grip is very good for Armada. Game pieces will slide slightly when they are simply placed on the mat. If you push slightly down on a piece (ship) the ship will bite into the mat and it will stay put unless you heavily nudge it.

Dimensions (Rating: ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ )

This is the nail in the coffin for me. I think we can all agree that an Armada needs to be as close to 72" x 36" as possible. I can't tell you how many mats I've ordered online that fall significantly short on one or both sides, and this GripMat is no different. My GripMat is 70.75" long and 35.5" wide, meaning it's useless for Armada. I could accept ~0.5" tolerance, but 1.25" off is unacceptable. Even worse, before ordering my mat I asked the vendor how close the mat would be to 72"x36" and he assured me both ends would be no more than 0.125" off, with most of them having a tolerance of 0.0325something.

I'm now the proud owner of nice 70.75" x 35.5" space wall mural. Not good.

Customer Service (Rating: ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ )

I'm giving the vendor a 2 instead of a zero because he did freely replace the incorrect 3x3 mat with the 6x3 I ordered, and he eventually replied to all of my questions and concerns, and he has offered to refund the money I paid for the 6x3 mat. He did not offer to replace my 6x3 mat with one that is closer to 72"x36", and he either lied to me about the poorly edited Sector V image or didn't manage the new image correctly, and lastly, their email replies often took 2+ weeks. Not good.

Overall (Rating: ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ )

Due to it's dimensions, my 70.75" x 35.5" mat is useless for playing Armada. I do not want to play even casual or practice games on a mat that so far off from tourney dimensions. It's not fair to my opponents and it would definitely mess up my strategic play and tourney preparation. This mat is sooo close to perfection. If this mat was closer to 72" x 36", and had a better image in my case, this mat would be the best Armada.

My quest for a good Armada mat continues. FFG, are you out there? When will you produce a 6x3 mat for your game? I'd prefer something better than neoprene, but even that would make me happy right now.

It did not even occur to me to measure the mat. I will do this when I get home / get a chance (give me a day or so; we're remodeling a bathroom and so it may not be tonight), and post an update on this thread. Admittedly, I am a casual player, but I can fully appreciate how important it is from a tournament / competitive scene; my main mini game is Warmachine, and a 1/2" can make a huge difference, so Thraug is right: having a mat be as accurate as possible is key.

I should be able to get some photos uploaded, assuming FFG's forums are like any other forum in this manner (as you can see, I'm sort of a new poster here). It'll be iPhone photos, so I cannot promise anything stellar ("stellar": see what I did there?), but I'll try and get some representative shots for the group.

Thank you for the reviews. I have also been looking at getting 6x3 mats through vendors on EBay, and I found one in particular with good reviews. War zone 40k. Any comments on them? I only hesitate for 2 reasons.

1. It's says it ships from some place I can't pronounce in the Russian Federation. It seems sketchy, but they have good customer reviews. I just can't find anything on the gripcoating.

2. Personally, I just recently moved and found that by cutting one of my extra cardboard boxes, I can unfold it into a perfect 6x3 playmat. Slightly less storeable than a rollable mat, doesn't have a grip coating, and certainly not nearly aesthetic, but it works and all of those shortcomings can be amended over time with modification. And cheap. Literally got the box for free

That's really sad to hear: I was really hoping the gripmat would be the wunder product that they claimed it was going to be .

Ah well, good 'ole yoga mat... so grippy it's hard to pick up cards...

All: I have edited my original post as requested. Dimensions are there along with links to photos of the two mats. I apologize I did not directly embed the photos; my forum-posting skills are not as crisp as they used to be. Still, I think you can get a conclusion based on what is there.

I also recieved one of the grip mats witbout the grip coating. But pretty much gave up on waiting for a replacement order in oct of 2015. Didnt receive my mat till late feb of 2016. Had to send three msg and a you tube video of the grip issue before they said they will replace it. After two month said screw it.

A very big buyer beware

Is it possible to apply a grip coating yourself? They must be using some available product somehow. I have access to a wide variety of specialty paint products through my work but I just need to know the name of it.

I also recieved one of the grip mats witbout the grip coating. But pretty much gave up on waiting for a replacement order in oct of 2015. Didnt receive my mat till late feb of 2016. Had to send three msg and a you tube video of the grip issue before they said they will replace it. After two month said screw it.

A very big buyer beware

Can you measure your mat and post the dimensions? Just curious if all of these mats are too short.

Man. An inch and a quarter makes that big of a difference?

That's nutty. Thank god for casual play!

Man. An inch and a quarter makes that big of a difference?

That's nutty. Thank god for casual play!

When talking about the short side, it actually does, even in casual. Especially if your opponent is running Demolisher with expanded launchers (and ET) and you were shortsighted enough to send your corvette at speed 4 to just barely in range of those missiles... Not pretty. Also for Rhymerballs with Corrupter and a first turn squadron activation.

But the longer side is much less noticeable and has significantly less of an impact.

Man. An inch and a quarter makes that big of a difference?

That's nutty. Thank god for casual play!

1.25" is a HUGE difference. I'm not sure I would use a map in a tourney that is 1/4" short!! I don't know about other players, but I often set up practice games where I move ships around the map in different ways to see how close I can fly to the edge of the map with certain maneuvers, or how far I can move with certain maneuvers without flying off the map. These maneuvers are known to be safe, but not on a shortened map, something I may not be aware of when playing on an opponent's map. Being short on one end of the map would cause some of my known maneuvers to fly a ship off the map, eliminating it from the game and almost guaranteeing a game loss. Pretty important in tourneys.

My replacement just arrived. The good news is that this is basically what I was expecting. At least as grippy as their first gen mats which I've played on many times. I'm not sure it's as grippy as what they show in their new generation video but this will definitely be one of the grippiest mats I will play on, which is the whole point. I believe I have the star field III and the print looks good. Lengthwise it's 7/8" short and 1/4" short width wise, but I think that is ok for casual tournaments. Bottom line is that the customer service of the company is horrible and they delivered a short mat, but I'm satisfied.

Anyone thinking of ordering one, I'd recommend you wait for several months for the company to figure out if it wants to be in business or not.