Most of the games I run don't use battle boards. If I use a map in a game it's more likely to be a Google map than a dungeon map. But with my newfound enthusiasm for Dragonbane, plus my increasing confidence with Pathfinder 2e, battle boards are suddenly a thing I need to look at. So after some exhaustive research, here's my thoughts on what's out there.
Chessex Megamat
The gold standard in battle boards. We've got one at home and I can't even tell you how old it is. The friend whose house we game at keeps his permanently on the gaming table. These things are great, and basically last forever. They're also some of the biggest battle boards around. No fear of running out of space on these things. They won't mind if you spill food on them, and so long as you stick to black and blue markers and stay away from pink and red, they're easy to clean up.
There's only two reasons you'd ever want to use anything else: appearance, and portability. They're functional but not very pretty, and I will outline some more decorative options further down. And being so big, they're not easy to transport. Ours is 34"/86cm long when rolled up, and that's not a good size if you need to take it on a bicycle, or carry it on public transport. So I'll also look at some more portable options.
Loke Book of Battle Mats
If the Chessex mat isn't pretty enough, take a look at the next biggest name in battle boards: Loke. When we want a bit of generic scenery like a forest or a castle ruin but can't be bothered with drawing it all on the megamat, the Giant Book of Battle Mats gets pulled out, we select a suitable page, and off we go. Add a set of static clings, and we have some really pretty battle boards for very little effort. It can get a bit eccentric at time (we have the cyberpunk book, but no static clings, meaning that in our cyberpunk games, it's very fashionable to have a desk in the shape of a horse) but it's really added something to our gaming sessions. While not as massive as the Megamat, when using the double spreads they're a respectable 17x24 grid, and of course if you own more than one you can put them together.
The downside is that they are generic, and if we're running a specific dungeon with a map we're still going to have to break out the markers. The giant books also aren't very portable, being A3 size. The A4 Big Books are far more portable, being a similar size to a typical game book and therefore easy to put in a bag, but then you only get an 12x16 grid.
Surely there must be options that balance portability with space?
Loke Battle Map Board
As well as the books, Loke also offer the same type of board you get in a lot of board games. Heavy cardstock, laminated, 24" by 24" and foldable into four so only 12" square for transport. It lies flat and comes in two designs - plain squares/hexes, and decorated grass/stone. It looks pretty great, and while the patterned version didn't grab me as the design looks a bit too dark for drawing on, the plain version did appeal. Until I realised it wouldn't fit in the bag. 12" square is still a fair bit bigger that a standard RPG hardback.
D&D Adventure Grid
This official D&D battle board was a bit of a surprise. Like the Loke board it's a folding board game type board, except this one folds into six. Folded, it's the same size as a hardback, meaning that unfolded it's going to be around 20x24. It also offers a grass side and a stone side, although the textures are much lighter and easier to draw on. In overall quality it doesn't look as good as Loke, and I own enough 6-fold board games to know it's not going to do as well at lying flat, but you can get it remarkably cheap from some sellers if you're prepared to wait so maybe a good option if you're on a budget.
Pathfinder Flip-mats
Where you find Wizards of the Coast, you of course find Paizo. Their offering to the battle board space is flip mats. There's a bunch of these. Basic is your regular squared board in two shades of beige. There's also a basic terrain version offering water in addition to the usual grass, stone and different stone. These are foldable, because as far as I can tell they're laminated card stock. This does make them less durable than some options, and getting them to lie flat is going to be more of a challenge. But like the D&D board, they fold down to the size of a hardback, and unfold to an impressive 24x30 - or if you can find the Enormous Basic model, 30x46, up there in Megamat territory.
The real reason to buy flip-mats though, is that they make custom ones for specific adventures, thus saving you a lot of drawing. If you're running a specific Pathfinder adventure with a matching flip-mat, it might be worth picking up. But I'm not convinced laminated card stock is a sufficiently durable option for long term use.
Random Laminate
And talking of laminated card stock, there's quite a lot of those on Amazon.
This one from Enhance looks like one of the better options, and also comes with pens, an eraser and a carrying case, but I'm not convinced it lies as flat as their video makes it look. And of course we're back into rolled territory. At 24" it's an easier carry than my 34" Megamat, but at that point you might just as well buy Chessex's smaller 26x24 mat and have all the benefits of durable vinyl.
This one from Tidyboss offers straightening clips to fit along the edge of the mat to hold it flat, which is a nice touch, not least because they acknowledge the tendency of laminate to roll. It includes three 24x36 double sided maps with different terrains, and also includes pens, an eraser, a carrying tube and a set of dice. I actually think it looks pretty cool, and it's nice they thought about the lie flat problem, but somehow I just don't trust the durability, and the video reviews I've seen of this style of map definitely look like sliding those clips on is going to fray the corners. I'd actually consider these for the terrains, given how nice they look, but they're pretty pricy and a couple of Loke giant books will give you a lot more terrain for your money.
There are a few others out there, but ultimately the idea of having to deal with maps that might suddenly curl up, flinging miniatures in all directions, wasn't appealing. Also they have extremely shiny surfaces that leads me to suspect my dry-erase markers might end up getting erased a bit quicker than intended.
Melee Mats
This company seem to be trying to do it all. They've got a PVC rollable map in two sizes that looks a lot like the Chessex Megamat. They've got a folding board that reminds me of the D&D adventure grid. They've got laminated paper like the various Amazon offerings. And most interestingly they've got this box set of reversible boards which also comes with a set of static clings, and where the box itself doubles up as terrain so you can use it as a hill or a castle.
The main reason not to buy these is that if you're outside America, the prices are completely nuts. Probably not worth it unless they sort out some kind of European distribution or you can pick it up while on holiday.
Ergon Games Battle Mat
And finally, the one I actually bought. This silicone game map seemed to check all the boxes. Foldable, but without the issue of creases and bits standing up like the card stock boards. A good size at 24x36. It looked like I'd be able to fold it up, put it in the bag, and unfold it and have it immediately lie flat at the venue. And also I'd be able to draw a map in advance and having it survive the journey, and clean it off when I wanted to. Most importantly, it would arrive in super quick time.
And all of this was true. It folds, lies flat instantly, and doesn't smudge. It feels durable - nothing here to delaminate. The rubbery surface has a bit of grip which stops the miniatures sliding around. The only advertised feature that it doesn't do well is the ability to draw two different maps on each side. While this is technically possible, since one side is a hex grid, you generally won't be able to draw maps for the same game (unless it's something that combines a hex crawl with square grid combat), and also it's kind of transparent, so you can see the map on one side from the other side.
Interestingly, they also do a frosted transparent mat with no grid, intended for putting over printed maps. If you're printing out digital maps, this might be a good purchase for keeping them in place. Maybe it would also work to flatten down those Pathfinder flip-mats and keep them pristine? Something I'll consider for future gaming.
Conclusion
While a combination of the Chessex Megamat and Loke Giant Books is almost certainly the best option for a battle board that never leaves your house, if you're looking for a portable battle mat, the Ergon Games silicone mat is genuinely as good as it claims.
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