An Attempt at a Campaign System

Due to some good fortune, I will have all of this coming Saturday free for hobby related activity. While I plan to get some painting in and visit some local shops for the first time, I definitely want to game. And, as I mentioned a few posts ago, Featherstone's Solo Wargaming has me itching to try my hand at a campaign.

While I had decided to use Bob Cordery's Memoir of Battle rules for the "larger scale" battles, I came across a blog entry over on Axis of Naughtiness that rekindled my interest in G.A.S.L.I.G.H.T.  So, I've resolved to include some encounters that feature that rule set as well. And, for the first time, I'll add some wonky vehicles to the action (my first piece is made entirely of Sculpey and, though comical, does capture the cartoon flavor of Victorian Sci-Fi as I imagine it. pictures to follow when I finish painting it).

So, I have the rules for the conflicts laid out, but what about the campaign itself?

As my latest attempt to write a set of rules for stand vs stand conflict has shown me, I have a tendency to over complicate things. My rules are simple enough - except that I try to account for every possibility and things slow down as a result. While not terrible, they just aren't as fun as what other rule writers have come up with, by and large. I stand by my various tweaks, but as for wholesale creation, I've got a ways to go.

So, what makes me think I'll succeed in coming up with a campaign system? Boundless optimism!

To be safe though, I will rely on the work done by others and modifying based on my own ideas. 

I decided, for instance, to avoid map making this first campaign and instead, I will use a system similar to the one found in a 2006/2008 post at Saxe-Bearstein.

My modification looks as follows:

Apologies for the lack of quality - I slapped this together between bites of  my lunch

• Location 1 for each side is where the bulk of their forces are.
• In my case, each side has a total of 1 battalion of European troops with reinforcements replacing casualties possible.
• They will have 1d6-1 companies total of Native troops to start and may, if the situation is favorable, recruit more as the campaign goes on.
• Location 2 is a frontier fort with 1 or 2 companies of troops 
• The Border Clash area is where the campaign starts - either platoon vs platoon or company vs. company. I haven't decided  yet.

Each game turn = 1 week of game time (I just pulled this out of the air)

After an encounter, move towards the losing army's Location 1. In the event of a draw, each army moves towards its own Location 1.

The green areas labeled E1 - E4 are encounters that do NOT involve the opposing army - or if they do, it will be no more than a squad. I've got a list of the types of things I'm thinking of that I'll post tomorrow, along with my ideas for what constitutes a campaign turn.