Battle mats

[DagobahDave 1,621]

I'm going to be organizing a local league for both X-Wing and Attack Wing, and because I'm a responsible forward-thinking sort of event runner, I ordered some of those lovely-looking mats from GF9 with plenty of time to spare before our first planned event.

 

Well, the GF9 mats are delayed, and time is running out. So I decided to design my own mats and get them printed up on vinyl signage, and that turned out to be a really great decision. I just received my first mat (printed on 13oz matte vinyl sign material), and I'm thoroughly happy with it.

 

Below are some of the mat designs I've created.

 

 

 

 

 

[Rakky Wistol 2,903]

Last one is lovely.  How much did it cost to get it printed in your area?

[VanorDM 11,599]

Last one is lovely.  How much did it cost to get it printed in your area?

He said on a thread on BGG that it was $27 with shipping for a 3x3 mat.

[DagobahDave 1,621]

Yep, and it's about $32 for the 3' x 4' mats.

[DagobahDave 1,621]

Another new mat, five variations on it.

 

 

 

 

 

[Rakky Wistol 2,903]

Hard to tell from my phone what the graphics are.

Still awesome maps and the right price shipped. Where does one order from?

[DagobahDave 1,621]

I'm using Bing Banners to print mine, and there are others.

[Deltmi 786]

I ordered a 3'x3' custom vinyl banner because I thought it'd be a cheap way to get a custom mat. It turns out, the banner came as 35" x 35". There was no indication that it would be shorter, and when I called the cust. service they said "we try to make it to 3x3 as much as possible". Long story short, I got a full refund and still got to keep the banner. 

 

I can never use it to play a tournament, but it's still passable for home games (if you use an imaginary 1/2" on all sides). 

[DagobahDave 1,621]

Yeah, make sure you get a proof before you commit. Free banner is nice, though.

 

We got a chance to play on one of my new printed mats (the one shown at the top of this page) and were all very happy with it. The material holds up very well to having a bunch of plastic corners dragged across it.

 

Ironically, we played a three-way battle, and it became clear that a mat with three or even four staging areas might be useful. So I'm thinking about a 4'x4' mat with wrap-around staging areas.

[Davor 50]

Am I missing something here? I mean it costs more to buy the maps than it is to buy the minis. Did FFG miss the boat on this one? I mean where is the official FFG maps? I am sure we want to support them, so how come our money is going else where? 

 

I know FFG is making something, but it's not really a map, so not sure if they will sell quite as well when alot of us already have maps being bought else where. (well not me, I gotten one yet, but hopefully soon will have one made.)

 

To the OP, great maps, now I want one or two of them. 

[Pilot Dan 1]

Those look great, how did you make them? I'd love to print out one of them, all the ones I can find for purchase look too busy to me.

[Rodent Mastermind 2,056]

An interesting solution to your gaming board needs

 

 

http://www.visionbedding.com/deep-space-nebula_bedding-d-19863244-190-454.asp

[DagobahDave 1,621]

Those look great, how did you make them? I'd love to print out one of them, all the ones I can find for purchase look too busy to me.

I designed them with Photoshop, and printed them using an online sign-printing service.

 

If you want to order any of these mat graphics for download, the ordering information is on my website (which you can find in my profile).

Edited November 4, 2013 by DagobahDave

[DagobahDave 1,621]

 

One of my battle mats in action. This one is printed on 13oz vinyl signage. Looks pretty shiny here, and it does have a bit of a shine in reality, but there's a desk lamp literally just out of frame so you're seeing a lot more glare than you would in a normal situation. We're also playing on the floor, and my cards are on the carpet because of the seating arrangements. My TIE swarm got dismantled.

[Gazerfoxie 169]

 

One of my battle mats in action. This one is printed on 13oz vinyl signage. Looks pretty shiny here, and it does have a bit of a shine in reality, but there's a desk lamp literally just out of frame so you're seeing a lot more glare than you would in a normal situation. We're also playing on the floor, and my cards are on the carpet because of the seating arrangements. My TIE swarm got dismantled.

Is that your squadron XO there in the stripes? or is he one of the Emperor's Paws?

[Duke of Advil 203]

Another new mat, five variations on it.

you do some great work Dave. I really like the ones with a border, but I do not need a staging area. I do have a couple questions.

1) Is it 3 feet by 3 feet within the boarders or to the edge of the map?

2) how hard would it be to take one of those with a boarder and no crosshairs and add micro thin square coordinate lines every 2 inches? Something you could see but would be a color that it does not take away from your art work( or maybe half inch long X's every 2 inches)

Edited November 7, 2013 by Duke of Advil

[DagobahDave 1,621]

It's 3'x3' to the edge of the map.

 

It's easy to add hashmarks or grids, but folks generally don't seem to want them for X-Wing or Attack Wing.

[DagobahDave 1,621]

I've ordered game mats online from two separate places, and here's what I think about them.

 

BannerBuzz.com

I didn't realize these guys were in India until I saw the UPS tracking information. I'm in Oregon, and it took one week for my order of two mats to arrive, which is totally reasonable. I ordered these mats on 15oz vinyl, and I'm not sure if that's what I actually received. But the quality is good. These mats came out smoother than I would like. The mats are great, totally usable, no complaints, but I was happier with the stuff from...

 

BingBanners.com

I've used these guys a couple of times and had good results both times. One of my mats (out of 5 ordered) has a little bit of ink smear from running through the machine. It only bothers me because I'm a perfectionist. Their 13oz vinyl has a cloth-weave linen texture that's much more significant than the mats I got from BannerBuzz. This is a good thing, since it's slightly more grippy and not as reflective. I think these were shipped to me within 3 days, which is great.

The prices at both places are comparable and affordable. But neither of these places is getting 300dpi print quality, and I doubt that any sign place really does. They claim to have like 720ppi printers, but that's nonsense. Visually, what you get is 150-200dpi at best. It's still worth uploading the highest-resolution files available, though.

 

If I had to order from one of these sites again, it would be BingBanners.com -- but there are at least two other places that I want to try. I'll let you know how those go.

Here's a new mat design, while I'm at it.

[DragonWhimsy 170]

I love how the cat is just calmly watching the game and not even trying to lay on the board.

[speedMonk 2]

Here's a new mat design, while I'm at it.

 

Very nice!

[CrookedWookie 1,258]

I love how the cat is just calmly watching the game and not even trying to lay on the board.

What are you talking about?  Cat's got next.