Water Maps

Hi everyone :) I've been working recently on the first of what will hopefully be a few water-based risk maps (Waters of the British Isles, Waters of the Mediterranean, Waters of the South China Sea, Waters of the Caribbean). The oceans have been a theatre of war for thousands of years, so it makes sense for us to have a few maps simulating naval warfare. Here are a few possible templates on which to base some naval maps: [spoiler=UK Shipping Forecast Map][img]https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81lrL9yo-GL._AC_UF894,1000_QL80_.jpg[/img][/spoiler] [spoiler=Mediterranean geographical subareas (GSAs) of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean][img]https://www.researchgate.net/publication/361951583/figure/fig1/AS:11431281254934836@1719345398638/Distribution-of-Mediterranean-geographical-subareas-GSAs-of-the-General-Fisheries.tif[/img] Potentially a challenging map to draw due to some [url=https://blog.geogarage.com/2021/06/the-messy-mediterranean.html]conflicting maritime sovereignty claims[/url]).[/spoiler] [spoiler=South China Sea/SE Asia subdivisions][img]https://www.pacs.ph/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Screen-Shot-2020-05-16-at-11.50.40-AM.png[/img] [img]https://underwaterasia.info/sites/default/files/inline-images/seas-of-asia.png[/img] Also seriously fraught with international tensions: [img]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/57/South_China_Sea_Claims_and_Boundary_Agreements_2012.jpg[/img][/spoiler] [spoiler=Caribbean subdivisions][img]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/Map_of_the_Territorial_Waters_in_the_Caribbean.png[/img] [img]https://www.nationsonline.org/maps/Caribbean-political-map.jpg[/img] This one would be technically tricky due to many small islands in close proximity.[/spoiler] Which of the above maps seem most interesting? I decided to start with the British Isles map, since it seemed to be technically the simplest job, and I am British myself so I know more about the seas in this part of the world. The shipping forecast map referenced above is very tall from North to South, but I managed to cut the frame down to a perfect square (1024x1024 pixels). 90% of this work was done before Hoodlum doubled down recently on the importance of map dimensions, and so to redraw the map with a wider frame would mean a complete restarting of the work (as simply scaling down everything that has been drawn so far would make everything blurred). Here is the project so far: [spoiler=Waters of the British Isles][img]https://i.ibb.co/zV69ftsM/Waters-of-the-British-Isles-demo.png[/img][/spoiler] Gameplay-wise, the map appealed to me for its abundance of chokepoints (which people seem to like). 33 territories was specifically chosen for the following reasons: 1. In 2 or 3-player games, all players would start with 11 territories. This deepens the first turn dilemma of simply placing armies vs taking a card, as taking a card would reward the player with a 12th territory, bumping their bonus up from +3 to +4. 2. In chokepoint-heavy maps, neutral territories have a larger effect on gameplay. Having 33 territories minimises the proportion of neutral territories at 1/3rd for 2-player and 3-player games, and gives only a single neutral for 4-player games. 3. There currently isn't another map with 33 territories (or there wasn't when I started working on this ^^) With regards to special gameplay, I also had the idea of combining both Sea and Coastline region bonuses for a complex network of contested territories, incentivising aggression across the map and rewarding players who can expand to protect areas behind chokepoints. Sea regions look like your typical risk regions, and this map has four: English Channel (+2), Celtic Sea (+4), Northeast Atlantic (+3), and North Sea (+8). Thematically, the bonus could represent access to fisheries or oil reserves. Coastline regions are given for holding entire coastlines of adjacent countries (symbolised by country flags). Thematically, these bonuses, could represent either economic gains from controlling imports/exports of a given country, or military advantages from controlling naval/land bases of a given country. Lastly, I considered implementing a special adjacency rule to represent the vast emptiness of the sea: [i]"Players may attack or fortify through territories without a coastline"[/i]. I thought this thematic rule would improve mobility through the map without undermining the chokepoints. I am still deciding whether or not it would be a net-positive or net-negative for gameplay purposes. I do like the idea, but sometimes, simpler is better. I wonder what other people think about this? Further work still required: - Title - Minimap for Sea Bonuses (actually this has been done but I haven't had a chance to upload it yet). - Banner to summarise the coastline region bonuses (I tried a separate minimap for this, but it wasn't visually intuitive). - Simple external border/frame. - Thicker outline for region boundaries. - Vignettes and shadows where necessary. - Small map art here or there (e.g. submarine sketch, lighthouse, anchor, oil rig, fishing boat, etc). - Signature - Capitals placements - Potentially: Special Adjacency Rule displayed somewhere. - Potentially: Gradiented territory masks I very much look forward to receiving feedback on this project - let me know your thoughts!

A bit strange but interesting idea. There's some 'water territories' that I don't understand exactly which regions belong to, probably no one. Bonuses all together are very rich, because one single sea can contribute in 3 or even 4 different bonuses. There are at least 3 areas of 6 territories where you get +6 as combined bonus. France is bit low compared to others. England and North Sea a bit too high probably. All bonuses are high in general, I'm not saying it's wrong, just an observation, it should be tested and see how it plays. That special adjacency rule basically applies to only 6 water territories (I exclude "SE Iceland" bcoz the effect is null there) and I think it is not really necessary and also pretty hard to explain. I think 90% don't understand what it means. Then it will make the North Sea a place where everything is connected with everything, which I don't know if it is a good thing.

first impression. i really love the look of it, good job. The idea is good, it is something i have tried with Polynesia a few times. i would have eventually gotten around to the mentioning the size of the map. usually we are dealing with gameplay on landscape rather than water, but the same thing could probably cater for if we ever do an outerspace theme how would we deal with the map scale. my next thought, would be, what if you made the land playable also, to justify a large map. it'd be similar to our oringal Africa map.

design: the colors and the whole design is 100%. You have a different style of designing maps and its an enrichment. Hoodlum and me have certain styles, certain way of making and designing maps, so it gets a bit repetivive over time, but your map design is really unusual. This itself is top! But also if we ignore the uniqueness and look of the design itself, its also very good! I like the light blue/light green color mix and the way you used flags. The colors make the map look very fresh, looks something straight outta tic tac or chewing gum advert. I call the design "frozen peppermint". I personally like such cold/fresh colors much more than warm colors - atleast i right now. I think giving it a thinn white frame would make it look even better. THe ships/submarines in the left corner also top! on gameplay: I ll check it out later in detail and commet if i have something. on size: I would accept Hoodlums map size rulings, but only for maps that will be created in future/present. SInce this map was started before the size rulings and much work is already done, i would accept it as it is. Also i am not scrolling anything, just zooming with two fingers if i needed.

okay, now i looked at the game play and have following question: how do these land bonuses combined with water territories work? For example Malin and Thames (Belgium, Netherlands and England) are both connected to many different countries. So basicly one water territory (Malin or Thames) give bonus to 4 different region: Belgian coast region, England coast and Netherlands coast and finally the water region itself. Are these bonuses cummulative or mutually exclusive or how does it works?

Anyway I'm tempted to try it, with of without the special adjacency rule. Perhaps the sea-region borders should be a bit thicker than the sea-territory dividers. If I get it right: Malin, Man and Irish Sea are not part of any sea-region, is it right? Oh, and even Biscay, I guess! Really on my screen the neutral sea colour is too similar to the Celtic Sea colour.

Thank you everyone for your comments! I will address them one by one, and then post the latest updates :) [quote=The_Bishop]A bit strange but interesting idea. There's some 'water territories' that I don't understand exactly which regions belong to, probably no one.[/quote] Correct, there are several territories that don't belong to any sea region. But every territory on the map belongs to either a sea region or a coastline region, except for "Man" (in the Irish Sea). [quote=The_Bishop]Bonuses all together are very rich, because one single sea can contribute in 3 or even 4 different bonuses. There are at least 3 areas of 6 territories where you get +6 as combined bonus. France is bit low compared to others. England and North Sea a bit too high probably. All bonuses are high in general, I'm not saying it's wrong, just an observation, it should be tested and see how it plays.[/quote] Yes, the bonuses are intentionally high. I think it makes for interesting gameplay where aggression is encouraged, especially in chokepointy maps where players might be more tempted to sit around a hold rather than attack. Yes, holding all of Ireland (6 territories, all borders) it makes a +1 +1 +3 bonus, and holding Scotland (6 territories, all borders) it makes a +1 +5 bonus in total. France (5 territories, 3 borders) ends up being a +2 +1 bonus, which is fair when compared to other regions and region groups. Holding Belgium, Netherlands, and Denmark (6 territories, all borders) yields a +1 +2 +2 bonus. On a small map where 6 territories is almost a fifth of the entire battleground, I think it makes sense to be rewarded highly. England (10 territories, all borders) would reward the holder with +1 +2 +1 +7 = +11 bonus... Obviously that is extremely high, but thematically and practically, someone holding all that coastline thoroughly deserves to win in my opinion! [quote=The_Bishop]That special adjacency rule basically applies to only 6 water territories (I exclude "SE Iceland" bcoz the effect is null there) and I think it is not really necessary and also pretty hard to explain. I think 90% don't understand what it means. Then it will make the North Sea a place where everything is connected with everything, which I don't know if it is a good thing.[/quote] The intention was for the special rule to allow players to travel through a [i]single[/i] non-coastline territory. So it wouldn't let people cross the North Sea from top to bottom in one go. For now, I'm not going to implement the special adjacency rule, as I'm not sure the added complexity would justify its inclusion. [quote=Hoodlum]first impression. i really love the look of it, good job. The idea is good, it is something i have tried with Polynesia a few times. i would have eventually gotten around to the mentioning the size of the map. usually we are dealing with gameplay on landscape rather than water, but the same thing could probably cater for if we ever do an outerspace theme how would we deal with the map scale. my next thought, would be, what if you made the land playable also, to justify a large map. it'd be similar to our oringal Africa map.[/quote] Thanks Hood - I tried my best ^^ I know you would prefer a large map, and the land/water hybrid would indeed be a fun idea. But I definitely want this map to be a 33 territory map for the reasons outlined in Post#1. I feel like we could get some really interesting 2v2 matches on this one (or even 3v3 or 2v2v2)! [quote=Dima]design: the colors and the whole design is 100%. You have a different style of designing maps and its an enrichment. Hoodlum and me have certain styles, certain way of making and designing maps, so it gets a bit repetivive over time, but your map design is really unusual. This itself is top! But also if we ignore the uniqueness and look of the design itself, its also very good! I like the light blue/light green color mix and the way you used flags. The colors make the map look very fresh, looks something straight outta tic tac or chewing gum advert. I call the design "frozen peppermint". I personally like such cold/fresh colors much more than warm colors - atleast i right now. I think giving it a thinn white frame would make it look even better. THe ships/submarines in the left corner also top![/quote] Thanks Dima :) A compliment on graphics from you is a compliment indeed! I went for a brown frame instead of white, but I can try both and show you if you'd like. [quote=Dima]okay, now i looked at the game play and have following question: how do these land bonuses combined with water territories work? For example Malin and Thames (Belgium, Netherlands and England) are both connected to many different countries. So basicly one water territory (Malin or Thames) give bonus to 4 different region: Belgian coast region, England coast and Netherlands coast and finally the water region itself. Are these bonuses cummulative or mutually exclusive or how does it works?[/quote] Yes, there are LOTS of disputed territories. If a player is trying to control Republic of Ireland, but another player is trying to hold Scotland, then they will both be fighting over Malin. A player going for Belgium will clash with a player going for Netherlands or England, as all will be needing Thames to complete their Coastline Region. The Sea and Coastline Regions are all cumulative: for example, a player holding every territory from Biscay through to Skagerrak would gain a bonus of +1 (France), +2 (English Channel), +1 (Belgium), +2 (Netherlands), +2 (Denmark) = +8 for those 10 territories. There are plenty of good spots for expansion from region to region in different areas of the map. Aggressive expansion will be rewarded :) [quote=The_Bishop]Anyway I'm tempted to try it, with of without the special adjacency rule. Perhaps the sea-region borders should be a bit thicker than the sea-territory dividers. If I get it right: Malin, Man and Irish Sea are not part of any sea-region, is it right? Oh, and even Biscay, I guess! Really on my screen the neutral sea colour is too similar to the Celtic Sea colour.[/quote] Yes, there are several that are not part of sea regions. Hopefully with the thicker borders and the minimap now completed, the sea regions will be clearer. Here is the latest update: [spoiler=Waters of the British Isles, 1st February 2026][img]https://i.ibb.co/FbMNd85m/Waters-of-the-British-Isles1.png[/img][/spoiler] New Features: - Title - Minimap for Sea Bonuses - Key for Coastline Bonuses - Simple brown external border/frame - Thicker outline for region boundaries - Signature Edited: - Artwork placement in top left to better fit title space, added wavy dividers between pictures - Republic of Ireland coastline bonus from +4 to +3. - Minor graphical tweaks/cleanup. Please let me hear your opinions or concerns about gameplay or any graphical suggestions you feel would improve the map :)

Graphically very artistic and a new conception in game-play. 1st of February is also a very nice day to start this map, because it's the Imbolc fest in the Celtic tradition. @Virtuos, I think regions and bonuses are very clear now, just load the map and we begin the beta test! Do you know how to do that on the cartographer panel? I'm just a little unsure about the German flag, I mean it has no bonus related to it, so in theory it is not necessary. Like the Isle of Man: no flag no bonus. Innit?

[quote=The_Bishop]Graphically very artistic and a new conception in game-play. 1st of February is also a very nice day to start this map, because it's the Imbolc fest in the Celtic tradition. @Virtuos, I think regions and bonuses are very clear now, just load the map and we begin the beta test! Do you know how to do that on the cartographer panel? I'm just a little unsure about the German flag, I mean it has no bonus related to it, so in theory it is not necessary. Like the Isle of Man: no flag no bonus. Innit?[/quote] I have now uploaded the map into the cartographer panel - it will be interesting to see how it plays!

testing the map, happy with everything so far. collected some feedback from the chat: 03 Feb, 11:46 k8sabbe: Cool map! Thanks for the invite. 03 Feb, 11:47 BattleAmputations69: cool map 03 Feb, 18:02 BattleAmputations69: ill be honest, i think the shading has to be slightly lighter 03 Feb, 18:43 Dima: hmmmm, maybe the brightnes is dependent on your monitor settings? 03 Feb, 18:54 BattleAmputations69: Same with cell phone. Don't get me wrong, I can discern the different colour bubbles of the troops 03 Feb, 18:54 BattleAmputations69: It's just it may be easier on the eyes, idk maybe I'm overly sensitive 03 Feb, 18:54 BattleAmputations69: It's a great map nonetheless (i am personally ok with the brightness, no need for a change if it were for me) 02 Feb, 08:11 1949midden: intresting 02 Feb, 15:57 FrankieYale: Cool map. I am a terrible teammate though So far, players seem like it.