Steel Lard brought home to me the visual difference between, for example, Ken Welsh's French and Indian Wars set-up:
... and my emergency ACW game:
Now obviously my game was thrown together at the last moment but clearly Ken's printed battlemat makes a huge difference to the visual impact. I decided to splash out.
I've gone with Geek Villain's fleece mats. As Jonathan of Wargaming Recon has pointed out in the past, the texture is lovely; they'd make a very comfortable throw for your bed or sofa!
I decided on two 6'x4' mats, "Grass" and "Rocky Grass". These have the advantage of being the same underlying pattern so I can combine them if I ever need a 12'x6' playing area. Alternatively they'll do nicely for the two-tables-side-by-side approach planned for my Attack on the Northern Hills game.
At the moment our kitchen table spends most of the day being used as a workbench for the Baroness' traditional upholstery (an Edwardian sofa won't fit in her workshop) but I did manage to get in a quick photo session with the "Grass" mat. It shows varied greens with scattered grey rocky areas.
And when I place a few hills on top...
Despite the hill modules having been built, painted and flocked at various times and with various recipes of ground cover, I'm quite pleased with how they blend in.
And here is the "Rocky Grass" mat.
I paid £130 for the two battlemats and on the whole I think they represent value for money. I see no reason why they shouldn't last for ages and they potentially free up storage space that's currently being occupied by six 2'x2' chipboard tiles.
