So, how to run an Hyboria-styled campaign?

My recent entries on Tony Bath's Hyboria have started me thinking about running something similar. Mind you, this does not mean there will be an Hyboria-style campaign. Especially with my current workload at the university, it's not something for the immediate future, but it's always nice to think about future projects.

Back in 2000 I participated in a campaign called Hyperborea, run by long-time wargaming friend Alan Huyton. The whole thing was run in the philosophy of matrix-gaming, with players submitting orders on anything each campaign turn. I was living in the USA at the time, so I never participated in any of the miniatures battles that resulted, but maybe other participants did, I'm not sure.
Our internet records in 2000 were not as good as they were today, so I don't have lots of archives left, but I still have the map Alan made, along with some maps I made myself (I played Laconica). I still remember that near the end of the campaign, I struck at Bartaventumnium, the capital of Latini, run by co-author of this blog Bart Vetters. That event might have well ended the campaign, I don;t remember exactly. It has been 20 years ;-)

The campaign map

My own rendering of LAconica

A fun map, outlining the voyages of Thales, but it was really a spying mission.

In 2006, Alan tried to set up a similar campaign, again called Hyperborea (with a handful of posts on this blog). But this time we never got far. The campaign sizzled out after 1 or 2 turns ... I played Kemet in this one.

So suppose I would run such a campaign. What map would I use?

There are of course many possibilities .. there are plenty of imaginary continents from (fantasy) games or literature one can use. One of the maps that I always found attractive is the old map from Wizard's Quest:

It has a nice subdivision in regions, but perhaps the whole affair would become more a RISK-like game rather than a proper wargaming campaign. The lack of cities, roads and other points of interest make it less suitable.

A better idea might be to use the map of the imaginary fantasy world Dor, designed for the roleplaying game Schimmmen & Schaduwen, which I co-authored back in the early nineties.

The continent has many different countires, each with their own geography and culture. See also these blogposts (written in Dutch) on my Schimmen & Schaduwen blog:  Kaarten Van Dor en De Grote Atlas van Dor. Perhaps I should consider using this setting?