Deep and Crisp and Even

Chest number... what day is it today? The twelfth? Okay, number twelve!

So this post (and tomorrow's, oops, spoilers) are about things I have Kickstarted this year. I guess they strictly belong in some kind of New Year post? Meh, what can you do. 

I shall, next Spring, finally be proud possessor of a battlemat! A nice, neoprene 6x4, to provide a backdrop for my snowy swamps. The internet is full of very good battlemats at the moment, and the only thing holding me back has been that none of them precisely match my Rhinox Hide Slushy Mud terrain pieces. 

Like this, but with all the grass dead. And the river frozen. And patches of melting snow. And more swamps. So, not really like this at all. 

Making my own on modular boards has always been the dream. I used to have four 40K boards made with polystyrene ceiling tiles. They were painted ash waste grey with orange toxic spills. Looked very average, plus the chipboard got curly with the wet glue and the tiles were not very durable. I chucked them away in a move years ago and never missed them. 

And then, of course, someone hit me with a company name too dear to my heart to resist. 

You had me at 'Fill in your debit card details'

What lovely looking artwork their mats have. The Kickstarter is closed now, but the webstore will be taking preorders in the near future. General Stylus got lured in by my tales of the pretty mats - they're made to look like modelled terrain. I think they actually build the boards, then take photos, photoshop shadows in as needed and scan them on to the mouse mat material.

All I have left to do is decide on the final pattern. The River Valley above is a temptation, but really not snowy enough. There's a chance they might do a frozen version, though, I asked them on the Kickstarter Forum and they said there's a chance, so we'll see. 

My daughter, who is just as likely to get to play with it as me (possibly more so), likes this one. So do I, it's a great bit of jungle. Totally incompatible with my terrain, though, so no dice. 

Here's the frontrunner at the moment - perfect for Frostgrave, plus a ruined city look will work with splodgy great blobs of brown earth poking through, I reckon. I know it's not a perfect match, but it should still look good!

You can find the Kickstarter details here. Which mat do you think I should go with?