⚔ Battle of the Battlemats! ⚔ Which RPG Battlemat is Best? 

WARNING: Dry-wipe markers must be wiped off soon after being drawn on, otherwise their marks bond to the mat, and become very difficult to shift.

I use a big sheet of vinyl over top of holiday wrapping paper that comes with a grid printed on the back. It's super cheap!

Yep, I've had my Chessex Battlemat for 23 years (MEGAMAT Stock No 97147 - 1989). It is absolutely amazing and well worth the minimal investment. Unfortunately, my mat is only one-sided, no hex. Instead of Wet Erase, I have been using Crayola Washable Markers to draw on my mat. I've left drawings on my mat for days and the Crayolas always wash right off. Great topic, well done!

Tip for anyone with stuck on dry erase marks- I've found that if I just trace back over the old marks with fresh dry erase marker, it loosens the old ink and allows me to wipe it away.

I own the fat zebra battle mats , to get it to lay flat just roll it up in reverse and store like that for a couple days then lay on table and its flat as . For storage after that i hang them up using a pants hanger ( ya know to hang you ironed pants , the ones that have the clamp to hold the pants. I only DM at home on my table.) Other than that initial flaw i love these mats. To erase long left on drawings , all you need to do is draw over it again with the dry erase marker and then it wipes off as normal. I use my home made 3d terrain on these mats , makes for a great game ( i craft using xps or insulation foam )

for my battle mats I use brown paper roll I buy from the supermarket and then I draw a 1" grid on it. After that I covered it in clear book covering (duraseal here in NZ) - it is really good. I have made it as wide as my table as long.... (8 seater table) and it has withstood very many adventures.

I found the crayola ultra washable markers to be super easy to clean off my chessex battlemat, the thicker kind work best and the ink doesn't pool as much. Also, better range of colours.

After watching this video I was finally able to decide what battlemat I wanted at first I thought about the zebra combined pack for $50 but after watching this I was convinced that the Chessex megamat was the right choice thank you WASD20

I'm surprised you didn't look at one other possibility: Making your own battlemat in a program like MS Paint and having a printing service (like Kinko's/FedEx, Officemax, Staples, etc) print it out. You can make custom maps for your worlds for the same price (Dependant on size) as a battlemap. They'll even laminate it, so you should be able to draw on it.

Great video! I was actually up last night looking at Battle mats for hours without a decision! This has helped inform me!

I use a 3 foot x 4 foot piece of plexiglass (Lowes or Home Depot) on top of a chessex mat. I put any other map (flipmap, homemade, etc) on top of the cessex if needed but still under the plexiglass. I can Wet Erase marker to my hearts content & no matter what type of material the maps are all figurines & items stay upright. Stacking levels or terrains makes it easy for adventuring - everyone lifts the plexi while I pull the top map exposing the next...

Great review as always Nate! I see you're building your gaming supplies up nicely. Very impressed!

I started out with the Pathfinder maps that you presented in this video and they did the trick just fine. My group found an old Sony Bravia HD television though which we have converted into our battle mat. I used GIMP to fog of war my digital maps but as of this past weekend have started using digital maps made by Dynamic Dungeons. I must say, if it is an option they are amazing to use!

Im so impressed with all the variety of content posted here! keep up the great work

I love the couch vinyl idea. I've been using page protector sheets on top of my chessex battlemap just because I don't like being limited to wet erase markers. This adds another layer to my mapping. Thanks!!!

Excellent video. Thank you for the reviews.

Gaming paper is my go to I gave up all mats when it came out. No worries about ink stains, no mats to wipe down and all the water and sponges. Also, you can predraw stuff days ahead of a game and it is ready for game night. Use any markers or pens you have because when you're done you just throw it in the trash or keep it for groovy wrapping paper later. Another huge benefit of gaming paper. I was tired of no one wanting to wash down the mats when I needed space so what happens? I end up having to grab the sponge and towels and wash the mat then my fingers are covered in ink and wet plus the water drippings and all the mess.

incredibly helpful and super insightful. Thank you for another great video!

Great video! At this time I'm playing and running my games online almost entirely, so I'm learning to use roll20 for my battlemat. It's great, but a huge learning curve!

Thank you for your work! very helpful and detailed

Nice video! I am pretty new and had to use things I had or spend very little and ended up using a cardboard foldable sewing mat and a clear medium weight shower curtain. Like the foldable mats the shower curtain is hard to work with the creases since it came folded, so I appreciate that you showed several options.

This is really helpful! Thanks for making it! For the last few months, I've been using a big cardboard fabric cutting board from WalMart. It's already divided into one-inch squares and is decently durable. It's not as pretty as a battlemat but, for a broke college student, you can't beat the $5 price tag! I'm surprised I haven't heard more gamers discussing it as an alternative to a traditional battlemat.

As a side note. If you do have dry erase left on for weeks. Draw over the lines with the same dry erase markers and then wipe off. No hassles.

Thats what i call a great content video, so much useful information in just one video. Thank yo u very much for another informative video.

Great Job! Very informative! Much appreciated!!!

Thanks, Nate. Well done on the video, as usual!

Magic erasers work amazingly and gets rid of the haze.

The thing I have always liked about the Pathfinder battle mat is that I can put it in my organizer, along with my entire collection of Flat Plastic Miniatures (collected in card sleeves by type) and extra character sheets

Enjoyed the very helpful breakdown of Battlemats. Well done A couple points of interest: 1) You mention the desire for a mid-sized Chessex mat. You can always purchase a full-size and cut it down to the size you want. Since they seem to last for decades, the price would be irrelevant and can be purchased when it meets your budget. The use of vinyl over the Chessex mat suggested by others for use with other markers was a great suggestion! 2) One thing you didn't mention was the protection of your mats such as during rain, sleet, or snowy conditions. Cardboard tubes do not cut-it in the long run. The Abisha comes with an expandable plastic storage tube as you mentioned which would be awesome for protecting "all" your mats. If this is too expensive for some or you don't want/need additional mats, one can consider purchasing art or architectural drawing tubes for as little as $15. Obviously length must be considered which will increase the price. These tubes are very durable and offer great weather/travel protection.

As someone in the market for more battle maps, thank you!

Another great vid. I look forward to seeing your take on 2.5D dungeon tiles (assuming you ever go that route that is), as that's what I'm doing at the moment :)

Had my chessex for almost 20 years, with no problems. Still in great shape and every once in a while I take some isopropyl alcohol and go over it with a sponge. It does lighten the grid lines a lil but it completely cleans all old marker from it.

I use both the Paizo mats (which are available in various designs) and a Chessex Mondomat that I've had for 25 (?) years. The Mondomat is my basic tablecloth and is very convenient both for maps and for taking notes on bonuses and damage. But you do have to make sure you're using only wet-erase markers. (If you mistakenly use dry-erase, Simple Green seems to work well so long as you don't wait too long.) Any minor staining (which is more of a problem with some marker colors than others) can be noticeable early on, because there's a pristine surface around it, but I really don't see anything now even though I've used this mat for a very long time. The Paizo mats have all the advantages and disadvantages you mentioned, but they're also available with a variety of designs. (And they have 27" x 39" versions in a more limited selection.) Being able to throw out a city street or clearing in the woods is very useful and not too expensive. I find using a mix of water-erase and dry-erase markers to have some nice advantages on these. You can do the walls in wet-erase and spell effects in dry-erase (for instance) and wipe out the dry erase without harming the more durable wet-erase stuff.

I used another one of your videos, and other internet research, to come up with a different alternative battle mat. I went to Staples, got a stack of easel grid paper for $10-15 (CDN). Then I had them laminate 2 sheets at $15 each. Now I have 2 laminated battle mats, which I can put side by side for a large location, or use 1 for most encounters. I can have 1 with a pre-drawn location too, and the other is sitting on the table ready for a spontaneous encounter. Plus, if I want another mat it's just $15 to laminate. I've borrowed a Chessex (I think) battle mat in the past and it worked well. On these laminated sheets I can use either dry-erase or wet-erase. The wet-erase can draw on a bit funny and take some time for the wet marker to settle, but I like the wet-erase and it works. You can leave it on overnight and it comes off fine the next day. So far I've only had 1 session to use these mats, but I look forward to using them over many years.

I really like my chessex map but I also use gaming paper, both the grid and the hex ones. I like to draw on the paper ahead of time things with more detail, like a room or tavern. When my players arrive at the tavern, I can just whip the predrawn map. I tend to use the chessex for draw as we go, like just draw the hallway or cave path as far as they can see, then add details as we go. Great show, showing multiple options with clear pros and cons.

I went with the D&D Adventure grid. has the benefits of the pathfinder ones, but without the creases...so far I've been happy with it

We played with a guy that went to Hobby Lobby and chose a material like the Chessex battle mat and had them create the lines for about 15 bucks.

I got the battle mats folding battle boardgame style battle mat. It's fantastic. Solves the rolling, solves the creasing.

So, I have had and used my Megamat since the mid 1980s. It lived full time on my table for over 14 years, and is still in good shape. Works great with overhead protector pens, no real issues.

You can also use children's washable markers instead of wet erase. And protip: get baby wipes to clean your mat. They are portable, disposable, and cheap.

Very helpful! I've got Phat Zebra-like mats I bought off Amazon and I hate that they stay rolled up almost infinitely, no matter what I do. I love the idea of taking a piece of vinyl and placing it over the mat - that way I can pre-draw my encounters, let the players play, and when it's time for the big reveal, pull out the vinyl piece and lay it over the mat! Abishai or Chessex may be the way to go for this!

I started off by using the battlegrid from the old D&D Miniatures battle starter set covered in clear sticky plastic but then upgraded to the Paizo folding mat which has lasted me for the last 6 years. I have the WotC Dungeon Tiles but rarely use them as have enough to carry. Recently through a kickstarter I got the Giant book of battle mats (volumes 1 and 2) in A3 size which are usable with dry wipe pens and have multiple different preprinted map designs on them (they also do sci fi ones too).

I got a piece of plexiglass and etched a grid onto the underside. Then got a couple of poster boards to painted different terrains on each side . It became a fun weekend project for the family and the kids loved the chance to play with spray paint and made them proud of the maps they now get to play on. Best $30 investment I’ve made

I really need a new battle mat. I have had the flipmats from Paizo for a long while but I am getting a bit bored of them and they are starting to get a little bit small for my needs! Thanks for the awesome video. I always thought the parchment texture was a desert / sandstone rock type texture.

The best thing about the Paizo flip-mats is that their coating allows the use of wet erase, dry erase, OR permanent markers. If you want to pre-draw your map on one of the blank or terrain flip-mats, you can do that in Sharpie (I've even used the metallic Sharpies), and it won't smudge in transport. Then at the table, you can use wet or dry erase markers for marking spell effect areas, whatever. When you're all done, go back over the permanent marker with some dry erase marker, let it sit for a couple of minutes, and it'll come right back up with some paper towel and a little elbow grease. I never GM at home, so while my group still uses products like the Chessex Battle Mat a lot (we've used the various sizes for years and years), I prefer the Paizo flip-mats not only for the variety of terrain (I've got maybe 18-20 in all), but for how compact they fold up and how versatile they are with writing implements. It makes it easy to prep my map ahead of time, get to my gaming location and plop it down on the table, cover up the bits that I don't want to reveal to the players right away with some bits of paper, and I'm good to go.

I love the Chessex Mat! I play on a table designed for warhammer (8foot X 4 Foot) and I bought the mondo mat. I had to cut it down slightly but I got it to fit on my game table. I also use 3D terrain

I've been using the Pathfinder ones for years, I find the size to be great, the multiple themes on them have helped too :)

Good news if you like that abishai map case... its actually a re-purposed arrow tote! I use one when I travel with my archery equipment but never realized what a great map case it would make. That black one is available online for around 12 bux.

I use a Chessex mega mat I have had since the 80s - works great and still holding up fine. When I first started playing RPGs in 1976 I used a paper hex grid with a piece of clear Lexan cut 36x48 to fit on my table. I used china markers that wiped off with a paper towel. Not very portable, but great for a fixed game room. The Lexan sheet was $15 and the hex grid paper was $5 at a print shop.Those would be more expensive today.

about 20 years ago I bought a post it pad its about 2 feet by 3 feet with 1 inch grid and was less than 10 dollars for 30 sheets (double sided) bought a new one a couple years ago got 100 sheets (again double sided) but this time it was closer to 45 bucks. Works out pretty good I feel. I never really worried about erasing any marker lines or anything. If you want to get really cheap Buy Christmas wrapping paper (it has 1 inch grids on the backside) a roll of packing tape and POW you've spent maybe 2 dollars for a DIY dry erase board add in some washable markers and now your cost has gone up to 3.

I’ve used the back of Christmas wrapping paper, seems to work and is really cheap. I just taped the edges down and away we went

Damn good video. Exactly what I was looking for. Thanks mate!

I was JUST looking for a video like this yesterday and there wasn’t a single one on RU-vid. I think you read my mind haha, thank you!

Wen dnd 3.0 was first released, I started off using a large whiteboard and scored the 1”grid with an exact and yardstick. I still have it, though it isn’t really portable, and over time the finish has somewhat deteriorated so it takes a few more wipes to clean. I have since used flip mats, and also have a similar product to battle mats and the chessex wet erase. For dry erase, you can get the dry erase specific ghosting cleaner, or I use eye-glass cleaner. Don’t leave colors like red and blue on wet erase for too long, they will stain the vinyl mats. I probably use the flip mats and white board the most for my home game, and the flip and battlemats for society games.

I also like to buy a roll of neoprene/acetate for myself/my DM. That way maps can be prepared ahead of time and kept for as long as wanted/needed without having to erase the mat.

really helpful video. thanks!

Master Atlas dungeon tiles are great! Comes with plenty of tiles of varying sizes and even comes with some scatter terrain tokens. Only 20 for white and parchment and there's a set of stone and grass for 25

I've used "Contractor Orange" on my chessex mat to give it a supercleaning. Works very well, but use a lot of papertowel. Contractor orange is oily but wipes off, but removes all that discoloration. No problems using overhead projector markers even after cleaning... seems safe with the mat.

Yay you took my suggestion !

Really great video, dude! It was nice seeing all the other types of mats. But, I agree with the last one! I have chessix mega mat myself and have had it for about a year now. Freaking love the thing! Funny enough, though. I have a tendency of leaving my maps drawn on it for almost months at a time. (My D&D group is very infrequent. lol) and have never had issues with erasing things after we were done with the map on it. Though, I will say that some colors, like red and orange do leave some markings there, but a few more wipes and it's cleared right up!

We had someone in our group that worked as a mechanical engineer. He printed out a very larger hex/square map on paper for us. Then we bought a piece of plex-glass to sit on top of it. The plexi-glass protected the map very nicely and you could just draw on the plexi glass, wet or dry. It all erased.

This video was REALLY helpful!!! Thanks!!!

I have some of these, but this video is making me glad I opted to go digital with my mapping, be it VTT or in person games. Though that becomes less viable in a convention setting, or when you're traveling, Abishai has my vote for that.

One of the best thumbnails I've seen

using the chessex mat as well. and people really like it. had to replace mine because it got stolen too. very popular mat.

I've only ever used Roll20. But, I got 2 flipmats, the ones from the pathfinder and starfinder beginner boxes. I definitely get the pros and cons of em' but I can't imagine I'd ever need anything else.

Fun fact, hand sanitizer gel will remove dry erase markers stain from laminate.

years ago (1989) Chessex had a CrystalMat™ no96047, 22"x25". Basicaly the clear vinyl from JoAnnes with lines on it. I wish mine were bigger, but it is fine and is used as described in the video.

Roll the mats the opposite direction it came to get it to flatten then use the side bars

I have no idea if these are still available, but years ago I would just use the clear adhesive covering. The peel-off paper backing would have inch squares (meant to help keep your cuts straight). They were ideal.

Pathfinder: great product, and I especially love that it folds up an fits inside a binder. But many of the Pathfinder maps are too flipping dark, which is the same criticism I have for a lot of the mats/maps out there. It's hard to read what's going on OR what the GM draws.

I was lucky to find the Original Tact-Tiles, the finish now is not as good as they were when I bought them, but they are still super cool.

I've used the Chessex mats for years, from the early '80s to just a few months ago and have loved them! I have since switched over to using digital maps, displaying them on an LCD screen via the program Arkenforge. If you are interested in using digital maps, I would highly recommend checking out Arkenforge.

If you go online or to the fabric store and get 2 square yards of 80 gauge clear vinyl to put over the folding maps you can dry erase on them and it holds the creases flat too lol. Also the vinyl cover will flatten right out if you warm it with a hair dryer, now I said WARM not heat. This is good information thanks.

I prefer the hex over grid maps. They just work SO much better for my playstyle. I just can never find any good ones. So I was happy to see that here.

I have a Chessex I think it is. I haven't used it too much for gaming, but I found it really useful for math homework! It's like a whiteboard you can roll up. However, I kept it in my student apartement, and now with Covid-restrictions I haven't had access to it for half a year. Worst part is I left it with equations still on...

I DMed for the first time recently, and I ended up using a VTT (Owlbear Rodeo) on my laptop and a tablet. Hosted on my laptop behind the screen, player view on the tablet in front of the screen. They could see the map and move tokens and stuff on the tablet but it still had an over the board feel. It was kind of an off-the-cuff thing, but it went pretty well.

I prefer Hex-grids for larger province, kingdom, or even continent sized maps as it looks more appealing to me. However I use my Square Grid for encounter maps as it’s just easier to measure.

Really nice review. If you continue with this topic, please consider reviewing a gridless option, Im looking for one. Thanks!!

I bought a big piece of tan vinyl from a fabric store. I think it's 3' x 4.5', so it'll fill a large table. I spent several hours with a T-square, steel ruler, and sharpie marker to draw my own grid lines. Total cost, less than ten dollars.

Nate, this is an awesome video.

The Abishai case is actually a case used by artist to carry rolled art. Same model, and when I first saw it, I thought it was something that you've bought especially for your mat. I have bought one for my Chessex mats

Lindybeige is a legend! Wargame and war history expert from the UK.

Mondomats (use 2 at a time) is my go to. Chessex battlemats are great, been using them since the 80's. Otherwise nothing beats Tact-Tiles!

I don't know where he got it from but my friend gave us a map like the chessex (not quite so) mega mat and it was really useful for our last quest. And my boyfriend was just talking about how it would be good for a fabric map... and the abishai is the exact thing I would have wanted. Gonna make a note of those ones to get later.

Couch Vinyl was a great suggestion!

WAIT...did you say Michigan? NICE! Personally, I plan to buy the Pathfinder Map because they are cheap and the pre-made settings are really awesome looking.

Chessex Battlemat under acrylic layer in my GeekChic emissary table was my choice. Havent regretted it yet.

Dry-Erase can easily be cleaned off with hand sanitizer (Atomizer bottled stuff is best). Wipe with a cloth and water after session to avoid the alcohol fading/erroding the mat. Though, I have a pathfinder mat and it has not faded at all after a year and a half of sessions.

10:45 those things are mass produced, and i've seen it used for everything from art and posters to actual arrows lol

Another tip for cleaning the Chessex Battlemat is using Windex. I have cleaned marks left over a month on the Chessex Battlemat with Windex and a little elbow grease.

To be fair to the smaller Chessex Battlemat, for those with a smaller table space it can be a really good option; high quality, lays flat quite easily, and otherwise very nice and easy to use. I just started DMing a few months ago and got the smaller 23.5"x26" Battlemat at my local game store and found it extremely useful. For those with larger tablespaces (or floor spaces) the larger Battlemat definitely could be useful, especially if one is doing a full dungeon that they leave the entire dungeon map on the Battlemat for. For me, the way I go about it is I do room-by-room drawing on the smaller battlemat unless I have a particularly smaller dungeon, and only really draw room-by-room should there be continuous threats, combat, or otherwise a need for precise tile movement. I could definitely see the larger Battlemat being useful if fighting a properly proportioned and home-made Gargantuan creature like a Leviathan, which is supposed to be multiple hundreds of feet long, and thereby would take up the majority of space on a battlemat if counting squares as 5'x5'. That being said, that could also be worked around by perhaps deciding to do something like making squares 15'x15' or 30'x30' in size value in the game, thereby being able to fit a leviathan size creature within 10 - 20 squares instead of needing 50 - 100 squares.

Yeah michigan!!!!! Around the tri city area man? Also thanks for the video, been using a tv at a home game with fantasy flight, and debating about making the switch over too mats

I read the tittle and thought it was 'Battle of the Battlements" The actual tittle makes a lot more sense

Clean those Chessex megamats frequently too! Leave them on there too long and they start to seep in and stain. Different colors are worse than others. I have a very old megamat that has a red blotch from a campfire that was drawn on it and left for several months before the mat got used again. You can get away with leaving stuff on it for a week or so but even then it can require some work to get the colors out. Best if you clean it off after EVERY game session. And, yes you'll wind up going through a lot of rags and getting a bit of ink on your fingers for a while even in the best of circumstances. If there's a downside to the megamat it's the wet-erase markers, but it's worth the minor added effort to have a gaming product that will last DECADES when you take proper care of it.

Eh I’ll just stick to dungeon tiles, hate drawing stuff for each room, breaks up the game, and getting it smudged and struggling to figure out where the room ends and where the void outside begins, great review though!

I have had the chessex megamatt for about 15 years now. I bought a cheaper dry erase mat just to try it and it's much better imo. The chessex mat after a while just cannot be cleaned. I have tried everything but there will always be ghostly remnants of games from years ago that you can see. Drives me crazy especially because I remember paying a lot of money for it.

All of this options seem killer, and I would love to get my hands on a battlemat... That being said... In Mexico you can't really get them easily... Nor cheaply, I might have to just do it the old, fashioned way of doing those damn squares (because dear god doing hexagons is HORRIBLE) by yourself over a big piece of wrapping paper or the like, and maybe laminate them later... Still, good video

i have a Chessex and i use dry marker... then i use an eraser to lightly rub it off.

What would you recommend 're putting on a campaign using the mega mat in regards to the drawing detail - how long could I keep the drawings (elaborate) on the mat, or would I have to photograph it, clean, then redraw the following week?