Thursday 19 March 2015

New Game Mat Arrives


I'd been thinking about getting a game mat for a while. I looked at Frontline's gaming mats and thought they looked great but the shipping costs from America really put me off. Fortunately I came across GAMEMAT.EU who are based in the Czech Republic and, being considerably closer, are also considerably cheaper.



I wasn't too sure what the mat would be like, on their website they state:
Specification
rubber based - non slip
high detail colored printed surface
rollable - after rolling out stays completely flat, no dog ears
soft top - no loud dice sounds, smoth dice rolls and model movement
anti shine - no light reflections

So the product ticks all the boxes, especially the 'no loud dice rolls.' (The sound that dice make on a wooden or plastic tabletop really grates on my senses for some reason). But no matter what I read about something, there is always that little nagging doubt that it won't be what I really want.
Fortunately, that little nagging doubt has been well and truly exorcised by the arrival of my new spangly gaming mat :-).
So let's see if the gaming mat matches up to the specs then.
As you can see it rolls up nice and tidy if I ever need to put it away.


Below is what it looks like with the flash on, the glare is pretty minimal, please bear in mind that I'm using my mobile S3 camera to take this photo, so I rarely use the flash when taking photos of my battle reports.

The rest of the photos are without the flash and I'm really happy with how it looks under my usual dinning room lights. The mat lays perfectly flat, no 'dog ear' corners and no slipping around on the table.

The print quality of the mat is great. it has lots of subtle details that enhance the overall look, rather than overwhelming the tabletop like some designs can.





As luck would have it, my terrain doesn't look out of place on it either. I might add a few light browns to the edges of some pieces just to blend them in a bit more, but overall I'm pretty pleased with it.



The same goes for my Castigators' bases, they match the gaming mat really well.

And the the best thing about it is rolling dice on it. Rolling dice on wood or plastic is like listening to the radio on your mobile......scratch, scratch, scratch. Rolling dice on the gaming mat is like plugging your headphones in to said mobile....oh ah....that sounds nice! 
Gaming is all about evoking an atmosphere to further the experience, and believe me, this will certainly further my gaming experience......with a bit of luck it might even tempt Rob out of hibernation to play a few games on it ;-)
I'd definitely recommend this gaming mat, it looks great, it feels good and it sounds fantastic!
If you're in the market for a gaming mat check these out, you won't regret it.

Until next time......may Our Lady grant you her number ;-)

4 comments:

  1. Nice. I've been considering a mat for a while now, the issue is choosing the right one. My usual basing scheme for my figures is a desert kind of thing so probably along those lines.

    Iain

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  2. Something like this would probably work for your Red Scorpions Iain
    https://www.facebook.com/186134048263234/photos/pcb.329304223946215/329301993946438/?type=1&theater

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  3. I went ahead and ordered the Sands of Time mat (the desert one). Now for some games at home with Jason. Plus it's an excuse, as if I needed one, to build some desert terrain.

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  4. I know what you mean, I keep thinking about building some terrain myself since my mat arrived.

    ReplyDelete