I recently picked up a 4′ x 4′ Barren Wasteland gaming mat from Tablewar. This is part of my move to focus more on the parts of the hobby that interest me most: Cool models playing on a cool table with cool people. This is part of the ‘cool table’ plan and my general slow, slow push to get nice terrain and things.

I caught their original kickstarter a little too late to take part in it, but after seeing one of our locals’ mat who did, I knew I wanted one! Let’s have a look shall we?

NOTE: This review was not paid for. I personally bought the mat for my own use.

Here is the Barren Wasteland in all its unrolled glory. The browns are a little darker than I expected, but you can already see the quality of the image used. No pixelation.

Here’s a closer look at the mat. I love how it has a 3D look to it, even though it’s just flat surface. The illusion of depth is really something.

And here is an even closer look. This photo was taken from about 6″ away from the mat. Just crisp details all the way through. The quality of the whole thing is just fantastic.

The mat is essentially a gigantic mousepad. It has the same cloth top and grippy bottom. But as you can see it’s very thin. This makes it light and easy to roll up. However, I will say storing this in the sock that it comes with is a complete pain in the ass. It does not come with any type of rod or dowel to place in the middle to help keep its shape. So basically it’s like a 4′ floppy roll (that’s what she said). I’m going to make a run to the store in order to get something help it hold its shape. Hopefully that makes rollup and storage quite a bit easier.

I have the full set of Battlefield-in-a-Box Badlands terrain, which as you can see happen to fit in just nicely with the mat as is. This makes me very happy as nothing feels ‘out of place’ thus ruining the theme of the play space. This is also why I got the Barren Wasteland mat because not only does it fit into my new Menoth basing plan and theme, but it can also work for a variety of games. For instance It can be an alien planet for 40K. Or the Wild West in Malifaux. TableWar has a variety of designs to fit your army too I’m sure.

Let’s watch as Vindictus leads his forces across the wastes to bring the True Faith to all the heretics.

As you can see, the models don’t get lost among the mat or bogged down in the details. Basically the mat design isn’t too “busy” as to distract from the action at hand.

I have yet to play a proper game on it, but I did roll some dice on it and it felt great. One thing I was worried about was it absorbing too much of the shock of roll and messing with it, but it’s thin enough to not be a problem. On the plus side as well, the dice didn’t seem to ‘explode’ in all directions as much either.

Bullet Points:

+ Looks amazing.

+ Great quality and feel.

– Storage and roll up is a pain. Would have preferred if it came with a hard tube for storage rather than a sock.

– Price tag may be a bit steep.

Final Verdict:

Very happy with my purchase and very much look forward to finally getting a game on it.

I give this one my seal of approval and utmost recommendation.

For more info, check out TableWar. The mats come in a variety of designs and in either 6′ x 4′ or 4′ by 4′, and cost $85 and $70 (respectively)