They say that "necessity is the mother of invention" and this has always been true for me. I ended up designing a complete set of 1/2400 decals for GHQ Aircraft Carriers because no one produced them. This week I tackled another project that has been bugging me for many years and I'm excited about the outcome!
I've always struggled with convincing terrain. I have a love/hate relationship with GHQ Terrain Maker because they are not symmetrical and I'm tired of huge gaps... I finally gave up on them a couple of weeks ago. I figured Terrain Mats are my next best option because I just don't want to store a lot of custom made terrain. A few years ago, I ordered 2 mats from a well-known Wargame Mat producer and his service was absolutely terrible; after several months of promises and waiting ("they are shipping tomorrow") I finally asked for and received a refund. Not wanting to take that route again, I decided to try making my own.
Here are the results. I have terrible lighting in my den so excuse the grainy photos... I hope to have better photos in the near future. Each Mat has a light hex pattern overlay and are actually quite detailed. I'm very happy with the outcome and am planning to start on a slightly bigger design. These are about 3.5 ft x 5 ft.
Let me know what you think!
Grass Mat:
Ocean Mat:
City w/Rails:
They turned out very nice. Love the clean hexes and realistic terrain.
ReplyDeleteThis shows real promise - especially the ability to create some pre-set features on the mat, like the railroad track. If you're not restrained by large minimum production quantities, you could even offer this with a high degree of customization based on customer wishes. A costal mat could also be interesting to include in the basic range.
ReplyDeleteThere are a lot of possibilities for sure and a coastal mat would be great!
DeleteI agree. I love Terrain Maker's versatility, but I hate the poor quality of the actual material and its wide variations in size.
ReplyDeleteGreat looking mats! Are you considering the venture into customer sales? I could sure use a night bombing air campaign mat!?!?
ReplyDeleteThe Terrain Maker tiles can be "trued" with a bit of work and a little help. I have a template laying around that my father made for me a number of years ago that I have for the exact purpose. Here is a rather old post on the GHQ Forum that shows the results: http://www.ghqmodels.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1226&view=previous&sid=04c6dbfb10dc6e7376641beba7d9eb9b
I am considering making these available for sale at some point :) What did you have in mind for a night bombing mat? Any examples?
DeleteYour Terrain Maker looks really good David, thanks for sharing! You bring up a valid point that the hexes can certainly be fixed... but I just don't think I have the patience to do that. It would be much better if the product didn't have the flaws in the first place :)
Thanks for the kind remarks. I am just now getting back into a bit of micro armour. I cut my miniatures wargaming teeth on them back in the early 90's. :-) I have yet to decide on TM tiles or a mat for a gaming surface though. I have time, as I have to buy and paint some game-able formations first.
DeleteFor a night mat, you could go two ways: strategic or operational. Either design having a color scheme much similar to GMT Games' "Bomber Command". See a pic here: http://www.airbattle.co.uk/bombercommand.html
Strategic: Perhaps a greater contrast between the water and the land by having a brighter, highlighted edge (on the land) that shadows inward.
Operational: Parceled across the land could be reservoirs, lakes, and rivers. Same highlighted edge effect. A burning target city that consumes 7-10 hexes depending on hex size and proximity to a major river. The city could be aflame with red, orange, yellow, and white coloration and roadways breaking up the city into blocks. Last, but not least, the city should have a few speckled clusters of target marking flares "falling to earth". Green, yellow, and red are the total of options for the flares. Green would probably contrast best with the burning city.
I prefer mats myself. I use chessex hex mats 1".
ReplyDeleteWhat size hexes are your mats ?
I like the road printed on your mat. I use color markers for roads and trees.
Nepty
Great work! I like the naval one most; and the concept of the rails in the city terrain just screams Stalingrad!
ReplyDelete