Aachen west wall anyone want to try it out.

[Dan Caviness]

Hello:

I love to design scenarios. I even like to think I have some talents in that direction. You guys are the judge of that. There are some things I do pretty well, and some where I need help.

There are areas I'm so deficient in...like victory levels...objective values...historical accuracy...that if I didn't get help from a lot of smart and creative people (most of whom are reading this post) I'd never have any finished scenarios.

Cartography is not one of those areas.
When it comes to mapmaking, I can hold my head high.
I've spent a lifetime loving to draw, and in love with math, and between the two you end up with maps.

None of us were alive in October 1944 along the German-Netherlands border. We can all use the best tools we have available and attempt to simulate it, but in the end the resolution breaks down. The fractal nature of digitally and traditionally archived source materials is revealed, and we have to be satisfied with our efforts.

I've used Google earth for years. Not for military simulations, rather for researching and scouting backpacking routes. Google's resolution breaks down right about the level where it can ruin your cross country hike however, and that occasional 20 or 30 foot cliff will not be depicted accurately. Those size features can also redefine a battlefield. You take your sources, you do your best to plot them accurately, and in the end you make adjustments to serve gameplay. Every "read me" file I've ever written I admit to adjusting topography as needed in order to further tactical advantage to the intelligent player. That is how you make good fighting maps. It's all about LOS.

All I can do is ask anyone to just download and actually look at one of my scenarios. The maps speak for themselves, and I'm proud of them. You may disagree, and that's OK as well, but I'm hoping you don't.

Regards,

Dan