Pastures New

I've had my much used and loved GW gaming mat for more years than I care to remember and it has done sterling service in all that time. To be honest it still looks as good as new. But of course things move on and over recent years the advent of printed gaming mats in a wide variety of finishes has given the gamers untold choices that we could not have dreamed of 20 years ago. I've had many a comment about how much people like my terrain, but wondered why I hadn't gone down the printed mat route. 

Now I have considered it but for multiple reasons it's never been a priority for me. However at the recent game at Keith's, I was able to have a good look at his Geek Villain mat and i must admit I was very impressed. I've seen plenty at shows but often they are from other companies and printed onto mouse mat materials etc and whilst looking good, for me I simply couldn't ignore the satin finish and the pixelated images (I blame my former career for this!). 

So when I got home I decided to check out what was on offer from Geek Villain. Now not all of their mats were in stock (a common complaint I've heard) but after looking at those that were available, the Summer Field one seemed to be closest to the flock I've used for all of my terrain and figures. Now a screen image is a good approximation, but not a gaurantee of course, talk less of print run variations. However it seemed the best bet so I placed an order, which arrived in around 5 days.

My inital reaction was that it seemed a bit bright and not quite in focus, but when layed out and terrain added, it looked pretty good to me. I'll leave you to be the judge of that based upon the images below for a game I've got planned:

All set up for somewhere in Russia 1941. The table size is 4' x 4'. It is a bit lighter in the centre due to the lightbulb directly above.

There are some nice patches of varying colour with some rocky bits, which match nicely to my basing scheme.

I've also been making some new fields for use in my Normandy campaign, but also for across Europe from the 18thC onwards. 

Looking at them on the table, they need a slight drybrush to make the crop colours pop a bit, as they look too flat to me.

Having set it all up I'm very happy with the result and even SWMBO said it looked good, a rare compliment indeed! The aim is to get a game in tomorrow of a scenario I had set up before Xmas, but real life got in the way, so it all had to be packed away. Fingers crossed I'll get an AAR in soon and then we can see how it all looks with figures  and vehicles on it. Even though it is called Summer Field, to my eye it will work well for Burma and the Pacific, as and when I get around to those theatres. Of course on must not forget 18thC India, so maybe I'll do a bit of a parade after the game...

TTFN.