Boards and Mats - Do they detract from the experience?

[Denzark]

I'm looking at boards and mats to go with Shadow War - my old citadel battle mat might not look right in the hive...

And I was thinking, the 'best' of these - the realm of battle sector imperialis - might not look right. There is not enough flat spaces and if you look at the armageddon terrain photos, they are not centre of a concrete (plascrete?) plinth - they are just in the middle of a road or pavement (sidewalk for the colonial cousins) with girders and pipes springing up randomly.

This for me also appplies to some battlemats - I find anything that tries to simulate 3D whilst being noticeably 2D, can detract. A bit like 'virtual' surround sound - its never never as good.

Does anybody else find this or is it just some sort of terrain OCD I suffer from?

[Captain Bubonicus]

I just treat the printing on the battlemats as flat space - not any kind of vertical obstruction. I really like the "Mars-scape" mat and "Wasteland" maps I've played on, because they've just served as a base to place the actual terrain upon.

[Pssyche]

I agree with you Denzark.
The Mat, like the Terrain makes all of the difference.
I've got four different Boards at home and they really add to the experience.
A snow covered City.
A grassy Steppe.
A Desert.
A Martian Ash-Waste.

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