What do you want to see on game mats?

[RichardPF]

I said OTHER because there are conditions on my want of islands, coast, towna and terrain.

I'd like it to be real-world locations (like waters of historic battles) not just "draw some artistic T-LAR* in graphics software", and I'd like specific Latitude and Longitude coordinates and a compass-rose on any real-world location so featured. Towns/ports, I'd like to at least be "plausible"--say, if we get a map for Toulon Harbor during the British occupation in support of the Bourbons, I'd like it to actually LOOK reasonably close to what the city of Toulon did then as much as possible.
*T-LAR = That... Looks About Right

I wonder if there would be a problem because of the size of actual landmarks.
WoW/WoG maps are, I believe 27" x 39". At 1:1000 scale that would be 2250' x 3250'.
With that amount of coverage, it might take a few maps to accurately recreate features like a harbor and all would probably need to be released at the same time.

[RichardPF]

I'm not sure I understand the reasoning for multiple shades of blue.
Would the idea be to more accurately reflect the color of a particular ocean vs just using a generic blue that could represent anywhere?

[7eat51]

I'm not sure I understand the reasoning for multiple shades of blue.
Would the idea be to more accurately reflect the color of a particular ocean vs just using a generic blue that could represent anywhere?

When desired, the different shades would represent different depths. One could ignore the shades easily when depth is not an issue.

[OmegaLazarus]

I like plain blue so I can decide where anything that affects gameplay can go. I am very glad they included a light grid as that is the main reason I will buy a mat. Without a game aid and since I don't want inborn terrain, a blank mat would be a costly version of a roll of felt that I could use otherwise.

Luckily for me, the did exactly what I would have asked for.

[Beowulf03809]

I wonder if there would be a problem because of the size of actual landmarks.
WoW/WoG maps are, I believe 27" x 39". At 1:1000 scale that would be 2250' x 3250'.
With that amount of coverage, it might take a few maps to accurately recreate features like a harbor and all would probably need to be released at the same time.

That would be my thought. I dislike non-scaled terrain in cases where model and ranges are supposed to be scaled. If our ships are 1:1000 scale then any terrain I have in play I would roughly want the same. No "mini-islands". As such, terrain would represent shallows and shoals for me and I would want to place these, if even desired, based on the scenario and not have them permanent features on the map. So I'd prefer to get 2-4 generic blue maps myself and fill in the rest with terrain packs or home made terrain for ports / forts.

The introduction of terrain that represents anything at a significantly different scale would at the same time ruin the immersion, for me at least, of a game with this much historic detail. It does make for some larger playing areas of course, but then many of our WWII and LotR games are played on 4x6 or 4x8 tables anyway.

I admit, a few 'fun' versions of the maps with more of the cliche "pirate map" style colors and markings could be a great way to get players interested and excited. Especially if some ships come out down the road for playing out the glory days of piracy in the Caribbean.
:angry: