During my tour of Virginia-Maryland battlefields last week I tried to imagine the game maps as I stood at certain vantage points. Many times (especially at Fredericksburg) the foliage would block what was otherwise a clear view in the 1860's. But at Cedar Mountain there was a lot of open ground and I was surprised to see how little the HPS game map resembles the lay of the land. While most of the other HPS maps seem to be pretty well researched, a quick look at the topo map from the Civil war Trust website confirms that the Game map for Cedar Mountain is a bit fictionalized.
This first photograph shows the Union approach route up the Culpeper Rd. toward Mitchell Station Rd, familiar to any Union player who has played the scenario:
2nd photo at the intersection, the Confederate lines are visible at nearly the same elevation, with slight rolling hills in between:
3rd photo of Cedar Run Church on a hilltop east of the creek, not as shown on the game map.
4th photo
5th photo
