Map Room: Period Battle Maps For KS/BBB Gaming

 MAP ROOM

This page provides period battle maps that have been retouched, resized, cleaned up, and made available in pdfs that can be downloaded, printed, and assembled for gaming. Keep in mind that (as I mention below) these maps are intended for half scale gaming (either Bloody Big Battles or Kriegpsiel), so a map dimension of 26" x 23" would represent an actual gaming area of 52" x 46" at full scale.  

This page also contains modular terrain sets that can be used to create period looking battle maps to support player-designed scenarios (basically mirroring the same process as miniatures and 3D terrain pieces). There are also tutorials to help assist users with using these materials. All I would ask is that if you do use these, please take a moment to drop a line to let me know how they worked for you. 

 

INTRODUCTION

I created these resources to expand options for my system for gaming half scale Bloody Big Battles using Kriegspiel Blocks.  For more on that, I recommend seeing the tutorial and explanation on the BBB Resources Page of this blog (scroll down to "6. Guide to Half Scale BBB With Kriegspiel Blocks"). Having said that, there is nothing that would prevent anyone from using these materials for other game systems. 

I welcome feedback and suggestions for other historical maps that I could add to the collection.   

This page is divided into three major areas. In each area, there are tutorials, which are denoted by being [ALL CAPS AND IN BRACKETS]. PDF Downloads are indicated and [are bold in brackets].

A) General Tips

B) Historical Battle Maps  

C) Modular Terrain and Battle Maps 

As usual, clicking on an image will bring up a larger version. 

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A. GENERAL TIPS 

At start, I suggest reviewing the [GENERAL TIPS TUTORIAL] 

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B. HISTORICAL BATTLE MAPS

These are period battle maps that have had the graphics erased, touched up, and resized to roughly to 1/2 Bloody Big Battles scale (which is also roughly half scale for Kriegspiel)--so the target scale for these is about 1:15,000.  I took the estimated scales in the sources (where available) and used them to resize the maps to playing size--and then did an eyeball test to tweak them a bit more (some more than others). So they aren't exact, but they're close enough--and certainly as close as many of the period maps from the era from which they derive.  

An example of the process (using a map of the Battle of Kolin):

I start with the original map (above left) and clean off all the graphics (above right)

I then crop the map to the playing area (above left) and then resize, print out, and assemble for gaming (above right).

Map Selection: to begin with, I used maps from the UK Royal Collection Trust King George III's Military Map Collection. Although each is of a specific battle, I didn't pick them on that basis. I picked them for their suitability as gaming maps in general--although you could of course game the subject battles on them. Okay, I did pick one (Fontenoy) based on the battle (truth in lending), although that map might be used to represent some other battle, too, I guess. Given the source, these maps are from the Seven Years War, War of the Austrian Succession, and War of the Spanish Succession. They have the look of their era (not surprising), and as such would be particularly suited for playing one of the Bloody Big Battle variants for the 18th Century timeframe.  

Each map has been put into a pdf. All that you need to do is download the file, print out the pages, and assemble them.  To do so, I suggest that you review the [ASSEMBLING HISTORIC MAPS TUTORIAL].  

Each battle maps below has thumbnails of the original version, the game version, and the print out.  The "original" thumbnail is linked to the source map. The pdf download links are under their respective map thumbnails and are [bold and in brackets]. 

FONTENOY

                               Original                 Game (18" x 30")              Print Out 

PDF DOWNLOAD:  [With Redoubts]    [Without Redoubts]         

HOHENFRIEDBURG

                                           Original                                       Game 

                          Print Out Large (34" x 30")     Print Out Small (26" x 23")

PDF DOWNLOAD: [Large Version]  [Small Version]

KOLIN VERSION 1

I suggest reviewing the [COLORIZING MAPS TUTORIAL] in conjunction with this map

                                           Original                                 Game  (26" x 18")

Print Out

PDF DOWNLOAD: [Kolin v1]

KOLIN VERSION 2

                                           Original                               Game (22" x 15")

Print Out

PDF DOWNLOAD:  [Kolin v2]

LAFELDT VERSION 1

                                          Original                             Game (19" x 17")

Print Out

PDF DOWNLOAD: [Lafeldt V1]

LAFELDT VERSTION 2

                                            Original                             Game (23" x 14")

                                                                     Print Out

PDF DOWNLOAD: [Lafeldt V2]

Base Historical Battle Map Files

For those who want may to resize or play with the images for themselves, here are the single jpegs of the game versions of the maps:

JPG FILES [Download]

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C. MODULAR TERRAIN AND MAPS

This section provides resources and information for generating games that essentially replicate the same process that you use for miniatures games on a table. In other words, you start with a blank slate (a blank battle map sheet instead of a table) and select terrain from your collection (in this case, from the terrain sets) and other features (represented by drawing on plexiglas) and arrange them to play a historical battle or some other scenario. Wheras the historical battle maps (at the current time) are from the 18th Century, these terrain sets are drawn from later Kriegspiel Maps (specifically, from the Metz KS map), and are intended to render a post-Napoleonic look suitable for the target timeframe of Bloody Big Battles and Von Reisswitz-style Kriegspiel (although they certainly would work for earlier eras as well!). 

Most of the information is in the Tutorial:  

[MODULAR MAPS TUTORIAL]

Modular Terrain Sets

There are four sets of modular terrain: Hills, Woods, Towns, and Rivers. 

You can download these pdfs and cut out the terrain pieces as needed.  Below are previews of each with download links:

Hills [Download]

Rivers [Download]

Towns [Download]

Woods [Download]

Base Hill Digital Files

Jpegs of the individual hills (to facilitate anyone who may want to resize them).

JPG FILES [Download]