Crystal Caste's Combat Mats

[Messageboard Golem]

Crystal Caste's vinyl Combat Mats are designed for the serious gamer. They roll up for easy storage and have a wet erase surface for smudge-free use. Unlike most other mats you have seen, ours are two-sided, providing both square and hex grid systems. Perfect for every role-playing game scenario, small, medium, or large.

Comes in 3 sizes - 24x25 inches ($19.99), 25x36 inches ($26.99), 36x48 inches ($34.99).

 

[ASEO]

Combat Mats: 5 Superb

These mats are great especially now that D&D has become a miniatures game. I have found these mats to by my choice when I'm DMing away from my house. (At home I use a 6x4 chalkboard that has gridlines on it. It is great, but not very transportable) These mats are easy to clean, easy to transport and didn't stain at all when I forgot and left ink on one for 2 months. Even when I'm gaming at home I often use my mat over the chalkboard. It allows me to draw out areas ahead of time then just unroll the mat when my Players enter the area. The fact these mats are reversible with the hex mat on one side and the grid on the other is an added bonus. At around $35.00 for the largest mat, I think these are a bargain. I am use to seeing single sided mats going for that price. If you follow the directions for use that come with the mat you will be able to use these mats for decades.

These mats are a great product that will always have a place at my gaming table.

ASEO out

 

[drnuncheon]

This will probably be the shortest review you ever see from me - but that's because the product is so simple that there's really not a lot I can say. I bought the 24" x 25" version of this and the only regret I have is that they didn't have the next size up. (The largest size is too large, at least for my table.)

My players were very happy with it as well - they got tired of using rulers to figure their movement during combat, and having the map is practically essential in 3e. The fact that it has both squares and hexes means that I'll be able to use it for games other than D&D (like GURPS or HERO).

There are only two drawbacks that should be noted, neither of which are significant enough to warrant a reduction in the score:

First, my players refuse to roll their dice on the mat, as it invariably causes a low roll. (This may be a selling point for some DMs.)

Second, and more importantly, not all wet-erase markers will work well on the mat. I wanted to stress that so you don't wind up disappointed when your Vis-a-Vis beads up and looks awful. At my FLGS they found that Staedtler Lumocolor markers worked the best, so look for that brand if you plan to use these mats.

 

[Messageboard Golem]

I bought a Crystal Caste combat mat at Origins this year to replace the mouse-eaten one I had gamed with in my childhood (too long in storage).

My original mat had been a Chessex mat, and I selected a Crystal Caste one this time because they provide double-sided mats, useful for running GURPS on one side, and D&D on the other.

I was impressed with the design, and it is very pretty.

Unfortunately, I've had less success with this mat than with the old Chessex mat I had. Several of my maps are still visible on the Crystal Caste mat after having been left on the mat for six hours during games. Suspecting that perhaps my markers were at fault, I tested them on both my Crystal Caste mat and my Chessex mat, and after six hours, they removed completely from my (mouse eaten) Chessex mat, but left behind a visible line in the Crystal Caste mat.

So, while the design is both prettier and more functional, I do not recommend these mats for people who draw out their maps on the mat before a game session (which is what I do), but as long as you wipe them down within 2 or 3 hours of marking them, they are quite good.

But if I had the choice, I would go back to my Chessex mat now.

 

[drnuncheon]

I had some marker stain, and I found that gentle dish soap lifted it right off without apparent harm to the mat - you might try that to see if it removes the lines. What sort of markers did you use?