Tiny Wargames game mat? - Darwin Harbour on a budget? Do you trust online reviews ? I need a better title!

G3M "Nell" bombers down under*

I've been running some Blood Red Skies events locally. Theyre going well, however I have a problem - game mats. I have a couple of neoprene mats from Deep Cut Studios. These are pretty much the gold standard in gaming mats however there are issues, namely cost and weight.  

Cost - they're not cheap - as a back of an envelope calculation a 6x4 Deep Cut Neoprene mat is about £70-£80 plus you need a carrying case and by the time you factor in postage you don't get much change from a ton. Ok this may seem a lot but you are paying for the quality, and you see it in the product. I would have no hesitation recommending Deepcut mats to individual players - if you can afford it, go for it.

The problem is, if you are an organiser and want to run six tables worth of Blood Red Skies, you need (or would like ) six mats. I've gotten by so far by using what I have, and asking participants to bring theirs if they have them - and it has worked, but there are several problems with that including who is responsible should something untoward happen. 

The other problem is weight - and it's a big one. Carrying one mat in a tube \ case is ok. Theyre not that heavy, but can be noticeable. Adding a second and then carrying your box of rules and models quickly becomes a problem.

So I am looking for a solution. Needs to be cheap, portable and lightweight. Step forward Tiny Wargames and their "Cloth lite" range. 

Cards on the table I had heard some bad things about Tiny Wargames. Online comments and complaints about slow service, excuses for non delivery, poor customer service etc. A quick search suggested some customers were unhappy with them, but on the other hand there are some very positive reviews and the price seemed good at £30 so before my last event I ordered one. The mat in question was an aerial view of Darwin Harbour which was interesting because I was \ am planning to play some games based on the Japanese attacks there at some time. The stated delivery date would get it to me with a few days to spare. 

It didn't arrive........at all

So I contacted them and they said it had been returned by the courier as "too large" which sounded weird. Anyway they agreed to dispatch again that day, but then waited three days (ok it was a weekend but at this point as far as I am concerned these are snake oil salesmen so...). This seemed to confirm my worse suspicions and sounded horribly like some of the complaints I had heard - bad service and strange excuses. 

The mat finally arrived a month after the original order date. It was packaged well in a sturdy box. When I opened it I discovered the mat had a hex overlay which was not mentioned on the sale site (Etsy). I contacted them and they said they only had that map with hexes - err not according to your own website! 

And at this point I was pretty much ready to do the whole online rant thing - I'm not an influencer, about a dozen people read my blog on a good day, but damn they were going to get both barrels before I demanded a refund! 

Thing is, I had a look at the mat again. OK yes there are hexes, which initially boiled my blood, but actually they're very subdued, and they sort of merged into the background when the mat was in use. Err, ok, not perfect, but not as much a problem as I first envisioned. 

The printing is err - well, good. The image is crisp and colours are vivid. I think it looks rather good.

The "Cloth Lite" material isn't cloth as I would describe it - it's a very thin plastic (Nylon?)  material that feels a bit strange. Sort of like a thin shower curtain but not PVC. It arrived creased from transport but a small note included said this can be ironed out with a warm (not hot!) iron on the reverse of the mat, and I can report that on the whole it does. In use it looks like the material is ok. Clearly it will cut easily with any sort of blade, but I don't think it will actually tear in normal use without you deliberately trying to do it. 

I was predisposed to dislike this but I have to admit the mat is not bad at all.

And it weighs almost nothing. It also seems to be very easy to transport. In a bit of a mood and determined to "stress test" the damned thing I actually just roughly folded \ rolled it and chucked it in the car passenger seat, and when I got home it laid flat and was no worse for wear.

Aggressive stress testing

Err I think I like it. I'm tempted to buy a couple more for when I'm running events. Thing is, should I risk it with the issues with the seller, and are these issues real or just bad luck? You can get a bad review for almost no reason nowadays, and couriers are not always great. Then again the theme running through the bad reviews was pretty similar - delays and excuses for delays. As a small business owner myself I can understand why it is tempting to overpromise (if that is what is causing the complaints) and be defensive when criticised, and at the end of the day, the mat certainly ticks pretty much all the boxes as a product.

I drink in a very niche pub called The Rat Race Ale House (which anyone visiting Hartlepool should drop by). The owner \ publican (Hi Pete) is possibly one of the rudest men you will ever meet IF you ask him the wrong question, such as "do you sell lager? or "I don't want a drink but can I use your toilet?". How he ended up in the "hospitality" business is a mystery as he openly admits to not liking people very much.  The thing is, he invariably sells excellent beer. In thirteen years (something like that) of using his services I've never had a complaint about the beer. If you look up the reviews you will see the majority of the reviews are 4 and 5 stars but some 1 star reviews, and the 1 stars are always the same - check it out for yourself here if only for a laugh Trip Advisor . I still go back because the product (beer) is what I'm there for - and to be honest the great atmosphere and occasional pantomime when some unwary soul wanders in looking for lager or to use the toilet. 

note the "No Lager" sign

So yes I think I will roll the dice and order again - not the same one, but another suitable for BRS. I'll risk the delay and other issues because the end product is (I hope) worth the hassle. I'll let you know how it goes. And if Tiny Wargames want to sponsor my next that would be most welcome :-)

Cheers 

* Models 3d prints from Planeprinter painted by the redoubtable Andy Parkes. Andy does a really crisp paint job and on occasion can be tempted to paint on commission - message me for details