Second Grenadier Guards Campaign Contest!

[[GG] Lord Ashram]

S! all,

It's my pleasure to announce that the Second Grenadier Guards Campaign is starting to come together.

To let everyone get a little taste of the action, we have decided to hold a contest to design a map for the campaign. The map that is chosen as the winner of the contest will be used as the first battle map in the Second GG Campaign!

Here is the information you will need:

The map should be planned for a 4 v 4. The map should represent a small city under seige. After a long, exhausting far away war, the city's garrison has been weakened as units were pulled to the far away fight. From the forests a wolf has watched as its prey gets weaker and weaker. Now is the time to strike.

The attacker will have a large army, consisting mostly of basic line infantry. There should be a river between the attacker and the city, with several bridges, as well as several land bridges (dried up spots, etc.) The city itself shouldn't be TOO large, but should present some good defensible spots for the defender, whose army will be mostly made up of conscripts and poorly trained troops, albeit supported by artillery. Think "Battle of Bunker Hill;" not a fortress, but rather a city with some fortifications.

The map should "tell a story" as well as be a good-flowing map, which as so many people know isnt easy to create in Napoleonic Total War. Maps will be judged by a panel. To submit a map, please see either myself or Flippy (we are not the only people judging, however.)

We will be accepting maps for at least the next three or four weeks, so please take your time, playtest as needed, and good luck!

S!

Ash

[[GG]ThinRedLine]

Gentlemen,

This sounds like a worthwhile and fun endeavor. I shall be submitting an entry.

Cities can be very dangerous!

S!

TRL

[flippyxtrem]

This is just a basic sketch to get the general idea of what Ash and I want to achieve for this battle...

as a mapper...its up to you to fill in all the detail...

for inspiration and ideas take in some of the glorious beauty of my sketch..but think of a seige of a small city...think of the battle of breeds hill (bunker hill) think if the russian army decided to fight in moscow when napoleon was marching through it...try to make it a thinking mans map...fun for the attacker and defender...

Cheers

NOTE: the dark green circles are steep hills...the gray is buildings...the brown is bridges....the blue is water...and the green is grass err whatever...mappers dont take this sketch to seriously...but please dont make fun of it... also the brownishish gray color are roads...

[[GG] Lord Ashram]

One submission already received...

;D

Ash

[[GG]Lord von Döbeln]

To create a playable town-map... Intriguing challenge!

[GG]vD

[[GG] Lord Ashram]

I am excited to see your entry, Von!

[flippyxtrem]

me to...my god...this next campaign is gonna be great!!

Ash and I are gonna have some good treats for all of you ;D

Cheers

[Hoffman]

I think I have improved greatly upon my Original map that I sent to Ashram, while it was playable, it lacked... the realism of a real town. It was too small a town for the garrison at hand. So instead of building upon the small town I had originally built, I merely showed a city in the background, with the fight happening in the outskirts of the city. There is still some great street fighting in it, for it being merely the outskirts. But Basically it is a City next to a mountain river, with many ridges providing natural defenses. It will be a spectacular battle, but I ran out of building thingy stuffs so I couldn't add bridges, so instead it is during the dry season and there are many areas to cross naturally.

In the wet seasons there is a ferry downstream of the village. But it isn't in use for the dry season, but it ought to make a great crossing for an army...

The Map is set for a heck of a showdown, they attacker really has to use his head, as there are many little traps among the town, since the defenders knew they were under attack they've left a few surprises.

Also, I found some textures that make the ground look like its been shelled, and I've put this throughout the area of conflict to add to the gravity of the situation.

All in all I think it is far better than its predicessor, Ashram, soon as you're on I've got to send you the updated version, its fun to play on!

[[GG]ThinRedLine]

Sounds a little like mine Hoffman!

Thanks for your efforts it sounds like your map will be fun to play on whether it wins the contest or not.

I have made some good progress on a little map I like to call, 'Fortified Mountain Village'.

I have fixed the 'Ford' Problems and it seems to work pretty well.

Will be hell to attack!

Oh, one last thing, Mr. Hoffman, would you be so kind as to choose an Avatar for your GG profile.

Thank You,

TRL

[flippyxtrem]

WOOT!! WOOT!!

Look at all this competition!! Good Stuff...cant wait to see all these maps!! ;D

Cheers

[[GG] Lord Ashram]

Just a suggestion;

When making a map, take some time, get out to the country, and look around... there are some little details that can really make a difference when making a map seem more real and less like a computer game map. For example, if you hilltops are bare, but your valleys are wooded, it tends to look strange; usually, wherever a hill is wont erode as quickly, resulting in hills usually being more wooded than valleys.

Just one example; there are many natural laws out there; make sure you use them!

Thanks for all the great submissions so far!

Ash

[[GG]AndrewKent]

if you hilltops are bare, but your valleys are wooded, it tends to look strange; usually, wherever a hill is wont erode as quickly, resulting in hills usually being more wooded than valleys.



Don't you know about old Baldy?

AK

[[GG]Lord von Döbeln]

Don't you know about old Baldy?

AK


How did my father get into this conversation?!?!?!?

[GG]vD

[Hoffman]

In my map I left some of the hills bare, but green because... well you don't have axes in this game.

Artillery should be able to use the hills, but the problem is if you put trees on them, they can't hit anyone.
And since you can't cut the d**n trees down I decided it'd be best if you didn't have the trees.

Some of the hills are barren mounds of dirt and rough terrain, these are there to slow down the advance of the enemy, but since there aren't any 'rock' outcropping textures, I had to put dirt instead of a giant rock sticking up.
Also, some of the hills near the mountain don't have any trees because of the weather in that area that is effected by the actual presence of the mountain.

You really have to look at the map and study it, there are alot of neat surprises.

For those that have the map, on the right flank you'll notice I put up a defensive position infront of the fields, why? Well, look at the terrain, and then think about it, those fields feed the town, lose the fields you pretty much lose the town. Also there's a hill, if the attacker can capture that hill and bring his Artillery forward, guess what that does to the defender?
But since there aren't really and 'hedgerows' the trees seperating the fields work pretty well, and they'll provide cover for an assault to take back the hill, or a defense with long lines to fire a horriffic volley at the attackers as they emerge in broken lines.

But its not all that easy for the attacker, and its not all that easy for the defender. Both sides have to truly play their hearts out in order to win.

And I'd suggest a 15 minute deployment like in command games for this map. that way you can get into proper positions for both the assault and the defense.

I've noticed as I played in single player, that the attacker would be hard pressed to assault properly if they just stayed in default position.
The defender is almost as bad, so there is going to need to be some time for both sides to maneuver and get into position.

That's about the only thing I can see that's wrong with the map, is that its too small, (even though its large).


I'd like to be able to get together with a person and test out different ways of combat with the map.
Its going to be a real challenge to win on either side.

[flippyxtrem]

I still havent seen this map....