Steel Sqwire caught my eye. I first saw them advertised in Dragon Magazine, then heard about them from my buddy who owns a game shop who also went to GenCon- Anaheim. I went to the and this is what they have to offer:
First of all, I could not find much information on the actual construction of the products offered which are templates made of steel wire that can represent area effects on your gaming table that fits the 1 inch grid pattern. I was looking for this, not because it is extremely important but because I used to be a welder/metal-fabricator so I'm geeky like that.
The product catalogue on-line offers radius effects of 10 feet, 20 feet, and 40 feet. These are all offered in plain wire or colored plastic-coated in black, blue, red, white and yellow. The plastic, colored coating costs a little more. The 40 foot radius is quite large so it comes in sections with connectors (as per the description on the website).
They also offer cone templates, straight and diagonal. Each set comes with a 30 foot cone with a 60 foot extension. These too are offered in plain wire or coated in colored plastic (black, blue, red, white and yellow) and the 60 foot extension also is "breakdownable" using a connector.
A little icing on the cake is some steel "enlargement cards" which are stainless-steel, 2 inch X 2 inch cards etched with a Steel Sqwire logo on one side and text on effects of the enlargement spell on the other side. Those seem pretty cool!!
I received my order promptly (within the week I ordered) and ordering on the website was a breeze.
I got one 20' radius (red) and one 20' radius (black) plus 2 of the steel enlargement cards.
All the products looked and felt really sturdy yet wieldy for the "surgical precision" needed for heavy miniature play. (I hate wiping out half a battlefield just to move an awkward mini or terrain piece.) The "Rads", as they are called on the website, were indeed sturdy steel wire coated in a plastic that is in varying shades of the color advertised. The colors were not solid though, more of a swirling combination from light to dark of the color in question.
The Rads lay flat on the table and are heavy enough to be difficult to bump and move. I think the plastic coating has something to do with that, as well as my vinyl mat. They basically are easy to move when needed but stay in place too.
The thing I like the most about the RADS is that they are easy to place on your mat or playing surface. With a minimum of hand dexterity, you can place and move the RADS many times in a combat quickly.
I also enjoyed the fact that any duration effect spells with a 20 foot radius (darkness for instance) can be set on the grid mat and left there for the duration of the combat with almost no obstruction of other miniature details and movement or obscurring of these other details.
The Enlargement cards were handy too. They are 2 inch X 2 inch stainless steel card with all spell effects of enlargement etched on it including damage upgrades of enlarged weapons. You can place it on the mat and a miniature on top when the spell enlargement has been cast. A tad hard to move on a vinyl mat with a miniature on it, it otherwise is another good idea.
Content: N/A
Originality: 5
I'm giving it this for more of a "Duh, why didn't I think of this?" than actual originaltiy.
Simplicity/Clarity: 5
Pretty simple and pretty clear.
Layout/Presentation: 4
The colored plastic coating is nice but I kind of wanted the colors a little bolder. The enlargenent cards were a bit slippery.
Value: 5
At $20.00 for a set of 2 colored RADS and the way they eased up my game, it is well worth it. This is of course if you play a miniature heavy game. The website has many other options that are more or less in price.
Overall: 4.5
A great idea and something I will be using quite a bit for my game.