The Volci Campaign has been a PBM game since February 1996. Yet in this multi-player PBM game I have been running my private solo campaign. An early player quit because the game was not going his way. I continued playing his character. Now the story begins.
The War
The reign of King Kenneth Bloodaxe was short and bloody. His father, King Alrek, had already added Horn to the burgeoning empire and was making war against Romberg when he was slain.
The first royal act of King Kenneth Bloodaxe was to invade the Jarldom of Romberg and avenge the death of his father. Jarl Gundor of Romberg was defeated in battle and slain. Romberg was quickly subdued. Bad omens kept King Kenneth Bloodaxe from moving against Frossa. The next month, with the gods fully placated, the time was finally considered right to move against Frossa. When the Uppsalan fleet finally showed up off the coast of Frossa, Jarl Carl opened his gates and welcomed King Kenneth Bloodaxe in. With fawning flattery the wily Jarl told the young king how much he admired him, and how much he wanted to fight for his new lord and share in his glory. Seeing how impressed the Jarl was with his greatness, he saw no reason why he could not impress the rest of the Viking world with his charisma and get it to conquer the rest of the world for him.
The King sent ambassadors to the surrounding Viking lands; the Jarldom of Thule, Kingdom of Olseg, Kingdom of Borg, Jarldom of Knarr, Varna, the realm of Volvo the famed oracle, and the Kingdom of Siggurt. Nobody was interested. He proposed that they join him for his war against the Arthurian Kingdom of Strathclyde. Nobody came. Exasperated, he told them he was sailing for Thule and he expected their fleets to be joining him for his war against Strathclyde. The people of Thule were not interested and closed their gates to him. Enraged, King Kenneth Bloodaxe laid siege. T
he men of Thule continued to hold out. Then Jarl Carl of Frossa and Jarl Drott of Thule made a secret agreement. In a night attack the army of Uppsala was destroyed and King Kenneth Bloodaxe was slain. His scull was turned into a drinking cup gracing the diner table of Jarl Drott. Jarl Carl sailed home with the Frossa contingent to liberate his people.
Meanwhile, while all this was going on Fred the Red, King of the Olseg Vikings, was worried about events in the Northeast. He was afraid that if he engaged in any foreign adventures he would be attacked by King Kenneth Bloodaxe or King Ivar of Borg. So he set off to obtain non-aggression treaties between Olseg and the other two kingdoms.
By Odin the oath was sworn between Olseg, Uppsala and Borg, thus securing the eastern border. However, there was no treaty between Uppsala and Borg. With the new king of Uppsala being a mere boy, King Ivar saw his chance. The Uppsala War began.
Year 1, Months 1 - 9.
Hearing of the demise of King Kenneth Bloodaxe, the enemies of Uppsala saw their chance. With no army to oppose him, King Ivar of Borg took Horn. His easy victory was due to treachery from within. King Aran of Siggurt was not so lucky. While besieging the town of Uppsala, plague struck down the king and his army. The few who survived sailed for home. Jarl Carl of Frossa thought Romborg would be easy for pickings for his small army. The Gods did not favor him either. Plague destroyed a good part of his army, but the Jarl lived. The survivors returned home.
King Ivar's younger brother Eric also sought glory. With his personal army he invaded Knarr, defeating Jarl Illug in battle. Eric hid his skirmishers in woods and set to arranging his battle with their backs to the beaches where their ships had been pulled ashore. Here they waited for Jarl Illug of Knarr to arrive. When he did, Prince Eric led forward his Huscarles with the rest of the Borg battleline advancing with him. They destroyed a regiment of Berserkers and crashed into the Bondi following. As both battle lines joined the ambush was sprung and the battle won. Knarr was then put under siege.
Year 1, Months 10 - 12.
Spurred on by success, King Ivar moved against Lund, putting the fortress under siege. The defenders put up a vigorous defence. Meanwhile the Regent, Jarl Halfgrim of Uppsala, was rebuilding his army. Prince Eric continued the siege of Knarr. In both Siggurt and Frossa new armies were being raised, whilst also in Siggurt a new King, Syyr was crowned.
Year 2, Month 1.
The army of King Ivar met the rebuilt army of Uppsala. Vastly outnumbered, the army of Borg placed it's shieldwall along a ridge blocking the road to Lund. The Uppsalans charged forward letting a shower of arrows rain down on the shieldwall of Borg. The Borg charged downhill as the Uppsalans sent light troops around the enemy flank. King Ivar was wounded, but his dauntless Huscarles fought on, valiantly destroying their Uppsalan counterparts. Jarl Halfgrim died valiantly, his spirit being borne to Valhalla by the fair Valkyries. With Jarl Halfgrim and his Huscarles destroyed, King Ivar's Huscarles charged into the great masses of Uppsalan scrapplings sending them homeward. Heavy casualties were sustained in both armies. Had not the Uppsalans lost heart, then the Host of Ivar would have been no more. Hearing of the great defeat the people of Lund surrendered. While victorious in Lund, the siege of Knarr took a turn for the worse. The people of Knarr launched an attack from behind their defenses. Prince Eric died in the fighting. The survivors returned home.
Again the Siggurdian army landed in Uppsala, laying siege to the capital itself. Jarl Carl of Frossa again attempted to take Romborg laying siege to the fortress. The defeated Uppsalan army retreated to Vendel. Taking command of the army, Jarl Ingjald decided it was best for the army to rest and rebuild its strength.
Year 2, Month 2.
King Ivar and his victorious army rested in Lund. His cousin Jarl Guthrum Long Nose took command of the Second Fleet. While in a surprise assault King Styr of Siggurt took the town of Uppsala, capturing the Uppsalan Navy along with the town, Jarl Carl continued the siege of Romberg.
Year 2, Month 3.
King Ivar sent an ambassador to Jarl Ingjald offering him an alliance if he would recognise the King's control of Horn and Lund. The offer was arrogantly refused. King Styr of Siggurt decided it was time to destroy the Uppsalan army completely. The slaughter at the Battle of Vendel was heavy. The Uppsalan army was almost destroyed, but they inflicted such heavy casualties on the Siggurdians that they were forced back to the town of Uppsala. Romberg continued to hold out against the Frossans.
Year 2, Month 4.
By some strange twist of fate, King Ivar decided the time had come to avenge the death of his brother Eric, giving the Siggurdians and the Uppsalans time to lick their wounds. The Frossans continued their siege of Romberg.
Year 2, Month 5.
Faced by the Borg, the people of Knarr decided to hide behind their walls. With Knarr again under siege, Romberg finally fell and Jarl Carl used the plunder gained to raise more troops. Frossa became a major state with the conquest of Romberg.
Year 2, Month 6.
After taking Romberg Jarl Carl saw another opportunity open up for him. He attacked Lund, the defenders were ill-prepared. With the help of treacherous townsmen, the defending garrison was overwhelmed and the fortress taken. What the Gods took away with one hand, they restore with the other. Knarr fell to King Ivar.
Year 2, Month 7.
King Ivar headed north to deal with Jarl Carl. Devious as ever, the Jarl of Frossa arranged to have an assassin end the career of his rival. Both armies met in Horn. On the eve of the battle the assassin made his strike. The death of King Ivar of Borg did nothing to save the Jarl from defeat.
Meanwhile Jarl Ingjald decided the time had come to attack the Siggurdians who were holding the Uppsalan capital, before reinforcements arrived from Siggurt. His gamble failed and he was slain. The last Uppsalan stronghold Vendel is now under siege. Unless the Siggurdians suffer a major reverse, the fate of Uppsala is sealed. The only remaining question will be, who will control Uppsala, or will it remain divided.
The Rules
Movement is based on a territory movement system. In friendly territory, infantry can move 2 territories, whilst mounted infantry and light troops can move 3. An army can enter 1 hostile territory per turn. By Viking ship, a unit can sail 3" or if it sails 1" it can disembark and conduct a regular turn. When an army invades a territory it can fight as many battles as needed and besiege a city. It can only concentrate on one town or city at a time. In large territories that have several towns and forts, each one counts as a single territory for an invader. I try to keep things simple.
Sieges require an army of at least 300 points and a leader if it is a fort. A town requires an army of at least 600 points and a leader. If the points value of the besieging army falls below that required, the siege must be abandoned. A roll of 6 is required to take fortifications. It the besieging army has twice the required number of points, a 5 or 6 will take it. Assaulting gives a +1 to the roll.
Siege rolls are made each month. If on a siege roll a 1 is made or an assault is made against the defenses, another roll must be made. On a 1, roll again. 1 or 2 means plague strikes the invaders. 3 or 4 means plague strikes the invaders and the defenders resist with increased vigor. On a 5 or 6, the defenders resist with increased vigor. If the defenders are resisting with increased vigor, all siege rolls have a -1 to their roll. So if a 6 is required, a second 6 is required for success. If plague strikes the besiegers or an all out assault is made, roll 1D6 for each regiment and general involved in the siege. On a 1 the unit is destroyed or general slain. 2 means three quarters of the unit is destroyed or general slain. 3 means half the unit is destroyed or general wounded. A result of 4 means that a quarter of the unit is destroyed or general wounded. On a 5 or 6 there are no losses.
The wargame rules I use are Clash with modifications, but any set of rules could be used. Each town or fort has a points value. A conquered town is worth 300 points, or fort 150 points at tax collection time to a conqueror. A major county that loses any of its fortifications loses twice its value. When taken a fortification gives its conqueror half its tax value in plunder. Plunder and taxes can be used to raise new units or to buy back destroyed units, or restore them to full strength. Units that rest and take no action in a turn, recover a quarter of their fighting strength. Destroyed units regenerate in their homeland. That's how I work it.
If a country is partially in enemy hands, it can only recover up to its remaining points value. As a solo game you can determine what units a country loses when it loses territories. In a multi-player game you need to devise rules to determine that, but all I am really trying to tell you is how I did it. Creating a perfect system is one thing. Remembering all the details is another. Maneuver, sieges and diplomacy are of secondary importance. Battles are what really count, and as wargamers battles are what we want most, they should be what count the most.
The Set Up
There are several ways to determine what armies each country has, depending on it's size and it's power. When I began my PBM campaign, the Viking sector of my world had the greatest concentration of players in it. For it, I devised a random army generator chart for the different military systems. There were Saxons and Welsh Arthurian British, as well as the Vikings.
I have only provided the Viking Random Generator Chart. When designing such charts for your own game, remember to design it around what you have in your collection. Later on, when the scope of the Volci Campaign expanded, I stopped making random army generator charts and relied on dice roles to determine how large the armies were. For minor states it was 2d6 x 100 points. For major states I rolled 1,200 points x 1d6 x 100 points. Then I organized the armies with a third spent on guard regiments, a sixth on levies, and the rest on army regiments. Then it did not matter if I over or under spent as long as the points value was close. The first method is the best way to determine what the non-player armies have. The second method is the lazy umpires option.
As a Solo Gamer you have the option of randomly generating all the armies or choosing an country for yourself and buying your army. If you buy your army I suggest you give yourself 1,500 points to spend. Up to 500 points can be spent on guard regiments. At least 250 points should be spent on levies. The rest should be spent on normal units. Also for simplicity I suggest that you don't bother buying ships. I made it a rule that all guard and regular units had ships at no extra cost. That way you can spend all your army points on the fun stuff, the troops.
Generals are free. Each minor state has 1 general, whilst every major state has 2, with all having a 1 in 6 chance of having 1 more general. If when buying your army you want more than your 2 generals, the extras cost 50 points each. If you use a set of rules which require a lot of generals you may wish to give each minor state 1d3 generals and each major state 1d3 + 3 generals or something similar.
Extras - Battle Honors.
When armies are roughly equal or one is vastly outnumbered Battle honors can be earned. The victorious army gets to raise the morale of one regiment at no extra cost. This unit should have performed acts of unusual valor. You can also institute a system debasing the morale class of a regiment that disgraced itself on the battlefield such as a regiment of Beserkers which broke on it's first morale test.
Extras - General Personalities. These are best randomly generated. Firstly determine if he shows greater initiative or not. I roll 1d6 with a 1 resulting in a –1 to initiative and a 6 resulting in a =1 to initiative. Since in Clash you role each turn to see who moves first this can be very important. If the difference is 2 or greater the side with the higher number gets to decide each turn. If one side loses all its generals it suffers the same penalty. (For those of you already in my campaign, here is a little extra intelligence). Then I roll to see if the general has any other abilities. There is a 4 in 6 chance that he will have extra powers. Once you have determined whether he has an additional power roll on the following table.
| Roll | Second Roll |
|---|---|
| 1 | 1-3 = Plodding 4-6 = Fast |
| 2 | "CMDr. 3=0" General with 4+ "CMDr. Has 50% chance to Command Move all units in radius and share his morale advantage to them. |
| 3 | 1-3 = Cowardly (-1 army breaking point roles) 4-5 = Courageous (=1 to army breaking point roles) 6 = Heroic (Same as Courageous and all units in CMDr are =1 morale class. General has a =1 chance to die in battle) |
| 4 | 1-3 = Rash (Believes in always attacking, no defensive battles) 4-6 = Cunning (Has a 2 in 6 chance in setting an ambush with 1d6 regiments) |
| 5 | 1-3 = Bad Siege Ability (-1 to siege rolls) 4-6 = Good Siege Ability (=1 to siege rolls) |
| 6 | 1-3 = Despised (Enemies count as devious) 4-6 = Devious (Has a 2 in 6 chance of getting enemy regiments to change sides. If successful he can get 1d3 regiments to change sides or he can substitute an assassination attempt against an enemy leader with a 50% chance of success) |
Extras - National Characteristics.
In the PBM game players are allowed to select up to three national characteristics. Disadvantages give him an additional 150 points to spend on his army, whilst advantages cost him 150 points. A third of the calculation must be applied to the guard regiments. In a solo campaign a player can choose them for himself and role to see if the other countries have any. Non player countries can have a 50% chance of having national characteristics. If you're using the random army generator system each characteristic should give or take 1d3 army regiments. If mercenaries are rolled, then these count as guards. Rather than give you a generator chart, let me give you a listing and let you devise your own generator chart. Good general powers can be used as advantages, and bad ones as disadvantages. Other characteristics included below:
| Advantage | Glorious | =1 to favorable reaction by non-player countries. They will be more willing to co-operate with you. This ability can be particularly useful in a diplomatic struggle. |
|---|---|---|
| Disadvantage | Feared | Due to earlier wars and the bad reputation earned, enemies have a 2 in 6 chance of turning cowardly or if a 5 or 6 is rolled, courageous. There is also a –1 to favorable reaction by non-player countries. A plundered fortress or town yields twice its value (or normal tax value) when taken. |
| Disadvantage | Superstitious | Must consult the omens each time the army wants to move. Inside its homeland it can defend its entire territory, but otherwise it must remain where it is. (For you rule lawyers each province outside the homeland counts as a separate territory for movement purposes) There is a 50% chance of the omens being bad. |
Final Events
Year 2, Month 8.
King Styr ordered an all out assault against the walls of Vendel. The fortress was overwhelmed in fierce fighting. Reinforcements from Siggurt arrived in Uppsala for King Styr. The Regent of Borg, Jarl Guthrum Long Nose leads his army against Lund and lays siege to the fort. The army of Jarl Carl retreats into Frossa.
Year 2, Month 9.
Lund falls to Jarl Guthrum Long Nose while King Styr of Siggurt invades Romberg with his reinforcements. Again the King ordered an all-out assault and Romberg was taken. Reducing Jarl Carl to the status of a minor Viking chief. Finally Jarl Guthrum Long Nose meets King Styr in Romberg signing the Treaty of Romberg, bringing the Uppsalan War to a final end. (I even divided up the map cutting Lund off from the rest of Uppsala so each Viking chief could control complete territories)
That is how it ended, one game year from when the war first began. Anybody wish to control an on-going Viking Kingdom ? [For full details of the Viking Army, which will be in Lone Warrior 126, send a SASE to the Editor. Very detailed maps accompanied this article but unfortunately they were too small and much to intricate for reproduction without considerable reworking by the Team. Maps should be on A4 paper with a minimum of 1" margins and done in black ink, kept simple in order to be copied from A4 down to A5].
[Digitized by David Walker]
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