New Empire Book. Cartography mistakes?

[Craze_b0i]

As I recall from other publications the Drakwald is supposed to be in Middenland and the Forest of Shadows was supposed to be north of the Middle Mountains, close to Nordland. Both seem to have moved.

As to the 'Great Forest' debate it seems the map-maker has come down on the side of those who say the term refers only to one specific area of forest and not the whole thing.

[Athelassan]

Wow, that's... different. I think part of the reason it looks strange is that the Empire is usually shown at an "angle" whereas here North points directly towards the top of the page. But you're right about the forests. The Drakwald is usually marked at around the point that the Middenland logo appears here. Meanwhile the point at which the Drakwald is marked is usually defined as part of the Great Forest, and the Forest of Shadows straddles the Nordland-Ostland border. Just to round things off, the Great Forest is marked at almost exactly the point that it becomes the Dead Wood. They have succeeded in getting Laurelorn in the right place but the artist seems to have missed the point of the Midden Moors and the Barren Hills, since they're both shown as covered in forest.

Not a good map, all things considered. It's not even particularly pretty.

[Leogun_91]

The Drakwald is not misplaced, we are used to get the text higher up but the Drakwald is huge and stretches from the Middle mountains to the River Reik or Upper Reik, placing the Drakwald name lower is no error, just unusual.
The other places also fit with other maps I have, the problem is caused due to the cities being far to large for the scale of the map and the angle being different enough to confuse.

EDIT: Too tired to fix eyes apparently, the Drakwald is misplaced.

[Dargon]

I'd always assumed that the various forests of the Empire were bordered and divided by the rivers (at least that's how it appreared in the 4th Edition Empire Map). Thus for example, Altdorf would border the Drakwald, Reikwald and Great Forests.

In that light the Forest of Shadows, Reikwald Forest and Great Forest still fit their respective areas in this new map, even if the names have moved a bit. There's just no explaination for the Drakwald Forest though - that's just too far out of place to have any logical explaination.

[GodlessM]

ow is this from the new Empire book when it isn't even out yet?

[Dargon]

ow is this from the new Empire book when it isn't even out yet?

It's one of the previewed pages from the book on the GW website.

[Athelassan]

It's true, the legends for the forests aren't necessarily out of place per se (except the Drakwald) but they're curiously positioned at the edges of the forests they refer to rather than in the middle, which would seem logical and correlate with previous maps of the Empire. I expect the legends were moved to fit in those ludicrously oversized legends for the provinces and large cities. Why they couldn't have left the heraldry to a separate page and left the map with clearer markings is beyond me.

[Arnizipal]

There's something odd about the nortern part of the Empire.
The area designated as the Wasteland is way too big. In fact the entire nothern coast seems far too wide, especially when you consider how narrow the south border of the Empire is drawn.

[m1acca1551]

Seriously how hard is it to get a map right?? Doesnt bode well for the rules if they cant get the actual empires borders correct lol

Then again come to think of it i dont believe i have ever seen a map of the empire i have been able to make sense of

[Daniel36]

The maps are never exactly the same. As a Marienburg player with an interest in WHQ and WHFRP, I have looked up several maps of the Empire and they are ALL different. In one, Marienburg is this many days travel and lies more to the north from another city, and in the next the travel time is wildly different and Marienburg lies more to the south from the same city.

This is just the next in a series of maps with differences. One could argue that the map makers tried their best and slightly failed at giving the most accurate map possible.

[Craze_b0i]

Of the two I wasn't sure about in my opening post Drakwald is blatantly wrong, as any Beastman or Forest Goblin could tell you. As to Forest of Shadows it is according to fluff "covering most of Ostland", so technically the label is still on the forest abeit on the very edge.

[Hideous Loon]

It's not that confusing. Consider that this map is probably drawn in-universe (by an Imperial cartographer on commission from the court or some nobleman). This means that there will be differentiations, since cartography on a large scale isn't really an exact science before flying becomes a viable option. Nor is it really that important to be meticulously precise (and this map is probably not drawn to scale) when drawing a map of the entire land, since the big picture is more important than the picky details. Where are the roads? How far is it from Talabheim to Altdorf? Does it look pretty?

Consider this as well: Do you think the noblemen of Altdorf (or Middenheim, or Nuln, or wherever) want to see a map, where the Beast-infested forest stretches from horizon to horizon? This is not meant to give the ugly, naked truth. It is meant to hang from a wall, behind glass, look pretty (see the massive amounts of decoration and colouration) and inform its owners that "everything is fine, the Beast-infested forest is actually quite small".

For a comparison, see the maps produced in the past. This would be a good example. It doesn't look that much like reality, but it gives a general idea of the shape of the world, and how the coastlines look.

I hope this has been enlightening in some way. Toodles.

[Craze_b0i]

It's not that confusing. Consider that this map is probably drawn in-universe (by an Imperial cartographer on commission from the court or some nobleman). This means that there will be differentiations, since cartography on a large scale isn't really an exact science before flying becomes a viable option. Nor is it really that important to be meticulously precise (and this map is probably not drawn to scale) when drawing a map of the entire land, since the big picture is more important than the picky details. Where are the roads? How far is it from Talabheim to Altdorf? Does it look pretty?

Consider this as well: Do you think the noblemen of Altdorf (or Middenheim, or Nuln, or wherever) want to see a map, where the Beast-infested forest stretches from horizon to horizon? This is not meant to give the ugly, naked truth. It is meant to hang from a wall, behind glass, look pretty (see the massive amounts of decoration and colouration) and inform its owners that "everything is fine, the Beast-infested forest is actually quite small".

For a comparison, see the maps produced in the past. This would be a good example. It doesn't look that much like reality, but it gives a general idea of the shape of the world, and how the coastlines look.

I hope this has been enlightening in some way. Toodles.

No-one said it was confusing. We are simply saying the artist commissioned by Games Workshop has made an error in placing Drakwald.

In this particular case whether the map is in-universe or not is beside the point.

[Hideous Loon]

Oh. Do I feel like Mister Silly!

[StormCrow]

Well spotted, seems like a fairly large oversight to displace an entire forest by accident.