Simple game board help

Question

Hi
I want to make a little strategy game.
Ill explain fast what i already tried:
First i tried to make a array of buttons, to be each case of the map( around 25x35)
It was really too slow to display and took over 100+ mb of ram
Next i tried with picturebox but it is the same thing.
I was wondering how could i make a simple map around 25x35 and that doesnt take 30 sec to load and take 100+ mb of ram
Thanks.