One of the most difficult problems facing the Solo gamer is to hide from his left hand what his right hand is doing. For the five years that I have been Solo gaming I have struggled with this problem with varying degrees of success. After a great deal of frustration, sweat and grinding of teeth I believe I have found a workable solution. I call it the SCMR or Solo Campaign Mobilization Rules. Once I have decided to have a campaign and worked out who will fight who and why, I turn to the SCMR. A few die rolls later and the campaign is underway with SCMR deciding who will do what and when. The strategic map movements are left to SCMR, the tactical battles are all mine. Begin the campaign by having all of your troops dispersed about the country as they would normally be in peace time. As an example I will refer to a campaign which I have in progress at the present time. A brief rundown of the situation may help in describing the SCMR concept. War in Question The war in question is an ancient campaign with the legion of the newly established Victorian Empire against the neighbouring country of Etrusia. A few years previous the Etruscans had allied with the Aurunci against the Empire in what came to be called the Second Aurunci War. The campaign was indecisive. In order to chastise the Etruscans and restore the honour and prestige of the Empire, the Emperor Tiberius sent his nephew Germanicus on a punitive expedition into Etrusia. At this point the Legion was dispersed throughout the Empire (still a relatively small country at this time with delusions of grandeur) and the troops of barbarian Etrusia were similarily dispersed. Before any mobilization began I studied the strategic map and worked out three possible invasion routes in Etrusia. (See Map A.) Route 1 followed the west coast as far as the capital, Difidus. Route 2 was a brief incursion along the Bellona River which formed the boundary between Etrusia and the Empire. Route 3 was a long march to an isolated city in the east. With this done I then wrote out three comparable defence (DS) strategies for the Etruscans. DS 1 consisted of a concentration of troops in the vicinity of the capital, DS 2 was a concentration followed by an advance to the bridge over the Bellona River near the city of Bellona from which an invasion was most likely to come. DS 3 was a splitting of forces in an attempt to cover both of the above. I firmly believe that had it not been for SCMR this punitive expedition would probably have consisted of a Victorian advance, a few towns burned, a few peasants killed, a bit of rape and pillage followed by an indecisive battle. In the past many of my campaigns have worked out as humdrum as that. As it happened, all my expectations went out the window and the Victorians, after an uncontested advance suddenly found themselves defeated in a minor battle after being surprised by the Etruscans, poorly supplied, without hope of reinforcements, in short facing destruction after being out-manoeuvered by SCMR. This changed a boring exercise into an exciting, brain-taxing campaign. Being slightly partial to the Victorians I was appalled at the situation they had gotten themselves into and knew I would have difficulty getting them out of it. Five years of war gaming experience had to be called upon to save the Legion. The situation came about as follows: After drafting my three (you may use six scenarios if you choose, I prefer three as six are harder to come up with and still have a certain fundamental difference between them all) invasion and defence plans and naming a specific mobilization centre upon which each army would concentrate before moving, I rolled a die to determine which of the plans would be used: 1-2 = plan #1; 3-4 = plan #2; 5-6 = plan #3. I rolled for each side and found that Germanicus would adopt Route 1 with the Victorian Legion and Violare would use DS 2 with the Etruscans. As an example, Route 1 was written as follows: "Legion will concentrate at Forma then advance due north to Guarda, cross the base of Cape Triginta and take Fortuna. From there they will advance via road to Difidus." So far so good. The movements of the armies were plotted much as I would have done it in a dual campaign. Satisfied with the results I rolled another die and consulted the Initial Mobilization and Reaction Table. DIE REACTION 1: spies warn defender of enemy build-up; defender mobilizes at same time as attacker 2: defender begins to mobilize 5 days after attacker begins to mobilize 3: defender mobilizes 10 days after attacker begins to mobilize 4: defender begins to mobilize on day attacker crosses his border 5: defender begins to mobilize 3 days after invasion begins 6: defender begins to mobilize 5 days after invasion begins I rolled a 1. This is where I lost control of the campaign. No longer was I in the position of an all-seeing, all-knowing god. Instead I was in command of the forces on the map, handicapped by the limited intelligence of the field commanders. In essence, my right hand knew what my left was doing but could effectively act as if it did not. This situation was further augmented with the addition of a few simple rules. First, the invasion and defense plans must be carried out to the letter as originally written. No changes in plan are permitted at this stage. If a point is reached, as may eventually happen, when the invasion/defense plans can no longer be followed then the invader/defender must stop. At this point another 3 plans are written up and rolled for, or if the situation appears to be getting out of hand a retreat may be ordered or the war ended. The defender is in a more advantageous position as he may rely on intelligence from peasants or townsfolk. Thus if the invader marches through a town or other populated area, a courier may be sent to the nearest military establishment with the news. Defense plans may then be altered by the 3 route system and couriers sent to various unmobilized contingents. An additional factor can be added at this point whereby the efficiency of various commanders in different parts of the country can effect the speed of mobilization. If each commander is given an efficiency rating of from 1-6 (decided by die roll) then a die can be rolled to determine how fast he responds to the call to arms. This chart might be used: CO Efficiency 3-6 = obey orders at once; 2 = delay 1 day before obeying orders; 1 = delay 2 days before obeying orders. I was fortunate in the Etruscan Campaign in that all of my commanders were 3 or better. Mobilization went quite smoothly on both sides. The first obvious indication of plans gone awry occured when the Etruscans, who as you will recall began mobilizing at the same time as the Victorians, managed to concentrate their army and begin moving to their planned defensive position before the Victorians were even ready to march. This was due to the smaller size of Etrusia and the shorter distances from home base to the mobilization point. In fact, the Etruscans were in the final position at the bridge on the Bellona River at Edernum before the Legion was fully mobilized at Forma. As it happened the attack plan and defense plan did not correspond. While Violare and his Etruscans guarded the obvious invasion route, Germanicus and his Legion were mustering to the west some 5 or 6 days march away. Thus, when the Victorians began their invasion they were unopposed. The first town they sacked was Guarda, situated on the Bellona River. The next day the invasion continued as the Victorians left the town and continued north. At the same time a disgruntled peasant borrowed a horse and rode hell for leather to warn Violare of the attack. As Violare had played out his original die-roll conceived plans he now had a number of options as to what to do about the invasion. I wrote down three of them: a. stay in position and await the enemies return b. pursue the enemy via Fortuna to Difidus c. pursue the enemy overland from Edernum to Difidus The die was rolled again and the Etruscans set off in pursuit by road via Fortuna to Difidus. The Victorians were now effectively cut off from their home country. It would have been almost impossible to simulate this state of affairs using conventional rules without favouring one side or the other. Each action taken, though possibly not the one you would have taken in a dual player campaign, is quite feasible in light of the limited information available to the commanders in the field and each commander's initiative and strategic efficiency. Strategic variables such as supply and weather can be accounted for by any satisfactory method used in dual gaming. But, whenever a situation arises that is not covered in your initial attack/defence plan, write down the alternatives and roll a die. They may seem unrealistic but I assure you it is not. In my experience with dual wargaming I have often found that no matter what you expect your opponent to do he will quite often do the unexpected. Not always, but most of the time, especially in the early stages of a campaign. This is reflected very well in the die roll method. What the SCMR does is to take the god-like omnipotence away from the gamer and reduce him to a tactical field commander. That was my intention and I feel it works well, Should you decide to give these rules 'a go,' I have provided a synopsis below to aid you. SOLO CAMPAIGN MOBILIZATION RULES a. to determine the initial mobilization and reaction first roll one die to find what attacker and defender will do: 1: spies warn defender of enemy build-up; defender mobilizes at same time as attacker 2: defender begins to mobilize 5 days after attacker begins to mobilize 3: defender mobilizes 10 days after attacker begins to mobilize 4: defender begins to mobilize on day attacker crosses his border 5: defender begins to mobilize 3 days after invasion begins 6: defender begins to mobilize 5 days after invasion begins b. to mobilize attacker follow these steps: 1. draw up 3 to 6 possible invasion routes 2. roll one die to determine which route is to be used 3. begin invasion exactly according to plan. No change in plans are permitted. If a point is reached where the route can no longer be followed then the invader must stop, roll for new direction, or retreat or end war. c. to mobilize defender follow these steps: 1. draw up 3 to 6 possible defensive plans 2. roll one die to determine which plan is adopted 3. set up forces as per die roll before invasion begins. Changes in defense plans may be made by courier. d. to mobilize: 1. set date for mobilization to begin 2. send a courier to each unit on the map 3. when courier arrives roll for CO efficiency 4. troops begin march to mobilization point (MP) 5. troops may leave mp at any time after General officer arrives -- orders may be left at MP for troops not arrived at time of departure. This may only be done if initial plan permits movement of partial force. Back to Table of Contents -- Courier Vol. 2 #1 To Courier List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1980 by The Courier Publishing Company. 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