Solo campaign map styles

Hi,

I have been pondering a bit on solo campaigns I plan to run. I have done a few so far but the are mostly very simple. Simple is good but I want to try something a little more complex

The period isn't set as I am just conducting a paper exercise on what map and type of map movement is needed.


Piquet - Theatre of War style.

Each grid is an area of terrain that effects the table top battle (rolled randomly). The type of square indicates the number of impetus needed to enter it (impetus is rolled for randomly) and the ability to move is determined by cards (eg: to move into brown you need to draw a card Move in rough terrain AND also have the 6 impetus needed to go into it).

The random nature of the above map is the direction I am leaning for. The card and impetus make solo gaming quite appealing as it increases the fog of war and inability to move the forces wherever they want . Its very bland and cold and gives no detail as to the local area - I might adjust this grid and simply overlay it over an existing map so at least the square movement can work but I get to see the local area and lament over certain places (Like a mid 1990's Wargame campaign town of Craonne where the 33rd Foot lost its dignity).

More detailed maps

 These give more flavour, but increase the complexity of moving and fog of war. The above give a lot more detail to the area you are in so you can get more of a feel for the local area, I guess getting more involved in the story\background. However force movement becomes incredibly complex. You either have to detail several sets of orders for a non player forces and randomly assign on (reviewing every X days) or have the non player faction not as detailed - ie: simply blips that can  be something or might be simply rumour or shadows.

 a) Point to Point
 A map with point to point movement.(We used this type in the late Barry Taylor's Spanish and German campaigns) where a forces can move a number of point to point road segments.

b)Hex
 A hex based map  eg: Infantry move 3 squares on road, 2 in rough terrain etc etc (The Tony bath style)

c) The fantastic battle-finder system (http://perfectcaptain.50megs.com).
A load of tables all joined together - a lot of the leg work is done ! They supply several games all with maps that could be useful.

If anything battlefinder will be a start as they are so versatile and all that is needed is the in between table movements.

Something for me to mull over anyway and play around with. I've already created several maps for campaigns of various genres so the creativity is there, just the forces, armies and time aren't. I'm yet to decide on how orders would work but I'm leaning towards a random dice roll of three to six  sets of orders, I guess the key will be making sure there is are always multiple objective available for the non player side.