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Post by deraltefritz on Jul 31, 2023 20:33:00 GMT
With the availability of high quality map images such as the entire series for Belgium in the Ferraris series and the Wagram Mega-map, I thought that it was about time that I actually got some troops on the board. To date I have built and painted a lot of terrain, including the elements of a Vauban fortresss and I have 3D prints of a couple of armies. The second advance from last summer, is that I now have a couple of sets of rules that are fairly similar in outlook, yet different in scale to fight battles at a variety of sizes, depending on circumstance. For the 'larger' scale (1 block = 400 infantry and a ground scale of 1mm = 2.5m) I am using the old Wargames Research Group DBR Renaissance Rules. Bought from hereFor the 'smaller' scale (1 block = 2000 infantryand a ground scale of 1mm = 5m or 7.5m) I am using the Twilight of the Sun King series of rules bought from the Pike and Shot Society or from Wyre Historic Books for the SYW Rules and Eastern Europe set. These come with handy battle set ups in a series of booklets for the whole of my interest period from 1600-1760. But I need a board to play on that I can put away in between battles and will probably have to live either on top or underneath a 6' long x 4' wide bed. So I thought of Zack's Panel idea but rather than painting the panels, I would keep the poster clip frame entire and just sandwich a printed map between them. I can get clip frames up to A1 or A0 sizes, so would need either 4 or 2 panels to cover most of the bed. ISO sizes  www.papersizes.org/a-paper-sizes.htm |
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Post by deraltefritz on Jul 31, 2023 21:03:57 GMT
The problem now is how to convert the online maps: Ferraris commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Full_size_Ferraris_maps_of_Belgium and www.kbr.be/en/the-ferraris-map/Aspern Essling or Wagram maps forwardmarchstudios.gumroad.com/The maps have to be printed and their scale has to match as close as possible a) the rule ground scale b) need to be clear enough an image The Ferraris maps are easiest since the website tells you that they were produced in 1: 11,520 scale and I need 1: 2,500 scale for the DBR rules and 1:5,000 or 1:7,500 scale for the Twilight Rules or WRG Horse Foot Guns Rules. The maps sheets for Ferraris cover 15 km x 8 km while a typical battlefield like Waterloo is around 4 km square so about 1/8 of sheet. Likewise my two sets of rules produce the following sizes for a standard 6' x 4' table. My two A0 sized clip frames make things slightly more complex but they are slightly smaller than the standard table, so we can work from this as a good guide. Table size 2m x 1.2m converts to: At a scale of 1mm = 2.5m 1:2,500 = 5,000m x 3,000m At a scale of 1mm = 5m 1:5,000 = 10,000m x 6,000m A0 Table size 1.68m x 1.19m converts to: At a scale of 1mm = 2,5m 1:2,500 = 4,200m x 2,975m At a scale of 1mm = 5m 1:5,000= 8,400m x 5,950m So using the 1mm= 5m scale this is how I converted the Ferraris map sheet into printanble sections; 10km x 6km at scale of 1:11,520
1370 mm on map = 1370*11520=15,782,400 mm = 15,782 m or 15.7 km in real life (so size of map sheet in mm times 1:11,520 scale) Therefore the table width as measured in the rule ground scale (10km) 10,000,000/11520=868.0556 mm on the map and the same for the height is 6,000,000/11520=520.8333 mm on the map In pixels 868*15.905=13,805.54 520*15.905=8,270.6 (I found the pixel count by looking at the image property and it seems to be pretty constant at 1mm = 15.905 pixels) Increase size of 10km x 6km map to scale 1:5,000
11,520/5000=2.304 Current size of image is 13,808 x 8,280 pixels Current width of image is 13,808/15.905=868.1547 mm Current height of image is 8280/15.905=520.591 mm But it needs to be at a scale of 1:5,000 10,000,000/5,000=2,000 mm wide or 2m 6,000,000/5,000=1,200 mm high or 1.2m So to turn current width of 868 into 2,000 = 2,000/868=2.3041 So increase the size of the image by 2.3 to make the map the right size |
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Post by deraltefritz on Jul 31, 2023 21:19:14 GMT
At this point I hit a problem as my graphic programme ran out of memory! But it did allow me to increase the size of the image to 1000mm wide and so then it is just a straight doubling in size on the printer settings to get to the right scale. The way round this is a) use the printer to scale up b) chop the map into A4 sized segments and scale them up by a factor of two before printing. There are 16 in a poster sized A0 image so 32 in all. I will try and see what happens if I chop the main image into A0 pieces if I can then double these in size. As to printing, I am doing this on a domestic inkjet Canon G5000 which will print an A0 poster (4 x 4 A4 size). Have have some glossy A4 sized Photo Paper which will give me a much clearer print and brighter colours. This should allow me to chop the main map into two large peices and then print each one as a poster. Zack has already done this for the Wagram Map ( forwardmarchstudios.gumroad.com/l/QLoBx?layout=profile) but on US sized paper and a scale of 1mm=10m. It prompted this idea of converting existing maps into particular wargames scales. I will experiment with the Ferraris maps (there are two types, original scans and colour balanced) and the Wagram and Aspern Essling maps to see which is the most aesthetically pleasing and I will try and post some photos to show how I get on. The test map of the twon of Dendermonde at 1: 5,000 came out prefectly, I will have to see how it comes out at 1:2,500 as well. |
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Post by deraltefritz on Jul 31, 2023 21:29:55 GMT
I had an idea for depicting hills using the same method as used by early map makers. They used hatched lines to show slopes and gradients so it would be easy to print off a few extra pages of map and cut out hill shapes from these. Mount them onto thin cardboard to give a couple of mm of extra height and then shade round the edges to show the slopes. Then lay these onto the perspex along with the woods and other terrain features such as houses. Being flat the troop blocks will not fall off either! See for an example  |
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Post by oldskirmishman on Aug 3, 2023 0:21:39 GMT
Wow. This is great work. We have a group that still plays double-blind Kriegsspiel. The best scale for that is 1:7500 but since mathematics was not my highlight in school I have no idea how to convert to that scale. A little help?
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Post by suntzu on Aug 3, 2023 8:17:05 GMT
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Post by oldskirmishman on Aug 3, 2023 17:33:35 GMT
Really nice work.
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Post by deraltefritz on Aug 7, 2023 11:13:50 GMT
Wow. This is great work. We have a group that still plays double-blind Kriegsspiel. The best scale for that is 1:7500 but since mathematics was not my highlight in school I have no idea how to convert to that scale. A little help? Which is why I put my calculations in the post. So if you were to use the Ferraris maps it would work like this: The Ferraris maps are easiest since the website tells you that they were produced in 1: 11,520 scale and you need 1:7,500 scale for the Kreigspiel. So 11,520/7,500 = times 1.536 you should be able to do this level of scaling in your image programme or even within your printer. You might find it simpler to just double the size of the maps which would give you a scale of 1: 5,225 Close enough?Table size 2m x 1.2m converts to: At a scale of 1mm = 7.5m or 1:7,500 so 2 m (2,000,000 mm x 7.5 = 15,000,000 mm) equates to 15 km and 1.2 (1,200,000 mm x 7,5 = 9,000,000 mm) equates to 9 km This size of table would allow you to put both the Battle of Quatre Bras and the Waterloo on the same table. |
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Post by oldskirmishman on Aug 8, 2023 1:04:32 GMT
Thanks for your help.
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Post by deraltefritz on Sept 27, 2023 21:24:31 GMT
Currently I am looking at Ferraris Sheet 40 Ath as this is a nice little fortress town with most of its wall, and bastions intact in 1770. The twon was first fortified by Vauban himself in 1670 and then he conducted what was called 'The Most Perfect Siege' in 1697 during the Nine Years War and then again in 1706. The fortress was then raised in 1745 with the ravelins removed and the covered way slighted, the bastions were too big to remove so they remain.  |
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Post by deraltefritz on Sept 27, 2023 21:30:49 GMT
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Post by deraltefritz on Sept 27, 2023 21:39:56 GMT
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Post by deraltefritz on Sept 27, 2023 21:53:54 GMT
But sieges themselves are often small scale actions so for the siege action I will use the map at 1: 1,000 featuring just the immediate fortress walls and depict the fortress using Rod Langton's models (http://www.rodlangton.com/napoleonic/frame.htm) since I use 2mm models at both scales, the houses, trees and woods can be used for both. I will just use different bastions and ravelins and troop levels at 1:1 figure scale rather than the 1;400 used at the battlefield figure scale. In practice this will mean using four 'blocks' for a 600 man battalion rather than the usual one 'block' used on the battlefield.
This will also allow me to depict both inland and coastal towns (with a harbour) as the western side of Ath is made up of three bastions in an almost straight line, so these could be removed and replaced with a harbour.
The fortress area (at 1: 2,500) can be cut out and then placed onto any other map section (large river or coastal map sheet) to depict a fortress in a variety of locations. Belgrade on a river or Odessa on the coast.
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Post by deraltefritz on Jan 1, 2024 9:26:44 GMT
I thought a quick New Year update was called for on mapping progress. I am finding the technque using the Ferraris maps very useful indeed. I have bene looking at the battle of Ramillies recently and came across a very good order of battle here: obscurebattles.blogspot.com/along with some other C18 and C19th century battles. Using a 30mm base width (BW) for my troops means that I can have a selection of maps to us depending the on the scale of the game. The essential calculation is that a BW is equivalent to 2 battalions (frontage of a single battalion is 150m for 600 men in three files at 0.75m per file) for brigade scale games. 300m at 30mm is equivalent to a 1:10,000 map scale (close to the original Ferraris map scale of 1:11,520) For regimental level games where a BW is one Battalion then the scale is 1:5,000 or for battalion scale games where a BW is half a battalion then 1:2,500 scale. Ramillies fits comfortably onto the 1:10,000 scale map onto an A0 sheet (uses the Twilight of the Sun King Rules or Horse Foot Guns from WRG) or you can just about squeeze the main battle area onto a 1:5,000 map on two A0 sheets while a focus on storming of one of the main villages, such as Ramillies could be done at 1:2,500 |
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Post by deraltefritz on Jan 1, 2024 9:33:04 GMT
| Scaling | A0 size in pixels | A0 size in pixels | scaling from original | | Native scale 1:11,520 | 13,376 | 18,911 |
| | Map 1:10,000 | 11,611 | 16,415 | X115.2
| Map 1:5,000
Map 1:2,500 | 5,805
2,903 | 8,208
4,104
| x230.4
x460.8 |
I have had some success in manipulating the maps in Faststone IImage Handler (https://www.faststone.org/FSIVDownload.htm) which seems to deal with larger files much better. I have evolved a quicker technique to scale and print out the maps. 1. Take original Ferraris image in Faststone 2. Crop to size as in table above. This gives you an A0 sized area at the correct scale. 3. You could not simply increase the size of your new map image to A0. My printer will not hanlde this size but a print shop might. 4. So I resize the image to A2 (594 x 420mm) or (9447 x 6680 pixels) which is the largest that my printer can handle. 5. Print as A2 as poster 4x4 A4 sheets ie. A0 So for the battle of Ramillies (sheets 134 and 114) as I said earlier I have a 1:10,000 scale map and a 1:5,000 scale map. The second element that I have been working on is the bases for my troops. My original trial the Battle of Rossbach used 3D printed FMM blocks but I needed a base 30mm by 15mm to fit the rules and the troops needed some method of easy identification. So in PowerPoint I designed a grid of text boxes onto which I could print out the order of battle as a series of coloured bases. I chose a series of light pastel colours so that they blend into the map a bit better, rather than being say grass coloured, or with a strong country colour, say dark blue for Prussia. The original bases had a lot of information from the rules on them but were difficult to read so what I do now is print out an Order of Battle in Excel where all this information is recorded and just have the unit name and perhaps country for coalition armies such as the one at Ramillies. This is what I get:  My second problem with bases is that I want to create armies from a wide period of history 1618-1760 and intend to re-use many of my 3D prints. So I am currently looking for a glossy light card stock which will allow me to stick the 3D prints on with temporary glue and then re-use them for another battle. I have found a suitable glue in "Aleene's Tack-It Over & Over" which is a fabric re-stickable glue ( Glue on Amazon) and am using superior grade photographic paper at 230 gsm. This prints out really clearly unlike straight onto paperbut I really need a heavier weight so will look at greetings card stock to see if it is any better later on in the New Year. So I am quite happy with the maps and the bases to date, they blend in quite well together but give the player a decent amount of information. Ramillies has about 30 units a side at brigade level (1:10,000) and 60 units a side at regimental level (1:5,000) so these seem manageable. |
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