Playmat with squares

Eudaimic · Jan 10, 2003

Where do you guys get playmats to use with miniatures? I was thinking that one could make one up and have it printed out at a printshop. Perhaps someone has already made one?...

InvaderSquoosh · Jan 10, 2003

Chessex makes nice, large battlemats with hexes or squares. You can draw on them with wet erase markers and roll them up at the end of the day. My local game store carries them. I'm sure online stores carry them (search for chessex battlemat). They are totally worth the price ($25USD iirc).

maddman75 · Jan 11, 2003

Two solutions

Go you your local department store and buy a poster frame. Take the paper insert that's inside the frame and flip it over. Draw 1" squares with a pencil and yardstick. Got yourself a huge battlemat that you can use the eraseable markers on.

Another is http://www.dragonscalecounters.com They have 8x11 plastic mats. You can simply line them up to get an area as large as you need. The small size means they are easy to transport and easy to pre-draw areas on. You can get a pack of six for $10. The place also has dirt cheap counters.

Drawmack · Jan 11, 2003

Click on the FRPGames banner and order the prefered battlemat and the chessex markers to go with it. Though be cautioned the red marker stains if left on the mat for a week.

Albert_Fish · Jan 11, 2003

Who makes teh biggest battle mat?

which do you prefer hex or square?

i suppose hexagonal mats dont matter so much since we dont have facing. Square mats are easier to draw buildings and dungeons on.....
Crystal caste has double sided mats but they are small...any company have something better than the Chessex style mats? Those Tiny quares fiddle with my eyes.
are there maps that incorporate both hexes and squares? perhaps in different colours?

d12 · Jan 11, 2003

I think Chessex makes a "flipable" mat that has hexes on one side and squares on the other.

These erasable mats have been the best thing I bought since my dice bag.

megamania · Jan 11, 2003

Drawmack said:
Click on the FRPGames banner and order the prefered battlemat and the chessex markers to go with it. Though be cautioned the red marker stains if left on the mat for a week.

darn blood stains.

As for size, I have two chessex blue mats that are 44x33inches of grid. total size is 48 by 35

Drawmack · Jan 11, 2003

Acctually one of the PCs was marking where they found stuff in the maze with a color coded system and it took us two weeks to complete the maze which is why it is stained.

Though the red marker comes off fine in the short term but the chessex markers mark the mat very smoothly and nicely, though if you're a lefty like me be cautioned they take a couple seconds to dry and sweat does allow your hand to erase them.

Shadoe's Lady · Jan 12, 2003

A little unorthodox, but...

I've taken a sewing guide (big foldable piece of cardboard with one inch squares and bias lines already marked on it) from a fabric store and covered it in Contac paper (the clear kind). You can write on it with Vis-a-vis overhead projector markers. It's quite a bit, though.