Which Wargaming Mat?

It's not often I call directly on the readership of BLMA for help but this is one of those few occasions. It must be abundantly clear by now I recently started working on a 6mm WWII North African Desert project. I'm making good progress with the painting (I love this scale!) but one thing I'm missing at this stage is a suitable wargaming surface. I don't have a dedicated wargames table but instead make use of the dinning table with a grass wargames mat thrown over it. Now of course I'm looking around for a Desert themed wargaming mat...but finding one is proving harder than I thought.

Here are some of the ones I'm looking at but if anyone can point me towards an alternative that would be great. Incidentally I want a 6'x4' mat and would rather buy a mat as I don't really have the facilities (or the skill) to make one.

Woodland Scenics Readygrass Desert - This has a vinyl backing with a painted sandy covering on the top. It is thin, flexible and light but judging from the sample I bought it sheds its covering easily. I don't want to invest in a mat only for it to be as bald as me after just a few games. 

TerrainMat Desert - A strong vinyl backing and supposedly tough surface covering, this range comes in a wide variety of surface options. The Desert range comes in three colours. The downside is it seems very expensive and some reviewers have expressed doubts about its durability.

Javis - Thus far I have only been able to find the 24"x48" mat online and I'm not sure it comes in larger sizes. Also the 'rocks' appear too big for my 6mm figures and look likely to shed from the mat.

Mat-O-War - Billed as indestructible and coming in a range of colours including desert beige this looks like a good option. Despite being heralded for a return to stock by Antenocitis Workshop back in September they haven't materialised. 

So does anyone have any feedback about these option, or can you suggest a suitable alternative. Money is a factor obviously but I'm not averse to paying out for a good quality mat that will last a few years. Right now I'd just like to have a proper choice and I can worry about the cost later! 

Italian Compagnia Carri (Tank) Company

As well as preparing a load of wargaming bases I have also been busy painting some Italian self propelled guns and Armoured cars as part of my Compagnia Carri (Tank) Company. In fact these two platoons have finished off this platoon for the time being. I may add more units to this company at a later stage but for now I'm considering this project finished.

First up is a platoon of Semovente 75/18 Self Propelled Guns. These mounted a 75mm mountain gun on the chassis of a M14/41 tank (from 1941 onwards, prior to this they used the M13/40 chassis). Weighing in at a little over 14 tonnes and with a crew compliment of just 3 (commander/gunner, driver, loader/radio operator) the S75/18 was mechanically underpowered. The gun was a relatively modern weapon but at just 18 calibres its low muzzle velocity severely limited its range. They were best suited to a defensive role where they proved particularly effective against the US built M3 Grant and M4 Sherman tanks used by the British Army.

Self Propelled S75/18 Platoon

The Autoblinda 41 (AB41) armoured car was armed with a 20 mm Breda 35 autocannon and a coaxial 8 mm machine gun in a turret, and another hull mounted rear-facing 8mm machine gun. Weighing in at 7.5 tonnes the AB41 had a crew of 4 (1 x forward driver, 1 x rear driver, 1 x gunner and 1 x commander) and had a top speed of 48 mph. It was considered one of the best armoured cars of its era. 

Autoblinda  41 (AB41) Armoured Car Platoon

Both these platoons are part of the Ariete Armoured Division which was formed in 1939 and fought in the North African Campaign until being destroyed during the Second Battle of El Alamein. Despite the Italian armies shambolic and disastrous start to the North Africa campaign Divisions such as Ariete soon became battle hardened and were relied upon heavily by the German Afrikacorp. 

Compagnia Carri (Tank) Company

I noticed after completing these two platoons that the bases looked different to those I was producing just a few months ago. I'm sticking to the same painting formulae but the change has come about because the composition of my basing sand has changed. The initial batch consisted of fine and medium grained talus blended to provide texture to the bases. My most recent blend clearly has more fine grained material in it, resulting in a slightly different texture and this in turn has effected the dry brushed highlighting on the bases. I actually prefer the latest batch of bases and am already considering how I can make the older bases blend in with the newer ones. I must be mad, this project has only been going three months and I'm already considering re basing some of the figures! 

All your bases

The snowy weather has meant that I have gone from having a busy weekend lined up to having a lazy Sunday afternoon. So I thought I'd take advantage of the free time and get some painting done of course. But I realised that I was missing one critical element from my models...finished bases. 

I totted up how many vehicle bases I needed and was a little shocked to find the figure was close to fifty! Fortunately I had plenty of bases in my supplies cupboard and decided to bite the bullet and make a large batch ready for all my tanks as I complete them over the next few weeks. 

This is a bit of a chore, but a necessary step and will save a lot of time later down the line. 

A new Ice Age cometh!

Britain is bracing itself for severe weather after what has been something of a 'phoney winter' of mild temperatures and rain. Parts of the country are already experiencing 'blizzard' conditions and the snow is marching steadily eastwards. If the weather forecasters (and panic mongers) are to be believed this is the beginning of an icy Armageddon which will cause untold travel chaos, widespread disruption, power failures, "cats and dogs living together" and other portents of doom.

We are expecting a maximum of two or three inches of snow where I live. 

Its at times like these that I think most of the rest of Europe are laughing at us (well, more than usual). This is no more than a flurry to them and they seem to function perfectly well with two or three feet of snow. Of course the real problem isn't the snow, its our reaction to it, and our inability to adjust to changing conditions, particularly on the roads. In England we consistently over dramatise the weather and overreact to the predictions but still somehow fail to adapt adequately and appropriately to the conditions on the ground.

Its been snowing in my location east of London for a couple of hours now and we have less than half an inch of snow, although it is getting heavier. I have just sent my staff home early and I'll be going home soon myself. I don't actually consider the conditions here to be that bad and I personally am quite comfortable driving in snow, but there seem to be a lot of utter morons out there that don't adjust their driving speed, regardless of the conditions. Frankly its them, not the weather, that worry me.

Winter motoring can be distilled down to some very simple advice.

• Take sensible but proportionate precautions and think about your journey. 
• Listen to local radio for weather and travel reports. 
• Ensure you have enough antifreeze in your radiator and de-icer in the windscreen washer. 
• Drive slower and take your time.
• Use gentler manoeuvres when on snow.
• Increase your stopping distances and break gently. 
• Be a little more patient with your fellow road users... 

...and that's it. Simples.

I'll be taking my work laptop home so I can continue there, but I'll also probably get a little painting done as well. Then when the kids get home I'll go and play in the garden and enjoy the snow for the brief time it lasts. In the meantime our European neighbours will be looking across the Channel at their eccentric British cousins and quietly chuckling to themselves.