I’ve been wanting to get a few game matts for a LONG time… I first encountered them at the first 40K tournament I went to… like… SIX years ago… I’ve kind of wanted to get a few ever since. It was agreed upoon that I should get them after the Game Room was renovated.. It’s been renovated for over two years now… It was time… 

HOWEVER… 

WHAT SIZE TO GET!? 

Six years ago I would have said 4’x6′ without even thinking about it… (initially I didn’t really consider matts… because I had a 5’x8′ table and terrain tiles I’d made that could cover it completely!? My table isn’t QUITE that big now, though… though I kept the two large chunks of MDF that made up the table to make into a tabletopper of sorts… I doubt I’ll ever play a game THAT BIG again… I’m not even sure I have the patience for something that would be played on 4’x6′ – Warhammer Games aren’t even played on 4×6 anymore, the suggested size is 44″x60″!? But I don’t even LOVE playing games that big… Do I get 2’x2′ for small skirmishes…? or 3’x3’…? There are games I have that suggest both sizes… or 22″x30″ – the size used for Warcry and Kill Team and Age of Sigmar: Spearhead…!?

In the end I settled on 44″x30″… it’s the size recommended for 1000-1500 point Warhammer games… any games that are meant to be played on 3’x3′ or 2’x2′ can easily be played on with with little modification… They should fill a good chunk of the table for fairly large skirmishes or role-playing game encounters, but leave plenty of space for dice trays, character sheets, quick reference charts, books, reinforcements and dead… 

I ended up ordering three from FLG matts… I liked the pattern. I settled on a Grassland, Desert and Cobblestone… I was thinking about getting a Martian and/or Snow matt as well… but thought maybe I should just start with the three and see if I DO use them and maybe order more later… 

The parcel arrived while I was out.. I was a little disapointed to arrive home to see a box that was not nearly as long and skinny as I’d imagined… I had hoped they’d be shipped rolled up properly… 

Not-so-much… they were folded in the packaging they were sold in… and those were folded into a box… 

So…  they’re pretty wrinkled… 

This one’s called „Prairie“

„Civic Cobblestone“

Honsetly… those cobbles are a LOT larger than I’d imagined… 

I’ll get over it… 

maybe… 

eventually… 

„Badlands 2“

I’m sure once they’re flat… IF they’re ever flat… they’ll be really nice! 

I was further soured on the whole experience by the $59CAD I had to pay for taxes, duties, and fees on an order that only cost $210CAD (of which $35CAD was shipping!?). Now I don’t mind paying taxes… I like roads… and firefighters… and other public services… but the fucking $45 „brokerage fee“ UPS charged seemed like a much. Fuckers… Canada Post charged $9.95 for that service… But no, keep telling me that privatization and „competition“ will mean basic services will be cheaper for me… 

So all that along with the wrinkled matts… I think I might look elsewhere for a snow or martian surface matt – or if I decide I need a different size… 

Anyway… 

Luckily I have NO SHORTAGE of heavy books, so hopefully a few days of this might sort out SOME of the wrinkles… If we get sunny days again, I could try leaving them outside for a bit… We are fully into fall it seems, today, and things are very grey indeed… 

Really want these to be flat NOW so I can get on with PLAYING Devilry Afoot or continue on with the Five Men in Normandy campaign…