When playing D&D I use battlemats...

[Agamon]

I've used them since I started playing in '81. The board gamer in me enjoys the tactical side of combat.

 

[Obryn]

Yes for 3e/4e.

No for 1e.

-O

 

[Alaxk Knight of Galt]

2E we rarely used them
3E we always used them
4E we must use them

 

[Hussar]

I play over OpenRPG. I use them 100% of the time, even when there is no combat going on. Having cool visuals is one of the plusses of VTT play.

 

[Stoat]

I play over OpenRPG. I use them 100% of the time, even when there is no combat going on. Having cool visuals is one of the plusses of VTT play.

Same for me, except I use d20 Pro for my VTT. Even if all we're doing is talking to NPC's, I have some map of the area up. IME, it helps everyone visualize what's going on and keeps folks focused.

 

[Holy Bovine]

1E/BD&D - about 50% of battles used a grid or map of some kind
2E - 75%
3E & 4E - 100%

Nowadays you can have my battlemat when you can pry it from my cold dead fingers.

 

[Dragonbait]

2E - 10% of the time (although we wanted to use them more)
3E - 100% of the time (tried to go without it twice and found it impossible)
4E - 100% of the time

We now use minis and battlemats for every game we play. Star Wars (all incarnations), Mutants and Masterminds, ShadowRun, and so on.

 

[buzz]

Always. I would be suspect of any 3e/4e game that did not use battlemat or equivalent.

 

[justanobody]

If you consider the floor/kitchen table a battlemat as just something to show relative locations of things with minis, then I use them all the time.

 

[Fallen Seraph]

I put sometimes, most combat is handled without it, only serious combat is handled with and even then it is simply a quick way to figure out rules stuff, ie: we don't actually describe the game as it unfolds on the battlemat.