Map wrangling

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

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 

great work , personally i use campaign cartographer to draw the maps and resize accordingly  , here are some of my examples , nachod , gettysburg and waterloo

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.

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.

I am going to use a 6mm paper fortress elements with my 1: 2,500 scale printed Ferraris maps. The elemnts of this 6mm scale model are actually the right size for 2mm both in terms of extent and height. This will allow the fortress to be used at the normal battlefield scale.

www.paperterrain.com/vauban-forts/6mm-scale-5-sided-vauban-fortress
www.paperterrain.com/vauban-forts/vauban-fortress-outer-works