One of the next steps is to figure out the scale and decide on the level of detail. (As in just how big is Rosmark anywsy?)
It looks like I will have to do blown up local maps if I decide to make actual campaign moves rather than using it for general background, but, first things first.
A hand drawn map! I had become so habituated to seeing digital/computer generated maps for gaming projects that the concept of a hand drawn map had basically slipped from my mind (other than as a sketch from which a computer generated one would follow). Love it!
ReplyDeleteIt's been years since I set pencil to sketch pad but it's good for the soul.
DeleteThat's a pretty snappy looking map so far there, Ross!
ReplyDeleteBest Regards,
Stokes
Thanks Stokes
DeleteVery nice Ross, a lovely hand drawn map makes such a refreshing change.
ReplyDeleteAnd much more enjoyable, (for me anyway)
DeleteYour map is lovely! There are a couple of considerations in terms of size. First, is the province large enough to support your army, i.e. is their population going to be sufficiently large to support the army, is their enough land on which to grow food, will there be resources to purchase mercenaries? These do not need to be done as explicit numbers but as something which will fuel the war making engines of Rosmarck. They can be drawn onto your map - or not. My thinking since we don't know the actual dimensions of your map might be that one inch equals five kilometers. In any case, this was an attractive piece of art work including the sea monster reminding us that "There be monsters, indeed."
ReplyDeleteExactly Jerry, I might even break out my battered 40+ year old copy of Tony Bath' s book but I don't want to get into that level of admin. My two main concerns are with the size of the armies and the number of unrepresented or paper regiments and the size of the campaigning areas for possible minicampaigns but it all had to have an acceptable level of believability. My next step is going to be looking at the size of a number of actual areas where wars with armies of the same size have been fought esp those where I have been (e.g. Niagara peninsula, St Lawrence valley, Anglo Scots border etc. I tend to measure distances
Deletein highway driving times so need to translate to kms.
One of the methods I use to simplify the administrative parts of a campaign/war/geopolitical conflict is to assume a fixed military budget, which at once does away with all the other government expenditures that might clutter up the process. That doesn't obviate the existence of large coastal towns and cities, of course, or one or two dotted along that great Rosmark waterway I see there.
ReplyDeleteFrom your earlier descriptions, I have formed the impression of a rather thinly populated tract of country, offering wide strategic scope for fairly small armies. That is just the 'feel' I get.
I find it as easy to imagine 200 miles from edge to edge of the map as to imagine it 20.
I have no intention of getting into budget details, not even military let alone others, I leave that to the bureaucrats. Mostly what I want is an idea of how long it would take to make operational shifts from one border to another. Strengths in men,horses,guns and ships will be measured not in "real" terms but in terms of actual toy soldiers.
DeleteI also don't intend to allow any campaigning inside Rosmark proper anytime soon for fear something would go wrong with international implications with neighbours to the South and Southwest.
Before I go farther I need to key this map into the wider map, part of which I have a scale for from a campaign fought last century. Then I can decide if I need to deviate from it or modify either my map or my plans or if it all fits.