Volkano Game Mat

One of my more recent purchases is a new game mat. This one is the "Volkano" (Volcano), produced by PWork Wargames. 

The company is based in Italy and prices their gaming mats at a comparable level to other companies that I have dealt with before who retail similar mats. As always, I opted for the neoprene version (which is the mouse mat material) since it works a lot better for my needs and preferences. The game bag comes as a separate purchase to the game mat with this company (others sell it alongside as a default), but I was happy to pay a little extra for the portability factor.

What I like about this mat is the near-realism of the detail. Zooming in on the image above, it is obvious that the makers have studied how lava surfaces look. The top level of the detail is a black to grey textured area that is clearly dried or cooled lava rock. This gives way to the runnier mantle material as we look deeper in to the mat. Some other retailers have chaos-like symbols everywhere, or other features that I didn't think contributed to the aesthetic that I was after. With this mat, I am free to interpret it as a chaos terrain board should I desire, as well as a young planet, or one suffering from a post-apocalyptic event. With this flexibility, the use of the mat is wider than ones specifically dedicated to chaos, and I cannot go past the pseudo-realism of the mat either. Top grades from me, but clearly my tastes may differ from yours(!)