The Campaign Trail
Crafting a Napoleonic Miniatures Campaign
by David Commerford, UK
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As a Napoleonic wargamer, sooner or later (if you haven't done it already) your mind will turn to the prospect of running a Campaign. It is a logical step for anyone to make, for it is really only through Campaigns that you can approach any understanding of all the military aspects of the period and appreciate that getting your army to the battlefield was, in many ways, far more of a test of Generalship than what you did with it when it arrived
There is also something far more complete in the experience of Campaigning than any one off wargame, no matter how enjoyable it may seem at the time. Over the years in the hobby some of my happiest moments have being "on campaign" as well as some of my worst arguments I hope in this article to be able to pass on a few pointers of how to promote one and avoid the other. I apologise in advance for not being able to provide detailed mechanics but as these, like all other rule systems tend towards personal taste, I hope the flavour (if you will pardon the pun) will stimulate enough interest for some of you to explore these for yourselves.
So to start with one of those classic statements. Size does not matter. I have been involved in campaigns over small map areas were the combined total of both forces was under 50,000 men and others involving huge chunks of Europe with over 250,000 a side; they have been equally enjoyable.
There are many methods of setting up a Campaign. The primary choice as in table top games being whether you go for historical refight, an outline based on an historical year but with "what if" alterations, or a complete fantasy. For example, having changed horses in mid stream from an historical refight of 1814, I am currently working up the French army and associated orders for a "what if " game which will in effect be a slightly smaller (in terms of manpower) version of the 1813 campaign. However, we have decided for troop availability that the Emperor did not take his holiday in Russia and that Prussia and Austria have more men available than they would have actually had, to assist the Czar, as he embarks on an 1812 march of liberation through Silesia.
Having made your choice as to background the next step either through choice or circumstance involves the question of Umpiring. Non availability or outright refusal, may rob you of this facility but I cannot recommend it highly enough if the opportunity is there. I appreciate that in a group it is easy to feel you are missing out on something by being Umpire but believe me some of the biggest laughs I have ever had was playing this role. Not in terms of mucking the opposing sides about but rather in having to use plausible devices to bring the contestants together, as they persistently avoided each other (quite by chance) and could not understand why there had been no contacts where they expected them.
In an ideal situation I would suggest that if you are doing a Campaign as a club or group you arrange for the three most experienced players to be "volunteered." The most experienced to be Umpire, the other two to be allocated one per side. Of course it is important that the Umpire is impartial, careful with the detail of movement and orders etc. but it really does help to have someone with a knowledge and feel for the period who can make the inevitable tough calls with a feel for historical probability.
The other two do not necessarily have two assume the role of commander in chief, however they should be available to help plan strategy and organise the armies from an historical base.
It is sad to relate that even after all these years there is little commercial assistance for the would be campaigner and certainly no outstanding buy. I pause here to apologise to the lads at Cavalier Books, who gave me the 'evil eye' for stopping a would be purchaser, just starting out on Campaign trail, from buying the Empire Campaign system at the Napoleonic Fair earlier this year. It's a jungle out here guys and that boxed set is no place for the innocent.
For the curious I would mention that this system is now 14 years old and while it does have a good map, it is two sets removed from the game rules whose name it shares and complicated to the point of inaccessibility. (Before any wiseacres out there says 'Ho, Ho just like the tabletop set' they're not written by the same people and no they are not!) Also they do not provide any real help in moving from main map to table layout, which was what the punter in question was interested in anyway.
Citizen Watkins does a PC based system but as it links to his tabletop rules I don't know what it does for the wider world. After that you are down to the old stand by of Board Games, where you can find one that concentrates on a year rather than one battle or the whole war. These are depressingly rare however, as our Board Game brothers seem obsessed with playing the same battle over and over rather than examining the big picture. Two I have used are listed at the end of this article. Both feature the game design work of Kevin Zucker, he at least provides a workable and realistic command, control and supply/attrition system. However, as ever, you still have to workout what the battlefield will look like for your self.
Out side of the above, maps are a bit of a pain. Over the years I have scaled items up from various books although period and later nineteenth century prints tend to be of a style that is of little practical use, being far to difficult to decipher from their reproduced appearance. There are a number of modern sources. I would refer you here to recent articles in Wargames Illustrated Nos. 124 and 126 by John Laing and Robin G.Thompson, respectively. These provide good examples of what is available to the game player armed with that most useful of items, pre printed, clear plastic hex sheet and a bit of imagination. I have also found that High Street reprographic shops are very willing to breach the laws of copyright and in glorious colour, I might add.
If you are forced to do everything yourself remember the most important items to recreate are, supply, attrition caused by marching, sickness and desertion and probably most important a reason to win. The latter may sound obvious but believe me it is very difficult to arrive at a method that will substitute for the moral and political will to fight battles or more correctly, risk losing them. The agreed terms for ending a Campaign are as necessary as those for starting one, without them it is hard to get both sides to seek combat. It is too easy for one side to tuck themselves away and wait for the enemy to take all the risks and thereby the game turns into a solo procession across the map to the point of the "big battle" which may, or may not, end it all.
There is an old saying "You never really know someone till you've campaigned with them"
Be warned, this extension of the hobby turns the closest of friends into bloody-minded, nit picking; barrack room lawyers of a level only matched by Ancients competition players and EEC Commissioners.
I cannot urge you strongly enough to examine every facet of the process, think through every possible misunderstanding of the rules and conditions you set for the conduct of the campaign. Everything you say will be taken down and used in evidence against you. Campaigns are the Sod's Law of wargames; anything and everything can and will go wrong, or be misconstrued, at some point. Never assume that you share a mutual understanding of any mechanism you introduce to simulate any aspect of reality without checking it out with your opponents.
Why is this all so important? Well, Oh beloved ones, we deal here with the forces of time and human frailty. As for time, imagine this. You have spent several months agreeing the rules, orders of battle and cunning plans. You have then spent week's bent over maps, moving counters, making calculations and bringing your foe to his doom. You fight the inevitable battle. Your are combination of superior strategy and powerful tactics drives the enemy into headlong retreat and his fate appears sealed. But wait, there is a catch. At the start of the campaign everyone agreed that it would be a neat idea if you employed a rolling table so that the losing side would have to conduct a proper rear guard and there would be an opportunity for a realistic pursuit. (I know now that these seldom happened but his was a long time ago). The only trouble is that in your own mind you assumed that you would be the one to say when the action would scroll forwards and your opponent, not yet ready to give up the ship, does not see it that way at all! End of battle! End of Campaign! Almost end of friendship! Yes folks, this really happened.
Think about what happens when a supply line is cut. What will happen when more men arrive at a battle than you have figures, or space, to represent them? If you agree to alter your usual figure scale to address this at what number of men do you do it? If one side achieves this number and the other does not, what then? How big is the battlefield anyway? What does the on table terrain look like and how is it decided?
Think about it, discuss it, agree it and then, WRITE IT DOWN! A weeks extra discussion is well worth the trouble if it avoids a total collapse of several months work over a point of rule interpretation.
Above all try and be reasonable. You will be amazed how having something more than what time you go down the pub resting on the outcome of a battle makes people fight to the death. Discuss the end position with a mate in a one off game and as like as not they will say ' OK this units knackered, these three will clearly not get off the field' Give them the identical set up on a campaign and you will hear 'No way, I can rally them. If you think you can take that lot, well come on then, lets see you do it!'
On the subject of ending the battle. Unless you are one of those fortunate few who can leave a game set up, undisturbed, till you can return to it, or are able to play uninterrupted for hours on end, sooner or later you will run out of real time before your game has run its course.
Prior agreement as to the game devices needed to record the suspended action, or pull forces apart, is essential. Remember, there is likely to be a difficult discussion if you later expect one side to have to retake ground they have just been shot to hell over, when play is resumed.
Finally, you might also want to give some consideration as to the right to refuse battle. In the main, if two armies got close enough to contemplate battle, there was not a great deal of chance of slipping off unnoticed. Particularly, if one side was superior in cavalry, unless the weather, night or adverse terrain could be employed.
This is also important in the campaign world. Few of us have unlimited spare time and nothing is more likely to cause a row than turning up to fight a campaign game only to have your opponent start to with draw as soon as play begins. Hidden movement both on and of table is a strong antidote to this. You need to simulate the uncertainty faced by real commanders as to exactly what was in front of them. Should you grasp the opportunity presented to you, or is it a trap? Will you, like Benningsen at Friedland, turn on what you see as an isolated Corps only to be drawn into a major battle? A good umpire and a willingness to accept you have been out foxed on this occasion will go along way towards keeping the peace while you get on with the war.
Well that's about all. Campaigns can be loads of fun, loads of work and loads of arguments but they are well worth it. While they continue to be the neglected area of wargaming, you as a player will at least have the satisfaction of being at the creative edge of rule development and be able to set the world the way you see it. Let's face it there's a lot to be said for that in this day and age!
Kevin Zuckner games: Napoleon at Bay, the campaign in France,1814 Published in 1983 by Avalon Hill and still available from Caliver Books, 16 - 818 London Road, Leigh on Sea, Essex SS9 3NH
1809 Napoleon's Danube Campaign Published in 1984 by Victory Games I have seen this at second hand shops and on Bring and Buy stalls but I think it's no longer available otherwise.
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