@Imperious:
dude just buy www.thewargame.com its a 6x3 foot map ( thick cardboard i may add) and it comes with pieces all for $100.00 you could never ever make a map for so cheap. Its accurate. If you don’t like the territories i guess you can bust out a marker and and add a few.
I’ve already decided against that. I was set on getting it, but I’ve had a change of heart.
@Flashman:
This is a pretty good source:
http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/axis.htm
Loads of diplomacy maps:
http://www.diplom.org/Online/maps.html
Do your own thing, but here are a few golden rules from Flashy;
Decide FIRST if, and how much, map distortion you want. Western Europe and Japan are hopelessly small on a world map, so most of us use projections that exaggerate their size. It’s no good basing your outline on a real map, then discovering later that you don’t have room for enough territories in Europe.
THINGS TO AVOID AT ALL COSTS
1. Rio de Oro is in NORTH Africa. Mark that point. It is VERY important.
2. Moscow is in EUROPE. That is, nowhere near where official A&A boards put it. If you can live with such an outrageous falsehood as Moscow-in-the-Urals, go ahead. But in that case abandon any pretence of creating a historical map.
3. The Sinai penninsular is in EGYPT. There is therefore no need to complicate the board with having two territories controlling access to the Suez canal.
4. Countries such as Pakistan only came into being AFTER the war. You should NEVER include them, it is prefferable to use geographical terms such as “Western India” or “Indus Valley”.
5. India is a BIG country, in fact a sub-continent. It is the SECOND most populous country on earth after China. DO NOT follow the example of the uneducated and just lump it together as one territory worth a scandalously low 3 dollar value.
6. Regarding IPCS, an important factor is fuel. Using GDP figures gives you a starting reference, but remember that areas such as Romania, Caucasus and the Dutch East Indies were much more important than their GDP value owing to their crude oil production.
Thanks for those links.
I hadn’t thought about distorting the map to help with more territories in Europe. That does make sense.
Since I would rather have a 1939 start, keeping Moscow where it should be shouldn’t be much of a problem.
I like the idea of one territory controlling the ditch. I’m not sure if Egypt will be 1 territory or more.
I was going to include Baluchistan, Sind, Punjab, etc. Neither Pakistan nor India will exist. I want more territories, and the subcontinent is a great place to add some.
I’m not sure about IPCs. You can argue for fuel. What about iron and coal deposits? What about better scientists? Weapons developement is a part of the game, and the US and Germany excelled there. Where do you draw the line, and where do you add to the game as far as IPCs go? Others have already mentioned people power. How does that apply? Some of the game has to be abstract. I think a lot of things need to be considered when assigning IPCs, but I don’t think there is a way to nail it. If you could come up with realistic numbers, then the already disadvantaged Axis would never win. Showing the US’s industrial might might be more realistic, but it wouldn’t be much fun. There comes a time when realism has to give way to playability and fun.