5 minutes ago, Derrault said:I don’t see anything from those sources that look particularly compelling. What did you have in mind?
http://www.tablewar.com/the-f-a-t-mat/3x3-f-a-t-mat/
Legion actually scales up to 6x4 at Grand Army level anyway, so you might as well get one of those, but plenty of 3x3 patterns are available (and without the goofy rounded corners, to boot)
I just use a big sheet of green felt. 
6 minutes ago, Tvayumat said:http://www.tablewar.com/the-f-a-t-mat/3x3-f-a-t-mat/
Legion actually scales up to 6x4 at Grand Army level anyway, so you might as well get one of those, but plenty of 3x3 patterns are available (and without the goofy rounded corners, to boot)
It’s nice to see some variety; although that being said, none of those are desert, and the base price before shipping is higher.
3 minutes ago, Derrault said:It’s nice to see some variety; although that being said, none of those are desert, and the base price before shipping is higher.
That's a very specific requirement. Search around. Desert patterns exist. Desert mats have been being printed for years.
Personally, I'd happily pay more for a mat if it meant my mat wasn't cluttered with IP specific 2d terrain art.
Every single one of those mats is more valuable than the Star Wars mat, because every single one of those mats can be used for literally any war game on the market, including other FFG games. The Legion ones cannot. Or rather, they can be, but they'll look janky.
6 minutes ago, Derrault said:I don’t see anything from those sources that look particularly compelling. What did you have in mind?
I guess it depends on exactly what you're after, but for my money these:
http://www.deepcutstudio.com/product/wargames-terrain-mat-desert/
http://www.deepcutstudio.com/product/wargames-terrain-mat-badlands/
http://www.gamematz.com/desert-sands-terrain-gaming-mat/
are all superior products to the FFG offering precisely because they're 'empty' and generic. I can make them into any sandy planet I want, I can place my terrain anywhere I want without interfering with the printed design, they come in a range of sizes so I don't have to push two mats side-by-side, and in some cases I can just as easily make the mat into a Scariph style map instead of a Tatooine style map. The FFG ones have so much going on that it would be hard to get a nice looking table when placing 3D terrain on top of it. You're always going to have half of a printed object poking out from under your terrain.
On a personal note, I have one of the 6x4 Deepcut mats for Armada and X Wing and it's excellent. I would recommend them to anyone interested in a gaming mat.
A good 6x3 desert mat doesn't exist. Going up to 6x4 will give only a few more options if you are willing and able to make lines on it so you know exactly were the 3 ft area is. You can get by using the range 1 ruler but it is hardly optimal.
Seeing as there is a void and a demand I am sure one of these mat companies will set up and start offering good 6x3 play mats. Then again, they clearly think they play mats they have are good, so maybe not.
First, I HATE the notion of only playing on the table size that the developer dictates. Sure it's good to give an indication of what an ideal table looks like, but why not play on a 6x4? Most gaming tables are already a 6x4 because it's been the standard since forever. You don't have to always play by the points limit, table size, and terrain limit dictated by the company. It's your game, not theirs, just play what you want and get weird with it.
Second, a lot of companies possess the ability to make 6x3 mats and will print them for you if you email them to ask. They just don't offer them on the website since they haven't been big sellers because again, the standard has been 6x4 for so long.
11 minutes ago, Chucknuckle said:First, I HATE the notion of only playing on the table size that the developer dictates. Sure it's good to give an indication of what an ideal table looks like, but why not play on a 6x4? Most gaming tables are already a 6x4 because it's been the standard since forever. You don't have to always play by the points limit, table size, and terrain limit dictated by the company. It's your game, not theirs, just play what you want and get weird with it.
Second, a lot of companies possess the ability to make 6x3 mats and will print them for you if you email them to ask. They just don't offer them on the website since they haven't been big sellers because again, the standard has been 6x4 for so long.
The 6x4 table size actually works rather well, the extra foot is a great place to put your cards and other things.
I used some of my hexagon terrain on top of the mats earlier today. I think real terrain makes the stuff in the mat fade away.
but there is no reason players without terrain could use the printed stuff as terrain if they felt like it.
its a gorgeous mat. I would love to see an urban mat from ffg
5 hours ago, Mep said:A good 6x3 desert mat doesn't exist. Going up to 6x4 will give only a few more options if you are willing and able to make lines on it so you know exactly were the 3 ft area is. You can get by using the range 1 ruler but it is hardly optimal.
Seeing as there is a void and a demand I am sure one of these mat companies will set up and start offering good 6x3 play mats. Then again, they clearly think they play mats they have are good, so maybe not.
Masking tape is a thing.
45 minutes ago, Tvayumat said:Masking tape is a thing.
Indeed, Masking tape is a way of making lines. Probably one of the worst ways, but a way. At least it is reversible.
4 hours ago, TylerTT said:its a gorgeous mat. I would love to see an urban mat from ffg
The image is very pretty and the mat is well printed. So just sitting there, it is very nice to look at. You can't really use a flat mat as terrain though, since you don't have a way of establishing line of site. At most you can sea the rocks give light cover and try to figure out what is and isn't difficult terrain. I really feel FFG made this for themselves as a way to display the game at trade shows. If they toned it down a bit and make the image flatter but still tried hard to make it pretty and interesting, then it would serve it's purpose.
6 hours ago, Mep said:A good 6x3 desert mat doesn't exist. Going up to 6x4 will give only a few more options if you are willing and able to make lines on it so you know exactly were the 3 ft area is. You can get by using the range 1 ruler but it is hardly optimal.
Seeing as there is a void and a demand I am sure one of these mat companies will set up and start offering good 6x3 play mats. Then again, they clearly think they play mats they have are good, so maybe not.
https://www.urbanmatz.com/p/297/desert-6x3
whats up with that?
1 minute ago, VAYASAN said:
It's okay, but in the wrong hemisphere. That is a lot of shipping for just an okay map. If FFG had done something similar to that mat, with better colors and the AT-AT foot prints, they would have made a good mat.
5 hours ago, Mep said:It's okay, but in the wrong hemisphere. That is a lot of shipping for just an okay map. If FFG had done something similar to that mat, with better colors and the AT-AT foot prints, they would have made a good mat.
Dude, as a former Australian.... if this is wrong hemisphere, then everything is going to be wrong and you might as well stop using that as a primary consideration ?
Tgat being said, if I could access “Miniature Scenery” stuff in Canada, I’d think differently ?
10 hours ago, Mep said:Indeed, Masking tape is a way of making lines. Probably one of the worst ways, but a way. At least it is reversible.
Uh... what? Masking tape is largely considered one of the best ways to make a line, for multiple purposes.
It's fast, easy, accurate, reversible, and comes in any color you want.
What more could you possibly want? A butler to put it out for you? Magical shrinking neoprene? Ceiling mounted lasers?
Maybe you just hate the idea of versatile mats. Who knows?
Edited by Tvayumat15 hours ago, Chucknuckle said:First, I HATE the notion of only playing on the table size that the developer dictates. Sure it's good to give an indication of what an ideal table looks like, but why not play on a 6x4? Most gaming tables are already a 6x4 because it's been the standard since forever. You don't have to always play by the points limit, table size, and terrain limit dictated by the company. It's your game, not theirs, just play what you want and get weird with it.
Second, a lot of companies possess the ability to make 6x3 mats and will print them for you if you email them to ask. They just don't offer them on the website since they haven't been big sellers because again, the standard has been 6x4 for so long.
Agreed. If playing a "grand army" game is 6x4, hence needing a non-FFG mat, just make the standard 6x4 and offer those mats. 6x3 feels too narrow to me, even at 800 points.
The print looks good on those, I could see getting the AT-AT one for lower point skirmishes one day. But to me, there's just way too much going on under the 3D terrain.
5 hours ago, Tvayumat said:It's fast, easy, accurate, reversible, and comes in any color you want.
We can agree that it is reversible, the rest, no. The best way is the have the lines printed on the mat to begin with. No need for them to be reversible as they can be disregarded when the full mat is used. It is odd it isn't standard.
3 minutes ago, Mep said:We can agree that it is reversible, the rest, no. The best way is the have the lines printed on the mat to begin with. No need for them to be reversible as they can be disregarded when the full mat is used. It is odd it isn't standard.
I hate printed lines on a mat, it ruins the immersion factor of beautiful terrain.
3 minutes ago, Chucknuckle said:I hate printed lines on a mat, it ruins the immersion factor of beautiful terrain.
I don't disagree with that but a nice thin pin point line is better than tape.
Only if you only ever plan to use that board size. At least you can move tape.
1 hour ago, Mep said:I don't disagree with that but a nice thin pin point line is better than tape.
17 hours ago, Mep said:It's okay, but in the wrong hemisphere. That is a lot of shipping for just an okay map. If FFG had done something similar to that mat, with better colors and the AT-AT foot prints, they would have made a good mat.
I'm curious was to what your specifications are to make something "good"
On 4/28/2018 at 3:14 AM, Mep said:Indeed, Masking tape is a way of making lines. Probably one of the worst ways, but a way. At least it is reversible.
One needs to be careful with masking tape (painter's tape works too, but is more expensive). Remove it when done, otherwise it will leave some of the adhesion. I have used masking tape a lot, very inexpensive.