Advice for historical map making

thistlebarrow · April 2015

I have used CC3 for about four years, and am very pleased with it. But I suspect that I am not using it to its full potential. I received an email today informing me about CC3+, and it make me consider how I could improve the whole experience.

I only use CC3 to produce maps for a Napoleonic campaign. The maps are based on France, Germany, Spain and Portugal. What I have done works well enough, but I would like to make them more like actual historical maps.

Can anyone suggest how I might go about this?

I recall when I first started using CC3 that there was some sort of a historical add on, which would make them more like historical maps. At the time I was put off by the prospect of tackling a more complicated system. To be honest I still am, but I would like to reconsider the whole thing.

At this stage I would really appreciate some advice

Sven · April 2015

Have you seen the maps from any of the new & 2nd edition GHQ publications, almost the entirety of Baccus 6mm publications, the maps in the Warlord Games Pike & Shotte Rules, or the maps & TOE's from All Quiet on the Martian Front? I did all of those in various versions of CC2 & CC3 (am now working on some in CC3+ for Baccus). That covers a broad spectrum of periods from early Bronze Age to 20th century. I do try & develop different styles per publisher & historical period. You can check out my work at https://sites.google.com/site/vikingjarl/

If you get the annuals, & no you can't pick & choose which specific months to get, there are a number of different styles that make a good groundwork for doing historical maps. Admittedly I did my own set of varicolor symbols using classic military notation-icons, but that is not difficult, just time consuming.

I like several of the parchment backgrounds from the Annuals and I use the "symbol along" command for the classic elevation symbol. I use the same technique for Railroads btw & move the rails over the members. I also like to use a lot of transparencies to denote areas of terrain such as forests & the like rather than cluttering with a lot of trees. My early work is a little too busy especially when the publishers move it to greyscale.

Feel free to talk with me for help if you desire.

Skal,
Sven Lugar

thistlebarrow · April 2015

Hi Sven

Thanks for the link to your website. I have had a quick look, and checked out your Napoleonic entries in particular. I have bookmarked it to go through it properly later.

I think the add on that I mentioned in my earlier post was indeed from one of the annuals. I didn't know what "annual" meant then, and I still don't. But it seems a pity that you have to buy all of them together. I would have been quite happy to buy the one I mentioned, but I don't think I would want to use any of the other add ons.

I also appreciate your offer to help. I have run a PBEM Napoleonic campaign for about five years, and actually bought CC3 to help me improve the maps. It might help if you had a look at one of the blogs to see what my maps look like. They are pretty basic, and very practical. But not very artistic. Each square on the tactical map represents a scenic square on my wargames table. The aim is to let the campaign players pick the sort of battlefield they want to fight their battles on, and to let me create the wargames table to match. You will find my latest campaign diary blog here http://1813pbemcampaigndiary.blogspot.com

What I would really like is to be able to make my maps look more like the battlefield maps you find in reference books, such as Napier or Oman.

However they would need to be pretty easy to make, because I am not all all skillful using CC3

regards

Paul

JimP · April 2015

Annuals, there is a yearly set, consisting of one issue per month. You pay once, and the first few days of each month you get an email stating that month's issue of the Annual is available. Login to your account on Profantasy's site, not the forums, and download and install it. Next month, you get another email, etc.

thistlebarrow · April 2015

Hi JimP

Would you know which one contains the Napoleonic map making?

And is it possible just to buy that one?

regards

Paul

melspence · April 2015

Hi Paul

Its Vol 3, and I'm afraid you have to buy the whole volume.

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2009/august09.html

http://www.profantasy.com/annual/2009/november09.html

The first link will take you to the Napoleonic battles page,

The second link takes you to the page with the military symbols

Cheers

Mel

Sven · April 2015

I actually recommend getting the annuals. Virtually every month's offering has improved my cartography skills as I worked through them. Nice little blog, I'm not sure what you want to do with your maps exactly. Drop me an email sometime via my website & we can work something out if you need help.

Skal,
Sven

Simon Rogers · April 2015

Hi, this article covers using CC3 to create historical maps.

thistlebarrow · April 2015

Thanks very much for all the advice and recommendations.

I can now do some research to decide whether the Napoleonic Battles annual is the answer to what I am trying to do.

I suspect I could do a lot more with the basic CC3, if I could master it a little better

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Advice for historical map making

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