One of the more interesting aspects of wargaming is the use of campaigning. Campaigning is not that difficult to do if two things are available; a number of willing players with time and a willing umpire.
At right, French Column vs. Russian Lines. French figures are Mini-Figs, the Russians are Hinchliffe.
The use of an umpire is critical to a successful campaign. The umpire is the conduit of information, misinformation and confusion to the players. He can also perform the necessary staff functions for the players, freeing them for command responsibilities. There are a number of ways that a campaign can be played without an umpire but I have always found that an umpire offers the most flexibility, the fastest play and the most realism.
Why a-historical versus historical wargaming campaigns? First, under stand that a-historical wargaming uses historic forces, organizations, command structures and locations, but while historically probable, the situation never occurred. The advantage for the gamer is that he is generally placed in the situation of the actual commanders of the day, without perfect knowledge of anything.
When an actual historic campaign is used the players are often influenced by the decisions that their historical counterparts made. They also tend to have a good idea about the other players' intentions and objectives. This hindsight can distort the campaign from the start. In a fictitious campaign, these problems are minimized. This is not to say that the campaign should not be historically plausible. Or that it cannot be based on actual occurrences, it should, and you can. But you should ensure enough originality to make the campaign unique and fresh.
Setting Up
Setting up the campaign can be either a group project or the duty of the umpire. One of the critical decisions is determiningwhere and when the campaign will take place both in the simulated period and the location for the games. The Napoleonic period offers a wide range of actual and potential campaign locations. Italy, Egypt, Spain, South Germany, North Germany, North America, Poland, Russia, Bohemia, Austria, Southern Russia, and the Lowlands were all locations of actual campaigns.
In addition, there was a potential for campaigns in Scandinavia, North Africa, South and Central America, India, Sicily, Sardinia, and almost anywhere else. Remember that the Napoleonic wars were world wars in every sense of the phrase. Once a location is selected, players must make a set of maps forthe campaign. The nature of this set is often overlooked and frequently players use published maps that are usually much more accurate than the maps that the actual commanders had at the time.
Only the umpire should have accurate maps. The players should have maps that are of dubious accuracy and a variety or scales and map keys can be used to add even more confusion. Maps of the key cities can also be provided and their quality can vary as well.
One technique that allows the umpire to produce a variety of maps quickly is to make a basic map with very few details. Photocopy a couple of dozen copies of this map and then add details to each map as you see fit. These details include rivers, villages, bridges, lakes, forests, and hills. You can even reduce the scale by reducing the physical size of these maps. Use colors and numerous different symbols on the maps as well. Remember that very few items were standardized on the maps of this period. Once the maps are made, assign dates to each based on accuracy or some other criteria. Once this is completed you can start setting up the situation.
Players Get
Each player must be provided with a printed strategic situation that explains the enemy situation, his own situation, the political objectives of his side and anything else the umpire wants to use to thoroughly con fuse the players. The objectives should be used to develop the players' strategy for the campaign. The umpire should set up the objectives to ensure that some tactical combat occurs. This can be done by assigning conflicting objectives, such as A hold X, B take X. These produce a battle but not much of a campaign.
I recommend that a more subtle approach be used. Assign multiple objectives for each nationality involved, ensuring that the political objectives are realistic. You can assign a mission for one side to draw off the resources of the other side. You can assign one side the mission to destroy the other side, or move them out of an area. Be sure, however, that neither side is informed of the other's objectives in any but the most rudimentary way.
I've included some sample situation reports below:
The French are vulnerable in the Italian Peninsula. They have weakly occupied the north Italian plain. The armistice between the French and Austrians has stabilized the situation in South Germany, but the British have made an attractive offer to the Austrians. The offer of British intervention in Italy and the transport of 25,000 British and Prussian troops to Italy will tip the balance in Austria's favor. The Allies must act quickly before the French can shift resources to meet the new threat. A quick victory in Italy may forestall the expected French attack in Germany.
Northern Italy General Map Four Maps, [General, Player, Tactical River, Tactical Mountain] Large (very slow: 288K)
French: The Austrians are preparing for a general offensive in northern Italy. If the British manage to land troops and make contact with the Austrians then their combined forces will be able to destroy the smaller French force. The French forces are scattered in garrisons and must be assembled as soon as possible. The French cavalry have contact with the Austrian main force and the Italians report the British fleet in the Adriatic Sea. The Italian population generally supports the French occupation. The Bavarians may be withdrawn if Bavaria is attacked by the Allies. French located at: List of all locations.
Austrians: The French have occupied Italy (Used to be Austrian territory). The British have indicated thatthey will land in the next ten days. Contact must be made with the British as soon as possible. The French will defend the city of Mantua and may be brought to battle at that location once forces have been combined. Austrians located at: list all locations that units are occupying.
British: The Crown's representatives have ordered the Royal Navy to land the Royal Army with the Prussian forces. Move at once to establish contact with the Austrians and destroy the French. Insure a clear line of communications to the coast. You wil be under Austrian command but do not lose your force since it represents the only British military force in the Mediterranean.
Bavarians: Maintain your force intact and cooperate with the French commander. Your force may be recalled to Bavaria in the event of an Aus trian attack on the Fatherland.
Prussians: Attack and destroy the French in Italy to avenge the loss of Jena. Avoid time consuming maneuvering and force the allies to attack. The British will avoid battle if you do not force them to seek it.
British can land at Venice (tum 2), Genoa (turn 4) or Ancona (tum 1). Each turn the decision is delayed add one turn to the turn date indicated.
The campaign should be tailored to the troops on hand. This means that you must ensure that you have all the troops needed to place on the table if a battle occurs. Garrisons and forces in distant theaters may not need to be assembled in the same force. These units can be represented by the same figures, because they will not appear on the table at the same time. This allows largerforces to be used in the campaign than can be rep resented by figures. The umpire can also increase the force structure by artificially placing realistic restrictions on the use of forces, i.e. a garrison of 5,000 must be maintained in city X, or requiring a reserve be main tained by order of the king, etc.
The umpire should allow the players to introduce reinforcements of newly painted figures or even allow new players to bring in their forces. I've heard players complain that these things foul up their plans and that these things were not included in their initial briefing. But, nothing could be more realistic than unexpected events fouling up battle plans. This also promotes figure painting and encourages new gainers. Besides, very few commanders have total control over the world in which they operate.
One of the major problems that I have seen in numerous campaigns is information overload. Players are expected to perform all the duties of the commander, his executive officer, his adjutant, his quartermaster, his secretary and his horse. This slows down the pace of the campaign and is usually a distraction for the players. The umpire can perform these tasks and free the players for making the critical command decisions. The umpire should prepare a unit/command roster for each force and pro vide each playerwith a copy of his force's roster. The player roster should be accurate, the overall commander on each side should be provided with a force estimate roster; note the word estimate. The umpire can provide the players with updates on their forces as they suffer from attrition or combat. The rosters can actually be made in advance which cuts the play time down considerably.
To briefly recap, the material issued to a player at the start of play should include a situation report, force roster, objective, other status reports and maps. The umpire should allow the players five or ten minutes to digest this information before the play starts. The campaign is actually a series of movements and battles that result from the exchange of information between commanders and the umpire. This message traffic becomes the principal exercise of the umpire. He must accept messages from the players and determine if they are delivered and when. I recommend that a simple vehicle be established to handle this process. I use a sheet of cardboard marked with ten boxes.
Each represents a block of time, 12 hours, one day, 48 hours -- whatever suits the scale of the campaign. Each turn when messages are delivered to the umpire he immediately determines who will receive them and when. Remember that messages can be intercepted. The umpire then places the message in the appropriate box the number of time units away. He then sorts the messages in this turn's box and calls the players up one at a time. He briefs them on their maps, providing them with any changes in the enemy situation that they see or to which they may be privy and the results of their orders from the last turn.
For example he may say, "Your forces have moved here, your cavalry reports that the enemy has introduced infantry here, and your screen has reached this bridge and has found it intact with no enemy nearby." The umpire gives him any dispatches he may have received including any intercepted.
The player then returns to his "Command Post", a desk or table, and digests this information. After all players have been briefed and received their dispatches, they return again one at a time to the umpire. At this time they describe their orders and planned movements of their units to the umpire and give him any dispatches written that turn. These movements are intended movements; enemy action, road conditions, map inaccuracies or whatever the umpire decides to add to the problem can change them. Once all the players' intentions are turned in, the umpire compares orders, and updates his master map with the new locations of the players' units. He then repeats the process for the next time period.
Four Maps, [General, Player, Tactical River, Tactical Mountain] Large (very slow: 288K)
Communications between players can take place through dispatches and verbally only when the players (or figures representing them) are co-located. Dispatches sent down a line of communications should move faster and have a better chance of delivery than those going cross country or over uncontrolled roads. Likewise, the umpire should not add infor mation not included in the dispatch such as the date ortime of issuance.
I like to limit reports and order to twenty-five words or less. The umpire should ensure that dispatches follow the chain of command. Dispatches should routinely follow the chain of command, corps to division to brigade. The commander can jump the chain but subordinates must always follow the chain. The umpire should never forward messages to a higher headquarters without the receiving commander's initiative to forward it. Likewise dispatches should be directed through the line of communications. Other routing should only be done at the request of the players.
Attrition and logistics can be handled in a number of ways. Most players prefer to ignore these issues but that can detract from the "reality" of the things that they must consider when they make their choices. There are two easy ways to account for logistics. One is to reduce the force when it is out of supply by a faster rate than when it is in supply. This attrition is hard to do by unit. How do you reduce a unit by 1% when it has only 12 figures? You can let attrition accumulate until it has reached 10% and then reduce all units by that amount. Forced marches and isolation should increase the rate of attrition. Units reduced by attrition should not suffer any losses in morale at the start of a battle.
Logistics can be handled by keeping records of supplies carried in the trains. This is often best handled abstractly by assuming that supplies flow unless interrupted. The umpire can send in an occasional glitch to foul up the works and distract the commander. But it should not occur every turn. You can make up some events cards if the umpire has trouble with spontaneous creativity. The players can make these up for the campaign and enjoy the effect when another player gets them, or wish they had better sense than to make up such a foolish card when they get it.
Cavalry play is one of the more interesting aspects of Napoleonic cam paigning. Experienced campaigners will use their cavalry assets carefully to screen their forces and to probe for the other side's main forces. I recommend that the following formula be used for cavalry screens and probes. Probes of a screen will succeed in penetrating 25% of the time when they are of equal strength. If they outnumber the screen by two to one give them a 75% chance to penetrate. If the probe is a combined force of infantry, cavalry and artillery allow it to penetrate 90% of the time. Penetrations should be 15-25 kilometers or until they make contact with another enemy force.
The umpire should provide the players with the results of the probe and a rough idea of the dispositions discovered. 'Your cavalry reports that enemy infantry and artillery in division size located near town 'X'. 'Your force at town 'X' has made contact with enemy cavalry.' The umpire should use his imagination in framing the results of the cavalry actions. The cavalry officers of the age were known more for their dash than for their intellect. Light and medium cavalry can be used in this manner; heavy cavalry should be saved for the battlefield. Rememberthat this information would be sent by dispatch and as such it should not be provided instantaneously.
Four Maps, [General, Player, Tactical River, Tactical Mountain] Large (very slow: 288K)
The movement rates should be set prior to the campaign game and will be modified by weather and terrain conditions. Players should only be given the most optimistic movement rates (see the table below for suggested rates of march). Those who don't believe in "Murphy's Law" will find their plans falling apart. Bottlenecks such as bridges, towns and passes should also have an impact on the rate of march. And any commander foolish enough to order two units down the same country road should find one waiting and one disorganized but marching. Remember that a French corps often took up twenty or more miles of road. Some allied units took up even more.
Also, units, ordered to move should be delayed by the process of passing orders, breaking camp and just getting sorted out. A corps should take four to six hours to start moving. Cavalry screens and some units can start faster. If a corps is already under march orders you can start it a dawn each morning. Lastly, each commander should provide the umpire with an order of march for his units. These should be binding in all cases.
Remember that most roads were little more than three men wide and units using the roads would also maintain an interval between sub-units. The accordion effect familiar to anyone who had made a forced march also served to stretch out units on a road.
The order of march should list all units and their sequence on the road. Smarter commanders will also include a deployment order for their units if contact is made. This includes a layout of deployment by unit from the road march. Commanders with deployment orders should be allowed to deploy at a faster rate than commanders without such plans. The umpire can determine the advantages and can modify the deployent if the terrain does not allow the plan to be executed. This brings us to the umpire's primary function, tactical set up.
The tactical set up is easier than it seems. The umpire must be informed of the order of march of the various forces and any deployment instruc tions issued with the order of march. He then determines the order of arrival on the field. Units with deployment instructions are deployed before units without deployment instructions. The next problem is how the terrain looks to the players. This can be handled in three ways.
First the umpire can use a collection of maps of tactical locations. These maps should be made to match the types of terrain in which the cam paign takes place. These maps should be made up prior to the battle/ campaign and include multiple maps of all types of terrain, for example river crossings, mountain passes, general countryside and any unique features. When contact is made the umpires selects a map for the battle by whatever means he determines and designates the cardinal directions (north). He then determines the unit placement and sets up the game table and notifies the players that they have a battle.
The second option involves a great deal less work and that is to use a regional road atlas for the country or area. Most of the topographical, natural features such as rivers, hills and even some vegetation have not changed that much. Villages, towns, and roads need to be adjusted and that is the job of the umpire. These atlases are available from book stores as special order items -- ask forthe most detailed road atlas you can find (smallest scale). Most European nations produce excellent small scale road atlases that include a great deal of information. These atlases are also good for making up command maps for the campaign -- just check the roads and bridges on a period map as well as the cities. Most old city and town centers were the core of the city during the Napoleonic wars.
A third option is to let the players dice for the terrain and determine the cardinal directions. This takes it out of the umpire's control and often makes for a poorer situation. The advantage is that it sometimes takes less time.
Four Maps, [General, Player, Tactical River, Tactical Mountain] Large (very slow: 288K)
Once the battle is set the players can basically run it themselves. The umpire's main function is to feed in reinforcements and monitor off board and hidden movement. If the battle takes more than one time unit then the umpire must conduct strategic turns during the battle. The sound of battle traveled remarkable distances. Grouchy heard Nap oleon's effort at Waterloo thirty miles away. Other commanders will be aware that a battle is taking place and in the imperfect world of wargaming they will also know the location.
Use the other strategic commanders as subcommanders on the battlefield; this allows everyone to participate in the battle and increases interest in the campaign. You can also use commanders from one side to command the subunits on the other. This allows for stupidity and friction. Most wargamers will try to win as a matter of personal honor so you don't have to worry about someone throwing the battle deliberately.
One of the things that campaigns do that regular wargames battles don't is to encourage players to break off an action before their force is wiped out. The umpire has the job of monitoring any break-off action. The umpire may elect to abstractly account for any losses from pursuit. In addition he must allow for a recoup of losses by the victor and the vanquished. I recommend that the victor recoup all guns but only 50% of the losses he received in the battle if he remains on site for a 48 hour period. Substract 5% for every twelve hours earlier that he leaves the battlefield.
I allow units uncommitted to the battle to leave without penalty. This encourages players to keep a reserve. The vanquished should recover 25% of the losses he suffered and he should lose all guns lost in the battle. Units suffering more than 75% losses should be disbanded and used as replcements or line of communications troops. Needless to say, units that were captured are lost for the campaign. Cavalry losses are handled differently: units suffering 50% losses or more should get 50% of all losses back as dismounted troopers. This reflects the loss of horses in combat.
Minor actions can be resolved by the umpire unless there is a particular reason that it should be played out. In these cases a different scale rule set may be used, perhaps even skirmish rules.
The umpire can make or break the campaign and must be familiar with the period. The players must be allowed as much flexibility as possible within the context of the period. Some mechanics may be required to limit the player's actions or force them into historical behavior. These should be systematic in nature rather than a pile of rules that seem artificial in nature. Chain of command and force structures are items that can direct behavior.
Campaigning can be rewarding and interesting but involves a great deal of preparation and thought. That preparation and thought is often the most enjoyable part of gaming the campaign.
This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web.General Situation
(provided to all the players)
Four Maps, [General, Player, Tactical River, Tactical Mountain] Jumbo (extremely slow: 636K)
Four Maps, [General, Player, Tactical River, Tactical Mountain] Jumbo (extremely slow: 636K)
Four Maps, [General, Player, Tactical River, Tactical Mountain] Jumbo (extremely slow: 636K)
RATE OF MARCH TABLES Unit Road column length 1 day's march Forced march Inf Regiment 1.5 miles (2.3 km) 20 km 20-25 km Cav Regiment 1 mile (1.2 km) 35 km 40-45 km Division 3.5 miles (5 km) 15 km 30 km Corps 20 miles 15 km 25 km Couriers n/a 45-60 km n/a TACTICAL SET UP
Four Maps, [General, Player, Tactical River, Tactical Mountain] Jumbo (extremely slow: 636K)
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