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Tuesday 26 July 2022

Some simple Napoleonic campaign rules for use with my version of the Waddington's Campaign map

The following rules are based on my RED FLAGS & IRON CROSSES CAMPAIGN SYSTEM. I have adapted and simplified them somewhat as the original rules were intended for eastern Europe rather that central and western Europe.


CAMPAIGN TIME

  • During the summer (June, July, and August) each campaign move represents two days of game time.
  • During spring and autumn (March, April, May, September, October, and November) each campaign move represents four days of game time.
  • During the winter (December, January, and February) each campaign move represents six days of game time.

ACTIVATING FORMATIONS

  • Each side is allocated a playing card colour.
  • A standard pack of playing cards is shuffled and placed face down.
  • When the campaign starts, the top playing card is turned over, and the colour of the playing card determines which side activates its formations first and how many formations it may activate.
    • If the playing card is an Ace, that side may move all its formations one grid square.
    • If the playing card is a numbered playing card, that side may move one formation one grid square.
    • If the playing card is a Jack, that side may move its formations a total of two grid squares (i.e. it may move one formation two grid squares or two formations one grid square).
    • If the playing card is a Queen, that side may move its formations a total of three grid squares (i.e. it may move one formation three grid squares or one formation two grid squares and one formation one grid square or three formations one grid square).
    • If the playing card is a King, that side may move its formations a total five grid squares.
    • If the playing card is a Joker, that side throws a D6 die and reads the result from the list of Special Events.
    • Special Events
      1. That side may not move any of its formations for six turns of the cards. (This includes all turns of the cards, including those that favour the enemy as well as cards that may favour themselves)
      2. That side may not move any of its formations for four turns of the cards. (This includes all turns of the cards, including those that favour the enemy as well as cards that may favour themselves.)
      3. That side may not move any of its formations for three turns of the cards. (This includes all turns of the cards, including those that favour the enemy as well as cards that may favour themselves..)
      4. That side may not move any of its formations for two turns of the cards. (This includes all turns of the cards, including those that favour the enemy as well as cards that may favour themselves.)
      5. The Joker is treated as if it were a numbered card, and that side may move one formation one grid square.
      6. The Joker is treated as an Ace and that side may move all its formations one grid square.
  • After the playing card has been turned over and any actions have taken place, the playing card is discarded. The discarded playing cards are placed face up in a separate pile.
  • Once all the unused playing cards have been used, the pile of discarded playing cards is shuffled and placed face down where all the players can see it, ready to be dealt when required.


MOVEMENT RULES

  • Movement takes place orthogonally (i.e., through the faces of a grid squares) and not through the corners of grid squares).
  • No formation may enter or pass through a grid square that is already occupied by an enemy formation.
  • When a formation comes into contact with an enemy formation (i.e., it moves into an orthogonally adjacent grid square to one occupied by an enemy formation), it  must engage that enemy formation in battle.


BATTLES

  • Battles take place when opposing formations come into contact (i.e., they occupy orthogonally adjacent grid squares).
  • The formation moving into contact is deemed to be the attacker and must set up their formation on the battlefield before the enemy sets up theirs.
  • The formation that loses a battle must immediately retreat one grid towards its nation's capital by the most direct route possible. This movement does not require the formation to be activated.
  • The formation that wins a battle must remain where it is until it is activated again.


CASUALTY RECOVERY

  • 33% of all lost SPs lost by a formation during a battle are recovered immediately after the battle has ended.
  • 33% of all lost SPs lost by a formation during a battle are recovered six turns of the cards after the battle has ended. (This includes all turns of the cards including those that favour that side’s opponent as well as cards that may favour themselves.)
  • The remaining SPs lost by a formation during a battle are lost for the rest of the campaign.
  • Any commanders who are killed are replaced immediately after the battle.

10 comments:

  1. Great Bob, thank you for sharing, I can see me starting a campaign very soon. Regards. Paul.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. PDL (Paul),

      I hope to play-test the rules ASAP, and I’ll certainly write about what happens.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  2. These are very interesting rules Bob. I may have to try them!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Maudlin Jack Tar,

      Cheers! If you do try them, I’d be interested to have your feedback.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  3. Hi Bob

    Interesting to read your campaign rules. They would not suit me, because I want a fast moving campaign that provides interesting battles to wargame. But I also want a campaign that follows a predictable sequence of movement and interchangeable from the map to the table. It seems that your rules will produce a very unpredictable campaign?

    Will each battle be fought as a wargame?

    Will the result of the wargame affect the card driven campaign?

    How long do you anticipate a campaign will last?

    Looking forward to seeing it play tested

    regards

    Paul

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Paul Leniston (Paul),

      You are quite right about my approach being designed to produce a fair amount of unpredictability, but because I am a solo wargamer, it suits my particular circumstances.

      This is very much a play-test of the campaign system I have designed, but it is my intention to fight any battles that result from each side’s manoeuvring using my PW rules, and the results will be transferred back to the map.

      I have no idea how long the campaign will last, but I will probable set some sort of ‘victory condition’ for both sides. It will probably be based on the total number of Strength Points (SPs) can lose before it has to seek peace.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
    2. Bob and Paul -
      Like the creation of any narrative, there are several ways one may approach the thing. You can have it clearly mapped out ahead of time (such as Bob's 'Long Live the Revolution'), or his 'randomised' system devised here (and for the Colonial PW, which 'Jacko' and I used for our stalled 'In Darkest Aithiops' campaign. I think Paul's system lies somewhere in between for predictability - probably nearer the LLTR, though).

      As I have indicated, I use both. I do like the unpredictable, though, for solo campaigns. Even when my sympathies lie in favour of this side or that, by 'playing it straight', the campaign takes a life of its own.

      By the way, for the 'Darkest A' campaign we (I) I drew the cards in strings - keeping on drawing until it changed colour. If there were two, three or more RED cards in succession, that gave enabled the Colonists to do quite a lot - the same for BLACK cards and the 'natives' - and the thing went forward with a swing.

      I do hope we can pick the thing up again, some time.
      Cheers,
      Ion

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    3. Archduke Piccolo (Ion),

      I think that you have nicely summed up the situation. For example, the Snakes & Ladders campaign system has a degree of unpredictability and has the advantage of not requiring a map, as does my ladder campaign system used in ‘Long Live the Revolution!’. The gridded map system I’m playing around with currently has more unpredictability due to its card-driven mechanism, but I think that it is more suitable for solo wargamers. I don’t have the skills to devise an AI system that solo wargamers can play against, but the randomness in this system can create the sort of situations that an AI system might.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  4. It certainly sounds very practical and could lead to some very interesting campaigns.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ross Mac,

      Cheers! Any forthcoming campaign will be a play-test or ‘proof of concept’ of my campaign system … and should generate some interesting battles.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete

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