Table at the start of a wargame
The wargames table is the starting point for both my wargames and the maps of my fictional 1813 campaign. It is 6x6 foot and has space for nine 2x2 foot squares. This area would represent one map square on my stragetic maps, and nine map squares on the tactical one. The above table shows the area I mean.
For the campaign to work I had to be able to transfer any battle fought onto the wargames table. So first I had to decide how I would use the 2x2 foot scenic squares to create the wargame terrain.
Campaign map master
The
best way to describe this is to explain how the campaign map is created.
The area covered is from the attacking army depot to the defending army depot, which is always the campaign objective.
There
are 108 squares, divided into 12 squares each three wide by three deep. This area is one days march on the campaign
map and also one wargames table.
The map is four tables wide and three deep.
In the campaign each French and allied army has 3 armies each of 3 corps. At the start of the campaign the two armies are deployed either side of the District border (the dotted purple line in the middle of the map). A maximum of 1 corps can occupy each of the smaller squares, and on the wargames table one corps can fit in one 2x2 foot scenic squares.
The master campaign map starts with nine buildings. The centre building at each end is a city and the army depot. The other 7 are towns. Each is an objective in both the map campaign and on the wargames table.
Campaign map for
Hannover campaign
This map shows the completed map with the location of each French and Prussian corps at the start of the Hannover campaign. Three types of roads have been added, major are red, secondary yellow and tracks brown.
Cities and towns have been named. Hills, woods, villages and farms have also been added.
Most important each small square now has a number, and this corresponds with a 2x2 foot scenic square. This is how it is possible to transfer every small square on the campaign map to the wargames table.
Next week I will cover making the 2x2 foot scenic squares and the scenery that goes on top of them.
Another really interesting post, really enjoying seeing the thought process behind your games, fascinating stuff.
ReplyDeleteHi Donnie. Thanks for your comment. Glad that you found it interesting. It took me many years to develop my present system, and I wanted to try to spread the word about how easy it is to do. It can sound complicated when written down, but is actually very obvious once you start with what you have available and what you want to achieve. The rest if just fine tuning. Regards Paul
DeleteThanks - I have always wondered how your maps worked- to make sense I will need to draw out each of the maps
ReplyDeleteHi Andrew. Thanks for your comment. The maps were the most difficult part of developing my campaign system. It just proved impossible to transfer detail from, say a road map, to the wargames table. In the coming weeks I hope to explain how I made it work.
DeleteInteresting post and it’s very helpful to explain your method which you have done. I think your post shows how you can strike a balance between detail and process in campaign mapping for table top games and crucially the imagery is neither perfect nor too artistic as in cgi/ai. It’s practical as well as enjoyable.
ReplyDeleteHi Norber. Thanks for your comment . You seem to appreciate the most difficult problem of creating wargames maps. It is ok if you have a map of a historical battle and are prepared to do the work to reproduce that on your wargames table. But if you want to create a campaign map you have to be able to transfer any portion of the map to the table. So the map has to be driven by what size table you have and what terrain you have available. Once you take this approach the rest is easy. But if you want a particular feel to the campaign, like my 1813 campaign, you have to create your campaign as close as possible to the historical map. I hope to explain all of this in coming posts. Regards Paul
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