While Battletech can be played on 3D terrain with range rulers for measuring distance, it is most commonly (and most conveniently) played using maps with hexagonal divisions. This makes it easy to move your units and measure distances, and is what the game was designed for. In that sense Battletech is closer to a traditional hex & counter board wargame than a miniatures wargame like Warhammer 40K or Infinity that relies on 3D terrain and movement.

Hex sizes

The standard Battletech hex size is 38mm (1.5″) point-to-point, and 33 mm (1.3″) edge to edge. This is the size that Battletech miniature bases take into account, as does some aftermarket 3D terrain. An example is the Hextech terrain by Gale Force 9.

This is not the only hex size that I’ve encountered over the years. We’ve used a green felt map that used 38mm (1.5″) edge-to-edge hexes, giving an extra 5mm in each direction. This leaves a little more space, which is especially useful when using 3D terrain.

Map sheets

The most common (and most affordable) option for Battletech are the official map sheets. These are made from thick paper. The standard size is 17″ x 22″ (43.2 x 55.9 cm), folded twice to arrive at approx. letter/A4 sized sheets that are easy to transport. There have been double-sized 34″ x 22″ map sheets as well. The Battletech Wiki at Sarna.net has an overview of all mapsheets ever released. On thing to note is that older map sheets were single-sided, whereas the newer ones are usually double-sided. This is not an improvement in my opinion, as you are out of luck if you want to use both sides of a given sheet in a game, unless you buy two copies of course.

BattleMats

A more recent addition are the BattleMats. These are dual-sided neoprene mats 34″ x 22″ in size. I’m not entirely sure whether they are worth it. They are more expensive but less flexible than the paper map sheets, and more difficult to store and transport, too. 

Other options

Chessex make vinyl gaming mats in various sizes and with several different hex sizes. I own their Megamat with 1.5″ (edge-to-edge) hexes, but they don’t make one with hexes in the standard map sheet size. The Chessex Megamat is 34.5″ x 48″ (approx. 88 x 121 cm) in size.

Gale Force 9, who for a while now have made pre-painted resin 3D Battletech terrain pieces in their Hextech range, recently added two vinyl game mats. These are 36″ x 22″ (90 x  56 cm) in size, are double-sided, and use standard mapsheet-size hexes. Unlike the CGL BattleMats, there’s no terrain (levels, woods etc.) on here, making them more suited for use with 3D terrain.

Thanks to digital printing, custom mats are possible, too. DeepCut Studio are one example – I own several of their cloth gaming mats, and they can print them with hexes, too.

Finally, you can make your own. I’m not sure if there’s still a specialized program around to do so. Back when HeavyMetal Pro was the official ‘Mech building software, they made a map builder, too. There’s also Campaign Cartographer, but I’m unsure whether it does hex overlays. The most flexible solution would probably be designing the map in something like Photoshop and then overlaying a hex grid. If you’re lucky, you might have access to a large-format plotter. Otherwise a copy shop or an online print service can print large formats. Paper is an option, but if you plan to use a mat more often, banner material is a good and relatively affordable solution. My X-Wing mats are printed on banner material and they’ve held up well over the years.