The Resurrection of MappingBoard: Easy Wargame Maps are Back!
If you have followed my hobby journey for a while, you might remember my original post from 2016 about a fantastic little utility called MappingBoard. For years, it was my go-to program for creating the clear, aesthetic maps you see in my battle reports and scenario designs.
Unfortunately, the original developer's site vanished from the internet, and the software became "lost" to the community. Because I find it indispensable for my Silesian War project and many other periods, I have decided to resurrect it here so it remains available for fellow wargamers.
Full Credits: I want to ensure credit goes where it is due. Site Design © 2006-2014 Matthew Tyler. Images © 2007 Rob Robbins.
Why MappingBoard?
I am not a very patient person. When I want to document a battle, I don't want to spend hours fiddling with a dozen properties like line width, hex-codes, or complex layering every time I want to draw a simple track. The philosophy behind MappingBoard is simple: plonk your terrain down and get playing. Once you have set up your toolbox, you can draw a blacktop road with white markings or a winding river straight onto the map every time you need to.
The "Science Bit" – How it Works
The main idea behind MappingBoard is the "drawing feature." Instead of drawing a road and then manually adding a border, you use a combination of "pens" that all draw along the same path.
- Linear Features: This simple premise produces perfect roads with borders, tarmac roads with central dashed lines, or dirt tracks that fade into the surrounding grass.
Enhancing Your Maps with Textures
MappingBoard supports textures, which can take a plain map and make it look like a professional scenario from Rapid Fire or Command Decision. While I cannot redistribute third-party textures, you can easily use free ones from sites like David Gurrea or CG Textures.
Top Tip: To keep textures seamless, use a paint package (like MS Paint) to resize your downloaded images to between 100x100 and 200x200 pixels before importing them.
3D Shading for Modern Rules
For those who prefer a more Flames of War or Warhammer style, MappingBoard allows you to use shading to produce a 3D effect. This is very effective for maps where you want the terrain to "pop" off the page.
Key Features at a Glance
- Ease of Use: Most terrain features can be created in a single step.
- Adjustable: Move and adjust objects freely after they are placed.
- Organisation: Use layers for hills, roads, and units to keep things tidy.
- Symbols: Includes military unit symbols, UN obstacles, and square/hex grids.
Downloads & Documentation
I’ve made the original installation packages available again below:
Note: Requires a PC running Windows (XP or later) and the DotNet framework version 2.0.
What do you think?
Do you still use MappingBoard for your wargame maps, or do you have another go-to software for scenario planning?
Related project hubs for this period:
The Strategic Campaigns Hub | The Silesian Wars 1740-1763 Project Hub
← Return to Muskets & Magnification
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