map.army Tutorials: Build Military Maps Step by Step

Hands-on tutorials that walk you through complete tasks in map.army, from a blank map to a finished, shareable tactical situation. For reference on every tool and setting, see the map.army documentation.

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map.army main window: MIL-STD-2525 unit symbols and tactical graphics on a topographic map

Looking up a single tool or setting? The map.army documentation describes every function in detail.

Pick your level: Beginner if you are new to the app, Intermediate for complete planning tasks, Expert for integration and data exchange.

Quick start: from beginner to expert

17 tutorials · about 5 h 30 min in total · do them in order or jump to your level

Start with tutorial 1

Beginner

New to map.army? Start here. Each tutorial takes one small goal from a blank map to a result you can save or share. No prior knowledge of the app needed.

  1. Beginner · 20 min Make a war map Make a war map in the browser: place friendly and hostile units, draw the front line and attack arrows, label the units, then export the map as an …
  2. Beginner · 5 min Pins and text boxes Add notes to the map with pins and text boxes. Their content is stored and exchanged with the layer in MilX®.
  3. Beginner · 5 min Emoji in text modifiers Every text modifier of a unit symbol or tactical graphic accepts emoji - a quick way to mark what matters.
  4. Beginner · 5 min Share a map Create a share link to exchange a situation map by URL, and get the code to show it in a web page.
  5. Beginner · 10 min Read an MGRS reference Show the MGRS grid on the map, read a position as a grid reference such as 32TLT 81602 00383, copy it for a report, and find a reference that someone …

Intermediate

You can place symbols and save a layer. These tutorials combine several tools into complete planning tasks: exercises, overlays, own maps and data, briefing products.

  1. Intermediate · 30 min Map the D-Day landings Map a historical battle: the Allied landings in Normandy on 6 June 1944, with one layer per side, each division labelled with its number, corps and …
  2. Intermediate · 20 min Update the situation Bring the D-Day map up to the evening of 6 June 1944: mark a German division’s losses, give the 21st Panzer Division a more exact symbol, show its …
  3. Intermediate · 20 min Work together on a shared map Put your situation map online as a MilX Share, give viewers and editors each their own link, save new versions, follow what others change and go back …
  4. Intermediate · 15 min Add your own maps Put your own map under the overlay: a scanned paper map, a sketch, an aerial image or a map from a GIS. You fit it to the base map once and reuse the …
  5. Intermediate · 10 min Load vector layers Load a recorded GPX track into the map as a vector layer, then convert it into a MilX® march route whose points and waypoints you can edit like any …
  6. Intermediate · 15 min Organise layers Keep friendly forces, enemy forces and control measures on separate layers, put them in order, make a copy for the next phase, and lock the approved …
  7. Intermediate · 15 min Print an overlay Print your situation on transparent foil at the scale of your paper map, with two reference points so the foil lands exactly on the right grid …
  8. Intermediate · 20 min Plan a live-fire range Sketch a live-fire range for a briefing: a firing position, a ring for its reach, a Safety Distance Zone in the direction of fire, and a measurement …
  9. Intermediate · 50 min Terrain analysis (OAKOC) Work through the ground of your area of operations factor by factor and end with one layer that shows where forces can move, where they are blocked, …

Expert

For users who integrate map.army into their own environment: web pages and portals, own map services, data exchange with C2 systems, and AI-assisted situation layers.

  1. Expert · 60 min AI agent: terrain analysis Give an AI agent an area and a mission, and get back a .milxlyz file with obstacles, avenues of approach, key terrain and observation already drawn — …
  2. Expert · 20 min NVG exchange with C2 Send your overlay to a command-and-control system as NVG, take the other side’s overlay in, and make sure nothing was lost or misplaced on the way.
  3. Expert · 10 min Embed in a web page Put map.army into a web page or blog with a few lines of code, and load MilX® layers straight from a URL parameter.