Using preprinted maps and tiles at the table

[buzz]

I'm trying to figure out ways to use some preprinted battlemaps* at the table. I want to protect them, and I'd really like to be able to write on them like a battlemat. So far, I'm thinking about either using a sheet of Plexiglas (or similar material), or else putting the maps into protective poster sleeves. The latter idea gets expensive if I want all of the plans in their own sleeves, as my source for the sleeves sells them for about $8 each.

What do you do with pre-printed maps and tiles? Any ideas?


* SJG starship deckplans, to be exact.

 

[frankthedm]

Get a sheet of plexi sized for your gaming table. It will be quite useful. Less durable would be a sheet of clear vinyl from a fabric store.

If you can get a sheet of pegboard [holes 1 inch apart] to go underneath it as well, you can have a built in battlemat.

 

[TheNovaLord]

I print all my starship deckplans onto high quality card and then I use 'tacky back' (dont know what its called in the USA) to cover them. Works well and it means they fold away easy, where as plexi glass you cant fold so well!!

I also have started using a laminater to cover and create battle tiles and its very hard wearing.

JohnD

 

[buzz]

Get a sheet of plexi sized for your gaming table. It will be quite useful.

I am leaning towards this. Any idea of prices? I assume I'd be going to a Home Depot or Lowes.

 

[buzz]

I print all my starship deckplans onto high quality card and then I use 'tacky back' (dont know what its called in the USA) to cover them. Works well and it means they fold away easy, where as plexi glass you cant fold so well!!

Are we talking clear adhesive, a la shelf paper or something? A ll Google gives me is seat covers.

 

[Psion]

I think the plexi glass is the best plan.

In our old classic traveller games, we also laminated some of the old FASA deckplans, though that might be less practical on something the size of a SJG deckplan.

 

[Festivus]

I know I paid around $100 for a 4' x 8' sheet of 1/4" plexi for my table, and finding a sheet that big was difficult. Most Home Depot's seemed to carry 3'x5' sheets in stock, but I had to go to a lumberyard to find a sheet of plexi as large as I wanted.

 

[Umbran]

The plexi-plan does have one drawback - the surface you write on is not actually attached to the map. So, if the plexiglass sheet gets bumped, there's a tendency for all your writing and minis to get shifted relative to the map.

Not to mention you have to lift a significant portion of your tabletop in order to change maps.

Typically, you'll use a given map once, and then never use it again, right? How often do you really need to erase markings during one combat? Why not simply copy/print the thing at the proper size, and then write directly on the paper?

 

[Mark CMG]

I know I paid around $100 for a 4' x 8' sheet of 1/4" plexi for my table, and finding a sheet that big was difficult. Most Home Depot's seemed to carry 3'x5' sheets in stock, but I had to go to a lumberyard to find a sheet of plexi as large as I wanted.

I have had the same experience, though I was able to find a slightly thinner mil on a 3' x 6' sheet (perfect for my table with one leaf in) that would have been about $40 but, due to a slight imperfection on a corner, was marked down to $20. I did have to go through about twenty sheets to find one with a imperfection large enough to be worth pointing out to the clerk, of course. No need to damage one yourself, either, as there's always at least one that has been corner-dropped or thta has some of the protection coating peeling away under a slight scratch. All on the up and up and they are just as pleased to find someone who will take it as not, even at a discount.

To avoid things moving around, most folks I know either tape the plexi to the table or tape the map, at the corners, to the underside of the plexi.

 

[buzz]

Typically, you'll use a given map once, and then never use it again, right? How often do you really need to erase markings during one combat? Why not simply copy/print the thing at the proper size, and then write directly on the paper?

The deckplans I specifically want this stuff for are the main "set" of the SF campaign I'll be running, so the PCs will probably spend a good amount of time there (the Serenity, anyone?). On top of this, the full deckplans comprise, iirc, thirteen 17" x 22" maps. Copying them would be way too much of a hassle.

For other places, I've got an erasable battlemat, though it would be nice to be able to use other preprinted maps, too.

EDIT: Oops! Actually, it's only six maps or so. I forgot they're double-sided. Which means that rigid poster pockets would actually be a cheap way to go, if plexi is going to run me $20-$40.