Dri-erase magnetic board

I thought it would be great to try and find a way to play the game on a vertical surface as one of the advantages of BG is that the cards can do what minis cannot, which is be mounted on a wall for easy viewing. First I tried felt, and while that was sort of okay, things didn't adhere that well and there was no way to use the YMG terrain.

Then I remembered these really powerful tiny magnets I used to use for holding weapon armaments and making models poseable when playing that unnamed miniature system. I imagined that those tiny magnets and a magnetic surface would be just the ticket.

So my first effort was to try magnetic paint on a gameboard. It wasn't strong enough, was very expensive, needed xylene for a thinner, and I decided it wasn't worth it.

Next I tried a dri-erase magnetic board. These boards come in a 3'x4' size which is perfect for a game of battleground. In the picture below you see a regulation size (30"x36") sheet of gaming paper held on to the dri-erase magnetic board. This allows room for off map maneuvering and  maybe some extra charts mounted also. I happen to have an old drafting board that I rested the magnetic board on. I should make clear that the board is not magnetic, but metallic and magnets are able to stick to it. The next post will be an actual game played on this board, but I wanted to talk a little about the board itself.

I also wanted to show this other gaming paper battle mat I made. This one is 26"x15" which is the dimension of the rectangle between the two deployment zones of a regulation game. I like to play around with minimums to see how little one can get by with and still have an awesome gaming experience using BG instead of minis.If you're curious about gaming paper here is their website http://www.gamingpaper.com/ and I will vouch for it being everything they claim it to be. It is inexpensive, very durable, and comes in a range of colors and with an assortment of hexes or squares in different sizes.

I got my magnetic board from amazon  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0016T9TQU/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I paid $83 for it, but just now I see it is $90. That is still the best price and I can vouch for the quality. The reviews complained about this clear plastic that was attached and very difficult to get off, but they must have adapted to that because mine didn't have that coating. Since it is dri-erase, you could just draw on your terrain and borders, but I prefer the terrain pack and my gaming paper.

Magnets
The magnets I selected are from K&S http://www.kjmagnetics.com/products.asp?cat=157 and these are magnetic thumbtacks. what that means is that they have the plastic heads like push pins, but a magnet at the base instead of a pin. I bought twenty green for using on the mapboard and 12 each of black and white for using on the units. I think the way I'll actually use them is the green for terrain and units and the white and black for objective markers. The thing to watch is the shipping. Magnets have some very stringent shipping requirements because if they get stored next to electronic media they can cause mayhem, as well as messing with shipping and tracking devices. These are powerful magnets. err on the side of getting more than you need rather than having to order twice.

I tested the magnets and found that one magnetic tack can hold eight cards without falling off the vertical board. This means they will easily and securely hold a card on top of terrain on top of a gaming paper battle map.