This article launches an exciting series by Al Karasa based on a hypothetical, historically-plausible invasion of Christian Marnon by the Tatars. These articles will include a narrative of the campaign itself, relevant historical intormation about medieval warfare, bibliographic tips on books and rules for the medieval period and construction guidelines for castles and other works to enhance the realism and look of historical miniatures wargaming. Reader feedback is welcome, especially from individuals or associations that attempt to reproduce this campaign for themselves. G.H.S.

THE MARNON CAMPAIGN

Recreating battles of history, where the objectives are already known and followed, is one thing; but when faced with isolated hypothetical scenarios on our tabletop, we often forget what we're fighting for. The resulting struggle to survive the indiscriminate slaughter which invariably develops, produces the most unlikely situations on the battlefield and barely serves to entertain, let alone produce a learning experience. We simply fight until we have no troops to fight with, or turn tail and run right off the edge of the earth (table)- another unlikely development.

And so the map game-the campaign concept where consequences of one encounter follow us to the next and no single battle stands alone, independent of those following or preceding it. Unfortunately, many miniatures campaigns fail not only because of their complexity, but also due to the time required to play them.

What I've tried to do here is to put the emphasis back into the tactical miniatures battle on the table and let the map game take care of itself. No records or notation of any kind are needed to keep track of the strategic situation on the map and less than 10% of our time is spent in map moves. We concentrate instead on situations the map moves produce and solve strategic problems on the tabletop.

Choice of Map

After the period of history (in our case early Medieval), next point to consider is the choice of map. We needed one which would be easy to read, provide means of tracking our map moves, have a varied topography and strategically important points such as rivers, towns, castles, etc. Maps right out of a world atlas could serve, but I find those designed for area movement board games easier to handle.

Although map boards of England from several games ran a close second, my choice was the Island Continent of Marnon from Avalon Hill's "Wizard's Quest". It has an inland sea, boasts eight castles, a river crossed by bridges and a variety of terrain divided into six regions (numbered 1-6) of six areas (we will call Shires) each. It also has a distinctly Medieval character about it.

Castles serve the supply and reinforcement function, make strongholds when garrisoned and permit siege operations in the campaign. Topography is very complete: desert, waterways, mountains, open country, forests and even includes an underground tunnel! The only features added, to facilitate maritime operations, were five harbors and the sea divided into eight sectors: N, NW, W, SW, etc.

Each castle is limited in the maximum garrison it can support and reinforcements it may provide. Everything moves at the rate of 1 Shire per day (1 day scale time = 1 map move or 10 tactical moves on the tabletop). Exception being Light Cavalry-2 Shires per day, but in the mountains all cavalry have a more difficult time than a man on foot. Infantry, however, cannot stay in the desert more than a few days without a steady stream of supplies, and so on.

A campaign may begin with each side deployed on the map within their own "homeland" of one castle and the 3 or 4 Shires immediately surrounding it. Deployment is by means of flags or banners set out on the map. (Ours is a magnetic map mounted on the wall to conserve table space.) A duplicate of each banner is carried by a miniature banner bearer with the unit of troops it represents.

Organization

Players organize their miniature units on separate tables and keep them out of sight, each marked with their banner. Map movement (of banners) is conducted in turns or simultaneously by optional notation using the numbers 1-6 of each region and 1-6 for each Shire within the region on the map. Opposing units reveal themselves only when in the same Shire. If battle is sought, the units set up on the tabletop field, representing the Shire and its terrain on the map and battle is resolved using any suitable miniatures rules. If one side refuses to give battle, those units must retract their map move (risking pursuit).

Troops engaged in battle may quit the field by leaving the table, in place of a normal move, and entering an adjacent Shire. Troops entering the Shire where a battle is taking place enter the table from direction corresponding to their map move.

This system permits reinforcements to be brought to the battlefield, on the table, during the course of each map move if they are within a day's march of the battle site, or later if they are farther away. Countless and often unpredictable situations develop, but never out of context in objective achievement with the greatest economy of force. A small unit encountering overwhelming opposition will usually have the option to flee.

Prisoners taken in battle must be escorted to a friendly castle for ransom or prisoner exchange later on . Ransom is generally paid with a favor, such as moving troops out of some area requested by the opponent or another, similar consideration. However, escorting prisoners not only sidelines needed troops, but also leaves one open to ambush from rescue attempts. Rescued prisoners join the rescuing unit and are battle ready on the next day.

Castles and Sieges

Enemy castles may never be entered without first stopping in an adjacent Shire to attack or besiege the castle on the following map move. Sieges are resolved on the tabletop using a model castle and any suitable siege warfare rules. In certain cases, a commander may enter an enemy castle under a flag of truce, for a parley or some other mutually agreeable purpose. Besieged castles cannot supply reinforcements and campaign objectives often center on seizure of castles. However, one must also maintain a good defense for the "homeland" (own castle and all surrounding Shires), as it is written that: " . . . Ioss of homeland means loss of campaign ! . . . ' '

A castle which is besieged, or otherwise cut off, is of little use to its army fighting elsewhere. More than mere protection of one's own back yard is required-routes to those castles held must not only be kept open, but protected as well, if the reinforcement and supplies are to reach those needing them safely. Additional flexibility of organization and movement is provided by ability of units to split up into smaller, subordinate, units independently identified with their own banners and so marked on the map. Even a messenger or scout thus identified may achieve his objective without revealing his true strength.

As our troops gain more experience throughout the campaign, they become more efficient fighting units by advancing their "Morale Class" . This is handled by referring to the following table:

Troop Type	Morale Class (achieved after surviving number of battles)
	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Half Trained Mob	Mob*	-	-	-	-	-	Militia	-	-
Feudal Levies	Mob*	-	-	Militia	-	-	-	-	Regular
Green troops	Militia	-	Regular	-	-	-	Veteran	-	-
Retainer Troops	Militia	Regular	-	-	-	Veteran	-	-	Elite
Guard Troops	Regular	-	-	Veteran	-	-	-	Elite	-
Royal Guard	Regular	-	Veteran	-	-	Elite	-	-	-
Knight and above	Regular	Veteran	-	-	Elite	-	-	-	-

After, for example, a unit of Green Troops takes part in 2 battles they become Regulars for morale purposes. Should they survive 6 battles, they become Veterans. After that they must join a superior Veteran unit to advance their Morale Class.

With inclusion of ships in our campaign we open up possibilities for Viking raids, sea-borne invasions and even sea warfare among possible scenarios. Ships, however, are most often employed to supply troops cut off from normal supply routes. Ships have limited cargo carrying capacity and are subject to wind and weather conditions.

Random events, such as natural disasters, summons, weather changes, plague, etc. may be introduced via periodic tossing of a pair of dice; one indicating the region, the other the Shire within that region; in which the untimely event takes place.

Another sideline we tested involves a "Tunnel Guide". This individual resides in a neutral castle which must be taken to procure his services: guiding troops via a short cut through the Great Tunnel to the opposite side of the island.

A word about the castle I use for our siege operations. Except for paint and glue required for assembly, it was built at no cost for materials, which consist entirely of foam forms found in the packaging of many boxed items like radios, calculators, small appliances and so on. Appropriate cuts with an X-acto blade and some detailing here and there readily produces the desired effect. Popsicle sticks for flooring, a felt tip pen for stonework detail and lychen are some examples. Hand-held styrofoam beer can coolers make dandy towers when some aforementioned cuts are made. Mounting on a sheet of heavy cardboard and a few flags finishes off a very credible fortification.

Marnon Part I continued...

Marnon: The Early Campaign
Marnon: The First Invasion
Marnon: Battle of Portston Moor

Marnon

Marnon Campaign Part I
Marnon Campaign Part II
Marnon Campaign Part III
Marnon Campaign Part IV
Marnon Campaign Part V

This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web.
Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com