This was done for my own satisfaction and as a learning exercise. My map from the game is not in great condition and since I wanted a more evocative one thought I’d create my own. While I’d used both Illustrator and Photoshop for decades, since about 1998 my primary area of expertise had been 3D, so I hadn’t combined them to the extent required for any kind of cartography. While the legal side of Shenandoah was being finalised I thought this would be a good test of process and workflow.

In the end, Shenandoah proceeded faster than expected so all the fonts and line work are placeholder and no effort was put into redesigning/theming the charts and symbols. They’re more or less direct copies from the manual. In fact the only element of any real worth is the painted background which likewise isn’t finished.

It’s also an example of a real beginners mistake.  I hadn’t actually played the game to completion before making the map.  I’d dabbled and thought I had enough of an understanding. It’s a rookie error and something I wouldn’t do now. Lesson learned.

I’ve put it on the BoardGame Geek website with Columbia’s permission.

https://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/1122848/rommel-desert

Edit :

So Columbia have decided to use the map for a Kickstartered reprint.

Their first pass cooled down the colour and reworked the depth to provide a proper row of hexes at the bottom. The original was presumably confined by the standard paper and box size and this does make it more comfortable.

The final release map did away with mine entirely but kept the charts and feels altogether more homogenous. They made a donation to Help for Heroes.