Dry Erase Battle Mat

[Black Pharaoh]

I loves me my Tact-tiles.

 

[Jarrod]

Word.

You can also go to a hardware store and get sheets of effectively dry-erase material. Check in the wall panelling section -- glossy white. That'll give you a big dry-erase board. If you lightly score lines (with straightedge and knife), dry-erase dust will get trapped in them and give you black lines.

Right now we have a hex board we made like that (I don't recommend hexes. Squares. Much easier.) that we use for outdoor combat and for taking notes (just scribble on the board), and a set of tact-tiles we use for indoor.

 

[threshel]

Tact-tiles. Definitely. If you want a map that has no bounderies and isn't limited to one shape (the big rectangle), these are the ones.

I'm still geeking out over the fact that now the battle mat can move as the battle moves. No more bunching in the corner.
J

 

[The_Universe]

When I first started using a battlemat, I also had the grid map that came with the starter set laminated - but, as you've noted, it stains VERY easily.

Then, I upgraded to a wet-erase battlemat. I've had Chessex and Crystal Caste mats - Chessex is definitely the better of the two (in my opinion) because it doesn't have the border taking up useable map space.

But, both of those options are wet erase.

I got to see Tac-tiles in action at the DC-MD-VA game day, and now I want them! They're easily the best mapping option available, if you don't require hexes or off-set squares for your gaming pleasure.

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

Tact-tiles are well worth the investment. With reasonable care, they should last forever, and their flexibility (in a 'ways I can use them' sense) can't be beat. You can shift the map as the battle moves, set up non-rectangular fields, and pre-draw important areas and keep them hidden till they are ready to use.

I wish they came in a transparent version, but other than that they are perfect. (well, actually, I wish they were white instead of off-grey, so the blood squiggles would show up better, too )

 

[dreaded_beast]

Thanks for the replies everyone!

Hmm, I think Tact-Tiles might actually be the way to go.

Now I just have to save the $50 American to get it.

Luckily, my next gaming session won't be for 2 weeks after Saturday, so that should hopefully be enough time for it to come in.

 

[KB9JMQ]

Another vote for Tact-Tiles.
They are the single best gaming purchase I ever made.
I have a 4x8 table with a dry erase top that we use for all our notes, tracking HP, etc.
On top of that I have a 30x30 inch platform that the Tact-Tiles sit on.
This has been the best combo I have ever used. Now all my players always want to play at my house due to this setup. Even the group I don't DM plays at my house

 

[Breakdaddy]

Tact Tiles R0xxsZ0rz. Incidentally, I left markings on my TACTTILES board way too long and they wouldnt come off with alcohol, windex, coke, or any of my household cleaners. What finally did the trick was a wipe from a pocket pack of OXYCLEAN wipes for stains on clothing, it tore that marker up in a hurry.

 

[Brottor Dankil]

Tact-tiles are well worth the investment. With reasonable care, they should last forever, and their flexibility (in a 'ways I can use them' sense) can't be beat. You can shift the map as the battle moves, set up non-rectangular fields, and pre-draw important areas and keep them hidden till they are ready to use.

I wish they came in a transparent version, but other than that they are perfect. (well, actually, I wish they were white instead of off-grey, so the blood squiggles would show up better, too )

I've seen and played on the first prototypes of clear Tact-Tiles at MidSouthCon in Memphis 3 or 4 weekends ago. They've got a few bugs to work out, but from what I've seen they are almost there. Dry-erase coating is as great as ever (NO Staining!).

The first Tact-Tiles I saw were white. Though they may have been prototypes too. If enough people bug them about it, they might do another run of white. They said they chose grey because the lighter markers like yellow are barely visible on white.

That's all the intel I have for now, I'll keep an eye out for more!

 

[Bloosquig]

I remember a LONG time ago my dad bought umpteen feet of white wall doodad from the hardware store and we played on that for a long time. I can't remember what it was but I don't think it would be hard to find at any hardware store? So I can second the cheapie hardware store approach that Jarrod talked about above.