GameMastery Flip-Mats

[Steel_Wind]

Thank you all for your replies. I have a much better idea of what to do now.

What originally drew me to Flip-Mats was the low price and the versatility of markers. But I think going for a Chessex Mat and probably some gaming paper would be better as the price increase isn't that much of a big deal for me, and I don't need the portability of the Flip-Mats either. Unfortunately the table I'll be gaming on is about 3 inches too short for that Chessex Megamat, but It'll fit two Battlemats (maybe I'll tape them together?).

Get the Megamat and let it hang over.

My bet: you'll have the mat a lot longer than you'll have the table

 

[S'mon]

I play in a pub and need something transportable. I also want something that dry-erases. For my purposes the flip-mats are perfect and I love them. The creases aren't a problem - take a second to backfold one and the mat will lay flat.

Re size - they are a perfect size for a single outdoor encounter. The generic outdoor scenes are the most useful IMO, creating instant encounter areas with detailed terrain.

For lengthy dungeon-crawling you will run out of space, so I use supplementary stuff like dungeon tiles around the edges; occasionally I'll put two mats together on the table.

 

[TheNovaLord]

i like them too, but not for drawing on

perfect for generic outdoor encounter as someoneone said, or if you are playing the excellent Kingmaker AP, I bought the bandit oupost one as well

 

[jdrakeh]

For the longest time, I was a public transportation rider (in part due to finances, in part because I was trying to 'go green') and, as such, found the flip mats far superior to any kind of rolled up vinyl mat because they were much easier to transport. I could just shove them in my backpack and go.

As for laying flat. . . yes, they do. You have to break them in a bit before they lay perfectly flat, but that doesn't take very long (back-folding them is key, as somebody else already mentioned). As for marking them up, I found that they're no more or less markable than any vinyl mat I've ever used.

I'll probably end up buying a vinyl mat soon, as I finally bought another vehicle, but I don't expect my flip mat to go anywhere. It's still perfect for impromptu game sessions (as I can keep it folded in the front of a book) and smaller combats.

 

[Windjammer]

For the longest time, I was a public transportation rider (in part due to finances, in part because I was trying to 'go green') and, as such, found the flip mats far superior to any kind of rolled up vinyl mat because they were much easier to transport. I could just shove them in my backpack and go.

As for laying flat. . . yes, they do. You have to break them in a bit before they lay perfectly flat, but that doesn't take very long (back-folding them is key, as somebody else already mentioned). As for marking them up, I found that they're no more or less markable than any vinyl mat I've ever used.

I'll probably end up buying a vinyl mat soon, as I finally bought another vehicle, but I don't expect my flip mat to go anywhere. It's still perfect for impromptu game sessions (as I can keep it folded in the front of a book) and smaller combats.

This. Further advantages of the Basic Flip Mat I've experienced over Chessex (which I also own + love):

1. The colour of the pens tends to come out nicer.
2. You can draw your stuff at home, fold it up, and port it to the session without smearing it. Here's an example of when I last did that. Centre of pic shows old Basic flip mat; bottom area shows bits of a new Basic Flip Mat; map of this dungeon:

 

[Nebulous]

I'm sure this topic has already been brought up but I can't use the search function, so can't find it.

I've read some positive product reviews about these Flip-Mats but incredibly couldn't find a single full fledged review or even a video showing how the flip-mats look and how well they work as a battle map. So I'm asking if anyone here has had any experience with them to please let me know what you thought about them. If you can manage it, a video would be greatly appreciated.

I flippin' love the flip maps, i have a bunch of them, although i don't use them too terribly much. I'm trying to rectify that. I also use a Chessex map i draw on sometimes, but i use that less that actual maps laid on top of it. The pic below is one i used for Thunderspire Labyrinth, a new encounter i introduced to replace an ambush in the book that i thought was kind of lame. It's a steep stairwell leading up from the underdark, and the party (and enemies) could have a long, long drop to the bottom. I just drew some stairs on it and added some props.

 

[davethegame]

I have a bunch of the flip mats and use them often, but that's mainly because I hate/am really bad at drawing maps. Between them, dungeon tiles, poster maps, and Dwarven Forge, I tend to be set.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

I have both a Crystal Caste vinyl battlemat and 3 Paizo Flip-Mats. I bought the vinyl map about 8 years ago and used it a bit in my games. However, about 4 years ago I bought 2 Paizo Flip-Mats. Since I bought the Flip-Mats, the vinyl battlemat has not come out once.

Although the Flip-Mats are smaller, they are big enough for most of the encounters or dungeons that I run. A few times I have run some larger urban encounters. On those occasions I just joined 2 of the Flip-Mats together.

For me the biggest advantage of the Flip-Mat is that I can use dry-erase markers, rather than wet-erase. The Flip-Mat also doesn't seem to stain like the wet-erase mats would.

On top of that, the ability to fold the Flip-Mat up for storage is also useful. I found that once you use them a few times there is little issue with the Flip-Mat having creases in it.

And as for wear and tear, it is only been in the last few months, after fortnightly use, that one of my Flip-Maps has started to delaminate a little on one of the edges. It is still very usable in its current state, but I figured I would buy another one now to replace it since they don't cost much at all.

So definitely put me in the Flip-Mat camp. Vinyl battlemats are useful, but I think the Flip-Mats are better.

Olaf the Stout

 

[JoeGKushner]

Flip matts are small and affordable enough that I've got them all and use them here and there. Fun stuff.

 

[Holy Bovine]

Flip-Mats are freaking cool. I've got several on order but only have 1 right now (the Bandit Outpost). Hopefully the 6 others I have on order arrive soon!