How important is accuracy in a map?

[MalSabreur]

This is my first “proper” post on here aside from introducing myself.

I've recently started work on a bit of a ridiculous project brought about by a conversation in a group on Facebook, namely a set of campaign maps, starting with Germany and Central Europe during the Napoleonic wars.

Apart from a pretty dodgy hand drawn set I did about 30 years ago and a series of village maps I did to aid relief drivers on my route whilst working as a rural delivery driver way back in the days when satellite navigation was still about putting things in orbit, all my map making has been concerned with my Imagi-Nation, the “Grand-Duchy of Bad-Schnitzelhausen-Dunkelwald” or my own RPG world, “Modron Draconis.”

I realise that most of the members of this forum are makers of fantasy maps rather than historic, but you all have a similar interest in that you are the organisers of games as much as players, otherwise you wouldn't be map making. This is such a huge and complex project that I thought it wise to consult with the experts before I got too far down a wrong (or at least badly mapped) path to turn back.

The thing is, Napoleonic wargamers are notorious for being “button counters” and I'm trying to decide how much accuracy and detail I need to include. Personally, it doesn't matter if the campaign is being played on a completely imaginary map so long as all players are using the same ones. After all, we are always fighting imaginary battles or real ones on table-top “maps” that are way too simplistic. So how do members feel about this? Should I go for as much accuracy as possible or wing it a bit here and there?

Having shown a few friends the first attempts, I was surprised to be told to keep it strictly historic because they thought that places named “Babidol,” “Titz” and “Malschitz” were names I'd made up, regardless of them being real. Of course they couldn't find them on modern maps because they were in Prussia, which is now Poland and everything has been renamed. I'm seriously tempted to add in “Biskwitz”, “Arfwitz” and “Losturwitz” just to see if anyone notices!

I'm using a set of German maps from 1812 as the base and have scoured David Rumsey's collection for suitable symbols because I believe the map side of any game is as much part of the game aesthetic as the painting of miniatures and lends the right “feel” to the game. I just wish I'd discovered KM Alexander's lovely sets of period brushes before I started working out my own -Hats off KM, many thanks for the inspiration -yours are lovely!

I'd be grateful for any input on programs too. I have CC3 but find it doesn't always load the base maps, so I'm currently using paint.net, which works quite well as it allows for layering, transparencies and blending of layers but is limited in other ways. Should I be looking at vector graphics Photoshop, Affinity or something else? I've tried GIMP but can't seem to get it to do anything I want!

Thanks in advance for your help and suggestions.
Mal.

[KarlieBoe]

I'm drawn to fantasy maps BECAUSE historical accuracy is a never ending rabbit hole that just doesn't interest me very much. You could probably manage how much factual accuracy is necessary by dealing with things at a higher level of abstraction (less detail), but ultimately you will have to decide how accurate to be yourself. You could also do the "alternate reality on earth" approach, which gives you a little more leeway with these things. I have dealth with the historical accuracy issue in other domains as well. I'm huge blacksmith buff, and write about it occasionally - see my guide to blacksmith tongs - but in this domain people spend a lot of time arguing about historical accuracy of various tools and techniques as well. I don't enjoy it, but it kinda just comes with the territory.

[MalSabreur]

That's one of my thoughts too but it's difficult persuading people that it doesn't matter if the map is imaginary. It seems a little odd to me when players will happily field troops that are unlikely to ever have fought on made up terrain and yet STILL chunter about mis-placed villages and such despite the map being as good as they were at the time! To me they are an integral part of the game. The Imagi-Nation style game gets away from the need for "accuracy" but gives an opportunity for lots of details and, I think, a more light-hearted approach to the same game.
I'm still playing around with various programs and have downloaded Inkscape. I'm currently working my way through the tutorials but finding it a pretty steep learning curve, never having used vector graphics before.