Table mat?

Ah yes, there it is. Thanks for that.

I love the pastel style of the art. I bought a large piece of felt for my own mat, but can't wait for the professionally produced one!

williambarkerVC wrote:Ah yes, there it is. Thanks for that.

I love the pastel style of the art. I bought a large piece of felt for my own mat, but can't wait for the professionally produced one!

Agreed!

It looks pretty nice, from what you can make out of it. It may sound odd, but I think the matt, along with at least one more set of minis will make a pretty big difference toward getting the ball rolling on this game here where I'm at. I like the game, but I'm most definately in this one for the miniatures part of the game. That's what has me hooked in to this one.

williambarkerVC wrote:I love the pastel style of the art.

The painting was originally made for a boardgame by Grefgory Alegi and me for the Italian Air Force Ministry. When I proposed to re-use it for thye background of the cards, I have been told that it would be totally out of style compared with the neat computer drawings of the airplanes by Auletta. But I am still convinced that, on the opposite, it gives a nice "far above the ground" effect with the landscape that's quiteblurry in the distance...

I have made an couple of diffrent "aerial maps" for some other games and the thing they were always missing was distance "washout" the colors where always too strong,

not pastel enough (me=sorta dense sometimes) as soon as I seen the art on your cards I realized what went wrong with my efforts (the disconnect was previously unclear to me) and I must say I am really happy nexus will be produceing this map.

seriously plan on buying two...(repeat myself in my old age....)

Yes, the distance effect.

Dawn Patrol, the old TSR game, had a nice map. I think it was actually Snoopy's aerodrome, but it was more to the gouache/pastel side than realistic, and I loved it!

Haven't found a copy of Dawn Patrol since I stupidly ebayed mine, but I did pick up an unpunched Fight in the Skies from 1975 a couple of years ago. The only real difference? The gorgeous map!

So please, hurry up with that aerial map FFG.

Please !

Yes I have Dawn Patrol. Very nice map. But the one I liked most was in the boxed set of Aces High (by WWW). Something like the picture of a diorama, with tiny AA guns in the middle of the vegetation... great!

Here you have Dario's drawing in the original use:
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/34566
A secton... my scanner is very little.

Very nice, thanks for that link!

Until the FFG map mat comes out, I will airbrush my felt, using that as inspiration.

Hey, speaking of the Italian front - where are the BrisFits?

In fact, William Barker even flew them for a bit. Now there's an awesome fighter!

hgraves wrote:I do line up all the dice near the stove occasionally and make them watch whilst i melt the latest worst offender in an utility pot.

I get good rolls for about an month after that... then well they forget...

not that cards seem to be nicer to me lately...

The cool thing about cards being bad to you is that you can stick one or two in a kids bicycle spokes, and the rest will straighten right up for you!

And while you turn the bike's wheel you get a nice engine noise to give chrome to your WoW games!

Angiolillo wrote:And while you turn the bike's wheel you get a nice engine noise to give chrome to your WoW games!

LOL!!

I hadn't thought of that, but yeah that'll work as well!

Try these for an alternative mat. They look great. I have just ordered one and will post to confirm quality etc.
http://www.terrainmat.com/index.html

Mike -

I'd love to hear a review and see pics of your mat. I saw the TerrainMat stuff on the web, but haven't heard from anyone who actually owns their WWI trench map. I think it's one of the more realistic looking aerial mats out there, so if you'd be kind enough to share some pics and thoughts about the mat, I'd really appreciate it.

Thanks.

Arrrrrg, the waiting will kill me.............. me want cool mat NOW!!!! It looks really good and I will be buying one for sure. A flip side with a winter look would be nice too or a water/shore scene.

Yea, put me down for a mat when it is available also!

Wow

that "Terrain mat" is fantastic, but gosh! But are they expensive or what! Just over US$100 for a 6'x4' and by the looks worth every penny as a lifetime investment goes. I know the 4'x4' is more to the required game size and affordable but I think larger would be more versatile for other gaming and of course for larger games. If only I could justify the 12' x 6'............, "Dream on McDuff".

MAP! That would be awesome. Sign me up too - how do I get on the waiting list?

Not sure how far along this idea is, but it would be sweet to have a nice quality print of the background to play on. I have a lovely wooden table that has not been used for anything other than WoW for the past few weeks, and while the grain (maple I beleive) is quite nice, it strikes me as a bit of an alien backdrop for my 1/144 minis.

Would love to see this available as a nice rolled poster - that way I can take it over the local framing store and ge them to PLAK-IT for me...

Any word if the map will be on vinyl or is going to be a paper map? Also any idea on release date?

Iron Horseman wrote:Mike -

I'd love to hear a review and see pics of your mat. I saw the TerrainMat stuff on the web, but haven't heard from anyone who actually owns their WWI trench map. I think it's one of the more realistic looking aerial mats out there, so if you'd be kind enough to share some pics and thoughts about the mat, I'd really appreciate it.

Thanks.

I now have the mat. If I am honest my feelings are mixed. On the plus side it looks superb. The 1st games played over it look marvellous. It certainly adds to the "feel" of the game. I will take some pictures and try to upload them. [I am a techno-numpty so this may take some doing!!] The negative side is that it feels a bit flimsy for the money. Roger Wilco has already expressed concern over the price. I think I will need to somehow fasten it to a board to give it longevity. In itself that doesn't worry me but it feels a bit excessive given the cost.

Would I recommend it? Probably yes; but only if the cost doesn't take your breath away too much and you have the ability to store or protect it well.

Well I just bought one of there-

http://www.hotzmats.com/mat_1-euro_field.html

SJE

Thanks Mike - appreciate the thoughts.

If you can take the pics, you can always send them to me and I can post them and link to them if you're not sure how. Let me know if you'd like to do that, and I can send you my email.

Thanks again for your thoughts, pics would be great.

If only they would print a bigger picture of it, then you could copy it print it out yourself for free..

(Well ....for the extortionate prce of a color ink cartridge anyway...)

In April I said I would post some pictures of the terrain mat I have purchased. What do you think? It isn't glossy, I don't know what the camera was picking up.

Hi "Mike White", thanks for the pictures and the honesty about the product. I have a couple of questions about the product though as I "was" thinking about getting one myself but the pictures you have supplied have seeded doubts about the product and also the fact that you said your feelings are mixed.

What size did you buy and if it is 4' x 4' is it big enough to play on.

How was the item packed when it was mailed to you. If it was folded did it do any permanent damage to the mat.

OK besides the price issue, do you think the item you got is as good as what you saw on the web site.

I can't see it on the pictures but is the road detail outside the trench area present like on the one on their site.

What do you think the item is made from for example. A linen sheet with a layer of urethane rubber applied and sculpted on it etc.

Is there any or much 3D detail on the sheet. I think they said there were some ruined buildings on it, if so does/ would it affect or enhance gaming with the thought of game stands. And keeping in mind that after market stands are not recessed underneath, would it have an adverse effect on these in play.

How easy is it to play the game on the mat, in that the surface being rubberized do cards stick or no longer slide around easily under the stands so making game play more difficult or does this not become an issue.

Thanks
TD

What a lot of questions!! Here goes:-
I bought 4x4 and it is plenty big enough to play on.
It was sent rolled in a tube so no damage.
Probably not quite as good as I imagined from the website.
There is road detail but quite faint [you can just see the whitish lines on my photos].
The material is a thin sheet of the sort of porous material used to put down under gravel etc in a garden, so quite flimsy. Hence the reason why I have stuck it permanently to a board.
No 3D detail at all. The surface is simple modelling flock glued on. Any detail is painted on or in a diferent coloured flock. It doesn't affect play at all.
Gaming on it is easy and good. The flocked surface is slightly rough so the plastic bases for the planes don't slip about as much as on most surfaces which I find makes pulling the shorter move cards from under the planes easier!

In all ..... do I recommend it? Well it is much more flimsy than I expected. The simple stuck-on-flock construction makes the price feel a little bit of a rip-off and I could certainly have made something similar by flocking a board myself BUT it would have taken me more time than I would want and so in all I don't really regret it. I would say it is worth buying but only if your disposable income is enough that you can spend that sort of money in full knowledge of my perceeived down-sides of the product.

I hope that helps.

Wow, I was wondering what the price was, and saw R_W's post on page three...100 smackers!?!

The mat looks good though, and I don't know how much that particular mat was, but $100 is pretty steep for a mat.

R_W, you have an awesome mat, you ought to go into business for yourself!