Arrival of the Zuzzy mat

I stated a while back that I had ordered a Zuzzy mat off of zuzzy.com, and thankfully it had just arrived yesterday.

It wasn't what I was expecting at all when I took it out of the package. The rubber is extremely flexible and thin, only ~1mm thick if you don't count the terrain. The mat was easily able to be folded and moved with ease, there was almost no resistance at all, more like cloth then rubber, so that was rather shocking to me to find. This ease of movement also irritated me slightly when I tried to put it back on the cardboard tube it came with and it kept folding up as I rolled it or it would slide unevenly making we redo everything. Like I said, much more like cloth then a rubber mat like I was expecting.

Detailing looks decent on the mat, the fallen trees are easy to see, and the areas of different textures are very clear and should be no problem to paint. The topside textures were in the mold itself when the mat was created, as the backside is still flat. I only figured the backside would show the textures being pushed through since I was expecting thicker rubber then what came. Overall, the forest mat looks decent, and should look even better once I actually get to painting it.

When the mat is rolled up, it does take up an amazingly small amount of vertical space, only ~4'x4" total, so easily storeable in closets, car trunks, under beds, ect. Because the rubber is so limp, you will need a hard playing surface still to play on otherwise the mat with hang over the sides limply. If you have a table that matches the dimensions of your mat, it should work perfectly. In that regard the space requirements for playing is more or less the same as if you decided to use the Games-Workshop Citadel Realm of Battle Board, since both will require a dedicated playing space. The Zuzzy mat however is much light and easier to transport then the GW board.

With it being winter and all, I have not been able to actually see what the mat is capable of handling in terms of heat. I'll find out eventually when I take it out this Spring and Summer to play WarmaHordes at the park with the wife. Also, will have to update later as to how well the paint handles being rolled and unrolled multiple times. I do plan to use mostly GW washes and paints, so those are 'preferred', but we'll see just how it holds up.