Hex-Terrain Map

I'd take the 1st approach because it seems that a game that is going to be internally hex-tiled anyhow (for the game logic) uses a tile system for its graphics. Secondly, tiled maps allow for FAR more variety when it comes to the number of maps that you can produce. I remember the only disappointing element of Close Combat 3 was the limited number of maps available (basically all maps were huge images). These maps also felt small at times. Even though the fan community managed to make its own map-editing tools to produce more maps, very few maps were of equal quality to the standard ones. By the I mean it is not so easy to make a photo realistic 2D map as you might think, it very easily looks ugly or strange. Sure, poorly drawn tiles have that problem too but there is generally less total graphics draw so more time can be spent on making realistic tiles. Really, make a tile-based game.

You might find this article interesting when playing with hexes... Not exactly on topic but still interesting.