I got my Tact-Tiles and they are the bomb!

[Brottor Dankil]

thats cool, and I think they are a very cool idea, but I'd want 4 sets....

In an effort to come up with a cheap solution, I stopped at Staples ands Home Depot today. My Staples buy consisted of 2 12"x12" dry erase tiles for $7, a dry erase marker and a permanant sharpie. Total price $12.

My Hope Depot buy consisted of a 4x8 sheet of white melamine, which the stud at Home Depot was nice enough to cut into 2 4' squares that I could fit in my car. Total price. $12.

Got home abd broke out my ruler ant the permanent marker and put a grid on the tile. I didn't do full likes...just a "+" every inch to mark the corners of the squares. I'm going to let it dry overnight and see if thedry erase marker will erase the permanant marker. I suspect it will.

Also took the melamine over to my shop, put in the plywood cutting blade and chopped it up into 1' squares. 32 squares for $12.

Once I know if the dry erase marker takes off the permanant marker or not, I'm going to try putting a grid on the melamine.

Yes, while they don't interlock, they are the same size as the Tact Tiles at a fraction of the cost.

now....for those who think I'm cheap. I also ordered two molds from hirstarts.com to make plaster dungeon scenery. Grand total for the molds alone was $70 after shipping and handling was figured in. And there will be a lot of work ahead of me when I get the molds.

Will post more on my homemade Dungeon tiles whel I know more.

You might get your money out of the molds but I'm not too sure about the tiles.

You may want to mark on your homemade tiles with a red or yellow marker and make sure they won't stain. The coating on Tact-Tiles does not stain, with dry-erase markers of course. Typical whiteboards will stain when marked on with "loud" colors. Leave the ink on overnight and see what happens. If it doesn't stain, you're probably alright.

Let us know what the edges of the sawed tiles look like. Does the dry-erase run all the way out to the edge, or does the saw peel up the dry-erase at the edges somewhat?

Also, you may want to let us know how much time it takes to make your tiles.

One big advantage of the interlocking feature is the ability to slide the surface. This allows you to easily pick up tiles from one side of the board, slide the rest of the board down, and put clean tiles down where the party is going. Also, when you draw from one tile to another, your tiles may want to pull apart and make drawing more difficult. Interlocking prevents the pull apart effect. Even with the small gap between Tact-Tiles, a narrow tip marker tends to try to ride into the gap. Chisel tip markers work the best.

The grid lines need to be an odd color, so that when you mark on it with a marker you can clearly see the contrast. Tact-Tiles have a kind of burnt orange gridline, so if you mark on a grid line with orange or brown you can still see the difference.

Finally, a 12 pack of Tact-Tiles makes a 30" x 40" surface (when arranged 3 x 4, about the same size as a mega mat) making a 150' x 200' battle field (assuming 1"=5' squarse), which 99% of the time will cover the entire battle field for a single encounter. There is no need to have 32 squares, unless you want to pre-draw 4 adventures ahead of time. And you probably won't want to lug around 32 squares. Our group typically doesn't use up all 12 pre-drawn Tact-Tiles before the session ends (though we're slow, we BS a lot).

 

[Stone Angel]

I agree whole heartedly that this are indeed the shizzle.


The Seraph of Earth and Stone

 

[hrafnagud]

If they came in hexes, I'd already own a set or two. The Tact-Tile people claim hexes are forthcoming, but if it was a priority, I'd think they'd have developed them already. Still waiting...

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

thats cool, and I think they are a very cool idea, but I'd want 4 sets....

You don't need four sets. That's the point.

In an effort to come up with a cheap solution... <snip>

Yes, while they don't interlock, they are the same size as the Tact Tiles at a fraction of the cost.

You just wasted $36-- more than 50%-- for something with only a fraction of the utility.

Now you definitely can't buy yourself the Tac-Tiles, because once you have them you'll end up feeling like a huge jackass.


Wulf

 

[JoeGKushner]

You don't need four sets. That's the point.



You just wasted $36-- more than 50%-- for something with only a fraction of the utility.

Now you definitely can't buy yourself the Tac-Tiles, because once you have them you'll end up feeling like a huge jackass.


Wulf

Well, I wouldn't go quie that far but there's a little too much effort involved in what he's doing to make it worth the while.

I've used the Tact-Tiles almost every game session I've been in and every game session I've run.

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

I wish they made a transparent set. Now that I have Dundjinni and reasonably cheap access to print battlemaps, it would be sweet to be able to lay the printed map under the Tact-tile and mark it up to my heart's content without ruining it.

 

[KB9JMQ]

I wish they made a transparent set. Now that I have Dundjinni and reasonably cheap access to print battlemaps, it would be sweet to be able to lay the printed map under the Tact-tile and mark it up to my heart's content without ruining it.

Wow, that is a great idea. Have you mentioned it to them ?

 

[el-remmen]

I wish they made a transparent set. Now that I have Dundjinni and reasonably cheap access to print battlemaps, it would be sweet to be able to lay the printed map under the Tact-tile and mark it up to my heart's content without ruining it.

I thought that when I got them - i would love a transparent set. .

 

[el-remmen]

Don't use the stamps, use reuseable peel-n-stick kits:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0486242137/104-1936227-1883106?v=glance

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1880301032/104-1936227-1883106?v=glance

Single best example I have is here: http://www.enworld.org/showpost.php?p=1841017&postcount=11

Do these include trees and other foliage?

 

[Raging Epistaxis]

i would love a transparent set.

The closest I have come is cut-to-size glass. All of the plexiglas-type plastics I've tried retain some of the dye from the markers, especially when the drawings are left on for extended periods.

If you do chose to use glass, I'd recommend at least double strength (1/4" or more thick or a laminated safety glass) and have whoever cuts the glass smooth the edges off. There's a custom glass shop locally who did it for me several years ago, but it wasn't cheap. If I remember, it was about 70$ for a 24"X24" safety glass panel or two, cut and smoothed.

And no, this was not for use as a battle mat cover, but it would work just fine. The glass was for a sliding secretary window like you see at Dr's offices - made to handle a bit of jostling. We do write on it regularly at work with normal dry erase markers of all colors and they come off fine, even months later.

Obviously, there is serious risk of breakage and personal injury with glass. I wouldn't recommend it.

R E