# Mapmaking Discussion & Philosophy (WIP/Critique) > Board Game Mapping >  Scale advice

## Karrig

Hi everyone, and pleased to meet you !

I recently discovered the board game Andor, and we enjoyed it very much.

This is the main map of the board game Andor.

This experience gave me the desire to create my own board game, mostly based on the Andor mechanisms, but may a bit less challenging and with longer travels etc.
The way to move on the map would be the same : you spen one action point (or our) to move to an adjacent tile.
It would take like 4-5 days to cross the map from the left to the right (roughly 22 tiles), and 3-4 dray days from the top to the bottom (15-18 tiles).

Drawing shapeless tiles next to each other isn't a probleme here, but when I tried to add some aesthetic I had a problem, named Scale.

I also would like to implements "type of zones" (moutains, forest, swamps etc.) where heroes could go. Zones of 6-8 adjacent tiles, which is a lot if not well managed.
The type of area on which the heroe stand could affect a fight (dwarfs stronger in moutains etc.
(also, for example, the tiles of the forest are smaller than the path that bypasses it to simulate a slower progression in this environment.

So for drawing the map I need a scale that fit this description and have difficulties finding it.
How to draw "moutains" where heroe can go, distinguish them from impassables ridges, and all without covering the entire map of moutains.

I also want to tell I have no real experience in mapmaking, and would like to know if you could give me some advices or examples to help me in my task.
(The map absolutly doesn't need to be pretty at this stage, it's mainly in order to test the mechanics in more "real" conditions than tiles without any terrain under it. This is absolutely not ment to be a commercial projet, but just for my wife, my friends and me).

Than you in advance !

Best regards, Karrig

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## timallen

when you say "tiles", do you mean map areas?  To me a tile is part of a grid pattern.

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## Azélor

You want to know the scale of what?
Using your numbers:

Characters can march 5 tiles per day on average but as you said, crossing a mountain should take more time. 
Distances for one day on a flat terrain, with a road, is 40 miles, or 65 km if you live outside the USA/Myanmar. 
65/5= 13 km. Using your numbers, each tile is 13 km across.

Here's a reference to help you: https://www.cartographersguild.com/s...ad.php?t=19730
As I understand, a day of travel on horse is about the same as on foot. Horses can go faster in burst but they will eventually get tired just like humans. 




> So for drawing the map I need a scale that fit this description and have difficulties finding it.
> How to draw "moutains" where heroe can go, distinguish them from  impassables ridges, and all without covering the entire map of moutains.


I assume there can be only one element per tile? Put a bigger mountain for the impassable terrain and smaller ones with passable but difficult terrain. They could also features valleys.

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## Falconius

I'd mostly ignore scale since you effectively control the scale in your arrangement of tiles.  Or put another way you a measuring the scale in time 1 tile equals one day of travel.

I'd suggest approaching it in two possible manners.  The first would be to blob out your desired layout in colours representing the different terrains, and then dividing them up into tiles. based on how arduous you want that tile to be to travel through small for difficult large for easy (ignoring physical scale really, it's all about how much time you want a tile to cost).  The second would be to just draw tiles and then fill them in with colours, I think the first way is better.  After that you can thereafter refine your map down to more interesting details.

Example:

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## Karrig

Hello, 

Yes, when I say tiles it refers to a map area (which got a number in the Andor board game map), and you're right Azélor, there can be only one element per area.

I don't really mind if the traveled distances aappears to be realistics to be honnest (especially at this stage).

Falconius, your example is exctly what I'm talkin about, but the scale of the "aestetic" have to match 2 things : large enough areas to be playable (place heroes, monsters etc.) and enough areas to allow "long" journeys   in a limited board game (I imagined that the board game would be 90cm x 60cm).

A way to artificially extend journeys is to put obstacles to get around on the map, like you did.
But the problem I have is having "obstacles" that doesn't takes too much space in the map.

How would you proceed for this map ? What would you do first ? General design with obstacles, points of interest etc. -> area defining -> aestetics ?


Thanks for your replies.

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## iMorbit

Man I struggle with scale way too much >.>

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