"Atlanta Campaign Scenario Book May to June 1864" Topic

Hello everybody.

I'm hard at work designing games for my upcoming scenario book. I don't have an exact title yet, but it will cover the Atlanta Campaign from May to June 1864. I've done work on the following scenarios, but will be trimming them down to ten.

Crow Valley at Rocky Face Ridge
Resaca McPherson's May 9th Attack
Resaca McPherson's May 14th Attack
Resaca Stevenson's May 14th Attack
Lay's Ferry
Gilgal Church
Latimer Farm
Kennesaw Nodine Hill/Artillery Hill June 20th
Noonday Creek June 20th (cavalry)
Kennesaw Pigeon Hill
Kennesaw Cheatham Hill

I've almost got the orders of battle finished for each. I've also trimmed down the basic areas for each map. I take a USGS map, and make a grid of the area for the scenario. Here is a rough sketch of the Lay's Ferry scenario, including the possible starting positions of the Union regiments. They will be facing Walker's Division trying to throw them back across the river. Historically, only John K. Jackson's brigade attacked them, but I will include all of Walker's Division as a semi-what if.

The book should be ready in the 4th Quarter 2014.

Does anybody have any questions or comments? I'm all for sharing and discussing this and upcoming projects. It's fun getting feedback from all of you.

Sounds like a great project and I'm looking forward to the book. You can never have too many scenarios!

I hope you consider releasing it in PDF.

Mike

The USGS map is scary. Dummies like me will have a hard time deciphering all the contours. If possible a simpler map would be preferable. Most can't hope to reproduce all those contours anyway.,

Will the oob be down to regimental level?

Yes, it will be available as both hardcopy and a pdf.

Bede, the map above is just a rough mock-up to show the area. The final scenario map won't look anything like it. It will be much "plainer" as you would expect a scenario map to look. In fact, being in a river valley, none of the hills will be taller than one "level".

So the scenarios are regimental?

Great. Certainly sounds like an interesting project. Looking forward to it.

@ Cleburne1863 – Have you looked into mapping software?

There is free mapmaking software called "map maker gratis" I've used for years for gaming maps. It allows you to take several scanned maps and calibrate their scales so the features line up. You can then trace the data you want, in the style that you like to create an entirely new map. There is a learning curve but its short and the results are quite professional. The results can be saved as a bmp file which you can convert to jpg or whatever you like.

ACW Gamer, yes, the scenarios are regimental. I may do a brigade level book at some point in the future.

drummer, I make my own maps in Photoshop. I've got a process down by now, although I'm always updating and trying new techniques. Thanks for the heads-up!

Howdy,

Suggest you distill the scenario maps and clearly show what should be represented on the table. The contour map shown as an example leaves you wondering what terrain is on the table?

My two cents,

JAS

Regimental! Good! Sign me up! Just make each square a foot. Double check your map key. Nothing worst when you have a symbol on a map and you can't figure out what it represents.

Simplify your map where you don't have to be a topographical engineer to figure it out. But don't do it in 3D either. Full color illustrated 3D maps are overkill and are distracting.

Check out the old Potomac Press regimental scenario maps. Those are great. I have everyone of them. Maps are simple enough to use with my Geo-Hex

If that map is the final map for your scenario, then that would be worthless for me. Can't read it. Not sure of the elevations and exactly where the woods are.

There has been some misunderstanding regarding the map I included in my post above. That's my fault for not explaining it clearly enough. The map in my first post is merely a work-in-progress example showing the area of the scenario. After all, how can you make an accurate historical map if you don't know what the actual contours and terrain features are?

Here is an example of what a finished map will look like. Its Sheridan vs. Hindman in my Chickamauga scenario book.

Each square will be a foot. There will be a key for all the map symbols.

Much better! I knew that had to be a work in progress.

Would it include OOb for whole armies as in your Chickamauga scenario book ?

Unfortunately, no it will not include an entire OOB for the Atlanta Campaign. The scenario book spans two months, the composition of the forces changed dramatically during that time. Regiments mustered out. New ones were added. There were many transfers between brigades and divisions. Unlike a single battle like Chickamauga or Pickett's Mill, a fixed point in time, I don't think the scope of the scenario book lends itself to an OOB. Its difficult enough tracking down the strengths of the regiments during any one battle during those two months!

This looks great, thanks for sharing and please keep us posted as to availability.

Goodness, the second map posted is better than the first?? The second map is practically impossible for me to understand yet the first couldn't be more clear! It's a topographic map. The closer together the lines are the steeper the incline or hill. That's it. Simple as that. It's clean and the units looked and worked perfect on that map. The second map looks clunky and odd and frankly I have never been able to use them to set up a scenario very well. My 02 worth, the first map is LEGIONS better and far more useful.

I too understand topographic maps but I also find the second map to be quite legible. The elevation contours don't make much difference from a wargaming perspective since they have to be condensed into one and two "level" hills unless there are cliffs.

Hmmm. Looks like I'll have to break out the 3D holograms to make everybody happy. :)

Now you are talking Cleburne.

jpipes, I have also started including a small number next to hills so that one can see what elevation they are. Whether they are a "level 1" hill. "Level 2" etc. You can see examples in my Pickett's Mill book.

I like the second map better than the first.

But hey, that's just me.

Here is the almost completed map for the Nodine Hill/Bald Knob scenario. This was a small battle that occurred west of Kennesaw on June 20th.

I'm trying to decide if the woods need a light green background to further delineate and mark the woodlines.

I went out to take pictures for the book yesterday. Here is a photo of the Dead Angle at Cheatham Hill at Kennesaw. You can almost see Sam Watkins in the center of the picture.

On a lighter note, I ran into this while out taking pictures. Do you see the scenario map above? It was about where the label for the "6 KY" is.

Actually, I ran into several deer, and even stalked some for fun. But that's another story.

In the book will you please include the map scale for the different scenario maps? It gets very annoying – and this is the case with most scenario books – when you have to play a guessing game to determine what 1 inch equals.

No problem. 1 inch = approx. 35 yards.

Brad, drop me a line through the contact form at combatcartography.co.uk

@Rallynow, thanks for the kind words, I drew all the maps.

How would you model all those woods on the gaming table? And how would you move your figures through them?

Very good question donlowry!

Green paper or felt cutouts with some trees here and there is probably what I would do.

If the majority of the table is woods, I would make the fields out of felt. Leave the fields clear and liberally sprinkle individual trees throughout the wooded areas.

I am starting to publish a series of battlemaps at 1" = 45 yds on suede cloth. You can take a look at how I handle heavy woods on page 3 of battlemapterrain dot com, specifically Peachtree Creek – one of the most important of the Atlanta Campaign battles.

I use most of the trees to outline the woods, then populate the inside with the odd tree here and there, that way you know where the treeline starts and you can easily move troops inside.

My personal preferences are similar to Old Guy. I'll create a woodline out of a line of trees, and sometimes even thread that is the same color as the ground work. Thread is thin but still easy to see and doesn't detract from the overall look of the battlefield. Then I just populate the inside of the woods with lots of individual trees. As long as the trees on the woodline and/or the thread doesn't move, the players can move the trees inside all they want to accommodate units. I have a whole tub of nothing but individually mounted trees from Scenic Woodlands. But also, in the case of a battlefield with a lot of woods such as Chickamauga, I'll specifically make felt fields for the open spaces, and the rest of the board is just woods populated with lots of individual trees.

How would you model all those woods on the gaming table? And how would you move your figures through them?

That's a pretty common thing for ACW battles. If you're playing with vast expanses of open fields I don't think you're doing it "right."

Goodness, the second map posted is better than the first?? The second map is practically impossible for me to understand yet the first couldn't be more clear! It's a topographic map. The closer together the lines are the steeper the incline or hill. That's it. Simple as that. It's clean and the units looked and worked perfect on that map. The second map looks clunky and odd and frankly I have never been able to use them to set up a scenario very well. My 02 worth, the first map is LEGIONS better and far more useful.

Yes, it would be great to be able to recreate all of the actual topograpy, but that's not remotely practical for most people.

And from a wargaming standpoint, why try? Most of the elevation differences had no siginficant affect on the combat that is able to be practically represented in the context of a wargame.

very exciting project …cant wait!!

Hello,

I thought I'd put up the finished image of the Lay's Ferry map that was at the top of this discussion.

I use green yarn to outline the woods. You have to train everyone to pick up the figure by the base instead of sliding them. IMHO looks much better than the dark green felt and you can shape it precisely to match the scenario map. Just set trees in the area for looks. Move the trees out of the way when needed.

Can be used multiple times without re-cutting. Comes in a million colors, so you can use brown yarn for rough terrain and place rocks and ground clutter in the area.

Looking forward to this book. I really appreciate the fact you are actually visiting the battle sights and taking pictures.

looking better and better!

release date?

1st Quarter 2015. I'm on schedule for January. I may debut it at Siege of Augusta in Augusta, GA.

i can wait that long ….should give me sufficient time to paint up my earth-works and add at least a brigade of cleburne's boys to my collection!

Yeah, plenty of earthworks in these scenarios. But actually, a lot of fighting outside the works too. They are not all assaults on prepared positions.

I use very thin MDF board and glue my tree roots onto the MDF base. The plastic roots have holes in them that the tree trunk can be inserted into. I then use flock, grass, little stones, and bushes to cover the base. This way my trees can be moved around on the base to accomadate minitures moving around. The entire MDF base is considered to be heavy woods. I space the trees about every 1.5 to 2 inches. I also mix and match the types of trees on each base. They store very nicely when done this way. The trees all go back into a plastic bad and the MDF bases, once the trees have been removed stack nicely into a box.

Ohhh I forgot to add that I really like your scenario books Cleburne1863. I look forward to this one being finished! I prefer the regimental level ones over the brigade level ones.

I just wanted to announce that The Road to Atlanta will debut at Siege of Augusta XXIV Jan. 16-18, 2015. Historic Imagination will be there. I'll be both selling books, and running two scenarios. I'll be running:

Bald Knob June 20th, 1864 from The Road to Atlanta
Sheridan's Stand from The River of Death scenario book.

siegeofaugusta.org

The book is in layout at the moment. Here is a sample page.

Hope to see some of you in January!

cant make it to siege of augusta ….but I am pre-ordering this book a.s.a.p.!

I'm hoping to be able to start taking pre-orders on Amazon in mid-December.

Resaca….one of a few places where they do the re-enactment on the battlefield.