I need a combat mat solution

[Dr Midnight]

For those who give a damn about my story hour- Watch out, spoilers ahead.
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If you're still reading, you probably don't give a damn about my story hour. Well, screw you too pal.

I've got a big Star Wars vehicle combat coming up- the battle of Hoth, as a matter of fact. The object of the scene will be to hop in the conveniently available speeder bikes and zip through the field, dodging AT-AT fire, etc., until the heroes reach their ship, maybe 500 meters away. Now- I hadn't considered the fact that my trusty Crystal Caste battlemat is about 36 x 25 inches. An inch is 2 meters, and the speeders have a cruising speed of about 80 meters. That's forty one-inch squares per round. They'll be off the map in no time at all.

So- I'm looking for a solution. They have 500 meters to go.
Ideas include-
-using my existing mat and just repositioning everything at the beginning end of the mat at the beginning of each round
-Upping the scale. One square could be five meters... I don't want to do this, as there will be ground troops everywhere and it could get messy.
-My favorite idea is buying the Chessex Megamat with ¼" Squares, and using Micro Machines and smaller minis to mark spaces.

Suggestions?

 

[Henrix]

Don't bother with the map.

Get a steel ruler, one of these retractable tape measures.

Play it out in smaller scale using Micro Machines and use rulers. 1'' = 5m or whatever seems appropriate.

Or play it out in full scale, on your floor (or other suitable playing area - an old ping pong table is my favourite!).

 

[Dr Midnight]

I like the idea of playing on the floor. Hmmm... has merit. Furniture could be big ice structures. Only problem is: cats. They'd toy with the minis, and we have a highly allergic player who might not want to sit on the rug. Not that I'm not turning the idea over in my head. Just lock the cats up briefly, and... sunny times.

 

[Henrix]

Cats do tend to cause troubles when playing with miniatures.

The other day we were playing Full Thrust (space ship minis game) and my cat jumped up on the table and laid down in the middle of the table, like a huge furry asteroid!