An All-Purpose Campaign Ideas and Reality by Harold Gerry
This article is reproduced from the Wargamer's Newsletter 209 with the editor's permission I have not been able to locate the authorWell, it's almost all-purpose -- certainly anything pre-railway. Even up to 1900 or so in countries (Colonies, etc.,) which did not have railways or telegraph.
It turned up by accident when I was drawing a number of maps to find a situation which would give a short Peninsular War campaign suitable for 11,000-18,000 men a side (220-360 figures in our scale). It emerged by the method of drawing-in the terrain, then thinking where the towns would be, and then thinking of a likely situation which would give both sides handicaps in the way of things to defend, and at the same time give incentives for aggression.
Those are two of the prime requirements for any campaign. Ideally, also, a campaign terrain should allow many different ways of achieving one's aims. There should be preferably four or five possible strategies while your opponent might try.
The map was drawn on graph paper with 11 x 7 one-inch squares each divided into ten. Hence, 1 large square was 10 miles. Moves: 20 small squares a day on roads, 8 across country (only after defeat in battle and without guns or wagons), 4 across country in hilly areas. Areas with double or more contours were virtually impassable.
The more we studied it the more promising it seemed, especially when the obvious situation became clear: invaders (the French in our case) were in control of the coastal strip, with a supply base in each of the two coastal cities AL and SC. They may have up to 10% of their strength posted at the HS village, as the village is on the main road down the coast. Otherwise their forces start from the two coastal cities.
The other side (Spaniards in our campaign) have established 3 forward bases at the hill villages V, M and B, and have brought in a siege battery into one of them, preparatory to an attack on the French strongholds at some later date. Their forces are distributed over the three villages, with an outpost of up to 10% strength forward at road junction P, on the obvious French line of approach to two supply villages.
Set Up and Victory
Each side had 800 points, which gives roughly the numbers quoted in the second paragraph. Whatever your local points values are, the only thing to watch is to make the initial totals match the values you give the objectives. Our proportions turned out to be about right, encouraging risk-taking to gain at least some of the points allotted to objectives won.
In our case, capture or destruction of the French barracks and stores in the two cities was worth 100 points each to the Spanish.
Each Spanish store depot destroyed was worth 50 pts to the French. Capture or destruction of the siege guns another 50.
The towns AL and SC were not fortresses, but had low old stone walls which would be expensive to take by escalade. To balance this, the French had to see that one last supply convoy (2 wagon symbols) was passed South through the area before winter -- 14 days away. The convoy arrives from the North at village SF at the end of day 1. It must exit South from village T before the end of day 14, before the campaigning season ends.
Loss of the convoy means another 50 pts to the Spaniards. They also win the 50 if they prevent it from issuing South from village T by the time the campaign is over. As can be seen from a rough estimation looking at the map, even if the convoy had a clear run to T without a fight, it is going to take about nine or ten days to get there. So the French have a constant problem on their hands.
Roads cross the rivers at small stone bridges. Scattered fords can be assumed if bridges are blow half an hour per unit (battalion etc.,) to cross at such places. Villages and towns are stone.
One tip. Agree before you start on the length of the two town perimeters. In our case half a mile on the landward side, 18" on our table. Agree also on the smallest size of force which can operat on its own, otherwise you will have swarms of half-battalions and odd squadrons everywhere, which is unreal, as well as difficult to log.
Scouting can be ignored. Each player can write his moves for the day and then both sides compare where their forces have got to by nightfall. In this way you keep about 24 hours ahead of the information the enemy have based their own moves on.
Well, there it is. Very useful if you are looking for a background situation for a short campaign.
Ours has so far produced a major action west of HS and one east of village T and three small actions concerned with French raids on the mountain villages. This is probably because neither side has gone in for a really gigantic gamble. For instance the Spaniards could have just left a squadron in village V and moved with over 700 points from M and B to road junction HS and driven up the road to AL to take the convoy or drive it hopelessly into city AL. But of course this will not succeed if the French strategy that time happens to be three strong raids on the Spanish base villages early on, linked with keeping the convoy inside the walls of AL until the raiders are far enough on the home road to worry the Spanish main army.
As I said, perhaps the best feature is that the possibilities are so many. There are about six very obviously promising ones for the French that I can see, and of course these become twelve or more if you think one is not working and switch strategies half-way through.
Set your own standards for "victory". In our case, we total remaining army points strength, allot points for any gains as mentioned earlier, and if one side has 100 points more than the other it has a propaganda victory. If 200 more, the other side evacuates the area.