Melee Mats DND Map Starter Kit - 24” x 36", Wet/Dry Erase Battle Terrain Grid - Ultimate Tabletop Gaming Experience with Accessories

Great map, came with a tube that helps to not get damaged while traveling. Deploys as quickly as it puts away. The markers erase completely with water. Holds up well.

I recently purchased this mat not too long ago for weekly D&D games at my work where we introduce newer players to the game and make sure they have the best experience possible learning the game. Our current DM recommended them to me since he's brought his mat and minis for our games and it makes combat so much easier to understand. He won't be able to play with us anymore since he's a new father, so he's passing the torch to me so we can carry on with the games.When I saw it was on Amazon for a fast delivery I was stoked, I couldn't wait to get my hands on my own not just for these games at work but for my own personal campaigns as well - it beats using MS Paint over Discord for sure. So imagine my surprise when it arrives a couple days later as... a dry erase calendar. Yeah, one of those big year planners you get at an office supply store. The warehouse had the correct UPC label on the package, but it was slapped over the calendar's original sticker (photo attached) on the wrong tube.I let Amazon know the item was incorrect, but instead of a human I got a chatbot instead that was quick to shift the issue over to the seller directly. So much for a middleman. So I explained the issue and asked how I could send this back or re-order from them directly as I know this wasn't an issue with Melee Mats but rather Amazon's robot pickers. No way a human would mess something that easy up.Luckily for me, I received a very prompt reply from one of the customer service reps from Melee Mats, Jennifer. She apologized for the mistake despite it being Amazon's fault and sent out a new mat immediately - on a holiday weekend to. So big shoutout to Jennifer L. for being an absolute champion of customer service and reaffirming not only my enjoyment of the products but my trust in Melee Mats as a company as well. Thanks, Jen! This mat's gonna see quite a lot of use in the years to come!tl;dr, Melee Mats are a great choice for a rollable, reusable, dry-erase battle grid for combat or even just town layouts for TTRPGs, and their dedication to customer service is unmatched in an era of chatbots and corporate greed. Highly recommend their mats, and you can see their full stock at their website (wink wonk).

So I haven’t been able put it to use yet, the session is later today, so I set the mat out last night very flat and neatly placed books atop it to flatten it out so no curls from it being rolled up cause any disturbances during play. Well, one time flattening it out and it has already “creased” or something where the material raised up along the edges like lined pockets of air. I haven’t even used a marker on it yet, so I can’t attest to the quality but plenty of reviews say it works well, and it appears high quality and still very usable, just annoying when wanting a great looking map, which this very much is aside from the immediate faults. Not a huge issue, so giving it 4 stars as it is a good product, just not exactly “prefect”. Hope this helps anyone considering this battle map!

So I have purchased several battle maps over the last few weeks. The Chessex Role Playing mat of the same size, and a much larger map produced by WizDice. I won't go into a full review of those mats but I mention them because this mat has one MAJOR pro over them. it is an actual DRY erase marker map. I was excited to get the Chessex mat but when it came, i did a dry erase test on it with high quality dry erase markers and it stained the map, not bad but you could still see the black shadow despite how much I cleaned it. Wet erase markers worked great on it. The same thing with the WizDice mat, Dry erase gives it problems but the wet erase works great. This Battle Grid map though works perfect with dry and wet erase markers. It has a very thick laminate over the map with a high gloss finish which will allow you to remove dry erase marker just as if you were writing on a white board. It is also a very good looking mat with the compass rose being a nice touch so direction can be added for your players. The only real con with this map is its construction material. What I mean by that is with other mats I have tested, they can all roll very easily, WizDice maps are made from a single vinyl sheet, allowing for easy roll. Chessex is made from vinyl also but a much stiffer construction, still allowing roll. This Battle Grid map CAN roll but it also appears made from a plastic sheeting or something, it can be rolled but it is very stiff and unrolling it you would need to place something heavy over the edges to flatten it out before use. I put heavy books on all 4 corners overnight, and the next morning it was perfectly flat and felt really good. I do not think I will ever roll it again, instead I will store it in a poster frame and hang it on the wall, just removing it for play when needed.Overall I like this mat best over all of the mats I have used. It can take on all markers and cleans the easiest. It is the best looking visually of all the maps and it is a very solid constructed mat that should last a long time. Like I said the only con to this mat is rolling. You can roll it back up for storage but I personally would not.