"I thought it might be interesting to see if anyone else out there is trying to build a wargame?"
Obviously, by my name, I do. I previously designed a 1941-42 North Africa game and am now designing a 1940 game.
"I am currently really struggling with counter creation and map creation."
I go to office supply stores and obtain sheets of cardboard sold in various sizes, colored highlighter pens, and one
very fine point black ink pen. I cut my game counters out of the cardboard sheet with a razor blade knife. To divide the cardboard sheet to the proper counter size, I use this carpenter's tool:
https://www.amazon.com/Tools-Combin...ocphy=9033810&hvtargid=pla-433902142928&psc=1
It will allow you to make perfectly straight lines, the exact distance apart for your counters and act as a straight edge for your razor blade.
I color my counters with the highlighters. Once dry, the fine ink pen will work for your symbols and numbers. If you want to get fancy, spray them with clear spray paint afterwards.
To make my map, I get online and find a free hexagon design that I can print out on paper in the hex size I want. I always use bigger than 1/2" (12.7 mm) hexes. My current board uses 13/16" (20.6375 mm). You can tape two or more sheets of hexagon graph paper together by applying tape to the BACKSIDE of the two sheets once properly aligned. By taping the backside, the tape does not get in the way of drawing roads, names, or applying colors to your hexes. If you want a stiff gameboard, simply tape it to a cardboard sheet.
I use internet Zoom maps with "Measure Distance" function to make the map. I never use "battlefield" maps as I find the scale and roads shown to be unreliable. On my eastern map, I placed Tobruk and El Alamein on it first, measuring both longitude and latitude. The next landmark I put on, say Sidi Baranni, I measure it's location from both Tobruk and El Alamein. The two measurements should agree on the same hex. I do this for all landmarks.
I seldom color the map board except where necessary. For example, all my water hexes along the coast are blue. Yet none of the other sea hexes are colored to save highlighter ink and a lot of time. Only the edges of the escarpments are colored, using a brown sharpie, indicating a ground unit cannot cross that line without a road.
You may have trouble getting your combat rules for 1941-42 to also work for 1940. My 1941-42 game was accurate to approximately 5% casualties for reproducing any historical battle which is very high precision. Yet when I added 1940, nothing worked. It was not even close to working. The Italians of 1940 used different training from 1941. They had mountain training and their top generals were told to use the untested "War of Rapid Decision"
which does not work. Add in the Italians are on foot and they are completely different from 1941, requiring completely different attack factor calculations and a different combat results table.
Ask if you have questions.