Napoleonic Campaign Maps

[thistlebarrow]

My summer project is to make new maps for my 1813 Napoleonic campaign.  At present I use homemade maps of Germany and Spain.   I use an AA Road Atlas as the template for the maps, but have found that the information shown is too modern and does not have sufficient terrain information.

My plan is to create a new set of maps, again using the Road Atlas as my main reference.  But this time I will start with a map of Europe.   Then one of Germany, France, Spain and Italy.   Finally I will make new maps for each of the five campaign areas, three in Germany and two in Spain.

All of the maps will interface, though they will be in different scales.   I will not make the mistake of trying to use actual terrain and road systems.  The towns and cities will be more or less correct.  The borders will be approximate.  The major road system will be between capital cities, with a secondary system between them and main cities and towns.   Major rivers will be approximate, but all other terrain fictional.

This week’s entry on my Napoleonic Wargaming blog explains the background to the project and in particular the map of Europe.   It also includes the completed map.

You can find the blog here

http://napoleonicwargaming.blogspot.com/

[cdm]

I went down the same route back in 2002, but never completed the project due to life changes and time constraints. I got as far as an 1805 pdf campaign map for Austria, Bavaria and Wurtemburg.

I do recall more contemporary large scale and small scale maps of Europe are online for you to use as a base rather than use modern maps, but they may need some manipulation to be put to final use. I found them relatively easily for 1882 down to where rail lines ran with small villages, I didn't look too hard beyond that at the time for earlier things. I am sorry I can't recall the original sites I used, but google should be easy to manipulate to hunt down a lot of what you may want. I found in my archives an 1803 map of the central German states as I used that to tie down the tiny national boundaries.

I used Mapinfo software at the time and just dug out everything I did back then, so I didn't lose it after all

The attached map is the Berlin mini map I used way back then as the base for that area. I was keen to go on and set out forests and more natural settings and then where garrisons etc were housed, but then life changed.

[thistlebarrow]

My previous attempts at map making were to make them as all inclusive as possible.   I tried to show all towns, roads and terrain features on all of the maps, including those covering large areas such as Germany or Spain.   The result was a very crowded map on which it was difficult to orientate, particularly when viewed on the campaign diary blog.

I have now made much less detailed maps for Europe, Germany and Spain.   I have also used a hex grid, rather than squares.   On the map of Europe I highlight capital cities with a town icon.   The rest of the hex have a name only, no town icon.

On the maps of Germany and Spain I again use the hex system, but this time I use a town icon to indicate whether it is a city or town, and whether fortified or not.   I do not show any roads or terrain features.

You can find the blog here

http://napoleonicwargaming.blogspot.com/

[thistlebarrow]

The campaign maps have always been very stylised, in order to transfer the campaign battles to the wargames table.   The end result was very practical, but not very realistic.

The new maps of Europe, France, Germany, Spain and Italy are even more stylised, and show no terrain features or roads.

The new regional maps are designed to look more natural, and to indicate the terrain and road system.  However they are not to scale.  This is to avoid the previous need to put all cities and towns in the centre of their campaign area.

You can find all three maps here

http://napoleonicwargaming.blogspot.com/

[thistlebarrow]

There are four maps of Spain on the Napoleonic Wargaming blog this week.   One is the previous comprehensive map drawn to scale and showing all major road, river and terrain features, plus all major cities and towns.

There are two new maps covering the same area, but showing major cities which are also campaign objectives.  One is hex and the second square grid.  Each one is a campaign phase.

The fourth map is a very detailed one showing all of the information necessary to produce the tactical (wargame) map for each campaign phase.

You can find all three maps here

http://napoleonicwargaming.blogspot.com/

[vodkafan]

Your map making is very interesting thistlebarrow!

[thistlebarrow]

There are five maps on the Napoleonic Wargame blog this week.   

The basic map of Spain shows the campaign area of the British campaign in the north and the Spanish campaign in the south.

The maps of northern and southern Spain are more detailed, showing major terrain features, the road system and regional borders.

From the appropriate regional map I make a strategic map for each campaign phase.  These show minor roads and the nine towns which will feature in the campaign.

Finally there is a tactical, or wargame, map.  This is the real campaign map and allows me to transfer campaign battles to the wargames table.

http://napoleonicwargaming.blogspot.com/

[vodkafan]

I like the approach with the three different kinds of map; regional, campaign and tactical. You have put a lot of work in.

[thistlebarrow]

Hi vodkafan.   The maps have changed a lot over the years.  I would have preferred to use commercial maps, but I wanted them to show the layout of the wargames table.  My first maps were hand drawn, and only covered the current campaign phase.   But I needed a strategic map to plan the campaign.  The original strategic maps were to scale and had a lot of detail.   Because of the distance between Germany and Spain I made one map of each.   Finally I then wanted a map of Europe to show the location of the five campaign areas.   All of these maps evolved from the table top map to the strategic map.

For my summer project I wanted to redesign the strategic maps.   I wanted them to show campaign objectives only.   I wanted a map of Europe which would show capital cities and national maps which would show campaign objectives and whether they were cities or towns and fortified or open.   I wanted all of these strategic maps to relate to each other, so I started with the map of Europe.

However having done so I then needed a detailed map which would show roads, rivers and hills.   From this I would produce the tactical (wargame) maps which would show the wargame terrain.

That is the reason there are so many different size maps

[thistlebarrow]

To complete the national maps I have added France and Italy.   My current campaign is confined to Germany, Portugal and Spain.   As a result I only made maps of those three countries when I set up the campaign.   

My previous maps were to scale, and I found it difficult to produce a map of Europe which would show both Germany, Portugal and Spain, yet still show sufficient detail when shown on the campaign diary blog.

The new set of maps are not to scale.   They are a collection of major cities, each of which is a campaign objective.   The strategic maps, those of Europe and the national maps, show much less detail.  They are also hex rather than square.   This makes it easier to show the cities of interest in the campaign.

The new strategic maps contain much less information, and are much easier to make.   I decided to produce a national map of both France and Italy, in case I wanted to extend the campaign in the future.

The current blog shows both of these maps, plus both the old and new map of Europe.

http://napoleonicwargaming.blogspot.com/