Carry on Campaigning
Renaissance Odyssey
by Ken Baggaley
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One of the ways our Renaissance wargame campaigns fail to match historical campaigns is in the frequency of battles. Historically, years (decades even) could pass between major battles in a war. In wargame campaigns, the delay between battles usually equals no more than the number of turns it takes to march full speed across the hex map! Two quick major battles in four weeks, a rapid pursuit and mop up, and viola! Ten year's worth of conflict is over in three months, and we pride ourselves on generalship superior to our historical counterparts. Why? Chiefly, wargame rules don't accurately reflect the difficulty in mobilizing, supplying, and moving large bodies of men. But conversely, wargamers don't want to get 'bogged down' in supply and delay minutia. Also, the delays just before battles - when armies probed each other, looked for each other, got cautious, took wrong turns, struggled to bring up stragglers, etc. - aren't properly accounted for. So here is a system to allow for what I call 'casual conflict'. It is a high level abstraction of military inertia. Modeled on the Eighty Year's War between Spain and the Dutch, it may require tweaking for other periods. It creates a mechanism for two armies to be 'in proximity' for prolonged periods, without the automatic 'big battle' occurring. Without detailing every supply breakdown, broken bridge, minor fort, bad map or failed consolidation effort, it allows for a pace and type of conflict usually seen in the period historically. 1. The main map is divided up into 'areas'. These are general (large) geographic blocks of territory. 2. Moving from area to area is subject to possible delay. Factor in generalship, organization, season, terrain and a random modifier, and see if movement is possible (and to what extent). 3. 'Casual Conflict' rules kick in when two armies have occupied the same area. These armies will now have opportunities to accumulate control points (cp) for the area. First to accumulate 20 cps forces his opponent to withdraw from the area. Control points are abstract representations of the effects of taking key positions, supply interdiction, morale impact of accumulated lesser conflicts, etc. Hence, get enough of them, and your opponent must withdraw. NOTE: If your opponent is driven out of an area, sieges are lifted, but we do allow him to leave garrisons behind. 4. If two armies enter the same area, roll 1 6 sided die each month, apply modifiers, and refer to the chart below:
MODIFIERS:
good general (+1 or -1, choice) place under siege +1 major city under siege +2 Results: BATTLE: Congratulations! You're about to have a Ceresole, Pavia, etc. It is an epic moment in history - enjoy - and remember to publish the narrative in a magazine somewhere! Winning a Battle is worth 20, 25 or 30 cps, with 25 being usual. It will raise a siege if your opponent was doing one. Also, it usually decides who will be forced out of the area!
NOTHING SIGNIFICANT: No real combat here. But there is a chance for random events. On a natural roll of 1, roll again to see who's effected. Then roll 2d6 and refer to the chart below: 1. Assassin finds his mark for you! Roll 2d6 for result: 2-7 mercenary captain, 8-9 gunner specialist, 10 chief engineer, 11 sub general, 12 opposing C-in-C! If not the machiavelian type treat as 2. below. 2. Spy has great success for you; gather info on your opponent's forces defectors brings you information of uncertain quality. Do you shoot, scoot or recruit them? 3-4 Nothing. Mercenary captain grumbles against you - are the seeds of mutiny being sown? 5. Local peasantry/townsfolk engage your troops -will it escalate? 6. Major food/water/disease problem; will you have to move on? You may, if you wish, assign cps to these random events, or just use them to add color. ACTIONS: This is the historical term given to combats fought that were less than a full battle. Actions are the heart of 'Casual Conflict'. Actions are fought with partial numbers of troops, from a handful of men skirmishing up to 1/3 of your army. Actions involve wonderfully varied scenarios and unbalanced forces. They represent the short fight for a key bridge, the convoy guard, the foray into the siege lines, bumbling patrols colliding, an attempt to surprise foragers, etc. And best of all, after most Actions, the main armies are left standing. Actions also make you appreciate the TRUE value of light troops like mounted arquebusiers. You'll go from despising them in line of battle to needing more of them for the campaign! When the result calls for 'Actions' roll to see how many Actions occur this month: 1-3 =1 Action, 4-5 = 2 Actions, 6 = 3 Actions. Then roll for each Action. On a 5-6, it is a Major Action. Otherwise, it is a Minor Action. For a Major Action, roll again: on a 6, the Major Action turns into a piecemeal Battle, with the rest of each army's troops feeding into it! (funny how these things escalate!). Thus you could stumble into a Battle even when both commanders didn't want one! Minor actions are skirmishes. We mostly treat them as automatic, and simply roll to see who wins. Occasionally, we'll fight one out with skirmish rules. A few of our favourites: foragers meeting at a farm, engineers with escorts trying to blow up a bridge/building/tunnel whatever, recon/spies infiltrating a camp to burn wagons, or 1-to-1 scale cavalry scouts going at it. Winning a Minor Action is worth 1 or 2 cps., 1 being usual. Major actions are usually randomly taken right from the scenarios in Charles Grant's excellent booklet 'Scenarios for all Ages'. If you don't own it, buy it. Otherwise, here are general suggestions:
2 Rear guard for x turns, then withdraw 3. Ambush hasty pursuers 4. Attacking the supply convoy/siege train 5. Storm of a defended position/camp/outpost 6. Two reconnaissances in force colliding You can use Major actions to try out that new, quick-play rules set you picked up somewhere. Or try scenario specific modifications to a beloved set. Or if a siege is involved, it could be a large sortie, a forlorn hope against an outlying defensive structure, etc. Or if really lazy, you can just roll to decide Major actions, as well. Major actions are worth 4,5 or 6 cps, with 5 being usual. Thus, you can see the accumulated effect of Actions wearing down an opponent. It still gives you plenty of opportunities for combat - in fact, it gives you more varied combat possibilities, and ties them into your campaign. Armies aren't 'doing nothing' when facing each other. Yet no heavy book-keeping is involved. Abstract? Yes, in the extreme. But try it. And for those die-hards out there who DO want a battle every month, take heart. Two willing generals, with a major city under siege, have a 50% chance each month of meeting in glorious and bloody battle, and a certainty of having Actions. In fact, you will find that most battles will occur because of sieges. And isn't that an accurate representation of the events of the period? Back to The Gauntlet No. 14 Table of Contents Back to The Gauntlet List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 1998 by Craig Martelle Publications 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 |