Battle mat

[Oppenheimer]

Has everyone seen that be Khorne battle mat that is coming out? What does everyone think?

I, for one think it's hideous. I'm so disappointed. I really wanted a good battle mat. But what the is going on with that one? Blue land, giant Khorne symbol. Even the scenery and models they put in the combo pack with it look terrible on it.

[TerrorPenguin]

Yep, it looks hideous.

Also is it 4x4? What's that about?

[Darth Alec]

I think it's cool. It's not generic, certainly. It is very, very AoS-high fantasy. Definitely a weakness for its overall appeal. But if you buy into the AoS-aesthetic, it's dramatic and interesting. The dreadfort terrain is going to look amazing on it.

 

4x4 is... Not ideal. I'm guessing GW made the 40k 4x4 for kill team (or because whoever made this mostly plays smaller games), then made a AoS one in the same size because they could. We'll likely see 6x4 next year once someone at GW goes "wait... don't most people who'd want this play on 6x4 tables?".

[MiniJunkie]

I gather most games of AoS are on bigger areas?

[polarbear]

I'm very glad GW is making them and I look forward to seeing more. This particular one is too busy for me. I don't like mats that take the eye away from the models.

[CoffeeGrunt]

Yeah I tend to prefer subtle ones that allow for terrain and miniatures to be more prominent.

[James McPherson]

its the type of printer, either you get dull faded or bright, they went for bright , its a 4x4 for kids to play on, seems fine to me

[Tronhammer NZ]

Just had a 1k event this weekend. We had three 4x4 mats there, could do with some more.

[Thostos]

1 hour ago, Tronhammer NZ said:

Just had a 1k event this weekend. We had three 4x4 mats there, could do with some more.

 Indeed,running 1k events is nice if all the mats are 4x4.Laying a board or whatever across a 4x6 mat is easy enough but sometimes annoying if it gets bumped.
  Im sure GW is still very much targeting new players to the game as has been the plan from the outset of AoS,the 4x4 mat is certainly more suited to new players with smaller armies.Plus they already redid the old Battleboard for veteran gamers and that of course is 4x6.

 

[MightyQwan]

For $200 Canadian I can get a 6x4 fat mat and anot imperial bastion. so why not get that instead.

[WSDdeloach]

#frontlinegaming #fatmat 

... I'm a sell out hahah

[Darth Alec]

11 hours ago, MiniJunkie said:

I gather most games of AoS are on bigger areas?

The "points standard" is 2000 points, which really needs to be played on 6x4 tables. You'll also see that both the realm of battle and shattered dominion boards are 6x4. And nearly every official battleplan suggests using 6x4 tables. So yeah, it's the standard. By no means necessary, as 4x4 is better for smaller games, but it's easier to use 4x4 of a 6x4 table than finding an additional 2x4 piece for your 4x4 mat.

[Soulsmith]

Yeah,. it's way too garish and works with no terrain other than the dreadfort really.

[bottle]

I have my grassy meadows one from gamemat.eu already which I love (and also the Tri-City one for Necromunda).

I think it's great that GW are getting into these mats (I thought they should have done a long time ago), but they are way too busy.

[Darth Alec]

To be honest, I don't like grassy plains mats for AoS. It just gives me that 8th ed feeling. Not what I want for my AoS games. Lava mats or more exotic ones feel more Sigmaresque to me.

 

But then again, I haven't actually used a Khorne Dominion mat, so I have no idea what it really feels like.

[Lucio]

The Khorne Dominion mat is an odd colour choice, it clashes with both the general Shattered Dominons vibe, and the common colouring choices of the miniatures. Overall design is better suited to hanging on a wall rather than as a battlefield

[wayniac]

FWIW the General's Handbook states that a "Vanguard" (1000 point) game is best suited to a 4x4 board, but anything higher wants 6x4.  Personally, I hope it encourages smaller more themed games; I have always felt (for 40k as well) that a lot can be done at the 1000 and 1250 point level on a 4x4 table with reduced list building restrictions, a good amount of terrain and a bit of a narrative thrown about.  

[Wraith01]

I think it looks cool.

 

[Spiky Norman]

I really like that we have another major player dealing with battlemats, but I must admit that I think GWs initial play into this marked is pretty weak. Both the 40k and the Khorne mat has graphics that's too bright and specific, which leads the mat with very little flexibility in terms of building a setting for the mat with matching terrain etc. Also as has already been mentioned, the colours are too bright and vivid which makes the mat overshine the models, making it less than ideal to play on.

Hopefully GW will continue to produce some more, and hopefully more toned down, mats. Although the marked is already full of good looking maps, I am not sure what they can bring to the marked apart from trademarked icons/graphics. Maybe if they were smart, they could do tie-ins with their released boardgames and big minis releases, so we could have had a forested mat alongside the Sylvaneth release, and a dusty plains mat alongside Ironjawz/Bonesplitterz.

[MacDuff]

I'd personally like a mat version at 6x4 of their new plastic board, but that would cut into sales. Instead, GW might want to consider flat-graphic versions of concepts like the Arcanabulum gears, blood geysers, and rubbled stonework that provides a foundation for arcane ruins, Realmgates, the Numinous Occulum, and even consider the vegetation around a Wildwood. Then, to give us a visualization of the different Realms, work those concepts into a land of fire, metal, mist, light, etc., etc. IMHO those are the franchise-defining mats they want to make.

[RuneBrush]

GW already produce a 6x4 gaming top - the Realm of Battle Boards...  One thing I'm curious about though is how many people can actually use one of these at home?  I use a RoB set because it's rigid enough to overhang by 4~6" all the way round on my dining table.

[Zitroni]

Are there different 2x2 mats out there with the same theme which can be lay down like the 6 Shattered Dominion 2x2 tiles? Would that be a good idea?

[Coldhatred]

I don't care for it too much, and this is coming from a Bloodbound player.  It's just . . . too much, I suppose.  I don't know how to properly describe it, but it seems too specific.

[fartsocks]

7 hours ago, RuneBrush said:

GW already produce a 6x4 gaming top - the Realm of Battle Boards...  One thing I'm curious about though is how many people can actually use one of these at home?  I use a RoB set because it's rigid enough to overhang by 4~6" all the way round on my dining table.

You can combine a soft mat with a sheet or 2 of mdf on top of your dining table.

[MightyQwan]

8 minutes ago, fartsocks said:

You can combine a soft mat with a sheet or 2 of mdf on top of your dining table.

This is what I do. 20 bucks got me an 8x2 sheet of 1 inch blue insulation foam and a 4x8 sheet of 0.5 inch MDF that the store cut into 4 4x2 pieces. Glued the foam to the MDF now I have an easily storable 8x4 board on which I put a fat mat. cheaper than buying direct from GW and my mat can be used for other games.