Do we know if FF will be doing a official play matt?

Personally I find it better making my own with either black vinyl flootiles with white specks, or I use my old wh40k battlefleet gothic board I have.

I just found some nice high res pictures of a neutron star and a planet circling twin suns.

I clipped them to 90x90cm and will ask a friend to plot them for me in color. After that I thought about putting a transparent plastics tablecloth on it to protect it.

Lets see whether it works as planned…

This is what I ordered today.

http://www.amazon.com/Neoprene-Rubber-Sheet-Thick-Length/dp/B006GW4RNW

Though they offer 36" x 36" mats, I chose to get the 36" x 48" mat and I will make lines at 6" in at each end of the length to allow for a place to put cards and other items. The mat can be oriented either lengthwise or width-wise across from each other.

They also have 1/4" thickness available but I think 1/16" will be sufficient.

There is a company called gale force nine that do 3 x 3 gaming starfield mats, but yes i think ffg will produce one, they will just make you wait ages for it.

mrgoodtrips said:

Here is the Gale Force play mat, for $39.99,

http://www.gf9.com/Default.aspx?tabid=348&art_id=3699

however, I chose neoprene so the surface would not be so slick. Felt is okay but I wanted something a little smoother and less fabricy feel. Besides the neoprene is $15.40

Sunsteel said:

I'm now considering getting a neoprene mat or a yoga mat as there has been good word about how "grippy" they are with the bases. Just wondering though how easy they would be to paint, decorate etc. As appropriate as a black surface is, it ain't gonna be "boss" without stars on it :-)

I think I have the solution. Get a piece of paper larger than the play mat, maybe an old poster you don't care about, something of the like. Then simply create a pattern of holes using what ever you like from a pencil to a knitting needle. Once you have a pattern of holes you like, weigh the paper down on the mat in several places so the paper and pattern is as tight as possible to the surface, and use flat or satin white spray paint. Rearrange the weights after it has dried a bit and paint the areas they were over.

If you want some sort of "star dust" distant galaxy looking haze, simply hold the spray paint at a distance away from the mat. Only I would practice this on something before hand to make sure I knew the effect I was going to get depending on the technique used.

This should be an inexpensive and completely customizable method of creating your own unique star field play mat. Good luck!

Sunsteel said:

Actually had another issue in mind… but that is an AWESOME tip! I'm going to use that anyway :-)

Okay my better-expressed question is: how well do neoprene mats/yoga mats take paint on their surfaces? I want a sturgy, anti-slip surface but not at the cost of paint smearing off on the bases, templates etc.

OK, not very creative (as I am not really that handy), but wife and i went to Walmart and got a roll of fabric that had a space/stars print. Not a perfect mat solution, but we played on it and it gives a good feel for "space" battles. I think we paid maybe under $8-10 for something like 36 in x 36 in. I would live to have a more photo realistic print, but what we have will suffice for now.

Just a simple inexpensive solution to fit the need.

Sunsteel said:

Heads up! If you order the neoprene from Amazon, it will arrive with some strong fumes! You will need to let it air out somewhere outside or other wise not in your living areas. I put it outside in the garage, but a celar, attic or similar area could work.