Count me as another staunch partisan of Chessex battlemats.  I've owned two of them since the 1980s, a small one and their maximum size one for varying sizes of battle.  Like just about any surface imaginable, if they get dingy I clean the damn things, and since I clean them after any session in which I use them (not doing so tends to have certain marker colors become permanent) it's not an issue.  Since I bought them in rolls, creases weren't an issue, I expect.  It's been so long ago that I have no idea.  (This being part of the point.)

I don't get why Vis-a-Vis markers (which I've used for many years) are that hard to find: I see them in every stationers.

What I also use are the paper hex sheets that SJ Games put out (and may still, for all I know).  They're good for static and recurring situations: I've got sheets set up for a range of taverns, a bridge battle, a dozen cutouts for different sizes of ships, that sort of thing.

I've got a large collection of minis, and we all love them -- in fact my wife insists on it, because she wants to see what's going on, not just presume she understands what I have in my head.  But those were obtained and painted over a course of years, and I wouldn't recommend them to someone who wants to set up a battle tomorrow.

I do use tokens for a mass horde of crunchies: I've got a lot of pewter coins from a defunct LARP that work just fine.  A stripe of paint denotes facing.

^For the Chessex mats, I heard that if you leave the marker on them for a while it stains the mat permanently. Is that true? Or can I draw up a map a week before my session and still be confident that it'll wipe away without leaving stains?

Quote from: mAcular Chaotic;829848^For the Chessex mats, I heard that if you leave the marker on them for a while it stains the mat permanently. Is that true? Or can I draw up a map a week before my session and still be confident that it'll wipe away without leaving stains?

This is more or less true.  You don't want to leave marks on it for a week.  

I'd say it's safe to leave the marker on it for 48 hours, though.  Beyond that, you probably want to go ahead and wipe it down.

I just use lots of DDM, and either Dwarven Forge (when I've time), and most often a Paizo map for drawing on. I also have a 6 pack of play-doh colors for the occasional odd item that needs to be on the board.

Quote from: Gabriel2;829852This is more or less true.  You don't want to leave marks on it for a week.  

I'd say it's safe to leave the marker on it for 48 hours, though.  Beyond that, you probably want to go ahead and wipe it down.

Are there any maps that don't have that problem? I want to draw ahead of time when I have a chance.

Quote from: mAcular Chaotic;829886Are there any maps that don't have that problem? I want to draw ahead of time when I have a chance.

I use graph paper on a roll for that. I did a full scale throne room for a Hutt Crime Lord's palace for Star Wars. I got to use it twice and I still have it should I run any PCs there in the future.

Quote from: Gabriel2;829852This is more or less true.  You don't want to leave marks on it for a week.  

I'd say it's safe to leave the marker on it for 48 hours, though.  Beyond that, you probably want to go ahead and wipe it down.

Certain colors aren't safe for that.  I find that purple, red and black have unusual staying power.

Quote from: Bren;829889I use graph paper on a roll for that. I did a full scale throne room for a Hutt Crime Lord's palace for Star Wars. I got to use it twice and I still have it should I run any PCs there in the future.

That was something I considered. But it's super thin; does it stay on the table right during the game? I would worry that it moves and knock down all the pieces easily.

I use Dwarven Forge and an assortment of Reaper, Ral Partha, Grenadier and recently Otherworld and Dark Sword miniatures.

Quote from: mAcular Chaotic;829886Are there any maps that don't have that problem? I want to draw ahead of time when I have a chance.

I'd say Tact-Tiles. They were originally available during the D20 boom, but there was a recent Kickstarter to reproduce them. They are hard, plastic, gridded, interlocking, dry-erase tiles. People I've known who owned them from the original production run rave about them. See here: Tact-Tiles Kickstarter

Quote from: Bren;829889I use graph paper on a roll for that. I did a full scale throne room for a Hutt Crime Lord's palace for Star Wars. I got to use it twice and I still have it should I run any PCs there in the future.

There used to be someplace that sold laminated versions of that.  The main problem was trying to get it to lay flat again after rolling it up.  I don't know, maybe you could find someplace to laminate a big sheet of that nowadays.  That would solve the wipe problem.  

As for battlemats, wiping them off fairly soon after use is just something you have to accept with them.

Quote from: mAcular Chaotic;829896That was something I considered. But it's super thin; does it stay on the table right during the game? I would worry that it moves and knock down all the pieces easily.

Quote from: Gabriel2;829954There used to be someplace that sold laminated versions of that.  The main problem was trying to get it to lay flat again after rolling it up.

Weight down the corners or edges and the paper lays flat just fine. If you have the space available, lay it out ahead of time and put books on it to flatten it out some before play. You'll still need to weight down the corners though.

To be clear, I use the paper when I want to create something for reuse. I did that in Star Wars for the Hutt's Palace and for a really big, bar: Gazi's* -- The place with something for everyone. Several group of PCs went there on different occasions. One group was actually there at the same time as another group. So the antics of the first group formed a backdrop to the actions of the second
group.


* Since I happened to see my brief writeup of Gazi's I'll stick that in a new thread in case anyone finds it interesting.

I've got a Chessex battlemat, and an assortment of fantasy, scifi, and horror minis. The fantasy and horror minis are generally 25-28mm, while I typically use 15mm for running Traveller.

Lately I've been collecting Arkham Horror prepaints, as well as Copplestone Casting and Artizan Designs 1920s minis.

Quote from: Ravenswing;829893Certain colors aren't safe for that.  I find that purple, red and black have unusual staying power.

I've had the most issue with red or orange wet erase leaving stains that are tough to get out. Other colors, like black, green, or blue seem to be more forgiving.

Nowadays, I wipe the matt down after every game session to rule out the risk of staining. And, if we end the session before the 'battle' is done, we take a quick smartphone photo of the 'battlefield' and redraw it at the beginning of the next session.

Quote from: Gabriel2;829954There used to be someplace that sold laminated versions of that.  The main problem was trying to get it to lay flat again after rolling it up.  I don't know, maybe you could find someplace to laminate a big sheet of that nowadays.  That would solve the wipe problem.  

As for battlemats, wiping them off fairly soon after use is just something you have to accept with them.

I have dry erase battlemats from Role 4 Initiative, basically laminated 36" x 24" gridded paper. I keep them rolled up in 3" diameter poster tubes, alternating between rolling lengthwise and widthwise, and between which side I leave inside/outside. I've had no problems whatsoever with flatness. To prevent the mats getting moved around during a session, I scotch-tape them to my shitty table. I' mature I could find a gentler adhesive, but whatever.

Ghost lines sometimes remain after erasing, but rubbing alcohol takes care of those without damaging the surface; as far as I can tell there's no time limit for erasing those.

I picked up a couple of the 24x36 Chessex battlemats last year when I decided to pick up gaming again. We use miniatures that I or my friends bring, one of which I hooked on painting so it is primarily his stuff that we use to avoid issues with theater of the mind not always being clear.

I sometimes leave the dry erase on between sessions, up to a few weeks, and haven't had the ink stick yet although I've seen it happen before as I'm just not that worried about some light stains.