The Road to "Osage Hill"

As I mentioned in a previous post, Rocky Bayou has been moved from its historical location for game purposes (a good place for an intersection and roads leading off the map in four directions).  The topography used comes from the area around the junction of Arkansas Routes 69 and 58.

Here is a view looking southward down route 69, which represents the Military Road in WIA5. The shot is looking towards the J. George farm and Osage Hill in the WIA5 map. The final elevations in the game may be slightly exaggerated, but the hill in the distance on the left side of the road and the slope down to the right side of the road are clearly visible.

Rocky Bayou in Progress

Work on the Rocky Bayou map continues. It has progressed far enough to know that the town map will look pretty much like this:

South of Sage - Rocky Bayou Map

Work has begun on the Rocky Bayou map for WIA5. The elevations are done, with a nice hilly terrain and the main houses have been placed. It will take some time to work out the final details in the creeks.

It may seem strange, but Rocky Bayou Creek will not be on the Rocky Bayou map. When reworking the campaign map, I made Rocky Bayou a crossroads. On historical maps, it just appears with a single road passing through from Mt. Olive going south. Because of this, it was hard to find the right place on a topographic map to represent the town, which may have been (or been near) what was historically known as Lunenburg, northeast of Guion.

To get a good terrain for a crossroads, I went a little further east from the east branches of Rocky Bayou Creek and will be using an area south of Sage, Arkansas (unincorporated) for the map. Sage is located to the southeast of Melbourne, AR. The area being used for the WIA5 map is about where highways 69 and 58 intersect.

For names on the WIA5 map, I use names from Rocky Bayou Township in the 1850 census. Several hills will appear on the map, but these are all fictional. After looking at some photos from Google Maps, it appears that I will have to alter the woods to allow for a mix of conifers and deciduous trees, instead of all deciduous, which is in the current draft.

I have added some extra woods(particularly in the southeast corner and northern border), but the pattern of the woods  will be similar to what is on the topo.

With any luck, the map may be completed the end of the 1st week of January.

St. Leger Road Change - WIA5

The St. Leger map will have a road change in WIA5. The Rockbridge Road (going to Rockbridge Missouri) will be exiting the map through north and passing through the Ritter Farm. The pontoon bridge is now on the South Fork Road, which exits to the west after passing the Stacey Farm.  Pilot Hill also has had the Rockbridge Road re-named as the South Fork Road to complete the St. Leger - Pilot Hill connection on the WIA5 campaign map. This change will not take effect until after THE OZARKS CAMPAIGN.

WIA5 - A Strategic Campaign

Command. You develop a brilliant strategy for control of the campaign theatre. You issue orders to your sub-ordinate commanders, who (like their units) vary widely in quality and ability. Then you wait. You wait, knowing that on the other side of the White River another commander has issued his own orders. Somewhere, today, your forces and his will meet.

You wait. Reports start arriving. You look at the maps. You look at the reports again. You look at the maps again and try to lift some of the fog around your military situation. Brigade commanders are down and need to be replaced. Things haven't gone quite as planned. Gains in some places, losses in others.

Dawn is approaching. Your men await new orders for the day.

WIA5 Manual v. 12-26-15

Smithvile Road (East) - Terrain Study (Cross Plain)

Coming from Franklin, a division marches from the east edge of the Cross Plain map to deploy in the cornfield north of Smithville Road just west of town. It will pass the H. Robertson Farm and then march up a slight incline to town. At some point in the middle, the road is below the crest of a hill that is to the south. It also runs along the edge of a pine forest to its north just before reaching town. The division was fully deployed on the opposite side of town just after 9:20 a.m., having entered the map at 8:30 a.m.