On Campaigns

Or "What's Next for Grayrock?"

The rebel victory at Nieuville creates a dilemma for me. What next? Prior to the battle, I assumed that a Bluderian victory would end the war and snuff out the cause of Grayrock independence. But now that the rebels have won, have they gained their freedom? I'm not sure.

This is one of the difficulties of a linear campaign like Bob Cordery's Restless Revolutionaries. If the two sides alternate victories, as has happened with the Grayrock Revolution, then the war just keeps going. That may be realistic, but I start getting bored after half a dozen battles or so. How do I bring the war to a close?

In One-Hour Wargames (described in this battle report), Neil Thomas provides an excellent, quick-play campaign. The 30 battle scenarios in his book are divided into five groups of six battles. The campaign opponents randomly select one battle for each group. The winner of the previous battle gets to choose which side they'll play in the scenario, giving them an advantage without laborious record-keeping. Whoever wins the most battles is victorious in the campaign. I think this will be an excellent means for running 18th-century style, limited wars in Francesia. I'm already envisioning a war between the Empire and Redgrave for the coastal province of Blancport.

Will this work for Grayrock? I think I'm already over 5 battles. Besides, I don't know if Thomas's system is best suited for revolutions. There is, however, another campaign system with promise. A few months ago, Kaptain Kobold described a system for the Wars of Liberation in colonial South America. It involved collecting political tokens as a result of victory in battle. Victors could issue a proclamation; if successful the campaign ended in victory. I think I could use something similar for Grayrock. Excuse me now, I need to peruse Kaptain Kobold's campaign system in a little more detail.