Andvari Battle Boards

I have used a Chessex vinyl battle mat for years and outside of ruining a few of them with the wrong markers, have had no complaints. But as I've played more and more in public spaces the one thing I've noticed repeatedly is that identical tables do not line up identically when you push them together. And the more tables you bring together, the greater an issue this creates. This is not ideal for a supple and luxurious rolling battle mat. They much prefer a uniform level surface. This is true of the cheaper rolling mats and the large folded poster sheets as well. Even the folding stiff mats get wonky when the table heights don't match up. So, I started looking for options.

These Andvari Battle Boards by GSM seem like they'll span the ridge without too much flex and solve at least part of the problem. I picked up the 9 board Mega Pack to give them a try.

I don't know that I've found the ideal solution, but these ridged battle boards will work well with the foamboard terrain boards I've been building. Each board is 17x13 inches, has a 1 inch grid, and has a dry-erase surface. The back has some sort of nonskid surface on it, which doesn't feel particularly slip free. I guess we'll see how that works out. You can lay them out to cover a large surface, or draw maps on them during game prep and swap them out as you go. Which is more inline with how I envision using them. They don't interlock or have any fancy features, but they're large enough for most encounters, they don't bend too much, and they'll fit nicely in the bag with my homemade boards.