Following on from the recent reprint of my article 'Solo Campaign Rules' [Lone Warrior 118] I thought I had better bring it up-to-date by sharing some fresh ideas. These rules really follow on from the previous article and are used for simulating wars between countries. One country is controlled completely by the wargamer with the actions of the other states being initiated by situations and chance (and common sense to fill in the gaps not covered by the rules).
I aim to keep campaign administration to a minimum so income for a country is equal to the total of the industrial points available to each town. These points are 'collected' every three months. Deciding how the other countries care to spend or save these points is evaluated using the formula and table shown.
Programmed expenditure:
Add all diplomacy points (each country has a diplomacy point between 1 and 6 for each other country):
-
1: at war with that state.
2: unfriendly relationship
3,4: neutral.
5: friendly relationship
6: allied to that state.
Sum all these points and add the score of one 6 sided die (D6). The total score is used with the table to determine the country's military expenditure. (The figures on the table are suitable for a continent of 6 countries but the numbers will need increasing if there are more countries and decreasing if less countries are involved.)
-
Reduce army/navy size. 28+
Reduce size of reserve. 26-27
Change regulars to reserves. 24-25
No change 23-24
Move some reserves to regular army 21-22
Build/buy in new equipment, move older, equipment to reserves. 20-21
Build/buy in new equipment 18-19
Prepare defences. 16-17
Prepare defences & increase regular army/navy size. 14-15
Mobilise reserve & Increase regular army/navy size, 12-13
Mobilise reserve & prepare defences & increase regular army/navy size. 6-11
If diplomacy points fall to one then the respective countries are at war. Player controlled countries are issued with their strategic orders for the next three months first. Then calculate whether the programmed country is on the offensive or the defensive:
Aggression factor = Total number of army divisions (programmed country) - available enemy army divisions +/- difference in naval squadrons (where relevant) + D6.
If the aggression factor is more than zero, then the programmed country takes an offensive stance otherwise defensive.
Throw one D6 and add/subtract these modifiers:
-
+1 if aggression factor is 5 to 10
+2 if aggression factor is more than 10
-1 if aggression factor is -5 to -10
-2 if aggression factor is less than - 10
| D6 | Offensive | Defensive |
|---|---|---|
| <1 | Engage in raids | Secure own capital city. |
| 2 | Gain a foothold on enemy land. | Secure own capital & approaches. |
| 3 | Steady advance securing gains | Defend towns nearest enemy. |
| 4 | Advance rapidly from town to town. | Block any enemy advance. |
| 5 | Go straight for enemy capital. | Short hit & run raids in enemy land. |
| 6+ | Aim to destroy all enemy forces. | Form a defensive buffer on enemy land. |
Strategies are reassessed every three months.
I have been using these rules for a late 19th century campaign and have found them to be a good framework on which to base enemy action. The wording for the actions has been kept succinct to allow a wide interpretation which, along with some common sense, has produced an interesting game.
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