Thursday Query - Gaming Surfaces

All tabletop gamers need to have something to play on, and the choice can certainly be broad in both use and availability. Some people use GW's Realm of Battle board, others simply throw down a  thing of silk, other still will go out and make fully 3D module terrain kits.

For my I tend to use my Zuzzy mat for any wargames that involve landscape combat. I like the overall quality it has, I can play with it on the ground without worries of branches and whatnot getting stuck in it like silk, but at the same time the Zuzzy mat can roll up extremely small and be tucked away in a much smaller area then a GW Realm of Battle board. There is a flip side the Zuzzy mat shares with the silk surface, and that's firmness. Both the Silk and Zuzzy mats require you to have a hard surface under them, else they'll warp or fall lifelessly off the side of the table. I actually went out and got myself two by two MDF boards cut that I could lay down on the table for the Zuzzy mat, but of course now I have these boards that take up almost as much room as the GW Realm of Battle board.

Firestorm Armada actually has a cloth playing field my wife sewed together, so it came out looking like a decent star field to play any spaceship based combat game on really. It only cost about $5 to make, so even if it falls apart through play, it isn't expensive to recreate. The other nice thing about the cloth playing field is the fact that should something spill on it, we can simply throw it into the laundry and call it good for the next game, something that can't be done with the other options. The cloth playing field though shares the same negative as silk and the Zuzzy mat, and it needs decent support, else it will be and flex to whats under it.


Some folks, who are far more talented than myself, can also make their own gaming tables. These tables tend to be fairly cheap over all and can come in an amazing variety. Ultimately the biggest cons with the table however is the storage of the table. These are still tables, no matter if you attach it to the roof to be lowered, or make it capable of being torn apart. There is going to need some decent sized area to store it at if it isn't in use (unless you are incredibly talented and made a gaming table that can be easily converted into a dining table.

So for this Thursday I want to know: What do you use to game on?