The Big Battlemat Roundup!

Preorder my terrain book here -
Checkout the battle mats from 9 different manufacturers. From fabric battlemats, to latex, vinyl and neoprene along with 2D scatter pieces and modular mat tiles, here's a roundup of who's doing what in the battlemat industry.
We've got mats from .....
Cigar Box Battle - www.cigarboxbattle.com
Deep Cut Studio - www.deepcutstudio.com
Gamemat.eu - www.gamemat.eu
Kraken Wargames - www.krakenwargames.com
Mats by Mars - www.matsbymars.com
Micro Art Studio - www.microartstudio.com
Playmats.eu - www.playmats.eu
Pwork Wargames - www.pworkwargames.com
Urbanmatz - www.urbanmatz.com
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[@maxmight9533]

As a Matt myself it's great to see people raising awareness for how great Matt's are.

[@matso3856]

I concur

[@kundalini0]

Indeed

[@Tgauchsin]

Agreed. especially those of the battle variety…

[@RealTerrainHobbies]

The pworkwargames green grass/dirt print is my favourite. Looks incredible and is exactly what I need.

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Glad the vid helped buddy!

[@Redrexgames]

Mel I truly admire your energy and positivity - great video mate! 👍🏻

[@SaltyBob355]

Never heard of some of these companies before. Thanks to all who sent you samples and yourself for this review! I can see me buying a few from different companies for different purposes and gamesystems.

[@dtmjax5612]

I have three of the Cigar Box battle mats and they are great. They are battle specific for my ACW battles. I purchased several of the simple 2’ x 4’ rolled “grass on paper” mats from a model railroad company. They were cheap and still work great for most of my needs. They are geomorphic in that I can lay them out to fit whatever size I need. Old school, but works for me. Awesome video as usual! Thanks for all you do for our hobby! 👍

[@DirgeDesigns]

Thank you so much for this video! It's hard to tell from website photos how these look/quality/finish, and having you show them off was very helpful.

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Glad it helped mate

[@sadisticfurby6316]

Useful video, thanks. Just ordered the micro art studio modular mats to keep my whole terrain set up modular :)

[@captainpugwash5497]

Great video! I’ve been searching for a gaming Matt, but had no idea where to start . You’ve provided so many options and added the links too. Thanks ✌️

[@AirsickHydra]

That was super useful.

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Hope it helps buddy

[@OxonHammer]

Never seen someone get quite so excited over rounded corners before, but a great video. Thanks Mel. I really need those fleece mats!

[@TheTerrainTutor]

I don't understand it either ..... but they are really cool!

[@Rokkiteer]

Man, you are very enjoyable to listen to:) I was just looking for general info on battle mat options and found this. Great video

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Cheers buddy

[@TonyAguilarFigure-atively]

Excellent video roundup.

[@stamrly418]

Done it again....... so much enthusiasm.... so much fun...and a balanced view.....you need to go home smiling tonight 👍👍

[@patricklefevre1342]

St A & M Rly Ofcourse he goes home smiling, he gets to keep all that stuff 😂😂😂

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Always do

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Actually, I'm only keeping two mats, the rest are going to charity giveaways and local kids gaming clubs mate

[@trojan403]

@@TheTerrainTutor Nice! Which two did you keep?

[@Grubnar]

Wow! There is something in here for everything I need. Warhammer 40.000, Age of Sigmar, Horus Heresy, Blood Bawl, Necromunda, Flames of War, X-Wing, even Magic the Gathering!! REALLY helpful video!

[@elmodiddly]

Thank you for the video, it has helped me to make a decision on what I want to go for and what kind of scenery

[@TheBlackFrog79]

Wow I like the fleece ones, they are so warm.

[@patricklefevre1342]

I've had Urbanmatz's 3x3 grasslands mat for 2 or 3 years now. It has seen action at home, on vacation and at a wargaming club from Warpath: Firefight and Bolt Action over to Tanks all the way down to Imperial Skies which is 2mm. It has taken it all and just keeps nice and sharp as on the day I bought it. Came with a free carrierbag too. I can really recomend these guys.

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Thanks for the info mate

[@KriegKraft]

Nice mats, love the double-sided one on the wool, could keep you cozy and warm during the winter gaming nights as well :) We are proud we did all of the designs for the Kraken Mats. It is really interesting concept to think 2D and 3D at the same time. You don't want to make things too tall, then again, you want to achieve logical shadows. Really, a great creative journey for us.

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Now that makes sense, I had a feeling I knew that building style from somewhere. Awesome work bud

[@KriegKraft]

Thanks Mel :) The whole concept is that when you put your "real" terrain, it is made of literally the same material the mat design is constructed. This kind of unifies everything and makes it more appealing to the eye and overall gameplay :)

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Very smart mate

[@e-4airman124]

nice review I have been looking at battlemats thanks so much for the intro.

[@Raistlin7il7nero]

Great video. Thanks for taking the time and to share the knowledge. I now have some good option to the very expensive battle board from GW

[@SheepWaveMeByeBye]

So I just bought a mat for black friday, ad now I learn I could've had one in nice, warm fleece? Bloody hell!!

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Always the way buddy

[@costagauci5719]

Great round-up.

[@-Markus-]

I own a few various neoprene mats, mainly from DCS and I really like them! They are easy to store, handle and make ready for a game and look great! But the more I play on these flat somewhat glossy surfaces the more Ive begun looking around for some textured gaming mats.

[@Screamingmanta]

Informative video and your enthusiasm is really infectious. Ordered myself an Industrial Ruins mat from Pwork Wargames thanks to you.

[@trojan403]

I'll be ordering one soon too. How have you found it?

[@taetriusforever]

Very great review, man.

[@OldBlueDragon]

Outstanding selection! Really good roundup. Filled with great information but now I have too many choices! Seriously, thanks for taking the time and making the effort. I sure hope you got to keep all those samples!

[@SirBender]

Just got a custom mat from deepcut studios with a Hubble telescope picture in very very high HD resolution for Star Wars x-Wing and it has by far tje best print quality of all mats i used to get in touch with. My friends in my tabletop club are very impressed.

[@TheTerrainTutor]

I like that idea!

[@dyland3r]

I don't think I've ever seen any one man be so excited about mats before.

[@mhxistenz]

Wow, all those mats and tiles look awesome!

[@CesarIsaacPerez]

Amazing video! Checking them out now, buying at lest 2 tonight!

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Glad it helped mate

[@stephenrenwick8781]

oh no I just ordered a double sided mat. I have been dithering for ages whether to get one or not. This has a desert on one side and grass on the other. I game both Sudan games in 10 mm and Flintloque in 28 mm. This was super useful cheers Mel.

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Awesome mate, glad it helped you choose the right mat for you

[@Virakotxa]

Those Kraken and Micro-Studio are looking ahead of the competition to me... on looks. The extras on the Playmats.eu are nice, too.

[@alejandrotabilo1988]

Great video, mate.

[@JazTheScrewyPanda]

Thank you soooooo much. I knew 50% of em but learned about all the rest. Much appreciated. Saved and liked from a happy ol' subscriber he he he.

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Glad it helped matey

[@slimjim7411]

I have several mats from Mats by Mars, and they loog good, and hold up excellent. I generally just give them a reverse roll and they will lay flat. They aren't really "cheaper" than rubber backed but if some jackal spills his soda on them are much easier to clean up.

[@trollslayer8828]

Great round up, thankyou.

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@DoctorKalkyl]

19:48 It's... PERFECT!!! Exactly the battlemat I need!

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Glad you liked it mate

[@AdrianKramarzyk]

great watch Mel. I have one mat frome polish company double sided. fantastic stuff !

[@imp3ri3x93]

Evening Mel. Thanks again for a excellent vid. Some really nice matts there, will have to look into getting myself a new one. 👍🏻

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Hope it helps bud

[@imp3ri3x93]

TheTerrainTutor yeah it has, you've introduced me to new companies I'd never heard of before. As much as I love making my own game boards it's handy to have a few that fold away small... You know, keep the "Boss" happy!😉

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Know that one well buddy!

[@YTAlpha01]

Great information. Thank you.

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Hope it helps bud

[@HeadCannonPrime]

I know this is video is a bit older, but its one of the best mat roundups I have ever seen. Just a note about the "mousemat" material. Neoprene rubber is the material on the underside of the mat and polyester is the fabric on top. For the 2 sided mats, the neoprene is sandwiched between the polyester fabric. So you are not technically wrong either way.

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Thanks for the info bud

[@thebobmaster100]

The table my group uses was two of those paper matts with static grass on that GW made. They are a bit on the worn side by now and is in dire need to be replaced.

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Javis.co.uk matey

[@RangerGeek71]

Nice it will help with selecting a maps as I like to have differant one as gets old playing on same one again and again.

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Glad it helps bud

[@robrychlinski]

Thanks so much! Very informative and helpful.

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Glad you like it matey

[@AppleMak2010]

I have two of the old cloth GW mats they're still great to make a quick and simple gaming table. One of the best products they ever made and yet they discontinue them. I will never understand GW's marketing strategy.

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Me neither mate, I love those mats

[@Patrick-lu2fy]

GW have a marketing strategy? Who new!

[@julesmartin6972]

they made that textured plasic one right that is 300$ that just is super unpractical and not nice to roll dice on

[@Panzergraf]

We used to have those old paper backed static grass GW matts at my old gaming club, many years ago. Great matts, in my opinion! They were glued down to MDF boards though. I don't think they would have lasted long if we had to roll them up between every game. Are 6x4 static grass matt like those still available? I've looked almost everywhere.

[@shaundaly1134]

Great video - thanks!

[@freelancerblitz2579]

Great video i will be checking out all these guys! I used to use a greenish tablecloth back in the day lol Do you have and methods of adding a grid to your homemade matts?

[@glasgowwarhog1537]

Great review and video. Classic for gamers.

[@uraroboturasheep3391]

Can you or someone else please tell me, which flock avaiable today, would fit the flock of the citadel battlemat? Anyway, thx for the video!

[@Gool349]

holy shit best mat video ever!

[@caractacus6231]

Great bit of work!. odd question perhaps but having a 3ft by 5ft dinner table the choice is mainly either 3 x 3 which i think may be too small or 4 x 4...so how does neoprene/rubber/mousemat material one esp drape over edge..ie cleanly or with a rounded aspect...old style gaming cloths were ok of course to go over edge and drop away vertically..vinyl i can imagine might be stiffer. Thanks

[@DEMONJESTERJ]

Awesome video!

[@TheTerrainTutor]

cheers buddy

[@BootlegPainting]

I have one of the gw green grass mats and it's awesome.... Why they did away with it is beyond me, I'd like to have a cpl more actually

[@axelhackbarth9559]

Hi Mel, I love your videos and it helped me with my own terrain building quite a lot. Now I am thinking about getting a custom neoprene gamemat for our gaming club and I thought I had heard you talk about a company that does custom mats, but I can't find that video again. Could you help me out? It would be very much appreciated.

[@Khorsathedark]

Great video!

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Cheers matey

[@brendonhull5644]

How do the 6×4ft maps fold up, do you just have to carry a 4ft long rolled tube or can they fold without damaging the product?

[@TheTerrainTutor]

They're normally rolled and then stored in tubes or special carry bags mate

[@charlieparsons1220]

You didn’t even mention one of the big advantages of fleece mats which is being able to place your hills underneath the mat for a more realistic look.

[@Pedro116092]

great session, and looking back at your Burma mat build I can see how you ot your ideas from. Or did they get there ideas from you, hmmmm. But a great informative session. As usual you have done very well.

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Cheers buddy!

[@mormegilthurin5421]

Go to Kraken website click on mats and it says no product found

[@bromossunstarranger8706]

wonderful video super job! you rock

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Cheers matey

[@-Mr.Crazy.]

Good job :D

[@nikhinson3703]

Just to show my age, back in the 1970’s we used to play on the back of a subbuteo pitch!

[@SuperLogan8054]

Huge Huge Help for me, Thanks a Load TerrainTutor

[@billd.iniowa2263]

Modular battle mats, brilliant idea.

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Ain't they just

[@XV250]

I see all these companies when I search online for battle mats, and I have wondered how they compare to one another.

[@Veldrain]

One thing not mentioned for Cigar Box is that they offer mats designed to be cut up for flat scatter terrain.

[@TheTerrainTutor]

I did not know that, cheers!

[@Veldrain]

It actually took me a minute to find them. Was worried they discontinued them for a minute. The names are Supplemental Terrain -- 3x3 -- #130 and DBA COMBO Gaming Battle Mat -- 4'x6' plus -- #124. They are rather expensive for 2D terrain and not very fun to cut out but a few of our Warmachine players swear by them.

[@johnwayneeverett6263]

thank you

[@s.j.52]

Hi Mel, thank you for the video really appreciated. :)

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Hope it helps bud

[@marios739]

thx great video!!

[@MurderHoboRPG]

I bought an UrbanMatz because of this video.

[@SBEARD12345]

So... What would use to glue stuff down onto these mats as they look fantastic to do full cover train boards... Especially the fleece one at the start

[@TheTerrainTutor]

pva or spray adhesive would probably do it mate

[@SBEARD12345]

TheTerrainTutor thinking it would save a heck of a lot base ground cover and just add to the top of it.. and some paper underneath the mat to create gentle hills for a landscape... Brilliant video...

[@geekfreak69]

Battle mats are a space saver

[@ronaldooyen7625]

Is it true, that the Vinyl mats having more contrast, colour and sharpness versus the Neoprene mats ?

[@ronaldooyen7625]

I have seen your video, but the neoprene is almost the same as vinyl in my opinion, but i've seen an other video where the neoprene looke vague in comparison with the vinyl mat

[@voicesofmars]

Roll the Mats by Mars mats design sign out, you wont have any curling problem

[@andrewbeasley]

Neat video. The use of two cameras really worked well and the music over the still s better than the gaps :-) Are you going to raffle the maps for charity?

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Getting better with every vid mate. I'm keeping 2, half of what's rest is going to the poppy's angels team for a charity raffle and the other half is going to local kids groups

[@zestypenguin8011]

I still have my paper static grass mat, I got it back in 3rd ed 40k. That thing makes a huge mess, omg

[@BloodpactORG]

You're supposed to spray it with a mixture of water and PVA glue when you first get it :P

[@edvardlonn4651]

Thx for doing the vid i asked about

[@TheTerrainTutor]

:-D

[@stevelussier6085]

Just an FYI, Cigar Box Mats are not all flease and double sided. I have two which are awesome but are printed on a cotton sheet and one sided unless you use the white side for a winter scene.

[@TheTerrainTutor]

nice to know, I only had the one they sent mate

[@steffenakairule2825]

Does the Playmats in Mousepad Quality have a not so Good Image quality as pvc? I want to buy a Mousepad quality one But im afraid of my BB Team Logo Look worse on it.

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Print quality is the same from what I saw mate

[@steffenakairule2825]

TheTerrainTutor oh okay. My deliverer said pvc will be printed 720p and Mousepad only 360p O.o

[@TheTerrainTutor]

I don't know then mate :-/

[@Clewerly]

Really useful, it's a shame cigar box don't offer double sided mats normally (only on their Kickstarter)

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Didn't realise they were a ks special mate

[@Clewerly]

TheTerrainTutor Yeah it's a shame otherwise would have been ordering some. The 'really useful' comment was supposed to mean great video! Sorry if it came across the opposite...

[@carbon1255]

Neoprene is a type of rubber, used in wetsuits, so it could be if they say it is rubber.

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Cheers bud

[@kivimetalli01]

Deepcut studios have some serious issues with the tone. I ordered a grey warzone mat that came up very red. Returned it (I had to pay for the return) and they sent me another one that was very much green. How hard is it to check the mat before sending it? Don't order from there.

[@noahfrench765]

Unrelated, what pva glue do you use?

[@tamsinp7711]

If I remember right, the PVA glue Mel uses is from Baker Ross

[@Xune2000]

Here's a video Mel released recently where he goes into great detail on PVA: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y6fPo5Sbfb2UjM0

[@TheTerrainTutor]

What Tam said, in more depth in Xune's link mate ;-)

[@noahfrench765]

Thanks all!

[@Ellie_37]

@16:29 my boyfriend referred to D&D/Pathfinder as being like a card game ... you can imagine my hour long rant!

[@matso3856]

Wouldnt say rant .. educating the ignorant

[@andrewpaopronouncedpow5392]

This is gonna be very helpful for my stop motion videos , I've been using fake grass!

[@andrewpaopronouncedpow5392]

Also do you now where I can get a big battle mat in a grass design?

[@TheTerrainTutor]

most of the companies featured do grass designs mate

[@BBP081]

Is anyone else put off by mats that have things of significance printed on them? I mean things like scrap piles, roads, rivers, hedge rows etc. These I feel need to be ideally 3d terrain or failing that adjustable and modular for different scenarios.

[@deckruler3802]

I need neoprene roads

[@MurderHoboRPG]

This video kills.

[@sprEEEzy]

Czechoslovakia? LOL

[@eldonevans2618]

Velvet curtain fabric

[@katebird7026]

I have a question being a thick Mum here, my son plays homebrew d and d but does not use a board how could I make a generic one for him as a gift. ( I love being crafty) Thank you for your help Been living your channel as he also does warhammer and I love to do scenery

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Checkout Black Magic Craft and TheDMGinfo, both brill DnD's mate

[@katebird7026]

@@TheTerrainTutor thanks

[@jackrussell3084]

Im weary of reviews where the products were gifted to the reviewer.

[@littlejimmy5020]

cigar box 6x4 isn't real 6x4... do you think they saw your earlier video about 2x2 boards not being 2x2 ;)

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Yeah, but there's are larger

[@DrMurdercock]

Ill take that card game mat off your hands lol

[@ClockworkBananaMoon]

When did you record this video? Clearly before the 1st of January 1993...

[@TheTerrainTutor]

November mate

[@ClockworkBananaMoon]

Then I've got some terrible news for you, regarding Czechoslovakia ;P

[@tracygrove3484]

I'm still waiting for you to make a large generic grass terrain board, have a picture taken, and produce your own "neo"-prene mat. Kickstarter anyone?

[@tracygrove3484]

👍

[@falconiusazurius5572]

Very nice, thank you. Unfortunately the bulk of these seem to be aimed at that fooking expensive scale (28mm). How about a review where you show the more reasonable scale miniatures on these mats: 15mm, 10mm and 6mm. Thanks to Vanguard Miniatures 3mm is also looking very attractive of late. Agree 100% with your sentiment on card games.

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Actually, other than the bloodbowl/grid mats, the rest are pretty scaleless mate, it comes down to what scenery you place on the mats more than whats printed on them

[@katarinagamersgal]

Sir , you are the cutest human being ever ^^

[@jasonbaxter3658]

"You know what I think about card games" *discards mat like a dirty nappy*