The Volci campaign has been going for a full year real time and it looks like it is going to keep going. There are nine active players and I may be adding a tenth. A lot of fun things are happening. Two player kingdoms are in conflict with each other. And after gaming one full year and five months, two player empires are large enough to come into conflict with each other. Actually, one of the rivals came to the aid of a non player country under invasion by another player. The devious King Cuthbert of Elmet decided to abandon his ally, Aldred, Earl of Exeter, in his war against King Gwydion of Trent. We will see what other tricks King Cuthbert has up his sleeve.

King Michael of Belgorad has just fought his second battle against the Khagan Sevar of the Kipchak. He set out to help the deposed Khagan of the Ghuzz liberate his people from the Kipchak tyrant. The armies of Shazam under Emir Omar so far have been unstoppable. The Viking Chief Fred the Red is leading his armies up north. In the Viking north, the Upssalan War is raging. The Upssalan army, much reduced in size, is holding out in Vendel while the Giggurdians, Frossans, and Borgs Vikings fight over the rest of what was a great empire.

In the Far East, King K'Bong, Lord of the Tu Chu, just subdued another state. The Han Emperor, Wang-Wu-Shu-Ti, was very suspicious of the activities of his powerful new barbarian "vassal." He was about to clamp down on Gong K'Bong and turn him into a proper vassal. The Tu Chu are too powerful for comfort.

The southern parts of the world are insulated from the rest of the campaign world, separated by forests, desert, mountains, and jungles inhabited by nothing but savage barbarians. In the far south, King Alexandros of Macedon has been adding one conquest after another. His neighbors are alarmed. He sent ambassadors to several of them telling them to "join his alliance". They have other ideas.

They have formed a league and sent an ambassador back warning the Macedonians. The Spartans hearing about the growing power of Macedon, sent ambassadors to their neighbors warning them of the danger, and suggesting that they form an anti-Macedonian alliance. Everyone has agreed about the necessity of forming an alliance. The Plateans, up to now traditional enemies of the Spartans, like the idea. Of all the countries, they feel they are the most qualified to take on the leadership responsibilities. The other city-states feel the alliance should be purely defensive, and the proper way to select a leader is by election. It looks like the only thing the Spartans accomplished was to start a lively debate. Everybody involved has their own ideas on the best way to proceed and nothing is being accomplished.

Both Roma and Tarquinii have formed an alliance against the Clupean League, composed of the city-states of Veii, Clupea, and Locri. Both Rome and Tarquinii have been defeated. King Sennecherib of Ashur is solving the problems he created for himself. He made peace with one enemy who was doing a very effective job of resisting him just in time to save an ally in trouble. The Carthaginian war machine has just revved up its engines and won its first battle. The Carthaginians are extremely confident and have sent an ultimatum to their weaker neighbors to submit or else.

It looks like the "or else" is going to happen. From the example of the Clupean League, a lot of little states can make a lot of trouble for their larger neighbors. That is how things look at the moment. The players are sending their moves in for Year Two, Month Six and we will see where things go from there.

Letters from other solo wargamers come in from time to time. Besides wanting to join in the campaign, a writer wanted advice on how to run one of his own. I may soon have to write a book on the subject. I, from experience, am a firm believer in the virtues of simplicity. Having a campaign where the umpire keeps track of everything including every baby born and what ever happens sounds interesting but....

The main purpose of a wargame campaign is to fight battles and wage war. Everything else should be of secondary importance. Some gamers enjoy managing their economies, but to me that feels like extra work. What is most important is to have a campaign mechanism to bring armies into contact for battles. Nothing is worse than having armies waltz around each other. What I do as an umpire is if an enemy force moves in range of a player's force, he can home in on it. Since the generals in the Volci campaign can think for themselves, they can abandon plans if crisis demands their attention. This is a useful mechanism. Especially when players don't respond on time or if one drops out.

Its nice to have other players, but you have to be able to keep things going with or without them. There are not that many rules in my Volci Campaign, but a player will get out of the campaign as much as he puts in. As each campaign month proceeds, the world of Volci becomes more complex and interesting.

Previous Installment: The Volci Campaign (LW 117)
Next Installment: The Volci Campaign (LW 119)