Introduction This article was written with the ambitious objective of providing a guide or template for anyone contemplating the design or conduct of an historical miniatures campaign. Although the subject or theme of the campaign is the Thirty Years War, set in the early seventeenth century, much of the material covered could easily be applied to campaigns of any period. The first, most obvious question to ask is why campaign the Thirty Years War? For war game enthusiasts of renaissance and early modern warfare the answer is fairly obvious. For others more deeply involved with later periods, including Napoleonic, the apparent obscurity and irrelevancy of warfare in the sixteenth century encourages little interest. This is a great pity because the seeds of the great European conflicts of the next hundred and fifty years were sown in the bloody fields of Germany of the early sixteenth century. Just as the English Civil War had profound influence over the future course of English history, so the Thirty Years War and its aftermath similarly affected Western Europe. The fall of Spain, the ascent of France and the reign of the "Sun King" Louis XIV, the concept and implementation of absolutism which in turn lead to revolution and the eventual rise of Napoleon, all had their beginnings in this period. The might of the Holy Roman Emperor was irretrievably ruined and ravaged Germany was so impoverished by the war that it remained weak and disunited until the mid-nineteenth century. Militarily, a number of innovations emerged from this period that strongly influenced the tactics and strategies of later army commanders, including Marlborough. The organisational genius of Dutch leader Maurice of Nassau, the tactical genius of Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus, and later the brilliant strategist Hapsburg general Montecuccoli, laid the foundations for the national regular armies of the eighteenth century. To effectively simulate such an incredibly immense and devastating conflict, I have approached this project from an all-embracing or holistic perspective. Limiting one's experience to just gaming the odd battle, independently of the maze of political, religious and logistical factors that bring two armies together, results in players failing to appreciate what the conflict was all about and missing the "feel" of the period. This type of war gaming is a bit like showering while wearing a raincoat. Geography and the Campaign Map Once a decision is made to design a campaign, the most important ingredient to be considered, apart from the period chosen, is the campaign map. Figure 1. Example of an area based map (Prince of the Brhine © P.R. Clark 1997.) Without a reasonably clear and accurate map it is extremely difficult to properly conduct movement, set physical objectives or adjudicate contacts between armies. Of course, it goes much further than this. A good informative map should also impart the "feel" of the campaign to the players, giving them a strategic and historical anchor when playing the game. Although campaign maps can be displayed in many different ways, the two most practical styles are area and hexagon. Most board-gamers are familiar with the hexagon system used for many wargames, but few are as well acquainted with area maps. Both styles facilitate movement but I find area maps provide a better historical feel and generally can be made to look more attractive than the rather technical appearance of pre-printed hexagon based maps. Areas can be labelled much more easily and clearly than hexagons, although hexagons make movement more efficient and unambiguous, provided each hexagon is clearly numbered (difficult to do by hand!) or the map has a good grid reference system. There is no doubt that hexagons are ideal for modern games, particularly from the late 18th or early 19th century. For the 16th century and the Thirty Years War however, I lean towards an area map. Once the style of map is determined, the designer should become familiar with the physical environment of the campaign in order to fix the scale of operations and the terrain features to be depicted. Map scale is determined by a number of factors, including the extent and scope of operations, the distances to be covered by strategic movement, and the size and make-up of the forces involved. In the case of this campaign we need to cover an area from the borders of western Poland in the east, to eastern France in the west; and southern Sweden in the north, to northern Italy in the south. In other words virtually the whole of central Europe, incorporating modern Germany, is required for this conflict. The political boundaries to be depicted on the map should encompass all of the major actors involved. This includes the numerous German states that made up the Holy Roman Empire (HRE), the Spanish Hapsburg states of northern Italy, the Netherlands and Burgundy, the independent United Provinces, and the kingdoms of Denmark, Sweden and France. Last, but not least, we must include the recalcitrant kingdom of Bohemia and the bastion of the Hapsburgs, Austria. The minor involved nations of England and Poland are best kept off-map and, unless the potential players are masochists, so should rebel Transylvania and the Ottoman Balkans. If the map is extended, Venice and its Adriatic territories map is extended, Venice and its Adriatic territories should be included as counters to Spanish Italy and Hapsburg Hungary. The political landscape within the HRE is also determined by two separate but not mutually exclusive determinates – allegiance to the Hapsburgs and religion. Generally the states to the north and east of central Germany were largely Protestant and of an independent persuasion, while those to the south and west were Catholic and loyal supporters of the Emperor. Nevertheless many states, irrespective of political or religious orientation, were or attempted to remain, neutral. To depict this situation, each state should be given a status of being pro-HRE (Catholic League), anti-HRE (Protestant Union), or neutral. Neutral states can also be leaning to one side or the other, depending on events or progress of the war. The system used to determine the status of German states could also be used to shape the alignment of foreign states. At the outbreak of war the domain of the Holy Roman Emperor within Germany was essentially a political mosaic of small, petty and fractious states. It would be near impossible to include in the game each of the 300 or so separate principalities, bishoprics and Free Cities, let alone each of their rulers, Catholic or Protestant, lay or ecclesiastical, rich or poor, interested solely in exploiting his own sovereign power. However we can include the major players and with the help of a good historical atlas relatively easily use their territories as map areas to govern movement and identify objectives. With the political parameters of the campaign map set the next step is to determine the physical geography. Germany is endowed with a variety of geographical features, many of which will have an effect on such things as logistics and strategy, as well as provide a guide to battle terrain. Rivers, both major and minor, forests, mountains, plains, cultivated and urbanised land and marshes, all play a role in determining what terrain should be a factor in the game. The most important feature that will have Strategically the Rhine dominates Germany, just as it had since the time of Caesar. A natural border and buffer, the Rhine signifies the division between western and central Europe, between the mainly Catholic French/Bugundian states and the Protestant German territories of the HRE. Its long broad valley also provided the natural route of the "Spanish Road", that string of small states which owed allegiance to the Spanish Hapsburg crown and enabled Spanish armies to march uninterrupted from the Alps to the battlefields of the Low Countries for the past 50 years. The other major waterways of Germany are also significant, notably the Moselle, Main, Neckar, and Danube rivers. The strategic importance of river towns should not be underestimated. The ability of armies to cross major rivers without the aid of bridges was very poor indeed, particularly when artillery was present. Generally speaking the closer the river is to its mouth the harder it is to ford. Towns with permanent bridges, for example Mannheim, Mainz and Heidelberg, quickly became prizes in a bloody internecine chess game. Many battles were fought on or near rivers or permanent crossings. Nordlingen, the key to the major Danube crossing fortress town of Donauworth, experienced two large separate battles during the war. Rivers also channelled the movement of armies as they marched and counter-marched across Germany. In 1623 Christian of Brunswick, attempting to lead one of the last effective Protestant armies to the safety of the Netherlands was slowed by crossing the rivers Weser and Ems. Brought to battle by the pursuing imperialist Tilly he barely escaped with little more than a regiment. In 1638 Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar brilliantly used the swift-flowing Rhine to secure the crossing at Reinfelden that eventuated in the fall of the key fortress of Breisach and the securing of the upper Rhineland for the anti-imperialist French/Swedish alliance.crossing the rivers Weser and Ems. Brought to battle by the pursuing imperialist Tilly he barely escaped with little more than a regiment. In 1638 Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar brilliantly used the swift-flowing Rhine to secure the crossing at Reinfelden that eventuated in the fall of the key fortress of Breisach and the securing of the upper Rhineland for the anti-imperialist French/Swedish alliance. a strong affect on the outcome is the river system. Forests too played an important role in the war. As the French and Swedish led armies closed in on the heartlands of the HRE in the last years of the war, the mainly Bavarian led Imperialist armies used the Black Forest as a defensive buffer. Forest also played a significant role in the battle Rocroi (1643). The young Duc d'Enghien slipped his forces into the open ground between unguarded forest and marsh, forcing the Spanish army under De Mello into battle. The resulting French victory dealt a deathblow to the Spanish military, which, up to this point of the war, had not suffered any serious reverse. De Mello's army contained the cream of the Spanish army – the troops of the much-vaunted Cardinal-Infante and the inheritors of the tradition of Spinola – an army that had dominated Western Europe since the previous century. Deprived of strong Spanish support the Emperor had little chance of achieving a military victory and the war finally petered out five years later. Germany in the 17th century was in many ways an urban society. Hundreds of small to medium towns dotted the landscape and a number of sizeable cities occupied strategic locations. These major centres included Hamburg, Cologne, Nuremberg, Prague and Magdeburg, which had populations of between 30,000 to 70,000 inhabitants. The overall population of Germany in 1618, including Hapsburg Austria and Bohemia, was around 18 million. By contrast France boasted 15 million, England a mere 5 million and Sweden barely 1.5 million. Most towns still had functioning city walls, albeit mainly of late medieval design. Germany had enjoyed peace for over 100 years, and unlike Italy, the Low Countries or the Danubian marches, few modern style fortifications had been constructed. For this reason there were few prolonged sieges during the 30 Years War. The catastrophic siege and sack of Magdeburg by Tilly's Catholic army in 1631 was largely assisted by the lack of sophisticated defences. By contrast the veteran Spanish general Spinola was constantly frustrated by the extensive and effective Dutch fortifications in the Netherlands. At the start of hostilities, when he operated in the Rhineland, no such restrictions inhibited his movements and many Protestant towns were at his mercy. Coming Up Next in Part Deux In a future issue Part 2, "The Lion of the North", will cover setting up the game, blending in the three determinates of seventeenth century warfare – politics, religion and money, followed by an outline of early modern logistics. I will also include a list of the major leaders of the conflict, together with a rating of their main attributes. Part 3 will include a full list of the major battles and sieges, including the commanders, army strengths and short description of the outcomes. More Thirty Years War: Holistic Approach Part 1: "For as Long as Spinola Wills It" Part 2: "The Lion of the North" Part 2: Leaders Part 2: Armies Back to Table of Contents -- Kriegspieler #5 To Kriegspieler List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1999 by Kriegspieler 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