Thoughts about Campain Maps

I hope this does not bore you, but I am thinking out loud here. Maybe some of you have thought about this too.

I am building my final touches on my campaign map for my Bovatopian campaign. I am not really ready to post it, but a few things that I am working on/struggling with. What I have been very deliberate as I put together this map is the need for geographical locations to be strategically important. This is the problem with my map of Gambusia. I really didn't make it with a strategic game in mind. Here are some issues that I now see with my Gambusian map:

1. Lines of Communication
Wikipedia defines lines of communication as the routes that connect an operating military unit with its supply base. First, and probably the most major problem is that there are too many lines of communication in the form of roads and to a lesser extend railroads. Armies of both sides can easily bypass various towns or cities. Urban centers have no strategic significance in terms of blocking or cutting off the enemy, or keeping lines of communication open. The only urban centers that are important are the capitals of the opposing nations.

2. Cities and Towns
In addition to too many roads, there are way too many cities and towns. It is likely that the two are related. Too many cities and towns leads to too many roads.

3. Reasons for Naval Operations
When I started my Gambusian campaign I envisioned having naval battles as well as land and air battles. I've come to notice that the two main antagonists share such a long border that there doesn't seem to be a need for any naval battles, other than some of the islands that could be contested. I suppose the two nations can blockade each other to keep supplies from coming in, but because the ports are on opposite ends of each nation, there'd be too much risk involved for each nation to set up a blockade.

How to fix the problems? Look at board games
Sadly, I got rid of many of my old Avalon Hill games a long time ago, however, I stated looking at those that I do have to see how I can set up strategically-important lines of communication. I do have VASSAL installed on my computer, though I've never figured out how to use it. I can pull up the digital versions of old wargames and see how they do things. I am using the Bovatopia campaign to resolve these issues. When I am happy with Bovatopia, I will then redo Gambusia.

Standard of the High King

Demonworld Thain standard of the High King. Now produced by Ral Partha Europe.

Gnolls

I am still busy painting fantasy figures. Here are my latest: Gnolls (Hyaenamen) from Splintered Light Miniatures. Originally, I bought the gnoll warband, but it turned out that they are the same as their Hyaenamen line, so I bought more to build a larger army than what you get from the warbands.

Rank and File

I used a Raw Sienna craft paint followed by a highlight of raw sienna and Vallejo flesh color for the highlights. I think did my usual black ink wash.

Standard Bearer

The standard was kind of boring. Its just two sticks with some feathers hanging from it. So I found some 25mm plastic skulls in a bin box. There were from Fortress Figures and I had used them on the stands for my 28mm Terminator miniatures. I drilled a hole and the bottom of the skull and glued it on. Looks much better than before!

Leader & Drummer

Apparently, Gnolls have a matriarchal society. Just to be different, I gave the general blonde hair. I couldn't tell if her top was made out of cloth or skins or was an armor breastplate. I chose the armor route.

Shaman

The shaman is my favorite of the bunch, at least I think she is painted the best. I didn't want them to have an African theme, but I wanted a little more to her and the general's outfits. I did a cheetah or leopard spotted outfit for both. I think the shaman's turned out better than the leader's. I have no clue what her staff has on the top of it, so I went with copper. 

I have a lot more to go including more rank & file, archers, some elite female warriors, and some riders mounted on large hyaenas. However, I'm kind of getting burnt out on fantasy painting. Also, I noticed that I seemed to be painting stuff as quick as possible to put up on the Facebook 15mm fantasy page. I guess its an inducement to get a lot painted, but at the same time, I wonder if I'm rushing through just to post stuff up on Facebook; bowing to social media as it were.