"Help with cigar box Shiloh mat" Topic

I've looked for maps and pictures on-line and even watched their two minute video but I still need help adding terrain features to this mat. My questions are:
1) What are the major structures/buildings that I would want to represent and where do they go? At sixty yards to an inch scale I'll be using 1"X1" and 1"X2" buildings.
2) Which areas would be considered heavy woods and which light woods? I wish they would have used different shades of green to denote each type of area. Then again maybe they are all the same.
3) Are there any major elevations that need to be represented (other than the sunken road of course)?
4) Are any of the areas where streams run through wooded areas swamp/marches?
5) Lots of fields featured should they all be fenced in?

OK, a little more research and I found a book titled "The Battle of Shiloh: A Step-by-Step Account of One of the Greatest Battles of the Civil War" by Jack Kunkel. I've ordered it based on the map images shown on Google. Is anyone familiar with this book?

Get Brad Butkovich's Shiloh Scenario book from Wargame Vault. In addition to OBs for a bunch of scenarios it has maps that get down to which type of fence surrounded which field. It discusses the terrain in detail noting the tactical importance of the ravines on the battlefield.

Yes, I would get my Shiloh book.

link

But the short version.

1) Short version is that there are buildings on Duncan, Wicker, Sarah Bell, Larkin Bell, and Barnes fields. And the Cantrell house across from Larkin Bell.
2) I could be reading the map wrong, but I think the brownish areas are the light woods, and the green is the heavy woods. The brownish areas certainly weren't open fields on the real battlefield.
3) There is a slight hill east of Duncan Field. Otherwise the streams to the south and east cut ravines into the ground.
4) Yes, those same streams to the east and southeast can get pretty tangled a the bottoms. The streams to the east run into the Tennessee River and get more swampy the farther east you get.
5) Yes. All had fences. I know from primary sources the Peach Orchard (which isn't really called out on the map) was surrounded by a worm fence. But it wouldn't have been the only one. They were quite common and easier to construct than post and rail. I mention in my book that you can use either, even thought I used mostly post and rail on my maps.

Another cool thing about this map is that you can use it for scenarios on both the first and second day of the battle. I think the fight here on the second day is actually very interesting.

The variety of terrain on the mat lends itself to any generic scenario. I use it for introductory games for Johnny Reb III. Have used it the last two NASHCONs.

Thanks for the link. I have ordered your book. Looks like I have a date with thousands of toothpicks because I don't have many fences built.

Yes, the staple crop of the mid 19th century American farmer was apparently fences.

Don't use that mat to recreate historical battles. Use a plain green mat. Do your research. There are plenty of great scenario books that deal with Shiloh. Go to the On Military Matters web sight.

Get the buildings, fences, roads, trees etc. available from several manufactures. Get some RR hobby landscape turf form RR hobby companies. Sprinkle some on the mat and there you have it.

Despite what Cigar Box says, those mats are generic. I have become less and less a fan of these.

I've always wondered how the Sunken Road at Shiloh was ever referred to as a sunken road. It wasn't and isn't. The wagon tracks drop hardly more that a foot in any place. First time I visited I kept looking for a sunken road like Antietam. No such road at Shiloh. I think the heavy woods immediately behind it, which became known as the Hornet's Nest contributed to the sunken road idea. But, for wargaming purposes, there is no real sunken road.

Brad, I received your book today and it is GREAT! I can combine your "Peach Orchard" and "Hornets Nest" scenarios (since they both start at 10:30am) to fit on the Cigar Box Mat. I hear what you are saying about unit frontages in ACW gaming. I'll be using the "Carnage & Glory II" computer moderated rule set which is pretty specific about unit frontages to ground scale (not specific to figure count as there is no figure removal). I'll be using 50 paces to an inch scale which will work well with both your maps and the game mat, along with a 15min per turn time scale. As an aside, I also have the old Talonsoft Battleground Shiloh computer game. It gives fatigue values for the units involved at the start of the Scenario which is also tracked by C&GII.

Again, Thanks for a great product!

I'm glad you like it! Frontages in game design for Shiloh were a challenge, because each game usually has different ways of modelling the larger regiments present at the battle. Cool idea keeping track of variables by computer, as long as it runs smoothly in conjunction with the action on the table.