Gettysburg maps

This subject came up recently and I know that several of our regular players do not own Gettysburg. You do not necessarily have to own the base game but several of the add-ons have very nice maps. You could buy these add-on packs (I think they are usually as cheap as $10) and once you have them we can host games on those maps.

I would recommend the following add-ons:

Brandy Station (one map only but a very nice one, possibly the best NSD have produced in its details and the nice colour palette used).

Pipe Creek - 3 very hilly maps with all kinds of great defensive positions. The KS group used these maps a lot before Waterloo came out.

Chancellorsville. Four nice maps that can be a bit similar although the one of Fredericksburg / Salem Church is really good with some variable and interesting terrain.

It would certainly be a better buy than Quatre Bras.

Just to check I have understood correctly.
Brandy Station & Pipe Creek are expansions for Gettysburg/Chancellorsville but if I bought them I could still install them and use the maps with SowW even though I have neither of the main Civil War games?

That's right. You cannot use them with Gettysburg of course but the key files for them will work with Waterloo.

For me Chancellorsville is also an add-on for Gettysburg since it originally was before Matrix took over the publishing.

Sorry for the basic question, but what do I need to do to use the Civ War maps with the Waterloo series? Do I need to convert them or apply some mods? Where should I put them?

In your Mods folder of Waterloo create a new folder and call it "GB LSL Files". Inside this folder create a new folder and call it "Maps". Now go to wherever you have stored your Gettysburg maps and select all the files that have the file type ".lsl". Copy these into the "Maps" folder you just created. Do not copy any other files.

That should be all you need to do as the ".lsl" file is the copyright-critical file that contains the terrain height and positioning data. If you open up the Maps folder of the "KS Napoleon Mod II 128" mod you should see all the other Gettysburg map files already in there. They are of type ".bmp", ".csv", ".ini", ".dds". We included these with the mod as they are 1) not paywaye/copyright critical (they are useless to the player without the .lsl file) and 2) we have edited almost all of them to better suit the Napoleonic battlefield vs the ACW battlefield. The .dds files which are the in-game minimaps have also all been redrawn and place names changed.

Some of the Gettysburg maps still have railroads and railroad bridges on them. We are slowly working through a programme of removing these but until we do, just pretend they either don't exist or that they are horse-drawn tramways. Don't try to use the railroad bridges to cross rivers - it won't work. The 3D model is still on the map but we have deleted all its properties. If they were horse-drawn tramways they'd be too narrow for troop columns to use anyway.

The new folder "GB LSL Files" is now a mod and you need to activate it in the game modifications screen. Activate it last in the list.

Now test the game by loading a scenario that uses one of the Gettysburg maps you just copied over.

Thanks much for the detailed explanation; will decide in the next couple of days about whether to buy Gettysburg (don't like CivWar, so it would just be for the maps...) and then give it a shot.

1) Gettysburg gets you 8 maps. They are the full battlefield in 4x 2.5mi squares - NW, NE, SE, SW corners, a full battlefield 5mi square map which because it was an early build lacks some details and the 2.5mi East Cavalry Field map which Norbsoft granted us permission to fully edit anyway and is available already in the mod as a Portugese setting. The Alpine map is fictional but we use it often. You also get the weird Kansas map which we don't use. I honestly don't rate the original maps as much use as the 2.5mi ones are a bit small and the full battlefield map has been replaced now by a superb 8mi freeware version, which is superior in every way.

2) The Sharpsburg add on is definitely worth getting. You get three maps: Antietam, Foxes Gap and Crampton Gap. All are 5mi sq and very good. We play on these MP a lot.

3) The Chancellorsville add on is also worth getting. You get four maps which are slightly shifted off a centre position to the NW, NE, SE and SW. With the exception of some rather blocky ground textures they are good maps and give great rolling terrains. The map that includes Fredericksburg is especially nice as you get a wide river with pontoon bridges over it, a city and a large area of rolling terrain.

4) Pipe Creek. This add-on gets you three maps all 5mi square. Again the ground textures are not the best but all three maps are very good with some very steep hills, lots of small towns and great vistas that make battles look epic. We use these maps often for MP.

5) Brandy Station. This add-on has only 1 map but I think its Norbsoft's best map. Really nice terain textures and lots of different terrain from flat and open in teh south to a big hill in the NW and forests in the centre with a wide river in the N and NE. It has everything and we've played many MP games on it.

So, unless you find a bundle deal online that is a good price, I'd actually suggest avoiding the base game and just buying the add-ons.

As for the Waterloo DLCs the Wavre and Ligny maps are excellent and worth getting, the Quatre Bras one less so as its fairly flat and lacks many interesting features. I don't think the KS regulars all own the QB map; I've certainly never played an MP game on it.

The 150th anniversary collection of SOWGB is on sale at Matrix for $29.99. It contains all the maps of the base game and the DLCs which is very close to the sale price of all the DLCs purchased separately.

Not meaning to hijack this thread but Sunday's game will be on Quatre Bras.

I didn't know we had QB in the library. Did you add more forts to those farms around the map beyond the boundaries of the historical fight?

No, currently it only has the original 3 forts. I can add more, but I wanted to give the map a test before investing any real time into it. There is a KS command map added to the mod, though.