User:Doggo

My project is a Vietnam based game that uses the GHQ Micro Armour (Modern) Rules with the GHQ Vietnam Supplement.

I am returning to VASSAL after a long-time away and have completely forgotten how to use the system. I thetrefore consider myself a complete Newbie and will be starting from scratch. Hopefully this page will chart my progress and help others who are faced by the same problem - I want to use VASSAL but don't know how?

In brief, I will require the following;

1. The rule book and supplement

2. A Module containing: i.  A map ii. Counters for the combatants iii. Markers for use in play iv. Game aid charts

3. A lot of patience and perseverance

4. Help from experienced VASSAL module designers!

I already have the Rule Book and Vietnam Supplement. These can be obtained direct from GHQ or, in the UK, from Magister Militum.

Create a New Module
The first thing I need to do is create a VASSAL module.

1. Start VASSAL

2. Select File > New Module



Now for some Module details.

1. Double Click on 'Module' and you will have a new window with three input boxes; Game Name, Version Number and Description.

2. Fill in these boxes. My inputs are;

i.  Game Name: Search & Destroy ii. Version Number: 0.1 iii. Description: 1st Air Cavalry mission in the Central Highlands of Vietnam 1965

A note about Version Numbering: it is a good idea to regularly save your module and every now and then, after a reasonable number of changes, to resave as a different version number. This way, if things go terribly wrong, you can always revert back to the previous version.

Creating a Map
To create a map you will need some third-party software such as Adobe Photoshop, Paintshop Pro or The Gimp (which happens to be a free application available from GIMP.

I personally use Photoshop but I suggest that you get GIMP anyway as we are going to be using it in producing the map.

I assume that there are many different ways of producing a map for VASSAL. However, I have been frustrated by the lack of documented information on how to do this so I have had to devise my own methods. I cannot guarantee that this is the 'right' way to do it but it has worked for me so far.

A VASSAL map is simply an image that you have produced in your graphics program (Photoshop, Paintshop Pro or The Gimp) and which is added to your VASSAL module.

Before creating my map I did a bit of background work primarily involving the games ground scale. In GHQ Micro Armour Modern (GHQ MAM) the ground scale is 1"=100meters/yards. Figures and vehicles are based on stands that are 1" square or, to scale, they occupy a 100meter by 100meter area of ground. Since I want to use a hex-based system on the map it seemed appropriate to designate a single hex as representing an area occupied by a single stand i.e. 100meters wide.

Since your map image is to be produced in pixel measurements you need to consider a couple of things. The size of the hexes in pixels will be dictated by the pixel size of the game counters since these need to fit inside the hexes.

I have decided that my unit counters will be 70-pixels square. As a result, I have decided that the hexes on the map will be 80-pixels wide in order to accomodate the counters. This means that the ground scale on the map is 80-pixels equals 100-meters/yards.

The GHQ Vietnam Supplement provides a handful of scenarios and each is accompanied by a map. GHG MAM is primarily designed for use with miniatures and to be played out on a wargames table. The most common measurements for these tables are 4-feet by 4-feet or 6-feet by 4-feet. Our map for VASSAL will be a graphical representation of these tables. Since we know the ground scale and we know the size of the hexes that we are going to be using it is easy to work out the pixel size of our required map.

A 4-feet by 4-feet table is 48-inches by 48-inches. The scale of our hexes is 80-pixels to the inch. Therefore our map needs to be 48-hexes by 48-hexes. With each hex equal to 80-pixels we are going to need to create a map image that is (48 x 80pixels) by (48 x 80-pixels). Our map image is therefore going to be 3840-pixels by 3840-pixels.

Using Photoshop to create an image of this size results in a file size of 705Kb. However, once this is saved for web use as a GIF or PNG file this file-size is considerably reduced - saving my Photoshop file as a GIF reduced the file-size to just over 10Kb, a significant reduction!

By a quirk of fate - and a reason for my attraction to GHQ MAM - the scenario maps are presented as hex-based.

This is the GHQ map of LZ X-Ray (the scenario is available in the public domain from the GHQ site ).

The map represents a table that is 2-feet by 3-feet and each hex on the map is 4-inches across. To reproduce this map