Software for battle maps and diagrams (Mac)?

[Paul Innes]

I don't know where else to post this, so I thought I'd try here. For years I used Battlechronicler to draw maps on my old PC. It had the ability to create decent diagrams of tabletop battles that I used to illustrate battle reports on my blog. It was a little 'clunky', but once I got used to its idiosyncrasies I was able to manage. I have now switched to a Mac, and I have not yet found an equivalent program. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Paul

[Tim]

Switch back to a PC?

[Mark G]

Macs are for hipsters

Paul, you ain't no hipster.

[Paul Innes]

Thanks, Mark, you just made my day...

[Patrick Waterson]

From the Battle Chronicler.com website:

"Mac Compatibility

Battle Chronicler runs on top of the latest version Microsoft's .Net framework, which is a Windows only technology. So there will not be a Mac version.
Some Mac users run a Windows emulation, like Parallels Desktop, or VM Ware and have successfully got Battle Chronicler working that way.

If you want advise [sic] on this then best ask on the Forum."

Which would be nice, except that the forum is currently not working ...

[Justin Swanton]

I have a suggestion: why not install Freehand on your Mac and I will make up a battle report template for you - a bunch of base and terrain pieces you can drag onto the battlefield and then export as a pdf or jpeg or whatever. Freehand is relatively straightforward to use, much more than Photoshop, and has all the flexibility you require for this kind of thing. I can give you basic instructions on what you will need to do.

[Paul Innes]

Thanks, Justin, I may well do that. One of the reasons I'm exploring this topic is because I want to write some reports for Slingshot myself, and if I use the same software as yourself, I can run them past you to see what you think...

Paul

[Nick Harbud]

I think you should stick with us peasants.   

I mean, I have Campaign Cartographer, which is what Alastair uses for his really pretty Mesopotamian and Argo maps, but when suddenly confronted by the need to convert someone's crayon sketch into a publishing masterpiece for Slingshot, I just knock something together in PowerPoint.  The map that accompanied Mick Hession's Man Vikings article is one of these.

I hear it even works on Macs....

[Paul Innes]

Thanks everyone. I have a really old laptop, so I might stick with what I know for now and load Battlechronciler onto that. It'll do for now...

[Sharur]

Campaign Cartographer 3 (CC3) of course is also paid-for software, not freeware like Battle Chronicler. However, one advantage is there's plenty of high-quality tech support readily, and freely, available for CC3, including an active users' forum, to which the company's software designers contribute frequently. The basic program costs about 30 GBP (45 USD), but there are bundle deals on the website, and occasional sales (there was one for Black Friday in 2015, for instance). CC3 has recently been reissued in an improved, updated format, as CC3+, with all the previously-published add-ons slowly being upgraded to work with the new program too (if you already had these add-ons, you get an automatic free update as each is issued). Both CC3 and CC3+ will work easily on Windows versions from XP up to and including Win 10. For Macs and with Linux though, you'll need a Windows emulator.

Just looking around on the Battle Chronicler website however, and seeing what it can do, I'd agree with Nick that all you really need is any fairly straightforward graphics-handling package, as none of the features seemed especially challenging to reproduce away from that program. That assumes of course that the "pretty" symbols (i.e. those items beyond the basic coloured-polygon unit markers) and things like the grass textures, are available in formats you could easily import from the Battle Chronicler files, and manipulate in the alternative program (PNGs most likely). I made some further notes on using such non-specialist graphics programs for mapping in the What Cartography Program was used in Issue 305? topic elsewhere on the Forum already.

[Paul Innes]

Thanks, Alastair. I've gone back to Battle Chronicler recently, so I'll see what I can produce...

Paul