This is a brief posting to introduce the House of Reisen. They rule Dedhampton and her colonies. His Majesty King Felix Drake Reisen has subjects on both sides of Bradford Ocean. His sons princes Wilf Gregg Reisen and Peers Justinian Reisen serve in His Majesty’s armed forces. Prince Wilf commands one of Dedhampton’s fighting ships while his younger brother Prince Peers serves in a dragoon regiment.
The makers of Hexographer also have a great coat of arms creator. Coat of Arms Design Studio allows you to customize a coat of arms in numerous ways. I used the free version of the program to create King Felix’s coat of arms.
In a previous post I announced my immersion into the realm of imagi-nation gaming. I quite rightly put all the blame on Henry Hyde. He piqued my interested with the Wars of the Faltenian Succession.
This article will expound some of the details. Hopefully it will also answer some of your questions and maybe it will stir imagi-nation passion hidden deep within yourself.
A detailed and well-written post will appear in due course. This posting is to show you the map I’ve created for my Dedhampton Revolution. The Dedhampton Revolution is my imagi-nation, inspired by Henry Hyde’s Wars of the Faltenian Succession, based on the American Revolution. My world is populated with:
Dedhampton-Based on the United Kingdom and her colonies:
New Dedhampton-Small colony on the coast
Nateekingham-Moderate sized colony with limited coastal access
I’ve wanted to run a campaign for a decade or more. That never happened because, as we may all know, of the heavy work-load to create a campaign. The campaign creator needs to do a TON of work behind the scenes to get the campaign started, keep it running, and reach a conclusion. The players have to dedicate themselves to gaming on a regular schedule, which inevitably becomes interrupted as a result of real world commitments. Further, it can be difficult to create a campaign map.
My skills in the visual graphics arena are subpar at best. For years I’ve searched for an easy to use program that would allow me to easily create a gaming map. My frustration increased whenever I read early Battlegames issues where Henry Hyde detailed his amazing maps for the Wars of the Faltenian Succession. Seeing stunning maps, of that ilk, in other gaming magazines and on the web has brought my frustration to a boiling point. More recently I sat down and created a list of what I need of a map making program. It needs to:
Work on Mac OS X (whatever incarnation I’m on at the time, Lion currently)
Be intuititive and easy to use for a n00b like myself
Create square or hex maps with user chosen terrain types and features such as roads, hills, cities, towns, rivers, etc.
Export the maps into a common image format (for inserting into the blog, printing out, etc).
Be affordable
Finally, I’ve found a program that fits each of those requirement. Hexographer, by Inkwell Ideas, is a cross-platform program that works on OS X and Windows. It has a free version, with some features removed, and a paid version. The program allows you to create a map of varied dimensions and then populate it with terrain features, national boundaries, population centers, place names, ports, roads, and more.
The campaign bug never fully left me. It burst to the top of my list when I read an article in Wargames Illustrated discussing how to run a one day campaign. I knew that could be a blast…if only I had a map. That’s where Hexographer comes in. I can’t say much more without giving anything away. It would be cruel, however, to leave you completely hanging. Below you will find the map I made for the campaign. Releasing it is probably a mistake. After all, participants might look at it and formulate plans. Then again, maybe this map is a ruse to throw them off the scent. Whatever the case may be, I can assure you that I made it in less than one hour using the Hexographer program.
Host Jonathan J. Reinhart unleashes this mini episode with a contest announcement.
Listeners are asked to participate in the Wargaming Recon Promo Contest (click for full details). You have until Midnight EST on Friday, March 30th to get your submission to cwfgamecast@wargamingforums.com. You need to send your promo idea that sums up what this show is about, is 30 seconds or less in length, and would appeal to a gamer like you. One winner will receive something cool plus full credit for their work.
The mailbag is opened to reveal thoughts from Wally Harwood and an event notice from Richard Crawley. Please check out the Crisis Point Newsletter PDF for full details on attending the weekend event that Richard Crawley is running.
Jonathan entreats listeners to check out Episode 69: Angelia Heroux & TotalCon for a glimpse behind the scenes of a successful gaming convention.
As always we conclude with a message from our sponsor, 12-7-Games.com, our Creative Commons license and contact information (find us on Facebook and Twitter).
We hope you enjoy this episode of Wargaming Recon and are eager for your feedback (both positive remarks and constructive criticism). Send it all to cwfgamecast at wargamingforums dot com. Find us on Facebook, Twitter, or Xbox Live with gamertag cwfgamecast.
Our intro song is “Downtown” by Matthew Ebel. Please give his other music a listen at www.matthewebel.com.
