TableWar Designs 4x4 Cave Floor Battle Mat

TableWar Designs strikes again!

I love these new mousepad material battlemats.  Back in my day, there weren't all these cool things that made it easy to make your table look so...well, good.  I also appreciate the cases they ship these in now.  It makes it a LOT easier to store each mat, even if space is limited.  

I struggled with the light in the main room.

The Cave Floor Battlemat here is 4'x4'.  I'm going to be using it for a lot of different games, and also for some dungeon battles I'm sure.  I got it slightly larger to be regulation size for certain games, though the bigger footprint does limit where it can be deployed.  Not that it matters, since any time I deploy it this mat will be on a regulation size 6'x4' game table.

It comes with a nice bag for the mat, which helps a lot with storage.  I'm starting to build a collection of these mats, and by far my favorites are the ones that are easy to deploy.  These are durable and have their own dedicated bags for hanging in the vault when not in use. 

"I'm gonna ask you fellas one more time - Where's the nearest Wendy's?"

Awesome.  Check out TableWar Designs and see if you can find something to build a project on.  I'm going to have to find a sci-fi table for an upcoming project...

Warhammer 40,000 Kill-Team

I've played every version of Combat Patrol / Kill-Team in every edition since 3rd.  It should go without saying that we'd also be taking on this version of the skirmish rules subset, but this edition is a little different.  It's a full-blown game on it's own, and Games Workshop has really lavished production on this version.

So, in approaching Kill-Team I saw an opportunity to actually use some of the smaller sets I've managed to cling on to over the years but never blossomed into a real army.  It would also serve as a place I could collect a few new models without the commitment required of a full army until I got ready to make that move.  If ever.  Instead, Kill-Team would be composed of DIFFERENT forces than my main 40k armies.

Kill-Team is one of the most anticipated games on our roster.  As larger 40k forces require more time to muster, the Kill-Teams in my area are becoming activated.  Almost every gamer I know has a Kill-Team, and if they don't they have friends they can borrow one from.

If you have a 40k army, then you have a Kill-Team.  40k aficionado?  Collect a Kill-Team from a new army.  If you're in the Iron Seer's area - prepare yourself.  Kill-Team campaigns have been planned from the get-go!

We'll be using all the Kill-Team material from the Core, Commanders, Elites and the Kill-Team Annual 2019.  Other Kill-Team materials will be considered, but by and large Arena will not be part of the program.  Even so, plenty of Kill-Teamery to get caught up on in the meantime as we begin to explore a new corner of the 40k universe through our campaigns, armies and terrain building.

Get ready to carve out your own piece of the Nemesis Sector.

TableWar MacroMats

My photography kinda sucks, I know.

Working on that, but it's largely due to lighting in my workspace and my poor ability to have good lighting.  Alternatively you can think of it as my good ability to have poor lighting - whichever is a greater positive in your mind.  I do have a full studio light set, but nowhere to really set it up and leave it so I can get work done with it.

TableWar Designs MacroMats comes neatly packaged in a bag...inside a box.

I've got small lamps, but can't seem to find the right bulbs to do the job.  The only bulbs anyone seems to carry are off-white and...well, that's another story.  Today I want to talk about steps I'm taking to fix the problem.

The contraption, disassembled.

One thing I never really had was a background that was small.  Yeah, there's an 8ft screen but I don't have spare room to set it up anymore...right now.  And anyway, these days I'm not filming 6ft of people on a screen, but 35mm or less on a tiny backboard.  I thought I'd check out TableWar Designs' MacroMats to see if I can actually be helped.

Warm background, with Frostgravy bois.

I took it out and after some flummoxing it for a bit I figured out what I was supposed to do just by looking at the pictures.  It set up nice and easy and I must say I'm happy that it came with a carrying satchel.  This will probably remain together most of the time if I can find a good place for it's footprint.  Then again, it will hang easy in the closet in the satchel.

Cool background, with more snowy-based minis.

I actually like that I can set it up for the correct height or width I need for my shots.  I've been playing around taking shots and I think this has already proven it will be a great boon for photos here on my blog going forward.  Now I just have to work on my lighting...

Light background, with rather suspicious looking ruffians lurking in the snow.

As far as endorsements go, I'd say if you plan on taking a lot of photos of your models then this is a must-buy.  The MacroMats set has everything you need in one handy kit, and you can't beat the convenience it provides with photo setup.  Also, you could definitely use whatever backgrounds / materials on it that you'd like for your composition.  This tool is now one of my 'essentials', for certain.